By the time Isa picked him up at two-thirty, Liam had built up a good head of steam. He wasn’t scared of Mancini anymore, he was pissed. Pissed that this stranger, for whatever reason, was trying to bully his way into Liam’s life. A beautiful life he didn’t want to give up for any reason.

It didn’t take long to swing by the big, two-story house that Braun and Kell’s individual families now shared. Kell, Ronin and Branson lived on the upstairs floor, with a separate entrance, while Tarek and Braun lived downstairs. They’d only settled on the house a few weeks ago, and Brogan frequently teased them about throwing a housewarming party for the brand-new place.

Kell gave Liam a supportive hug when he dropped off Layne. Jax waved hello from the couch where he was feeding Branson. “Good luck,” Kell said.

“Thanks.”

Once he was back in the car, Liam floated Kell’s theory about Senior Iverson putting this whole thing into motion. Isa was silent for a few minutes as he turned that over.

“It’s a possibility,” he finally said. “I’ll have someone look into it, make sure Iverson isn’t communicating with anyone except his lawyer.”

“Thank you. I know it’s a small chance he’s involved, but it’s worth exploring, right?”

“Absolutely. Haus Iverson has his fingers in a lot of pots, which is why we’re still investigating him and why his trial hasn’t started yet. And targeting you hurts me.”

“If we can prove Mancini is doing this under coercion or because he’s being paid, that helps our case, right?”

“It does. And remember, today is a first meeting. We present our sides. No one is ruling on anything, but if the arbitrator thinks Mancini has a case, then we’ll go before a judge at a later date.”

Liam wanted to bang his head off the dashboard. “What kind of case could he have?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”

They didn’t talk the rest of the drive, and too damned soon, he was following Isa into the courts building. Arbitration rooms were separate from the regular courtrooms, and Liam had no idea where to go. He was grateful Isa did, because the building was huge and full of people going in one direction or another. Officers, judges, lawyers, and laymen, all moving quickly.

Liam stayed close behind Isa on the long walk to their assigned room. Isa paused outside the door and turned to face Liam. “I’m with you to the end, little one,” he said. “You’re mine, not his.”

“And you’re mine,” Liam replied. “My alpha.”

“My omega.”

They shared a quick kiss, and then Isa turned to open the door. Liam braced himself to face his rapist for the first time. To finally see the face of the man who’s sired his son.

Three people were seated at a long table. A beta man sat at the head of the table, and he had to be the arbitrator. On that man’s left was a lawyer and a man with a familiar face who had to be Hank Mancini. Mancini watched him with a steady expression that was more bland than predatory, and it confused Liam.

He followed Isa inside and sat where indicated, on the arbitrator’s right, with Isa next to him. “We can begin once our lawyer arrives,” Isa said in an authoritative tone.

“Of course,” the arbitrator said.

Ronin showed up less than a minute later, and he took the spot across from Mancini’s lawyer. Introductions went around, but Liam didn’t pay any attention. He focused his energy on glaring across the table in Mancini’s general direction.

“All right then,” the arbitrator said. “We’re here to address the complaint lodged by Mr. Hank Mancini that the omega Liam Haley is his legal mate, and that the minor child Layne Haley is his biological child.”

“He is,” Mancini said. “We have DNA proof.”

His lawyer shushed Mancini, then handed a sheet of paper to the arbitrator. “We do have DNA proof that Layne is my client’s biological child. We have medical proof that the heat that sired Layne was the omega Liam’s first heat, which means he is legally my client’s mate. We are simply asking that Constable Higgs relinquish the temporary guardianship he has on Liam so he can go home with his true alpha mate.”

“Mr. Cross?” the arbitrator said.

“Everyone in the province is aware of the omegas purchased and held against their will by Esom Dent and Ness Udall,” Ronin replied. “It’s all public record at this point, as is the fact that Fynn Lawry ran a halfway house for orphaned omegas, and that he sold said omegas to Dent and Udall once they’d been impregnated. Again, public record. It is also a matter of public record that all those omegas, with the exception of Jax Orris, were impregnated against their will during their most recent heat in Lawry’s care, Mr. Liam here included.

“He did not consent to being knotted by any alpha, much less Mr. Mancini, and it is despicable that this court is considering giving an omegin and his son over to a rapist who forced Mr. Liam to mate with him during his most vulnerable time of year. Mr. Mancini then left Mr. Liam behind for a month without taking him home, or even filing the proper mating paperwork with the courts.”

The arbitrator studied Ronin a beat, then turned to Mancini’s lawyer. “Do you have proof that Mr. Liam consented to sexual relations with Mr. Mancini during his heat?”

“We do, actually,” the lawyer said.

Liam nearly fell out of his chair. As it was, being this close to Mancini made his skin crawl and his insides quake.

“And what is this proof?” Ronin asked.

“It’s a consent form signed by Mr. Liam, giving Fynn Lawry the power to make decisions on Mr. Liam’s behalf should he be incapacitated, due to illness or injury, or in this case, decisions made while Mr. Liam was in the throes of heat.”

“I never signed that,” Liam said.

The arbitrator slid the paper down to Liam. “Is this your signature?”

Liam studied the paper. He signed official documents so rarely, but it matched the signature on his provincial ID and his credit card. “I don’t remember signing this.”

“Mr. Liam was on high doses of painkillers when he was remitted to Mr. Lawry’s care,” Ronin said. “We have documentation of those meds, as well as their dosage. Mr. Liam was recovering from internal injuries and a broken collarbone resulting from a head-on car collision.”

“I see,” the arbitrator said. He studied the papers in front of him. “Despite Mr. Liam’s allegedly medicated state at the time, this is his signature on a legally binding document. This means that Mr. Lawry was able to make legal decisions for Mr. