CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“Thanks for the information.” Corish fished in his sporran and handed over a few more coins. “That should cover your expenses.” He turned his hand palm up. “Door key.”

“What the hell for?” Makish growled, hand covering his pocket as if his alpha son would attempt to wrestle it from him.

“Your presence upsets Mir.”

Makish looked as if someone had just told him the sky was green. “Are you kidding? Surely another set of eyes will be better? We can’t risk…” he gave Mir a quick once over before indulging Mir in what he clearly thought was a crazy omega whim, “them running off again. You’ve got a responsibility to the father of those pups. Getting prosecuted for failing in your duty as a guardian would ruin your career.”

“He’d fail?” Toren bit out, incredulous. “What about you? Mir never would have run away in the first place if you’d treated them with a shred of consideration and decency.”

As if taking advantage of their family’s distraction, cramp gripped their lower belly. Mir clenched their jaw, defying the pain that held for perhaps ten seconds, then faded. Closer, the birth was getting closer. Was that the fifth or sixth one this morning? Mir tuned out their bickering relatives.

Cor thought he could keep them safe, that he could go up against the Grabars, but he didn’t have a clue who he was dealing with. Telish had influence, but this wasn’t about him. There had been no recognition in the Grabar Prime alpha’s eyes when they met. This was about the son Telish hadn’t known about who had connections in the church and across the veil, judging by the equipment he possessed. Those experiments had to be funded, sanctioned, and defended by someone higher up in society than Sakish.

A young lawyer from an inconsequential family, even one as talented as Corish, couldn’t survive a knife in the back. Sakish was more than capable of organizing murders; Mir had witnessed one in Hell, and that’s without considering what happened to the omegas who just gave up and stared into the distance. Plus, if Sakish had announced himself to his father, he’d have the entire Grabar machine in his camp for the sake of the family name.

Mir slapped down the idiotic thought that running again would stop their upstanding, stupidly heroic siblings looking into this crapfest. It’d probably make them even more fixated. This could end up with Mir and Toren, or Torelle as they might be after that fucking doctor got through with them, back in Hell, and Corish with a bullet in the back of his head.

Another cramp rose, harder and faster this time. Why the fuck isn’t Tavish here helping me deal with this shit? The plan they’d cooked up back on Freedom Farm had seemed so simple, so foolproof. Show their faces at the ceremony, get the certificates, and disappear back home for their happy ever after. It had been them who had been the fools. Where the fuck are you?

Corish’s voice broke through Mir’s tumbling thoughts. “I think Mir knows exactly where they’d run this time. Now, we could sit back, let our big sib climb out another window, and follow them to their destination—because we will—or they could just tell us where they’ve been for the last eight years.”

Mir looked up to find all three staring at them. Makish’s slight sneer and the way Corish spoke, as if Mir wasn’t even present, pissed them off. Makish hadn’t changed, but the twins were their snotty little sibs, whose diapers Mir had changed, whose noses they’d wiped for years, and Mir was trying to save their stupid lives, for God’s sake. Another pain started, but fueled with rage, Mir ignored it and shoved a finger in their brother’s direction.

“You think you’re so damn clever, don’t you? Well, I’ll tell you this, for a lawyer, his private investigator sidekick, and a pathetic alpha hanger-on—”

“Don’t you dare disrespect me or your—”

Toren turned to the table and grabbed one of the chairs, movements tight with tension, and banged it down next to Makish. “Sit the fuck down or leave.”

Makish looked at his alpha son, who raised his eyebrows. With a frown that nearly produced a unibrow, Makish sat.

Corish turned back to Mir. “You were saying?”

Now that the surge of adrenaline had passed, Mir considered buttoning their lip again, but no, this needed to be said, and maybe might finally prove to Makish that omegas weren’t soft in the head, not that his opinion mattered to Mir, not anymore.

“You don’t know shit about the world.” The way Makish winced at the foul language he’d taught his proto-alpha offspring, coming from an omega’s mouth, sent anger spiraling again. “The Grabars are your prime suspects, and you think you’ve found out all there is to know, but you don’t even know how many of them there are. Why don’t you just leave things that you don’t understand alone? It’ll bite you in the ass in the worst—” Having said far too much and furious at themself for falling for their goading, they stomped to the stairs leading up to the bedrooms.

