WereLords - Chapter 12: The Empire's downfall

Story by saaru on SoFurry

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#12 of WereLords

It's been quite a while since last chapter. Hopefully it was worth the wait!

With Luna "betraying" Bun and his brother, the foundations of the Empire they build has become brittle. Nathaniel and Luna set off to hopefully find some help to save the kingdom and Astor from the darkness.

This chapter contains a lot more story and character/relationship development than other chapters. There's also a bit of explaining about the lords' powers.

Proofreading and editing done with the help of FA: Neku13 big thanks to him!


Nathaniel was walking in the park while holding Luna in his arms, heading towards King's cave. Fortunately for the two wolves, there was no sign of any zombified werewolf nor any shadow monster, making their trek a peaceful one.

"S-Silver Bride?" asked Luna with a shy voice.

"What is it, Luna?" replied the silver werewolf.

"I'm sorry..."

Nathaniel stopped walking and looked down at the wolf in his hands. Luna's ears were folded backwards and his eyes were tearing up.

"What are you apologizing for, Luna?" asked Nathaniel with a benevolent smile.

"For... for everything Astor and I did..."

Nathaniel was silent for a few seconds. He then said "I won't tell you that I'm not mad at you because that would be a lie. But... you only did that because you've been ordered to and because you wanted to protect your brother, right?"

Luna didn't say anything, he only nodded slightly.

"You know..." began the silver wolf, looking up at the sky. He then admitted "I may have done the same if I had been in your place. You really love your brother, don't you?"

"I do!" replied Luna, looking up with his teary eyes. He quickly wiped his face from the tear pearls and began smiling as he spoke "He's not very bright, but he's kind-hearted. He's also a little childish, but he probably is like that because he wants to cheer me up. He always wants to make sure I have everything I need. He's a little too overprotective of me sometimes, and he thinks I need him by my side. But I think he's the one that needs me..."

"Is that so? Why?"

"Well, I've... always had a frail health. When we were much younger, he went to a ski trip with the school, and while he was away my health got so bad that my parents had to take me to the hospital. When Astor came back, he was told my condition has been worsening ever since the beginning of the week, which happened to be the first day of the ski trip. He bought a stuffed bunny and brought it to me the day after he came back, and I was discharged soon after that. I think that it got him to believe that my condition was because of his absence. He had always been trying to help me cheer up, but ever since that day, he tried much harder."

"Did they find what your condition was?"

"It was discovered years later that I have chronic anemia. We can't afford the blood transfusions but fortunately, my anemia isn't too bad. I mean, I get tired and weak easily, but I haven't had too many nasty symptoms."

"Aren't Astor and you twins? I'm sure he wouldn't mind giving you some of his blood to help with that."

"He tried taking the tests, but we don't have the same blood type. While we're twins, we're non-identical. He's B positive and I'm O negative, that means that I could give him my blood, but he can't give me his."

"That's pretty sad. He wanted to be the one protecting you and helping you get better..."

"I'm glad it is that way. He's been spending so much time trying to help me... he probably doesn't have the time to enjoy his own life, always acting like I'm more important than he is. I want him to be selfish, I wanted him to go on that trip to the amusement park with his school, I wanted him to continue trying to learn the piano, I wanted him go run after the ice cream truck when we heard it in our neighbourhood, I wanted him to do something else than worrying about me on our birthdays... He's always only thinking about me, never about himself. And even though I've been feeling great ever since we became werewolves, he still only worries about me..."

"That's just proof that he cares deeply about you, doesn't it?"

"I guess so... but still, I want him to live his own life and to forget about me sometimes..."

Nathaniel didn't know what to reply. He continued walking in the direction of King's cave while looking at Luna and trying to find words to comfort the frail wolf in his arms. As soon as they got to the entrance, the Bride stepped inside and headed further down the cave. When they got in the open area - the throne, they both saw the silhouette of a giant black wolf that stood as still as a statue would. King was sitting on the ground, arms and legs crossed, chest puffed up, a prideful stance worthy of a ruler. The Bride also tried contacting Aegis, but the fox didn't answer any of the telepathic calls.

Nathaniel put Luna down on the ground and then approached the titanic black wolf. A shadow suddenly rushed at the Bride, tried grabbing him by the neck, failed at it, and then ran in circles around the cave. When its "eyes" fell upon Luna, it dashed at the small werewolf to attack it. Nathaniel blocked its path, but the shadow went right through him and then right through Luna, who yelped and fell backward on his butt.

"Are you okay, Luna?" asked Nathaniel while offering his hand to help Luna stand up.

"I... y-yeah..." replied the startled wolf.

"What's the deal with that thing?" grumbled the Bride.

"It's... Astor's power..." stated Luna. "We failed in enslaving the king, but both our powers worked to a certain extent..."

Nathaniel turned towards the shadow to look at it flail around, and then looked at King's unmoving body. He then said, "Luna, I'm going to undo your spell. I expect King to try lashing out at you, but don't worry, I'll protect you," and slowly stepped closer to the proud wolf's body.

Upon getting closer to the large wolf, the first thing that the Silver Bride realized was how large and beefy King was. In his memory, the black wolf was twice his own height; but now King was only slightly bigger than him at twelve feet even. He knelt in front of the black wolf whose eyes were as empty as the other zombified wolves and looked at the kingly figure. There were some spectral strings all over the large wolf's body - one on each joint and one on each member - and they all led upwards to a single point above the ruler's head. Nathaniel took the one on King's left elbow in his finger and pulled on it slightly. He guessed it was what allowed Luna to control his puppets, but no matter how much he fiddled with the thread, he was unable to move even an inch of King's body. An idea struck Nathaniel; he took the hidden string in his claw and snapped it. As soon as the filament was broken, the aura of King's Core got stronger, even though it was still faint. The silver bride smiled to himself and started taking the threads in his claws one by one to cut them, until finally the last one was severed. The dark shadow that had been looking at Nathaniel's actions slowly approached King's body, and leaped inside the black wolf's chest.

The giant black wolf took a deep inhalation, and closed his eyes as he sighed heavily. Frowning, he opened his eyes and stared at Nathaniel with a piercing cold gaze. "You came back." he stated calmly.

"I did." agreed Nathaniel. "I'm glad to see you're-"

"Don't bother with platitudes." interrupted King. "Why did you bring the enemy here?" he asked sharply.

