by Nora Phoenix
"I did know he was pregnant," Wyndham snapped at him, and Bray had another bit of information.
"That still doesn't answer the question of what you wanted with our pack alpha's son," he said.
Wyndham had composed himself again, his face pulled back into the indifferent mask he had presented before. "Like I said, the kid is an abomination. He shouldn't be alive. Neither should your son."
Bray knew better than to let that barb get at him, as was undoubtedly the intention. He'd always been good at separating his emotions from his job, and this was a perfect example. It was like he had shielded off his emotions, because even though he would be furious later over all the insults the man had lobbed at him, right now he didn't feel that anger. His brain was fully in control of his emotions, trying to get all the pieces of the puzzle, because he was still missing something, a crucial element to get the whole picture.
And then it hit him. Wyndham had referenced both kids. He'd known Ruari was pregnant, but he hadn't been aware he was at the ranch. That, Bray was absolutely certain of, because the man's surprise at seeing his son had been too real to be faked. That meant Hakon had been the focus of the attack, and yet now, Wyndham grouped them both into the same breath, as if they were somehow interchangeable. He kept repeating he wanted them dead, but what good would that do?
Even though the men had attacked with guns, once inside the house, they had resorted to hand-to-hand combat. Part of that had been because guns were useless in such tight spaces, as the risk of shooting yourself or having someone wrestle the gun from you was high. But Bray couldn't help but wonder if another reason had been that their goal hadn't been to kill as many men as possible.
Then there was the fact that the men hadn’t seemed that experienced. From Palani’s research, they knew the military branch of the AWC had attracted a large number of well-armed and experienced hard-liners, so why hadn’t Wyndham used them to attack? Bray had talked to everyone to hear their stories about the attack, and it seemed only three or four attackers had known what the hell they were doing, including the asshole who’d shot Jawon.
He went over it in his head. Why had Wyndham attacked with a relatively small number of inexperienced men? Why the decision to wound rather than kill? What motive could Wyndham have to take them alive? To take Hakon alive? What did that man want with that tiny little baby?
And then the answer was so simple that he wondered why they hadn't thought of it before. Melloni. The man had Professor Melloni. They had reasoned that Melloni had been tasked with trying to figure out a way to turn back the effects of the gene. What better way to do that than to have him do experiments and tests on the most promising child of all, the son of the most powerful alpha and a gene carrier? And maybe they’d hoped to bring a few more pack members back as well, maybe even Lidon.
That had to be it. They, as Palani and Lidon had suggested as well after their meeting with York, hadn't figured out yet that the Melloni gene wouldn’t just affect the children of the gene carriers and make them able to shift. They must've thought Lidon was an anomaly, being able to shift purely because his blood was so strong. They didn't know about the crucial influence of the alpha–beta–omega relationship. Or in Lidon’s case, the foursome with an extra beta thrown into the mix.
No, their sole focus was on the babies of the carriers, not on their parents. That's why they wanted Hakon and probably now that they knew of his existence, Jax as well. Of course, now everything had changed. Wyndham had seen that Vieno could shift too, and it wouldn't be long before they figured out why and how.
They needed the information from Watkins on where Melloni was being held. Or they needed to figure out a way to make Wyndham tell them before he died. Because Bray knew one thing for sure: this man would not leave the ranch alive.
He flexed his knuckles. “Tell me about Melloni.”
They were silent on the drive over to Uncle Leland and Aunt Sophie’s, one of Bray’s men driving them and another riding shotgun for extra protection. Lidon hated leaving the pack right now, but this took priority over everything else. His heart was heavy, and he took solace from Palani’s hand, which had been in his since they’d gotten into the car. They didn’t need words, both knowing this was the hardest task ever.
He hadn’t called, and yet his uncle and aunt stepped outside as soon as the car pulled up. It was as if they knew what was coming, but how could they? No one from the pack had contacted them, including his other cousins. But when Lidon stepped out of the car, there was no denying that they both knew. His aunt’s face was swollen and red from what had to have been hours of crying.