Another cramp in their lower belly niggled and then increased rapidly. Mir paused, then rested a hand on the wall beside the stairs, as the contraction washed over them. Shit. It hurt, it really fucking hurt. Mir gritted their teeth, knowing it would fade if they just waited it out.

From last time, they knew things would get far worse once full labor started, but that wouldn’t, couldn’t happen, not yet. They’d cope, convince everyone everything was fine, then sneak upstairs. The scissors they’d used to remove their stitches and string for the cords were hidden in a drawer, plus whatever extra bed linen they’d been able to find. They had this, because they didn’t have a choice if they was going to avoid a hospital visit and the inevitable genetic testing. Unfortunately, a normal home birth seemed far more than either of Mir’s siblings were prepared to deal with.

Both were beside Mir in seconds. “Is it time? It’s too early, isn’t it?” Corish asked, panic radiating as his hand hovered an inch from Mir’s shoulder, wanting to comfort but clearly scared to touch them in case it provoked another meltdown. Corish turned to their beta sib. “Grab a cab; we’ll go to the hospital. That omega specialist said triplets were a high-risk pregnancy.”

Gritting their teeth as the pain peaked, Mir ground out, “No hospital. I’m not in labor, and even if I was, I’m not leaving here.”

Tavish had said what would happen several times, and it wasn’t as if Mir hadn’t done this before. The contractions weren’t regular, and they weren’t particularly intense on Mir’s personal pain scale. These were practice contractions and were common in the last month of pregnancy.

“She’s having contractions; seems I’m going to get to see my grandpups after all. It’s twins, right? Because your Ma wasn’t that big with one.”

“Shut up,” Toren snarled at his sire before turning back to Mir. “Are you, or are you not, having a contraction? Because that’s exactly what it looks like to me.”

“Yes, but—”

“Then we go to the hospital,” Corish butted in. “I don’t have any experience of delivering a baby, let alone premature triplets.”

“Triplets?” Makish barked out a laugh. “Fuck it’s going to be fun seeing you lot cope with that, if their father lets you keep them.”

“They are premature, aren’t they?” Corish pressed, ignoring his sire.

“Fuck if I know,” Mir ground out, “but he said triplets are always a little early. It’s nothing to worry about. Besides, these are practice ones, not the real thing.” The pain was fading, like a wave retreating back down a beach, but Mir’s pulse was still rising at the thought of being carted off to the hospital and being at the mercy of doctors.

“And he is?” Corish asked with a hint of alpha steel in his voice.

Mir froze, their world closing down to the wall and their siblings close on either side, claiming the space, their now familiar scents invading their nose. Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that.

“Let me guess,” Toren stated, voice soft as their hand rubbed Mir’s knotted shoulder, enough for Mir to know it was there, but not enough to relieve any tension. “An alpha with specific omega medicine expertise who has been looking after you for the last few months?”

Mir wondered if they had the same expression on their face that their little sibs had when they’d caught them with their hands in the cookie jar. But this wasn’t a few baked treats they were talking about; it was the lives of people Mir cared about.

“Are these Tavish Grabar’s babies?” Toren asked, as Mir basked in the lack of pain.

“I damn well hope so. Think of the connections this could—”

“Shut the hell up, Pa,” Corish bit out, “or I’ll kick you down those stairs.”

“Does it fucking matter right now?” Mir ground out as another pain started. It felt like Mir’s body was keen to join in the battering that their family were giving them. If their sibs hadn’t been crowded so damn close, Mir would have made a run for it. Hitting remained an option, but the pain gripped, rising up like a wave, but this time, it rose higher than before. Mir’s hands fisted as they rested on the wall, fighting the pain, the questions. They refused to do this.

Not here, not now.

I said that before, and they still came.

And they took them, they fucking took them.

Mir gritted their teeth even harder. I’m so much stronger now. This would be possible if they could dial down their sibs paranoia. As soon as this cluster of practice contractions stopped, Mir would go upstairs and imagine they was at Freedom Farm. Tavish would be just outside, arguing with Cole. They’d tried the distraction technique many times since leaving Freedom Farm, but this place was too bright, too filled with strange scents and noises from the street outside for Mir to relax. Not to mention their damn father who sounded fucking gleeful about having a connection to the mighty Grabar clan.

“They’re not his. Tavish found me after I—” Mir’s lips clamped shut. Some things had to remain secret.