"He's not an enemy, he-"

"I didn't ask WHO he was, I asked WHY!" roared the giant wolf, who stood up and took a threatening stance, showing all his fangs and claws to the others.

Intimidated by that violent reaction, Nathaniel took a step back and muttered weakly "He... he switched sides, he's with us now. I took him here with me because I swore to save him."

Time seemingly froze for a few minutes where nothing happened. King was looking defiantly at Nathaniel before he turned his gaze to the frail werewolf who was cowering in a corner of the room. Ears folded backwards, tail tucked between his legs and shivering like a leaf in the wind, Luna was intimidated and scared of the black wolf.

"So be it. It doesn't matter either way" said King, frowning, before sitting back down on the ground and crossing his arms again.

The tension that was palpable until moments ago fell.

"King," began the silver Bride. "I've come-"

"Silver..." muttered the black wolf weakly while looking down, "take a good look around you." After a few seconds of heavy sighing, he continued "this place used to be lively, it is now empty. It is so because I failed to protect any of them, I failed to see the invasion, I failed to protect my subject, I... failed my duty as a ruler. I am not fit to be called a king, nor have I the right to call this place my kingdom. The Kingdom... has fallen. I... am a king no more, I do not even deserve to be called a king, I am nothing but a fool." he said, taking his head in his hands to try hiding the tears that were welling in his eyes.

"What's gotten into you, King?" asked Nathaniel. He sat in front of the black wolf and spoke with a very concerned voice, "King, it's not over yet. There is something that we can do!"

"No there isn't!" replied King vehemently. "Can't you see what's around you? There's nothing! NOTHING!"

"And do you seriously think that moping will help in any way?" yelled Nathaniel. "Of course, you can use that shitty excuse to just not do anything and instead to lament. You know what, King? I respected you because even if you were a haughty asshole, you were a fair ruler. However, if you give up now, you're nothing but a pathetic fool! Where did the King that I knew go? Why is a loser in his place!?"

King was looking at Nathaniel wide eyed. He certainly didn't expect this reaction from Nathaniel. His surprised expression quickly turned to one of anger, "And whose fault do you think it is!" countered the giant black wolf. "If you had been here when these two invaders attacked, then you could have helped defend against them!"

"You're putting the blame on me?" cried Nathaniel, offended, "who held me here against my own will when I wanted to go after Kyle when he left, huh? WHO, KING!" he was ready to jump at the other wolf's throat and took a menacing stance with all claws and fangs out.

"So what!" growled King, "Kyle would have come back eventually, or are you forcing the blame on him?"

"When I found him, he was a PRISONNER-"

"S-stop fighting!" cried Luna, who had taken shaky step after shaky step to get between the two wolves to prevent them from attacking each other.

The two snarling wolves looked down at this small intruder whose whole body was shaking in fear. His ears were folded back, his tail was tucked between his legs and his eyes were wide open and teary.

"D-don't fight..." he said with a shaky voice. "y-you two are... friends, r-right?"

"What do you even know about us, you filthy piece of-" growled King.

"You're right, Luna..." agreed Nathaniel, trying to calm down a bit. He knelt to encircle the smaller wolf with his arms and hugged him tightly.

"W-what?" said King, completely dumbfounded. "F-friends?"

"What about it?" asked Nathaniel.

King grumbled something completely unintelligible and looked away. Luna tapped his hands against Nathaniel's arms and wiggled free from the larger wolf's embrace. He then stepped forward and got closer to King. He was still shaking, although much less than before.

"M-mister King..." he said shyly.

King looked down at the comparatively tiny wolf while frowning. "What do you want?" he snarled.

"I... I know it... it won't be enough, but..." said Luna. The small wolf got on his knees and bowed to the black titan, "I'm really s-sorry. M-my brother and I d-did some awful things to you and to your servants."

King tsk'd and growled "it's too late for apologies, you little brat."

"I... I know, but..." said Luna, standing upright and pointing his finger at the wolf. "but I'm going to do whatever I can to undo what we did. I'll... I'll bring back your Kingdom."

"Don't make me laugh, you chipmunk," sneered King, "what can you even do in your current state? You're crying in terror!"

"Says the guy who gave up on his friends!" yelled Luna before bringing his hands in front of his mouth, regretting having said that.

"I did NOT give up on them!" exploded King, balling his hands into fists.

Nathaniel growled at the other wolf while bringing his arms around Luna to protect the smaller wolf if needed.

"Then prove it." stated Luna defiantly.

"You nosy little..." grumbled King.

"You two... you've missed each other, didn't you?" asked the small wolf before stepping aside, "It's okay to fight, but you need to make up."

"Why is that brat lecturing me on what I should do or not?! I'm a king! I... well... I was a king..."

"You still are one." stated Nathaniel. "I'm glad to see that you're doing relatively well, considering the circumstances, King.

"Hmpf!" huffed King. After a minute of silence, he asked "how's Kyle doing?"

"He's doing well. It was difficult to find him, though, and thanks to that, I've met plenty of new friends. And also, quite a few husbands."

"I can see that." grumbled the black giant. "You're much bigger than you were when you left the Kingdom."

"They're all amazing people, I'll introduce you to them sometime!"

"Introducing me to the people you cheated on me with? You're heartless, Silver."

"Ooooh?" said Nathaniel teasingly, "are you jealous of them, King?"

"No!" roared the black wolf, before he mumbled "I'm... I'm not jealous," while turning his head away and crossing his arms, pouting.

Nathaniel opened his arms wide and threw himself against King, landing with his head against the black wolf's chest. The two of them fell on the ground, with the Bride almost pinning the other wolf under his weight. Startled by the sudden assault, King was left breathless. For a few moments, Nathaniel pressed himself against the other wolf, while the other wolf didn't know how to react. Eventually, the black wolf brought his arms around Nathaniel's back and returned the hug.

"I've missed you, Silver." whispered King.

"Same, King." replied Nathaniel while nuzzling in the black wolf's fluffy hair.

The two hugged in silence, gently caressing each other's fur. Luna looked at the two loving wolves, with a tightening feeling invading his heart. He was relieved that the two had mostly made up, but he was envious of their relationship. Torn between joining them and leaving them be, Luna's eyes were welling up with tears of happiness at the sight.