He reached out for both of them and they latched onto him instantly, his uncle to his left arm and his aunt to his right.
Uncle Leland raised his chin, meeting Lidon’s eyes. “How?” he asked, his voice breaking.
“We were attacked. He was shot,” Lidon said, his throat so tight with grief he could barely swallow.
“We felt it,” Aunt Sophie said. “Yesterday, we felt it. It was as if a part of our soul just died, ripped away…”
“God, I’m so sorry,” Lidon said, losing the battle against his tears. These were the two who had been like parents to him after he’d lost his own parents. Having to bring this hurt to them was the worst feeling in the world.
Aunt Sophie opened her arms and he stepped in, holding her as much as she held him, with his uncle’s strong hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m so sorry.”
His aunt held him, then kissed his wet cheek, her own face covered with tears. “This is not on you, my boy. He died with honor?”
“He died protecting the main house where the omegas and the babies were,” Palani said, his voice steadfast. “He and his crew were facing overwhelming odds, and he refused to surrender.”
“He died within the gates?” Uncle Leland asked, and Lidon wasn’t sure why it mattered, but he could see on his face that it did.
“Yes, close to the back door to the main house.”
Aunt Sophie nodded, seeking her husband’s hand for comfort. “Was he alone?” she asked, her voice a whisper.
Lidon’s heart broke for that question that betrayed her big mama-heart. It was a small comfort, but at least they could give her that. “Kean held him until the end. Jawon was not alone, Aunt Sophie. He was never alone.”
She nodded again. “That’s good, that’s good. He hated being alone, you know? He preferred being around people. I would’ve hated for him to be alone when it mattered most.”
“Was he the only victim?” Uncle Leland asked, and Lidon couldn’t believe he’d ask, not after losing his own son.
“Bray lost one of his men, and we have several wounded. Lars was shot, Kean took a hard beating, and so did Grayson.”
“But you won?” his uncle asked.
“We won,” Palani confirmed. “We don’t have all the details yet, but it seemed they were after Hakon. They never got to him.”
“Vieno shifted,” Lidon said, feeling a rush of pride despite the circumstances. “He was with Sven and Ruari and the babies, and he shifted to defend them.”
His uncle gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. At first, Lidon thought he was shocked that Vieno had been able to shift, but then he saw something more on his uncle’s face.
“He’s the True Omega,” the man whispered, his eyes wide in shock. “The time has come.”
The True Omega? Lidon remembered Grayson had let something slip about that during the first attack, when Vieno had been able to alpha compel him. But when they’d asked him about it, he’d said Vieno wasn’t ready yet, that they all weren’t ready yet, and that the time hadn’t come.
He opened his mouth to ask his uncle about it but realized the truth as soon as he did. “Grayson will tell us,” he said.
“Yes, he will. That part is his, but here’s mine, ours.” His uncle stepped up and put two hands on Lidon’s shoulders. As his brown eyes burned into Lidon, he saw them change color, become the eyes
of a wolf. “The time has come, alpha. Tonight at midnight, bury our Jawon on pack land. It’s a full moon tonight, so the earth is with us. His sacrifice will strengthen the pack, and you will rise.”
Lidon swallowed, his soul agreeing with his uncle’s words in a way he didn’t understand. “Yes,” he said, and then they hugged until it was time to leave.
“They took it better than I had expected,” Palani said on the drive back. He’d grabbed Lidon’s hand again, and the alpha was beyond grateful for that simple gesture of comfort.
“They knew,” he said, still trying to accept with his rational mind what his heart already knew. “Aunt Sophie said she cried all night.”
“When your parents passed away, did you feel it?” Palani asked.
Lidon thought back on that horrible evening when he’d still been in college. He’d been happy, hanging out with friends and celebrating a win by their football team one second, and terrified the next with an irrational feeling something had been horribly wrong. He hadn’t been able to shake it, and when Uncle Leland had called, he’d known.
