Clyde woke in the middle of the night to the sound of his phone ringing, and for a moment, he thought he’d set his alarm for the wrong time. Not that he needed it. He’d woken up at more or less the same time every day for years on his own.

“Hello?” he answered, reaching for his glasses. They weren’t on the night stand where he’d left them. To be fair, the mating pheromones downstairs had pushed him to take a sleeping pill so he’d be out rather than having to focus on the strange need the two Alphas living downstairs seemed to stir within him in a way that none other—not even Roy—ever had.

“Is this Mr. Harp?” asked a female voice.

“Yes, this is he.”

“I’m calling from Futurus Laboratories about the sample you brought in. The DNA did come up with one match in the registry. A Mr. Ocean Dyson…”

Clyde let out the breath he’d been holding. “I see. And you’re sure?”

“We ran six panels. The test is quite conclusive. The splatter analysis you requested also came up positive. The victim was alive at the time the blood was transferred to the shirt.”

“Thank you,” Clyde murmured. So Anthony was the one who’d killed his brother, after all. It was what Clyde had expected, and the proof they needed to strengthen Betty’s case, but it was still hard to see it as a victory.

“However, there was one anomaly… I’m not seeing any tags that this sample was part of a Tribunal investigation.”

“No? That must have been my mistake, I was sure I submitted the paperwork with the requisition forms,” he lied. “It’s been a crazy week, I’m so sorry. I’ll fax you the forms right away.”

“If you like, I can just take the information over the phone and get the report sent out while you’re taking care of the form.”

“That would be wonderful. Have it sent to the Tribunal head offices…and the Mountain Ridge Investigative Unit.”

The woman on the other line paused. “Mountain Ridge? Isn’t this a bit far out of their jurisdiction?”

“It is, but I’m working with an independent consultant from their team and I’d like to make sure they have the results as well.”

“Alright, I’ll have it sent out first thing in the morning. Just try to get me the fax by then.”

“Thank you so much,” Clyde said, hanging up. He had lied more in the last week than he had over his entire career, but it was worth it. Mountain Ridge was the one place that mistrusted the new Tribunal chief enough for Clyde to trust them with the evidence, even if they probably wouldn’t have a clue as to what to do with it when it arrived. He just needed to make sure there was a backup, in case Anthony used his authority to get to the original sample.

If he did, that raised other troubling prospects, but at least Clyde would know that the corruption was as serious as he’d feared it was for a long time.

Too wound up by the news to sleep, he went downstairs and was surprised to find Kade sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in his hand. He wasn’t sure why, but he hadn’t expected the Alpha to be the tea type.

“Trouble sleeping?” Kade asked, dark enough circles around his eyes that it was clear he’d had a late night of his own.

“I wasn’t, until I got a phone call from the lab. The test on the shirt came back positive for Ocean’s blood. Anthony was there when he was killed.”

“That’s great news,” Kade said, standing. “It means we can prove Betty’s innocent, right?”

Clyde hesitated. “It’s definitely a step in the right direction. We’ll have to see where the investigation goes now that I’ve sent the findings off to the Tribunal.”

Kade frowned. “You think your boss would try to tamper with the evidence, don’t you?”

“He sent me here,” Clyde said with a tired laugh. “And he’s done it before, even though he made it seem like an accident. I wouldn’t put much past him.”

Kade reached past him for the tea pot on the counter, turning over an empty cup. “You could use some chamomile.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Clyde sighed, taking the cup. “Thank you.”

“What happens if the Tribunal tries to cover this up?”

“I had the report sent to another pack as a backup. A pack Steve isn’t on very good terms with.”

“You think of everything, don’t you?” There was a hint of sadness in the Alpha’s words, even though Clyde could tell he meant them as a compliment.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Not at all. It just seems like it would be exhausting, always having to assume the worst about people. Especially when you end up being right.”

Clyde shrugged before taking a seat across from Kade. “I’d rather be cautious than disappointed. I guess my ex taught me that.”

“Your ex?” There was no mistaking the hint of possessiveness in the Alpha’s tone, but Clyde couldn’t fault him for it. Kade was remarkably good at giving him space for an Alpha who’d just imprinted. That didn’t mean he was capable of pretending like it had never happened.