"Silver," whispered King softly, "I want you to tell me everything that has happened to you while you were away."

Nathaniel rose up and then sat on the ground, leaving King alone and disappointed by this move. "Sure. I'll make it short, though, I'm not sure if we can afford to stay here for too long, there's a lot going on." he then turned towards Luna, tapped gently on his thigh and said "come on here, Luna. I want you to listen to my story too."

Luna perked up and cheerfully hopped on his feet towards Nathaniel, who lifted the smaller wolf and sat him down on his thigh.

"It all began when I left your cave..." said Nathaniel, who closed his eyes to picture everything that he had lived that led him to this moment.

The Silver Bride then began telling everything that happened to him. Both Luna and King were captivated by the story. Nathaniel explained everything about how he met his husbands, recounted every one of the powers he acquired when their cores had magnified, which made the black wolf raise an eyebrow. There were sparkles in Luna's eyes as he listened intently to the tribulations of the Silver Bride, and King's frown got more pronounced with every passing moment. As soon as he mentioned about purifying Ebony and freeing him from his curse, giving him his new name and taking him as another husband, King interrupted the storytelling.

"What?!" yelled the black wolf, "you let a monster become your-"

"King." said Nathaniel with a firm voice. "This guy is now my husband because of some... unwanted attention he gave me to corrupt me. He was corrupted and when I purified his soul, he was reborn into a wonderful man. He was so full of regrets that I thought he wanted me to kill him. But I didn't, and instead, I offered him to redeem himself, and he accepted."

"Hmpf." grumbled King.

"You're just jealous that he's a husband of mine, aren't you?"

"You seem to have made a habit of seducing your enemies, haven't you?" accused King while staring at Luna, who shivered because of that piercing gaze.

"King, I don't regret making Tide a husband of mine. He used to be Ebony, a servant-"

"Ebony? W-wait! That Ebony??" interrupted Luna.

"Uh, yes?" replied Nathaniel, surprised by the small wolf's interaction. "What's the problem with him?"

"My master said that he wanted to make the Bride pay for what he did to his servants! For tearing Ebony away from him, and for making Glutton betray his trust and expectations..."

Nathaniel was wide eyed at that statement. He took a few minutes to think. "So... Glutton's and Ebony's master was the Devourer, and he's also Astor and your master."

"Y-yes!" acquiesced Luna.

"I suspect that this Ebony guy was the one that murdered Onyx and kidnapped two other wolves from the Kingdom." said King. "Silver, I'm afraid I'm never going to forgive Ebony, no matter whether you decided to trust him or not."

"I'm sorry King, but I don't care." stated Nathaniel, resolute to not yield on that point, "I don't need your approval to forgive someone. And besides, he isn't Ebony anymore, he now is Tide," he paused a moment before he said, "I won't ask you to love my husbands, but I ask you to tolerate them all."

King grumbled; he knew he couldn't ignore one of Nathaniel's orders because of his Bridal powers.

"In any case, as I said, I transformed Ebony. He used to be a black wolf with an eye that leaked blood because of the corruption in him, but he now has blue fur that-"

"Blue," said King in disbelief. "You painted him blue," sighed the black wolf, shrugging.

"Want me to paint you in pink?" threatened Nathaniel, half jokingly, "anyways, Tide doesn't look like Ebony anymore and he's trying really hard to redeem himself. Thanks to that, he became an awakened one who's able to use his own control over water with power far greater than any other awakened werewolf that I've met."

"Awakened one?" asked both Luna and King at the same time.

"An awakened one is a wolf that has access to his power core's power. Our werewolf powers come from those cores, and some wolves are able to use their own power. To give you an idea of what it is, your power is authority, King."

"So this is why you've asked to borrow my power every so often recently?" asked King.

"Yes. It's very convenient, but I have to be careful to not starve you guys, because using your power means using the very essence of what makes us werewolves."

"I am very well aware, Silver," groaned King, "you owe me two feet of height because of that."

"Sorry." said Nathaniel, "I'll make it up to you someday. But in any case, Tide is now a husband of mine and that's all that matters."

"Th-there's one thing that's been bugging me" admitted Luna, "are you guys really husbands and bride?"

"Sort of. I said that before, every werewolf has a power Core that represents our power and allows us to transform into these lupine forms. All of them hold some special power, like Astor's control over shadows, or your control over soulless bodies. I think that my power is that I am able to link myself to the power core of others, and have full control of them. I can access their power, I can feed some raw power into them, and I can apparently also magnify them, they change shape and colour and become much more powerful than they were before. There was even this one time where I was able to forge a Core to replace a broken one."

"Okay..." said Luna, who was still visibly confused at this whole thing, "but why are you called Bride?"

"I actually don't know why it's called like that..." admitted Nathaniel.

"Really? I thought it was called like that because you were a woman too!"

Both King and Nathaniel looked at the smaller wolf, dumbfounded. "Too?" they said in unison.

"Wh-what?" replied Luna, visibly embarrassed.

"Now that I think about it," laughed Nathaniel, "I've never seen a female werewolf before. I wonder what happens to women when they get transformed into wolves."

"Neither have I," said King. "I highly doubt that our lycanthropy only affects men. Though, as odd as it sounds, that may very well be a possibility."

"A-anyways!" said Luna, hoping to interrupt this conversation, "Why are you calling the others husbands if that bride thing is only the name of your power?"

"To be fair..." began Nathaniel, "it's the same as the Bride thing, it's mostly a name. I'm called a Bride, so they're called husbands. The bond between my husbands and me is very deep. From what I understood of my power, my husbands have to obey my every order. When I first discovered about that, I did use that power to order people around. But to be fair, I don't want slaves. So, I stopped, and started treating them as my lovers."

"That's really nice of you," said Luna with a smile, "your husbands are lucky to have you as their Bride."

"You do realize that he has seven husbands, do you? And that's not even counting Kyle," pouted King.

"Yeah," admitted Nathaniel, "It's... it's a lot, I know."

Luna got on the tip of his toes and whispered into Nathaniel's ears "Silver Bride, I think he's jealous," saying that just loud enough for the black wolf to hear before giggling.

"I'm not jealous!" denied King, who then hmpf'd and said "So that's seven husbands. What about Kyle, and what about this guy?" said the black wolf, pointing at Luna.