“And he kept you somewhere in the far north,” Toren confirmed. “I found the train you came down on, but it would only take a trip up there to find an exact location. Is that where you’ve been the entire time. Did he pick you up when you ran away from us and take you there?”

Mir shook their head. They couldn’t let Tavish take the blame, even if he’d abandoned them. “Only met him a few months ago.”

“After you did a runner from wherever and whoever did this to you,” Corish confirmed through clenched teeth. The scent of alpha anger filled the air, along with omega fear.

“What a surprise, running away again,” Makish murmured.

Toren grabbed Corish’s shoulder and wrenched him back a step. “Back off, and put your balls away, you’re nearly as bad as he is.” He indicated their sire who still sat on the dining chair, lapping up every snippet of information. “This can wait until they’ve had a check-up.”

With the pain sinking back into wherever it’d come from, Mir pushed away from the wall. “No hospital. If you force me, I swear I’ll be out of here as soon as I can manage it, after I beat the crap out of Corish for being such an asshole.” The glare they sent their alpha brother should have burned him to a crisp, then they turned on their smirking sire. “My pups do not need to grow up like we did with a bullying asshole who thinks he has the right to do or say whatever he fucking well likes because he’s got balls.”

Cor paled a fraction and raised his hands palms up. The crease between his brows deepened as concern darkened his green eyes. “We only want you all safe. I’d never forgive myself if something went wrong and we lost you, or them.”

“Same,” Makish piped up. Without looking, Mir gave him the finger. They didn’t have the energy to get into any more shit with that waste of space.

“Won’t happen,” Mir ground out, but the devil on their shoulder asked how many times they’d promised themselves that this time would be different, only to have their heart ripped out.

“How about we bring a beta doctor here to check you and the pups are doing ok?” Toren prompted.

A shiver ran up Mir’s spine as they remembered the kindly face of the beta who caused all this. They glared at their beta sibling, anger chasing the fear away. “Just because a person has a medical certificate, no balls, and keeps a smile on their face, it doesn’t mean they’re not going to—” Mir frowned at their crafty sibling, realizing they were still trying to get more information out of them, even though they claimed not to be.

“Will you give it a fucking rest? I don’t need or want to see a doctor, and I won’t unless you fancy holding me down and sticking me with a needle. And if you decide to do that, you’d better wear padding because I damn well kick, punch, and bite, and I have a fucking long memory. I am not in labor.“ Saying that didn’t mean it was true, although they hoped, Lord, did they hope. Another pain started, just a mild niggle, but it accelerated, stealing their breath as they focused on not showing how much it hurt.

NOT fucking happening.

“Your Ma’s labors never lasted more than an hour. I delivered all three of you. It’s not that different from cows really. It looks like I’ll be—”

“Over my fucking dead body,” Mir snarled. The scissors under their pillow were meant to be for the cords, but if that sack of shit tried to get anywhere near them or their pups, Mir swore they’d stick them in his fucking eye.

“Pa,” alpha dominance reeked in Cor’s tone. Mir just wanted to escape to somewhere small, dark, and protected, but they could do nothing but ride the pain. “If you say one more thing, you’re outta here.”

Makish folded his arms. “You won’t kick me out, you need me.”

“Excuse us, sibby.” Corish gritted out as he grabbed his father’s bicep and dragged him toward Mir. They scuttled backward, out of the way. Cor bundled his sire up the stairs. “You can stay upstairs until, and if, we need you.”

He wasn’t kicking him out because Cor thought they’d need his help. Mir would rather die than accept anything from Makish, but that didn’t seem to matter to Corish. Footsteps sounded on the landing above them, but there was nowhere in this building that would be far enough. Mir could still detect his whiskey-tainted scent.

“This is a damn cupboard, not—”

“Get in,” Corish growled, “or I’ll put you in.”

A door shut heavily upstairs, but none of the bedrooms had locking doors. Makish could come down any damn time he chose, and being that close to Mir’s bedroom cut off the only safe space they possessed. The thought of giving birth out in the open, vulnerable, flashed Mir right back to their first birth, when they’d screamed and cried while fighting the restraints, surrounded by uncaring beta guards and two of Sakish’s pet doctors.

Blowing out a breath, they tried to control the panic clawing at their throat. If they let it win, they could lose everything, just like that time. No one would let a deranged omega keep their pups.

Corish’s heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs, but he didn’t speak until he came back into the room. “He’ll keep quiet now, don’t worry.”

