The front door opened. Micah froze when York stepped into the apartment, sniffing at the air.
Aside from a few texts over the past couple days, Micah hadn’t gotten the chance to speak much with his son. So having Spike and Kai move back in... it was a bit of a surprise to York.
York narrowed his eyes when Spike and Kai crowded around Micah. “You’re back after you ditched my dad?”
Spike clenched his jaw. “Saw the error of my ways. I’m never leaving him again.”
“I’ll be back after the season ends,” Kai said. “Flew back when Spike landed in the hospital. We made up.”
“I’ve told you, York. I was the one who sent them away. But yes, we did make up,” Micah said, stepping forward to pull his son into a hug. “And I’ve also missed you.”
York wrinkled his nose, squirming out of Micah’s arms. “Yeah, maybe take a shower before you hug me, Dad. You stink like... like stuff I don’t wanna know about.”
York flushed. Micah assumed York had smelled the musk, along with elm and juniper. But York glanced at Micah’s neck, and then his wrists. Micah rubbed the bite marks on his wrists. Spike had given him a second bonding mark this morning, to match the one Kai had left on Micah’s other wrist.
“They’re for real this time, huh?” York said quietly, so only Micah could hear him.
Micah breathed out, flushing. “They are. I believe them, York. I know this has been crazy for you to accept, but... I’m really happy.”
York cracked a smile. “Yeah? Okay, maybe I can accept it. For the time being. So... when are you getting married?”
Micah’s face scorched. “We... haven’t talked about that yet.”
With Kai being the only one with a full-time job right now, money was still tight. And they’d only just bonded. Micah didn’t want to push too far, by asking what came next.
York considered all of them. Spike and Kai stood at the other end of the living room, giving them privacy. And York glanced back at Micah, surprisingly calm about all of this.
Under his breath, York asked, “When you do get married, do you want me to walk you down the aisle?”
Micah choked. Then the rest of York’s question sank in—This was York giving Micah his approval, this was York offering to give Micah away, and... York knew how much Micah wanted a traditional wedding. With both of Micah’s parents gone, York was the only blood family Micah had left.
Tears welled up in Micah’s eyes. “Yes,” he said, wiping the wetness off. “Oh, gods, York. You’re the best.”
Kai and Spike had started to prowl forward, protests on their lips—they’d seen Micah cry. Micah threw his arms around his son, holding on tight despite York’s disgusted expression.
“Dad!” York mumbled, squirming. “Get a shower!”
“That’s how you were conceived, you know.” Micah kissed him on the cheek. “Mating is part of the cycle of life.”
York paled. “No, I don’t want to hear about that, either.”
Micah laughed. Then he released York and pulled him over to Spike and Kai, who were still giving York wary looks.
York stepped forward, holding his hand out to them. “I guess I don’t mind that you bonded with my dad,” York said, looking them both in the eye. “But I swear, if you ever hurt him again—”
“Not gonna happen,” Spike growled.
“I promise,” Kai said.
York dropped his hand, studying them both for a moment. “Can we go back to being friends, instead of arguing over an omega because we all love him?”
Surprise lit both Spike and Kai’s faces. Spike was the first to step forward, pulling York into a hug. “You only had to ask,” Spike said, beaming.
Kai followed, wrapping his arms around York and his brother. “Yeah,” Kai said, meeting Micah’s eyes over York’s shoulder. “Sounds good to me.”
Micah’s heart pattered. All three of them hugging like this—it was perfect. Better than anything he could ask for.
Then Micah’s phone began to ring, and he turned away to answer it.
June was on the line. “Micah,” she said. “Get your butt down to the college. Stuff’s happening at the department office. Get here now.”
44
Micah
June had said to go to the department office, but the place was chaos. Micah edged around the crush of curious students, uniformed police, and harried staff, squeezing between two other people to see what was going on.
Behind him, Spike and Kai grumbled, elbowing people out of the way so they could crowd against Micah.
On the far side of the L-shaped office, someone raised his voice. “This is my college. I built it from the ground up,” Bernard snapped. “The staff here follow my rules.”
The police officers with him responded, but they were too far away for Micah to hear their response. A few paces away, a police officer cuffed Harold Saxon’s wrists behind his back.
Micah stared, hardly able to believe his eyes.
A couple weeks ago, when he’d returned to the college to drop off a few last-minute instructions, June had convinced him to lodge a police report. Micah had been dubious, but June had shoved the paperwork at him. Apparently, she’d prepared the paperwork for two other ex-coworkers of theirs—Dale Kinney, and Ian McMillan.
If this works, I don’t know if they’ll want to return, June had said, eyeing the forms wistfully. It’s been a while since they’ve taught at college-level.
Micah had filled in the form, not wanting to have wasted June’s time. Over the past week, he’d answered a couple of phone calls from the police, and given statement after statement.
Right now, that memory came to the forefront of his mind. The officer cuffed Bernard’s hands behind his