"Luna is not my husband," replied Nathaniel, visibly annoyed by that question that Aegis had also asked him earlier, "why do you guys assume he is?"

"Because you already have seven husbands! That's more than enough proof that you can't keep your dick under control!" accused King.

Nathaniel sighed before he mumbled a weak "fair enough, I guess" while shrugging. "As for Kyle, he's not become a husband yet. But as soon as I get the time to do it, I'll do it."

"So that would be an eight." grumbled King.

"Silver Bride," said Luna while repeatedly pulling on some of Nathaniel's chest fluff, and then said in a teasing manner, "he says he's not jealous, but he's definitely jealous."

A piercing glare from King later, Luna went hiding behind Nathaniel, giggling.

"I'm not jealous. It just means that there are a lot of rivals."

"Don't think of them as rivals, King, think of them as lovers. Did you know that Kyle thought the same as you about Tide and his past as Ebony?" said the Bride who then looked at King, grinning, "And yet, while I was doing Runner and Howler, he was getting his share of Tide's meat, and he really seemed to enjoy it."

"You... you're the only one that matters to me..." grumbled King, who was blushing heavily.

"Except that I know you've been screwing with Aegis a lot while I was away. Aegis is quite the horndog, isn't he?"

"That's because he wanted me to, and because he wasn't satisfied by any of my other servants!" countered King. He then looked away and mumbled weakly, "My... my heart only belongs to you, Silver..."

"You're almost cute when you're not acting like a haughty bastard, you know?" teased Nathaniel. "But anyways, more husbands means more powers. I don't have access to most of my husbands' powers because of this barrier around the Kingdom, but the ones that I can use here should be enough."

"S-sorry..." said Luna, "The barrier is Astor's and my fault... I can't really undo it since Bun stole my powers..."

"Don't worry, Luna, we'll somehow manage. I've got Aegis' power of protection and King's power of authority, that should be more than enough. And maybe also Arkion's power of hellfire, if the power can travel through the alternate dimension created by Sapphire's painting. And since both the hellfire and the protection ones are magnified, they're even more powerful!"

"You used that vague term many times without explaining anything, Silver, what is this magnification you're speaking about?" inquired the black wolf.

"Well, at first, power Cores are randomly placed in one's body, they're spherical and usually colourless. Magnification changes all of that. The Core takes on a vivid colour, and to help with channelling the power contained within, it takes on a different shape and moves to a place that is more adapted. As an example, Howler's Core relocated in his lungs when it magnified, and it took on the shape of a tornado while colouring light green, which should help him channel his wind power..."

"And you say that a magnification makes us stronger? And that I too could use my own power?"

"That is correct. The change that the Core undergoes makes it easier to channel the power contained within. I'll use Aegis' example. With one drop of his power when he wasn't magnified, I was able to make a thin protection all around myself. After the magnification, one drop allowed me to erect several thick barriers at once that covered an area about as large as your cave. Here's another example: before Howler's magnification, I could have maybe created a gentle blowing wind, but with his magnified power, I could probably crush a building under an invisible wall of compressed air."

"Interesting. Core magnification seems to be a very convenient change for one's power," said King, rubbing his chin and looking up. "What is it exactly that triggers that change in a Core?"

"I'm not entirely sure, unfortunately..."

"I remember that when you told us about your adventures, you said it happened every time you had sex with your husbands, didn't you?"

"That might be related, but I can't say for sure. Arkion's Core had magnified before I had sex with him."

King looked straight in Nathaniel's eyes and stated boldly, "Silver, I want you to magnify my Core. Right this moment."

The silver wolf sighed heavily, "I told you, King, I don't know how to do it. I really don't."

King crossed his arms and began tapping his finger on his arm from impatience. He frowned as he said "we just need to have sex, don't we?"

"I'm not even sure that's what's needed. Besides, there's a bit of an emergency outside. I promised Luna I'd save his brother too, I can't stay in here for too long."

"We can make it quick, Silver. The more you argue, the longer it'll delay the reconquest of the Kingdom and the longer it'll delay the saving of that brat's brother too." King then stood up and stepped closer to Nathaniel, kneeling right in front of the silver Bride, "And I... I also want to make up for the time we've spent apart from each other," he mumbled before opening his arms to take the gray wolf in his embrace, "please, Silver."

Nathaniel wasn't sure what to do. He looked at Luna, who was watching them.

"D-don't mind me," said the little wolf, "I... I can't sense Bun's, my Master's or Astor's auras; you two probably have the time for that if you want."

The Silver Bride contacted Aegis through telepathy again, and this time the kitsune was available to answer. Without saying a word about King, he asked if he could use the shielding power to cast a barrier. The white fox eagerly offered his strength, then also notified Nathaniel that a couple shadows were starting to roam around the park, as if they were looking for something. The silver wolf thanked his husband, used some power to erect a powerful force field at the entrance of the cave and then, returned King's hug.

The black wolf instantly loosened his embrace to bring his muzzle to Nathaniel's, and the two made out passionately. Envious of that bond that the two wolves shared, Luna watched at the display of love that the two giants showed for each other. Both the large wolves began getting more adventurous with their hands. King ran his arms ever lower on Nathaniel's back until he was able to grope the supple butt of the Bride, and Nathaniel brought his hands on King's front side to caress the black wolf's chest, trailing downwards ever so slightly.

The large black wolf broke their kiss and said between lusty huffs "I've craved for your touch, Silver," before pushing Nathaniel back so both of the wolves fell on the ground. There was genuine happiness in those eyes that were usually so stern. "You made me feel special last time, and I want to feel that again," he said before diving for another lust-filled kiss.