“You alright?” Toren asked in the deafening silence that followed. The echo of Tavish asking the same question squeezed Mir’s heart.

Not trusting themself to speak, in case they revealed just how freaky seeing Makish again had been, Mir nodded and eased into the chair Makish had vacated, knees feeling weak as the contraction didn’t fade but increased.

Closing their eyes, Mir breathed deeply, imagining Tavish’s hand rubbing their back and the alpha’s soothing, calm voice. “Breathe through it. Don’t let them affect you.” With concentration, Mir brought the burgeoning panic attack to bay. When they opened their eyes, both their siblings stared at them, pain in their green eyes.

Giving them a false bright smile, Mir said, “See? No meltdown.”

The twins exchanged a quizzical glance but didn’t comment. After a few uncomfortable moments, Mir grabbed the bull by the horns. Anything to distract them from working out the contractions were building so damn fast. Each one was longer than the last, the gap between them shorter and the pain more intense.

“Oh, for god’s sake, you’re a beta, and you’re an alpha. If you’ve got a question, ask it. I can only give you the finger, right? My balance is too off to thump either of you. Ask quick before the next pain comes.”

The comment produced twin grins. “Ok, I’ll bite,” Toren said, “but only because I can get to the door before you can at the moment.”

“If you piss them off, don’t worry, I’ll hold you so they can pound you,” Corish announced helpfully.

After glaring at their alpha twin, which had Mir hiding a smile, Toren spoke up. “You recognized the name of the beta Pa mentioned.”

“Nope,” Mir replied brightly. “But I’ve seen someone that fits that description going in and out of the door beside the grocery store opposite.” Mir wagged their head from side to side. “Of course, I could be mistaken. My eyesight sucks these days, but that’s where I got the idea about getting spectacles. You have no idea how unnerving it is not being able to see well.

“My turn for a question. Why did you send him to ask about Dr. Grabar?”

As always, when in private, Toren took the lead. “The doctor at the hospital said your most recent injuries, apart from the gunshot wound, occurred five or six months ago. They theorized that your circumstances had changed significantly for the better around that time. Since you stole a horse from the Grabar estate—and they are saying nothing and not pressing charges—we’ve been looking into all of them and speculating on what could have happened.”

Mir didn’t want them looking into the past but knew there wasn’t a damn thing they could do to stop them. They could have treated Mir like a mushroom—kept in the dark and fed on shit—like everyone else seemed to do, including Tavish. Besides, Mir was desperate to know what they’d found out what had happened to him.

Mir folded their arms awkwardly over their belly as if that could somehow protect the babies from hearing something that might give them nightmares for life. “Speculate away.”

Corish nodded to his beta sibling to retake the lead in the explanation. The power dynamic between the pair was subtle, just as it had been when they were children. Cor had always been the bolder, more upfront twin, but Mir always suspected Tor was the slightly brighter of the two.

Had they planned—arranged—for one of them to alpha and the other to remain beta? The flash of memory, of disgust, at the betas who had paid to use the omegas in Hell, including Mir, to artificially, or prematurely, force manifestation flashed through their mind. The heaving bodies on top of them, the frantic intensity to get as much out of their time as possible.

Being fucked by a beta didn’t hurt or satisfy as alphas did. They didn’t produce the mating reaction that being knotted caused, so Mir was always far more aware with them. They had even felt sorry for many of them, as they tried to become something they clearly weren’t because of society and family pressure.

Did Corish do that? Mir imagined the twins drawing lots or having a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide which one of them to spend their limited funds on. The thought of Corish going somewhere like Hell to force an unnatural manifestation made Mir’s belly roll with acid.

Mir focused back on their beta sibling as Tor started to speak. “As you were at the estate, and we know you were because of the horse, we guessed that one of the Grabars rescued, or kidnapped, you from wherever and whatever was happening to you.” When Mir didn’t immediately faint, hit out, or make a run for it, Toren continued.

“Only one of the immediate family alphas would have the clout to bring an omega to the Grabar estate for a formal guardian ceremony. Telish has his own fertile omega. Langish was the one getting an omega, so he wouldn’t risk upsetting his intended’s family by producing a pregnant omega at the ceremony. Before this news, that only left the prodigal, third-in-line, Zepish, as your benefactor.”

Mir tried to retain their bland expression but didn’t think they was fooling anyone as Toren continued.