“I did,” he said, his voice filled with wonder, because how could he have forgotten that? He’d forgotten that overwhelming feeling of loss an hour before his uncle had called him. “Maybe it’s a pack thing,” he said.
“There’s still way too much we don’t know about how packs function,” Palani said. “We really need to sit down with Grayson and have him teach us everything he’s learned. And he needs to tell us about that True Omega thing, because we need to know what that means for Vieno, for us.”
Lidon leaned in for a quick kiss. “I love how your practical mind is always seeking solutions.”
“I’m a fixer,” Palani said with a note of wistfulness.
Lidon had no trouble figuring out where his mate’s thoughts had gone to. “It makes it hard when you can’t fix things,” he said softly. “Like watching your brother suffer.”
“It’s not his body I’m worried about.”
“I know. I think we should look into trauma counseling. It was required at the force, you know? If we’d been involved in a deadly event, we always had a debriefing with a trauma counselor. As a rookie, I kinda laughed at it, but the older I got, the more I realized how crucially important those sessions were.”
Palani hummed in approval. “I’m not sure now is the right time to bring a stranger into the pack though.”
Lidon considered that. “Not today, but do some research tomorrow. Trust your instincts. The right person will come to us when we need him.”
He smiled as his own words registered, and Palani laughed as well. “Once upon a time, you were a cop who prided himself on being a rational person first and foremost,” Palani teased him. “What happened to that guy?”
“That guy met his mates…and his pack,” Lidon said, making light of it, then sobering. “My father instilled a deep habit of rational thinking in me, and I think it was to counter the influences of my grandfather and maybe even Uncle Leland, who were much more about instinct. My dad was right, but only to a certain degree. We’ve seen too much happen now that can’t be explained with the mind. I need to learn to trust my instincts more. They haven’t steered me wrong so far.”
4
“How is he?” Bray asked Ruari as the omega softly closed the door of his room behind him.
“He’s asleep. Enar stopped by to check on him and gave him some pain meds and something to help him relax, as he called it. It knocked him out cold within minutes,” Ruari said.
He’d spent all day with Kean, in between checking on Jax and making sure it wasn’t getting to be too much for Sven, and it had been hard on him. His mother had once said it was easier to have pain yourself than to watch someone else suffer. Ruari had some thoughts as to how she’d applied that sentiment to her own son, seeing as how she’d seemed content to stand by and watch her husband abuse their child, but nevertheless he did understand far better what she meant. Watching Kean struggle had been hell on him, and he’d never felt so helpless.
“Good,” Bray said, and the emotion in his voice was easy to spot, the alpha clearly as worried about Kean as Ruari had been. “Sleep is good. It will help his body recover.”
“And his mind?” Ruari couldn’t help asking.
Bray let out a soft sigh. “That’s gonna take longer.”
“He doesn’t want to talk,” Ruari said.
“It could be he’s not ready yet, or he doesn’t want to talk about it. Not everyone reacts the same way,” Bray said.
Ruari knew he had a point, but it still didn’t sit right with him. “He’s a talker, Bray. It’s how he processes, much like Palani. Talking and writing, it’s how the two work through things. Not talking may be normal for someone like you, but not for him.”
Something ticked in Bray’s jaw, and Ruari realized he’d inadvertently wounded him. “I didn’t mean it in a negative way,” he said softly. “One is not better than the other.”
Bray’s eyes were neutral, but Ruari felt the hurt radiating off him. “Of course it is, and let’s not pretend any different. I know you and he are close, much closer than either of you is with me. I can’t compete with that.”
Ruari stepped closer, and when Bray didn’t react in a negative way, he dared to reach for his hand. The alpha lifted his hand instantly, confirming to Ruari he did want the connection. “You’re not supposed to compete,” he said. “You’re supposed to find your own role, your own spot with me, with Kean, with us.”
“How?” Bray asked, and there was a note of desperation. “How do I do that when it feels like I’m intruding every time the two of you are together?”