The silver wolf now had his back against the floor of the cave, and King was standing on all fours over him, looking into his eyes with passion. Nathaniel continued exploring King's chest with one hand and ran his other one downwards, caressing the large abdominals of the black wolf. The power Core in King's head shone brighter than ever, emitting a heart warming aura all around its owner. Both wolves were starting to buck their hips into the air while pressing their groins - and thus their fat sheaths - against each other. Nathaniel brought his hand to the plump sheath of his lover and began caressing it to stimulate the kingly shaft. Both of their cocks were slowly exiting their protection, making it look as if it was a race to see which enormous tool would be the first to be fully out. The Bride brought his other hand to the stimulation, grabbing the tip of King's shaft and caressing it while fingering the slit with his thumb. As soon as the finger slid inside, the black wolf began moaning and whining while trying to keep up with the kissing. Satisfied by that reaction from his lover, Nathaniel took his thumb out of the slit and wrapped his hand around the tip of King's shaft to plunge two fingers inside instead, and also brought his other hand to the base of his partner's sheath to slip it inside the furry confines. Warm pre started coating his fingers, which proved to be an efficient lube and allowed him to slide two more fingers, leaving only the thumb outside, although not for long. He also added his thumb in King's slit and wiggled his fingers to massage the urethra's walls. Instinctively, King began bucking his hips forward, which forced more of Nathaniel's hands inside him. Already wrist deep in the black wolf's sheath, the Bride pushed more inside until he had half of his forearm in, and began rubbing the shaft from the inside. The warm and sticky liquid began enveloping all around the Bride's hand as pre was rushing through King's cock at a steady flow. The transparent fluid was dripping down the gray wolf's arm, and thanks to the lubricant effect that it had, Nathaniel was able to push deeper inside his lover's cock. King was starting to twitch as the stimulation proved to be extremely effective, torrents of pre were already gushing from the tip of his meaty spire and onto the gray wolf's chest. Slowly but surely, the royal werewolf was getting more relentless; his kiss got rougher, exploring ever deeper and faster in Nathaniel's mouth; his groping of the Bride's butt got tighter, he even dared slip a few fingers in the asshole resting between the firm buttcheeks; and he pressed himself down further to more thoroughly pin his lover down on the ground.

Luna watched the show of love between the two with envy, and with a lust filled gaze. His own sheath was full and the tip of his cock was already poking out. Fantasies of him being sandwiched between the lovers were dancing in his mind, he wanted to stand up and squeeze himself between the two, and feel those two massive hardening shafts throb against his comparatively tiny body. Unconsciously, the small wolf had brought his hand to his cock and had begun caressing it, entranced by the highly exciting show given to him.

While King's shaft was nearing full erection - save for the knot, Nathaniel's shaft was just reaching to a full foot. The Bride shoved his arm elbow deep in his partner's cock, rubbing the deeper parts of the urethra, and caressing the gigantic swelling knot from within King's sheath. The fingers invading his ass assaulted him more ferociously by the second, which made him involuntarily moan of pleasure. Throb after throb, his dick hardened, fighting for space with the other cock between the two horny werewolves' chests. It rose right next to King's shaft; with the small humping movement that King gave, the two meaty tools were grinding against each other, further increasing the stimulation. Eventually, the massive bulging knot in King's sheath reached its full size and began rising out of its fluffy protection. Inch by inch, ball of flesh slid outside, pushing Nathaniel's hand out of the sheath; and forcing the mighty shaft to reach further around the Silver Bride's other arm. As soon as it was fully uncovered, Nathaniel was shoulder deep in King's cock, rubbing and caressing the urethra from the inside. The glorious kingly pillar of virility was truly gigantic and worthy of worship, though the gray wolf had other plans; he pulled his arm out very slowly while making sure to rub again on the way out. When finally his fingers were freed from the fleshy, now slightly gaping member, he grabbed the tip and brought it to their mouths. The massive cock was so long that it reached all the way to their lips, and the two of them immediately welcomed it into their kiss. Both wolves began licking from the base of the tip all the way to the top, lapping at each other and scooping the pearling pre. With both his hands being now freed from King's shaft, Nathaniel brought them to the base of his own hardening cock and slid them both under his sheath. Shivers ran through his spine and moans escaped his lips, causing him to miss several of the long laps on the kingly spire. In response to the stimulation, his cock throbbed hard, rising an inch harder with every one of the pulses rocking through it. With two hands in his own sheath and with King's thick thumbs lodged deep in his ass looking for his prostate, Nathaniel was slowly losing himself to intense pleasure.

The Silver Bride's knot swelled and began exiting the sheath, bulging it as it went through. The two massive shafts were at full mast, and both tips reached to the lips of the wolves. King angled his upper body up slightly to allow the two shafts' underside to press against each other, bringing the two tips together. King and Nathaniel both began ravenously licking the two tips, focusing sometimes on the Silver Bride's cock and sometimes on the black wolf's dick. Both fleshy spires were profusely leaking pre, which the two eagerly licked and swallowed, not allowing even a single drop to go to waste. They were getting closer to release. King moved his hips slightly sideways, sliding his cock right next to Nathaniel's, before he put all of his weight on the two gigantic pillars of flesh. Now trapped between the two wolves' enormous chests, the two cocks were throbbing with more intensity as their orgasms were approaching. The black wolf pulled his hips backwards slightly, and then thrusted. Mimicking the movement of his partner, Nathaniel too bucked his hips forward, although he couldn't put as much distance in the thrust because he was pinned under King. The two began humping; when Nathaniel pulled backwards, King thrusted forward and vice versa. Every time a tip was shoved and reached to between their mouths, the two tried quickly lapping at the abundant pre before the cock was pulled back.

Their humping against each other lasted for a few minutes, with the rhythm accelerating at the same pace as their arousal. Pleasure was building up fast for the two, who were slowly getting closer to climax. The stimulation from the frot, the licks and the pecjob was intense enough to bring the two to their orgasm at the same time. Both of their enormous balls unleashed their contents, firing cum through their urethra, which erupted with the sticky fluid. The blasts that came out of both cocks were truly impressive; the semen splashed against the cave wall, splattering hundreds of drops of cum - some of them as thick around as an orange - that rained down on the ground below. The shots came one after the other with no end in sight, and the two wolves were in complete bliss, their minds overwhelmed by pleasure. As their cocks were still blasting cum, King pushed them aside and dove for another wild and passionate kiss with Nathaniel. It tasted of their combined pre, a delicious flavor that Nathaniel absolutely loved. The two were so lost in their pleasure that they battled each other with their tongues, relentlessly assaulting the maw of their partner and lover.

After several minutes of their throbbing shafts gushing gallons of cum against the far wall, the outputs finally began to weaken. King let himself fall down on top of the Silver Bride, cuddling with him. Both of them took turns in lapping the other's muzzle clean of cum. Several minutes later, their furs were mostly cleansed of the seed.