“Since we got you back from the hospital, I’ve been doing pretty much what Pa’s been doing, but on the Grabars stamping ground; sometimes betas will talk far more readily to another beta than an alpha. Like Pa, the reactions I got weren’t typical.

“In my experience, have-nots are usually happy to bitch about the local haves, but no one in the entire town had a bad thing to say about any of the Grabars until I greased a few palms.

“After that, the name Zepish came up several times, but he hasn’t been seen locally for years. However, there are rumors of a pregnant omega punching the queen of the castle the night before the ceremony. There were a few grins about that. Apparently, Natelle enjoys lording it over all the other omegas in the distinct. There are some pissed-off beta siblings out there.”

When Toren finished speaking, a smile tickled Corish’s lips as he looked at Mir. “I don’t suppose you know anything about that punch, do you?”

Mir shrugged, not meeting their eyes. “As I said to the police, I found the horse wandering, but it sounds as if she deserved it to me.”

Corish sighed. “We’re not kids now. We don’t believe everything our older sibling says anymore.” He held up his hand to stop Mir’s retort. “And it’s not because you manifested as an omega. It’s because you’ve been abused for nearly a decade. That’s got to do horrible things to your head, and we understand that you’re not telling us everything. But we do this for a living.” Corish nodded at Toren. “They hunt out the evidence, and I prosecute the bastards who do such things.” Mir gazed into green eyes that were so much like their Ma’s. Mir might have gotten Morelle’s hair color, but the twins got her eyes.

“We’re good at this, sibby, trust us. Before Pa got here with the information about Dr. Grabar, I was planning on sending Toren to track down Zepish to see if we could find out a little more about where he found you. Whoever did this to you needs to be stopped for the sake of the next person they pick on, who probably won’t be as resilient as you. Unfortunately, we’ve found that once an alpha goes down the abuse route, he doesn’t tend to stop. For some reason, my arrogant gender thinks they can get away with anything because they have balls. Toren and I show them otherwise.”

The determination and confidence in Corish’s voice and bearing were all alpha, but what Zepish and Sakish could do to their beta sibling didn’t bear thinking about. If Toren found Hell, they’d never be seen again, and it’d be Mir’s fault. They didn’t know if the omega manifestation drug worked on mature betas, but Tavish had manifested at twenty-seven, so why couldn’t a twenty-two-year-old beta manifest as an omega, especially if they had the extra ‘help’ Mir received?

“Zepish didn’t find me,” Mir blurted. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from him.”

“So it was Langish? I bet you turning up really upset the guardian ceremony plans. Is that why you ran again? If we DNA those babies, are we going to find their father is a Grabar?” Toren asked before Corish took up the baton.

“Because, as you well know, the sire has a claim on the offspring, but runaways are a legal grey area. Usually, if the sire does not gain the lawful consent of the omega’s guardian for the mating, the rights to the offspring revert to the legal guardian. In your case, that’s me. And yes, I think omegas having to have a legal guardian, rather than being the pilots of their own destinies, sucks—”

Mir held up a hand, as another contraction gripped like an iron band around their belly.

“—Not soapbox time,“ Toren murmured, totally missing that Mir meant they couldn’t concentrate on the conversation when a pain came.

Corish looked a little sheepish. “Sorry. As a lawyer, when the law sucks, it well,” he shrugged, “Sucks. Back to this situation.” Mir struggled to understand what he was saying as the pain swelled. “If the sire claims that ‘suitable’ efforts were made to identify the omega and her guardian could not be identified, rights revert to the sire.”

“And yes, that’s crap,” Toren butted in, “and we are working to change that law and quite a few others, but right now those are the rules we have to work within.”

Mir’s mind whirled with the implications of the case. Sakish had damn well known Mir’s identity, although they wasn’t sure if Zepish had their details. But if this depended on the sire, or sires, of the babies, what Sakish and Zepish knew might not matter at all. Any number of alphas could be the sires.

“Mir?” Corish’s gentle voice pulled Mir back from their whirling thoughts. “I’ve represented omegas in several such cases, and the more details we have, the more likely it is you’ll be able to keep your babies, that is, if you want to?”

Mir’s arms went protectively around their belly, and they glared at their sibs. “No one is taking my babies, not you, and not any bloody Grabars either.”

