Micah thought back to his home, to his empty bed, and didn’t know how he could return to his dreary life before, with his bed empty and York leaving home sooner or later. There was the baby, too, but without Micah’s alphas... The baby wouldn’t know how wonderful and strong her alpha fathers were.
That wasn’t a world Micah wanted to live in. It would kill his heart to.
As Micah sank bonelessly next to Spike, caressing his bloody face, he realized he couldn’t go on without knowing if Spike would be okay. If Kai would forgive Micah for cutting him off.
So what if Micah was horribly scarred? So what if he couldn’t walk straight? If they would have him, if Micah could believe that he wasn’t the pathetic omega Bernard had made him out to be...
Maybe Bernard had been wrong. And maybe Micah had been wrong, too. Maybe it was okay for Micah to be older than Kai and Spike. Maybe ‘beauty’ meant something else to them, and Micah only had to see it from their eyes. They had taken a chance on him—they’d spent so much time with him, showing him what it meant to be loved.
I love them both. I can’t deny it anymore. I need them with me.
Gods, Micah had thrown Kai aside without even speaking to him in person. He hadn’t even checked on Kai to make sure he was okay. He’d just left Spike to tell his brother the news, and that made Micah the worst lump of all.
Micah blinked back the tears in his eyes, trembling as he hugged his belly. I want you to meet your fathers. I can’t push them away anymore.
If Spike ever woke up, if Kai ever returned... Would they forgive Micah for what he’d done? Micah would beg. He’d do anything to have them back.
Micah sobbed, pressing his face against Spike’s chest. Kai had to know. If it was the last thing Micah did... he had to apologize to his alphas.
37
Kai
Kai had been drinking. Just a little. Mostly, he’d gone with his team to a bar because he needed their company, and he wanted their chatter to drown out the depressing thoughts in his head.
It had been two weeks. He’d thought telling Spike that he wasn’t going home would’ve made everything better, but all it had done was deepen the emptiness around his heart.
Sure, Kai had his teammates. But his team also had their own families—he saw the photos in their lockers, he saw the bonding marks on their necks. Every night, when each of these guys went home... they returned to smiles and warmth, and somewhere they belonged.
The team was where Kai belonged, except it also wasn’t.
He traced the outline of his phone in his pocket, half-hoping he’d get a text. From Spike, or Micah. Just to tell him they were doing fine. Next to him, Charlie toasted the rest of the team. Kai managed a half-smile. Couldn’t summon the spirits to cheer along with them.
“What’s with the long face, Kai?” Amber elbowed him. “It’s a long weekend! Time to kick back and relax!”
Yeah, Kai wasn’t sure what he was going to do for the next few days—his team called Monday to Wednesday off ‘a long weekend’. Kai would probably wind up lying in bed, scrolling through the pictures Spike had sent of himself and Micah. Again. Gods.
A nagging feeling hit him. Unease. He wasn’t sure why or how it did, only that something dark whispered in his veins. It said, You need to return to Spike and Micah.
Kai had never felt it before. He didn’t know why it was happening now, of all times. Maybe he really was going insane.
Then his phone vibrated in his back pocket, its ringtone barely audible in the bar. For the lack of something to do, he pulled it out. Micah.
Did this have something to do with his bad feeling? Or was Micah just calling because he wanted to... make up? His heart thudding, Kai excused himself. He wove his way out through the bar.
Outside, the quiet air smelled like road dust, and the grassy scents of summer. Kai hit the answer button. “Micah?”
“Kai.” Micah’s voice ran ragged across the line. “Spike’s not waking up.”
His entire body went cold. “What? What happened?”
“H-he got into a fight.” Micah sobbed, the sound twisting through Kai’s chest. He’d only seen Micah sob once, and this, Spike... Kai couldn’t breathe. “The ambulance is—is coming. But Spike... He’s bleeding, Kai. They slammed his head against the wall.”
“Who?” Rage roared up through Kai’s chest. “Are you hurt?”
“I—” Micah paused, and Kai closed his eyes, dread closing his throat. “I don’t know. I protected the baby.”
A sudden image of Spike, broken and bleeding, crashed through Kai’s mind. And Micah, small and shivering, clutching his belly. That shook Kai to the core. Scared him shitless. “Gods. Fuck. What happened?”
Micah sobbed, and Kai couldn’t fight the jagged horror cutting through him, the anxiety and the anger and the fear.
“Micah,” Kai said again. “Talk to me. C’mon.”
“Spike’s still alive,” Micah said brokenly. “I was going to get some groceries. Spike—Some alphas were going to attack me. I don’t know how he got here, but he—Spike fought with them. There were so many of them, Kai. They hurt him.”
Micah broke off in a low whine, and Kai closed his eyes, fury coursing hot through his veins. “Who’s ‘they’?”
“Some drunks. The police are here. The—the staff subdued them. We’re safe. But Spike, he...”
In that moment, Kai wished he were back home. He wished he were back in Meadowfall, so he could wake Spike up, so he could hold Micah in his arms and tell him he’d be safe.
“I’m coming back,” Kai growled, Micah’s desperation like a homing beacon. “I’ll be there soon. Give me some time.”
“But—” Micah sucked in a shaky breath