The two lovers cuddled in the afterglow of their orgasm, with their giant cocks still pressed against each others'. It had been blissful for both of them, and they both had craved for a moment of intimacy like this one for a long while.

King rose up on his knees and looked expectantly at Nathaniel. "So, Silver Bride," said the black wolf, "how does the magnification manifest?"

It irked Nathaniel to hear that for many reasons. Trying to not sound too annoyed by his husband's question, he replied "King, I told you I don't know what triggers the magnification and gave you a proof that sex wasn't the trigger. Or maybe I should say, sex isn't the sole trigger. Your Core hasn't changed in the slightest, it's still the same as before."

King looked at Nathaniel dead in the eye. "Silver. Magnify my Core this instant."

"Are you deaf?" growled the silver wolf, who was slowly losing his temper, "I told you I don't know what triggers the magnification!"

The black titan rose on his feet and balled his hands into fists before snarling "stop lying! Is it because I've been acting haughty? Do you think I do not deserve to be among the strongest wolves? Or is it that you fear I might use my power of authority against you?"

Nathaniel jumped up and tried throwing a punch at King, who dodged it by leaping backwards. Huffing loudly, partly from the exhaustion of their lovemaking and partly because of the adrenaline rising in his blood, the Bride then barked "you're the worst asshole I've ever seen, King! Assuming that I'm holding back because you haven't been nice is the worst display of distrust!"

"You hold the key to a power that would allow me to fight for my kingdom, and yet you're just dangling that key right in front of my nose without letting me have it! Of course I have every right to be mad!"

"So your flirt and our love was no more than a means to get magnified, King? Is that what you're saying?"

"Damn right it was!" growled the angry black wolf, "why else would I have sex with the guy that stole my freedom?!"

Frightened by the display of the two wolves snarling at each other and dumbfounded at how quickly it turned from love to hate between them, Luna was shivering and crying. There was very little chance that interrupting the two would go as well as earlier, so he resigned to witness the argument without intervening at all, hoping that the problem would eventually solve itself. To Luna's amazement, Nathaniel calmed down slightly, pulled back and letting the tension fall.

"If there was a way to undo our bond as Bride and husband, I'd do it without hesitation, King. But I'm not willing to even look for-"

"Oh, you would actually do that?" growled the king, "I know about the ritual to sever a link between a Lord and his servants, and in our case, a link between Bride and husband. You just need to-"

"Fuck off, King. That shit can wait until the Kingdom is freed."

"Are you going to back off on your word again, you coward?!"

"Either you start showing me some respect, or I'll order you to eat your fingers, King! I will do it, but there are more urgent matters; you have already stolen enough of my time with your deception about you longing for me. A matter as trivial as your freedom is not important enough to outweigh the Kingdom members' lives!"

"I am the King, a king's court without their king are nothing, Silver! And as of now, I'm a sl-"

"I don't fucking care about you, King! You're so egocentric that you don't even realize that the reason why I want to help the others is NOT to restore the Kingdom. Their LIVES are at stake here, and you're complaining about your shitty kingdom and shitty status as a king? Don't make me laugh. You're just a selfish asshole who doesn't even care about his own subjects. They could be dying and you wouldn't even care about them because 'hurr durr me King me cant be slave of other guy'! You fail as a ruler, King, but more importantly, you fail as a person. And to think that when we met earlier you were depressed about how you couldn't save them, was that also a bluff to get me to help you? You don't deserve your Kingdom, King, I truly hope that your servants will open their eyes on how shitty of a person you are and that they'll leave you to find a ruler that truly cares about them for something other than some fucking useless social standing."

King was shaken by the accusations coming out of Nathaniel's mouth. Never before in his rule had he heard such harsh words, and he was left speechless. The silver Bride tsk'd before turning away and start walking towards Luna.

"Come on, Luna, we're done dealing with that loser," said the silver wolf while grabbing the smaller wolf's hand and pulling on it almost forcefully because of the adrenaline still running through his veins, "let's go help your brother and save that rotten king's servants." The two then walked towards the exit of the cave, and right as they reached it, Nathaniel stopped, looked back and snarled "I won't forget, King. As soon as I'm done with this situation, I'll come and 'free' you from my 'chains'" he said, heavily accentuating the words 'free' and 'chains' to mock them, "I'll also leave the barrier around your cave up. I'm not doing that for you, but for your 'subjects'. They might be upset if they find you dead when they come back."

Not willing to look back any longer, Nathaniel stepped outside with Luna in tow. After a minute of walking in awkward silence, the smaller wolf finally spoke "Silver Bride, he... he was crying."

"I know, but I don't care. He's the lowest of scum and doesn't deserve anything other than hatred."

"S-stop saying that, Silver Bride," pleaded Luna, "you're hurt too, aren't you?"

Nathaniel slowed his walking pace until he came to a stop. He sighed heavily before saying, "I forgave him for the shitty attitude he had when we first met. But that..." he said, tightening his grip around Luna's hand because of the anger welling in him again, "I won't ever forgive him. He toyed with my feelings and manipulated me in the hopes of getting his Core magnified. Remember what he said earlier? He said that I didn't want to do this because I was possibly afraid he'd use that power against me. I'm not, but the fact that he said it meant that he wanted to do that as soon as he could."

"I don't think that he'd-"

"You don't say things like that by pure luck, Luna. He said that because that's exactly what he planned to do."

"Still, I don't think he'd do that, Silver Bride! He didn't seem like a bad guy, he was just very angry that he didn't get magnified and this is what made him say those things, but I think that he didn't really mean them."

"It's worse than that, Luna. He doesn't believe me. Or rather, he believes that I'm intentionally holding him back. He has a huge superiority complex, and the fact that I can make him do things that he couldn't make his servants do is probably a huge disappointment for him. He lost everything and absolutely couldn't do anything about it, and he's about to get back everything without being able to help in any way; that powerlessness must be a huge dent in his self-confidence. But I don't care what his reasons are, there's no excuse for being a shitty person."

"I'm sorry, Silver Bride..."

"Don't worry about it, Luna, it's not your fault that King is acting like that."