“Good,” Toren said. “And we’ll do everything we can to ensure that doesn’t happen. Don’t forget, they will be our niblings, and with the way our work takes our focus, Corish wasn’t planning on becoming the guardian of any other omegas.”

Mir stared at their alpha brother as the implication of his words coincided with the contraction releasing its grip. “You don’t want a family?”

“I’ve already got one.” The certainty in his voice convinced Mir of his sincerity. It was selfish, and probably wrong, but Mir only felt relief knowing they wouldn’t have to compete with another omega for their brother’s attention.

“And I’m going to fight with everything I’ve got to keep our family, including those babies, together this time. To do that, we need to know more about this situation. Time is running out, and the more information we possess, the better we’ll be prepared to fight any parental claims. We need your help so we can help them,” Cor nodded toward Mir’s belly. “At the current pace, it could take us years to find out the whole picture, and that might be too late for them. You asked us to talk to you as a mature, sane, intelligent adult, so here’s me, doing that. I need to ask uncomfortable questions, and you need to answer them, so I can keep my promise and keep our family safe.

“First question, and I don’t suppose any of these will be easy, but they’ll really help our case. Who proved you, Mir?” Corish radiated alpha dominance, or maybe it was the tone he used when prosecuting a suspect court. Either way, it rang alarm bells. “Because no paperwork has ever been filed; I would have been sent copies.”

Mir knew the technical answer. For most omegas, the first alpha who came in their channel sired their first pregnancy. That had been Zepish for Mir, on both criteria, but they had only found out the second applied when the doctor aborted that pregnancy. There had been so many other options in those first few weeks that Mir couldn’t count them all, not to mention the hordes that had shoved themselves inside them since. They didn’t even want to consider the first alpha who had stuck their cock in them. All these years later, their ass still twitched at the ghost of the ripping pain Sakish caused with such nonchalant purpose. Their breathing sped up along with their heart rate.

“Leave your balls where they are, Cor. You’ll have them running from us next, and then where will they end up?”

Mir knew exactly where to go, and the sooner they got back there, the better. Their mind stalled. It wasn’t only Tavish who knew the location of Freedom Farm. Clayen did too, and he’d known about Sakish all along. Would Clay give up one brother to another?

How much more did the sneaky beta know? They certainly weren’t above forging government documents and creating artwork for a facility they must have known was illegal, no matter how much Clayen claimed ignorance. Mir wished they’d hit the little shit harder and was damn glad they hadn’t gone to Clayen’s secret apartment, because the first visitors might have been Sakish and his pet doctor.

As if taking advantage of their distraction, cramp in their lower belly rose, fast and hard, as if overjoyed to have caught them unaware. Closer, the birth was getting closer.

“If you had the choice, would you want to see a certain alpha doctor?” Toren’s quiet question took all the wind out of Mir’s sails as their heart lurched at the thought of Tavish walking through up those stairs with his kind eyes, his safe scent, and— Stupid hormonal tears prickling their eyes. Grief and pain combined and climbed higher as if they were helping each other surmount Mir’s hard-fought resolve.

They hung their head, hands gripping onto the sides of the seat as they fought both emotional and physical pain. Their lips trembled as awkward words bubbled in their throat, then forced their way out as the contraction released.

“If he wanted to see me, he would have been here by now. He worked out who I was from an old article you wrote. Tracking you down would be easy.”

Mir expected Corish to rage about keeping an omega from their legal guardian. Cor crouched beside them. “Tavish Grabar saved you? He never hurt you?”

Out of sheer annoyance, and because pain drained them off energy to do anything else, Mir lifted a hand, facepalmed Cor’s face, and pushed him away.

“Stop rubbing your balls into my face, you’re almost as bad as Makish. Remember, I changed your diaper.”

Mir breathed through the contraction, waited while it peaked then faded along with their resolve to keep everything in. Mir wasn’t big enough, wasn’t strong enough, to continue to carry this burden alone. “Tav is too fucking perfect for that. He never… Even when I… His damn halo always got in the way.” Their voice petered out. Corish was their little sib, after all.

“Didn’t he like you in that way?” Toren’s voice hugged them, even though their arms didn’t. In case I freak out. Such a fucking liability.