Ruari took another step, now having to crane his neck to face Bray. “You and he have a history as well. He wanted more with you before he ever met me, don’t you forget that.”
Bray’s face softened. “He did. I never understood it.”
Ruari studied him. “Could that be because you weren’t even open to the option?”
He’d tried to word it carefully, but one corner of Bray’s mouth pulled up. “You mean because I was hell-bent on finding myself an omega?”
Ruari was glad to see him mock himself, even if it was just a little. “A sweet, pliant omega, from what I’ve heard. And instead, you got me.”
Bray’s smile was a full one now. “Instead, I got you.”
Ruari cocked his head. “I can be sweet, but I’ve never been accused of being pliable.”
“You’re a perfect match with Kean then, ‘cause that man is stubborn as a mule.”
Ruari grinned. “Yes, because you’re so easygoing and flexible.”
Bray laughed sheepishly. “True,” he admitted. “But it’s easier to call out Kean than to admit I may be just as bad.”
“I know, so let’s be honest: the three of us all have strong characters and strong wills. None of us is gonna give in easily, and that’s okay. We’ll find our way over time.”
“You have so much faith in us,” Bray said, and there was that hint of despair again.
“I do,” Ruari said.
“Just because we’re fated mates? Does that mean it could never go wrong?”
“I don’t think it works like that. I’m as new at relationships as you are, Bray, did you realize that? I never had a chance to date, so this is my first attempt as well, and much to my surprise, I find myself with not one, but two guys. And the stakes are a little higher for me, considering I have Jax to think about first and foremost.”
Bray nodded almost solemnly. “I would never come between you and him,” he said. “I hope you know that.”
It sounded so easy and like such a cliché, but considering Bray’s legal rights as Jax’s alpha father—should he choose to go to court and exercise them—it had a lot more meaning than apparent at first. “Thank you,” Ruari said, then impulsively reached up and pressed a soft kiss on Bray’s lips.
Bray gasped a little, and it was an adorable sound from a man his size. It reminded Ruari al
l over again that for all his tough exterior, Bray’s heart was big and vulnerable, and that he should be handled with care.
“I’m no expert, Bray, but I think any relationship is hard work, fated mates or not. Look at the pack alpha, you think that’s easy, the four of them? Or Grayson and his boys?”
Ruari smiled inwardly at how easily he’d adapted to the pack’s habits, using the same terms for Grayson, Lars, and Sven as everyone else. It was always Grayson and his boys, and they carried that term with pride. Then Ruari realized he might’ve slipped up, not immediately realizing he was, of course, talking about Bray’s father.
“No, it’s not easy for them either,” Bray said, and his shoulders dropped a little. “And I think in both cases, my attitude didn’t exactly help.”
“Oh Bray,” Ruari said, his heart going out to the big alpha who now looked like a lost little puppy that had been kicked. “How come?”
It felt like Bray wanted to let go of his hand, so he tightened his grip, signaling he saw no reason to break contact. It caused a ghost of a smile to flash over the alpha’s lips.
“I was a know-it-all,” he said simply.
“Big surprise there,” Ruari teased him, trying to light the mood a little. When Bray winced, he reached up and cupped his chin. “It’s okay to be wrong about things, as long as you’re able to admit it and are willing to learn.”
Bray met his eyes, those brown eyes full of shame. “Is there a maximum amount of how wrong you can be?”
Ruari’s answer was swift and filled with certainty. “No, because as long as you’re sorry, we’ll forgive, and the depth of forgiveness you experience will be equal to the amount of guilt you feel.”
Bray stared at him for a long time. He let out a deep sigh as he lowered his forehead so it rested on Ruari’s. “How did you get so wise? You humble me.”
Ruari wrapped his arms around that big body and almost instantly, Bray hugged him back. God, he loved the sensation of that wall of a man wrapped around him. He felt so safe, as if nothing could hurt him. After yesterday, he needed that feeling. His soul quieted, content in the embrace of his mate.