"N-no, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry for all the trouble that Astor and I caused. If... if we hadn't come here, King would still have his servants and the two of you would still be friends. This whole mess is because-"

"Luna, there's no use trying to think about what would have happened if you didn't attack the kingdom. Chances are high that your ex master would have made you pay, probably with your lives. There's nothing we can do to change the past, but we can do something about the future. I don't know what we'll be able to achieve but there must be something we can do, and weeping over what's already done isn't going to help at all. Moving forward is the only thing that will help us get closer to our goal of saving your brother and saving King's servants."

"You're... you're so strong, Silver Bride... And so brave... I'm..."

"It's okay, Luna. Though, I'm not that strong or brave, I'm just a random guy trying my best to make do with what I have. And you should do the same too, alright? Let's go save your brother, okay?"

Luna wiped his eyes and looked up at Nathaniel. Mind filling with hope, the small wolf nodded and muttered weakly "we'll be there soon, Astor. Hang on."

Giving off a smile to Luna's newfound resolution, Nathaniel turned towards the park and headed to the open area of the playgrounds where he first met Astor. The two meandered through the forest, walked on the small paths between the trees, making their way to their destination while carefully avoiding the few zombies that they detected. The Silver Bride's heart was thumping in his chest; the idea of a confrontation with Ebony's and Glutton's master was highly probable and put a sharp anxiety dent in his resolve. To counter the fear of confronting his nemesis, he thought about Tide's gratitude when he was freed from the shackles of his old master. With Luna's hopes weighing on his shoulders, he steeled his will and powered through the situation despite the dread running in his veins.

The two wolves finally reached the children's playground on the park and hid behind some bushes, careful to make as little noise as possible to not draw some unwanted attention. Astor stood upright, with an enormous ball of shadow hovering above his left hand that was facing up, and with his right hand balled into a tight fist. A stern frown distorted his usually goofy face, and his teeth were all out as he was almost growling to the plush bunny in front of him. His whole body was tensed up, and one could almost feel the aura of hatred exuding from him.

"Is what you said true, Bun?" he snarled to the stuffed toy.

"I'm afraid it absolutely is, Master Astor," said the bunny, sobbing in an exaggerated fashion and mimicking the motion of wiping his button eye with his arm, "the Silver Bride wants to kill both of you, and he already took Luna! It might not be too-"

"Shut up, Bun! It's your fault that he got Luna!" yelled the dark gray werewolf, who then looked down to the ground and mumbled "Umbra, I need your help!"

Astor's shadow swirled and slowly exited the ground, forming into a thin and slender wolf completely made of darkness. The only thing that wasn't completely black on his body was his devious grin willed with sharp white fangs. "You called, boy?"

"Yes," replied Astor, "I know you only obey my master, but this is an emergency, we need to-"

"Speak no more, boy. You're in luck, for I will assist you in undoing your mess."

"It's not MY mess, it's-"

"Quiet, you impudent boy! Master gave life to me to watch over you, it has been only an hour since my birth and yet your situation is already dire; you should feel honoured that I will assist you, I could have beheaded you for your incompetence!"

"Y-you wouldn't-"

"Of course I would, you useless cretin. Although it would mean my death as I am a product of your power, I would do it without hesitation, should it be needed."

"Umbra, we're not supposed to tell them these sorts of things," intervened Bun.

"Quiet, you idiotic stuffed toy. This upsetting situation is also your fault. Should you have kept a tighter grip on that puppet master of yours and we wouldn't have been in this mess. Am I the only competent one around?"

"You're lucky we're supposed to cooperate, Umbra!" said the plush, crossing his arms. "What do you plan to do about it all?"

"I'd rip your throat open and watch you bleed all of your stuffing out..." said the shadow, licking his lips. Upon seeing the absence of reaction from the bunny, he continued, "Oh, about the other issue? Silly me, I should have known better. It's simple, really. Track the Bride, find the Bride, kill the Bride. Retrieve Luna, and finish the job with that rotten fallen king to grow our ranks bigger."

"Master said to bring the Bride to him," said Bun, shaking his head in annoyance, "we can't kill him. You're just a bloodthirsty wicked monster."

"Why thank you! That's precisely how Master intended me to be. We'll say that the Bride bled out while we were transporting him."

"Are you stupid?" barked the stuffed plush, "Master will kill you if you do that!"

"Can you two just stop!" cried Astor, "Luna might be in danger right now! We need to go save him NOW!"

At this moment, both Bun and Umbra turned towards the dark gray werewolf and the three of them continued arguing, completely oblivious to the two pair of eyes that were watching them in silence. Nathaniel held Luna against his chest tightly, feeling the small wolf shiver from fear, and tried comforting him by caressing his back gently.

Luna whispered weakly "Astor..."

The Bride put his hand on the smaller wolf's mouth, hoping that neither of the two monsters nor Astor heard the whisper. Umbra's ear flicked. The shadow creature turned towards the bush in which Luna and Nathaniel were hiding, and slowly hovered there. It smirked wide as it stood inches away from the two werewolves who were holding back their breaths.

"Umbra, what are you doing?" snarled Bun, "we weren't done with you!"

"I see no need to argue with a toy and with a simpleton." said the shadow monster, who turned back towards the other two. "As you two were bickering about pointless matters, I initiated the investigation."

"Oh really, now," retorted the plush, "and what exactly were you hoping to find here?"

"Boy, where are your shadows at the moment?" asked the monster to Astor, completely ignoring Bun.

"They're all here, why?" said the small gray wolf, holding his right hand out, over which a sphere as black as a starless night appeared and hovered.

"You are quite the simpleton, aren't you," said Umbra with a devious smirk, "if rescuing Luna really was your priority at the moment, why are your shadows here? Shouldn't they be patrolling and scanning the park?"

"I can't use my powers if they're all away. Master said that the Bride was dangerous, so I want to be able to use my full power against him, I can't recall my shadows fast enough to use them as weapon if they're far away from me."

"Your statement implies that I could use my own body as a weapon. Interesting." mumbled the dark creature, "I wonder how potent this ability of ours is. Let's try it out."

Umbra brought his arm in front of his head, then closed his eyes, and his hand began losing shape to become a long and thin blade that extended several feet up in the air.

"My, my." giggled manically the shadow, "How so very convenient."

A shiver ran through Nathaniel's spine. He immediately sensed danger and created a powerful barrier at the palm of his hand. Umbra, in a split second, turned around while swinging his arm-blade right into the Bride's hideout. Swiftly, the silver wolf brought his hand to the projected trajectory of the weapon, thus parrying it. Partially sliced apart by the shadowy edge, the brushes that offered them protection could no longer hide the two werewolves. Nathaniel stood up, holding Luna in one arm. He then took a bet, and brought his free hand to Luna's throat, making his claws graze the smaller wolf's skin.

"Don't you dare try anything funny," the Bride barked threateningly, "if any of you makes any move, I'll kill Luna!"

"No! Luna! Please, Nathaniel, let go of my brother!" cried Astor.

"I take it you are the Bride?" said Umbra, bowing down and putting his weapon behind his back as a way to salute the silver werewolf. "Oh, no need to answer, this was but a rhetorical question. I was dying to meet you, Silver Bride, and I cannot wait to cross swords with you. I must warn you, holding Luna hostage is of no relevance to me, the loss of one of my master's servants is nothing when compared to disposing of the threat you pose to him. Prepare to die."

As Umbra prepared a stance to lunge forward, Astor yelled "Umbra, stop right now!" which made the shadow monster stand still, ready to strike at a word's notice.

"Tch. Impudent brat." groaned Umbra. "Very well. It seems you intend to deal with this matter by yourself. So be it." he said before swirling back into Astor's shadow.

"What is it you want!" cried Astor. "I'll do anything, just... don't harm Luna!"

"I want you to release all the shadows you've stolen from other people," said Nathaniel.

"Okay, okay! If I do that, you'll let go Luna, right?" asked Astor with a shaky voice.

"Astor," intervened Bun "the Bride is an evil bastard, he won't hold his part in any deal you'll make with him!

"Shut up, you nasty plush!" yelled Nathaniel. "Astor. I'll release Luna if you do free all the shadows you've taken."

"I-is there anything else I could do instead of that? Luna and I worked hard to get this place under our control, and we're-"

"You've invaded this place, trampled on King's territory and enslaved all of the werewolves that were here! There's no way I'll settle for anything less than you freeing everyone and leaving!"

"That's enough!" yelled Bun, "Astor, the Bride is bluffing. He wouldn't lay a hand on Luna. Just attack him, but be careful not to kill him, Master wants him alive."

"But he has Luna!" muttered the stressed wolf.

"And I just told you he wouldn't hurt Luna!" countered the plush, "Just go! Attack!"

"No!" cried Astor, tears flowing in his eyes. "I'll do as he says! I'll free everyone!"

"Fine! If you don't want to do it, then I WILL!" said Bun, leaping forward, taking a sewing needle out of the seam of his neck and holding it in front of him.

Nathaniel let go of Luna, readied his claws and, using Aegis shielding power, parried the hit that came to him before slashing violently at the plush. Bun's belly was ripped open with four parallel wounds that began sprouting stuffing as the toy fell on the ground, inanimate.

"B-Bun!" cried Luna. "What's going to happen to him! He said that if he died, I'd die too! Silver Bride, am I going to die? I don't want to-"

"Silence!" shouted Nathaniel, grabbing Luna forcefully again, and bringing his claws to the smaller wolf's neck. "Astor, you've seen what I'm capable of! Release the shadows, or I'll kill Luna just like I killed Bun now!"

Astor was terrified, his whole body was shivering from the fear of losing his brother. "I... I'll do it. P-please, don't kill Luna, please, he's the only one I can count on!"

"Then release the shadows!" ordered Nathaniel threateningly. "NOW!"

Astor brought his hand forward and the large amalgam of shadows appeared over his hand. He took a deep breath and spoke "you guys are all-"

"No no no no no, Astor." said a shadow coming from behind the smaller wolf. Umbra had risen again. "That won't do. I won't let you do that."

"You can't stop me!" cried the small wolf "I'll save Luna!"

"I can stop you, Astor," sneered Umbra. "and I will."

"What are you plan-"

But Astor was interrupted in the middle of his phrase. An excruciating pain invaded his abdomen. Upon looking down, he saw a spear of darkness pierce his belly. Blood dripped down, tainting his dark gray fur with the red fluid. He brought his hand to the wound, feeling the warm liquid flow on his fingers, and brought it in front of his eyes, shivering. His eyes shot wide open as the realization of what happened was starting to settle in.

Luna thrashed around in Nathaniel's hands, forcing the Bride to let go of him if he didn't want to unintentionally hurt the smaller wolf. He was crying and calling to his brother and began running towards his sibling.

"Luna, don't go!" pleaded Nathaniel, who was preparing a barrier to protect the smaller wolf from Umbra.

However, he didn't expect what happened next, and was unable to protect Luna. Bun, with his stuffing entrails spilling out of his wounds, jumped at Luna and drove his needle sword through the werewolf's back, piercing him between the collarbone and the shoulder.

As soon as Astor heard Luna's cries, he looked up and a mix of terror and hatred filled him.

"You fool!" laughed Bun. "You really thought you killed me? I'm a stuffed toy, I won't die if my body is slashed!"

Powerless, Nathaniel witnessed as the two emperors had fallen by the hands of the demons created by their wicked master.

"Luna..." mumbled Astor. "Luna!" Astor gritted his teeth so hard that blood began seeping from his gums. An intense hatred began filling him. It had all been the Bride's fault. He stepped forward, forcing the spear that pierced him out of his body, brought his hands in front of him and conjured his shadowy power. Powering through by his thirst for revenge, he yelled "I'll avenge you, Luna! Shadows, to me!"

Dozens of shadows left the orb hovering over his hand to dance around him before entering his body. A dark aura began shining around him and got stronger with every shadow that he absorbed. He was growing taller by the second, looking more muscular and broader. The swirling tornado that was created from this power was frightening and the bigger Astor became, the more terror invaded Nathaniel's mind. When all the shadows had merged with Astor, the dark gray wolf was a gigantic titan of blackness. He looked like a demon summoned upon the world to engulf all in an endless void. The wound in his lower belly was gaping and shadows were leaking from here before jumping back into the body of the giant. It was an unsettling and terrifying perpetual movement of shadows.

"Silver Bride," bellowed the monstrous giant, "this is all your fault. YOUR FAULT!" he yelled, balling his hand into a fist and positioning it right above Nathaniel. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"