“He did, but he didn’t want to go ahead until I got my head together. Said he didn’t want me to feel an obligation because he’d helped me. Even when he said his body thought I was his omega and these were his babies, he wouldn’t. We only… when we knew we had to come down here so the other alphas would smell that we were together and not ask questions. And I pushed for that, not him. He’s nothing like the ones that—”

Mir stopped mid-sentence, realizing that, yet again, they’d given something away. Both their sibs were fully focused on them, probably filing away details for a prospective court case. Whatever he was doing now, Mir wouldn’t let Tavish suffer for doing the right thing and helping an omega in distress.

“It’s alright, Mir. You don’t have say anything you don’t want to,” Tor said, and a hand landed on their shoulder and rubbed. “Although Cor might need to see a dentist if he keeps grinding his teeth like that.”

“This is not a time to joke, Tor,” Corish ground out, showing just how true his sibling’s words had been.

Mir’s jaw set in determination, and with tears prickling at their eyes, interrupted their siblings pointless bickering, they’d held it in for too damn long. “He stopped the nightmares, mostly, and I felt safe with him, but it wasn’t real. Because if it was, and he’s alive and free, he’d be here.” Mir gritted their teeth as the wall before their eyes blurred. “Stupid fucking hormones. I fucking hate feeling like this.

“All those stories about alphas going to the ends of the earth to find their mate are crap. Pa didn’t go after Ma, and they were bonded. Tav’s father was pleased that I didn’t have any bonding marks, and right now, I am too.” Fuck, that’s not true. Where the hell are you, Tavish?

Toren looked away. Corish’s jaw flexed, but it was Mir’s alpha sib who spoke.

“Pa lied to all of us. He never bonded with Ma. He just made a mark on her neck to make people think he had. He thought it would make it less likely that her family would take her back, but he didn’t want an actual bond in case they did. I’ve spoken to many people who have a genuine bond, and they do exist. From what I hear, it’s both a wonderful and terrible thing.”

Corish looked Mir right in the eyes. “If Tavish wanted to bond you, and you had the choice, would you have been willing?”

Mir huffed, rubbing their eye with a fist, smearing away the traitorous moisture. “He was just being nice to an omega in trouble, he’s that kind of person.” They took a deep breath and, even if it made them weak in their sibs eyes, gave them the truth. “Yeah, I would have, in a heartbeat, and that probably would have been a shitty decision too.”

They closed their eyes, leaning their head back, as another contraction tightened. That was too close together, too intense, to be anything else but labor. They gritted their teeth, tensing their body, willing the pain to go away. “No, not happening.”

“I’ve erm, got a confession to make,” Toren said, a little sheepish. “I haven’t been spending all my time hanging out in Grabarton. I shadowed a birth attendant for a couple of nights, so I have at least some idea of what—”

If looks could kill, Toren would be writhing in hellfire from the glare Corish sent him. Without a word, the young alpha stomped back up the stairs and the storage cupboard’s door creaked open. “You’re leaving,” he announced, voice flat.

“I am not. My grandpups need me.”

“Your grandpups? You are fucking unbelievable. What about Mir? When Mir needed you, you tried to sell them to an unknown alpha. You are leaving, and don’t come knocking unless it’s in office hours.”

Two sets of footsteps came down the stairs, one stumbling, one firm and purposeful. Mir looked over as first Makish, then his son stepped onto the living area floor.

“But she’s a—” Corish grabbed his shoulders, turned him around, and gave him a shove, causing him to take a stumbling step toward the stairs down to the office.

“Mir brought us up, made sure we were fed, clothed, and educated, at the expense of their own welfare, and shielded us from you until you betrayed them and tried to sell them like an unwanted steer.“ The way Corish emphasized the non-gendered pronouns added another brick in Mir’s growing wall of confidence.

Makish’s low growl rent the air “Do you realize that changing her pronouns doesn’t change what’s between her legs, right? She’s a disturbed omega who needs psychiatric help. You’re only making it worse by indulging in her—”

Corish’s arm shot out, pointing toward the stairs, and like an obedient dog, Makish headed downstairs with his son’s words ringing in his ears. “Thanks to your failings as a parent, your own flesh and blood has been through hell, and no, you’ll get no more details than that unless Mir chooses to tell you. It’s only because of what Mir taught me about family that I still have anything to do with you. Take it or leave it because if you give me the slightest excuse, believe me, I’ll leave it.”

Corish’s lecturing voice faded as he hustled their father down to the office, clearly wanting to know that he’d actually left the premises. As if on cue, Mir’s belly tightened again.