“He was another Tribunal agent. We used to work together quite a lot, until I asked to be transferred.”

“Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

“It was a few years back. We’d been dating for a while, and things were starting to get serious. He knew I wasn’t interested in leaving my job and starting the family he’d always wanted, and at first, he insisted that he was fine with me wanting to focus on my career. That I was enough,” he said with a dry laugh. “I soon learned that not to be the case.”

“I’m sorry, Clyde,” Kade said, the sympathy in his voice striking Clyde as genuine.

“I was naive,” he admitted. “I believed him. And I don’t blame him for wanting more…just for the way he tried to take it.” When he felt the rage building in the Alpha across from him, he realized Kade had gotten the wrong idea. “Nothing like that. He never forced himself on me, not in that way. It was just little things. Pressure to go off my heat suppressants, pressure to put him ahead of my job when the same things that would have gotten him a slap on the wrist, like skipping work, would have been an excuse for them to fire me. Looking back, I guess that’s what he wanted. To make it so that I had no choice but to rely on him, so I’d give him what it was that he wanted.”

“That’s disgusting,” Kade said through clenched teeth. “He doesn’t deserve to call himself an Alpha, trying to manipulate you like that.”

“Maybe not,” Clyde agreed. “I saw the warning signs, but I wanted to believe him when he said he’d change. I didn’t really love him, but I was afraid of being alone, I guess. Of proving the stereotype that omegas can’t ever be happy in love if they’re focused on their careers.” He laughed. “I guess I proved that right anyway.”

“Don’t blame yourself for that. Just because he turned out to be a douche beyond belief doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong by being dedicated to your career.”

“Maybe not. Anyway, when I went into heat because he ‘misplaced’ my suppressants and he tried to mark me, I knew it was time to call it off.”

The growl coming from Kade’s chest startled him, but the Alpha quickly composed himself. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. I like that you don’t try to pretend you’re something you’re not,” Clyde admitted. “I like that I know what to expect. From you and Jason.”

Kade smiled. “We’ve got that going for us, at least. He uh, told me about your offer.”

Clyde’s chest tightened. “Oh? And have you had time to think about it?”

“There’s nothing really to think about. I just want to make sure this is what you really want,” Kade said, searching his face. Clyde believed he actually did care, to his amazement. That if he was just making the offer out of misplaced guilt, it would change the Alpha’s mind. He wasn’t used to people caring how things affected him, even if it meant not getting what they wanted. “That you’re doing this because you want to and not because you feel in any way like you need to offer some consolation prize for not wanting me to claim you.”

“I don’t,” Clyde said, surprised that it was true. At first, he’d wondered if that was why he felt compelled to offer to be the couple’s surrogate, but seeing the way they were together, and the grins on both their faces as they’d held Rae… “I want this. For you,” he added quickly. “You and Jason. And maybe it’s my way of fulfilling the biological impulse to have a child without actually having to be a parent and all that entails,” he admitted, wincing. “Does that sound awful?”

“No,” Kade said, reaching to touch his hand. He froze, like he’d just realized what he’d done, but Clyde couldn’t bring himself to pull away. As simple and innocent as it was, the touch felt nice. Nicer than he’d ever imagined. “What you’re doing is just about the kindest thing you can do for another person. I just want you to know how grateful we are. But I also want you to know that even if you change your mind, now or a month from now, it doesn’t matter. I won’t lie to you and pretend that I don’t see you as my mate, or that I don’t wish I could be part of your life in a different way, but I never want you to feel like you have to change because of me, either.”

Clyde watched him, amazed at the earnestness in the Alpha’s words. “You really mean that,” he murmured.

“I never say something I don’t mean. And I’m never going to try to trap you or trick you,” Kade said, squeezing Clyde’s hand. “But I care very deeply about you, and I’d like it if you were willing to try to get to know each other a little better. Even if it is only as friends.”

Clyde swallowed hard. He’d expected that Kade might be upset when he found out that Clyde didn’t want to risk being impregnated by him, but not an offer of genuine friendship. Even the other omegas had never wanted that from him. He had learned a long time ago that Alphas were interested not because they saw that potential but because they saw him as another hole to fill, another impulse to satisfy. “I’d like that.”

More than he wanted to say.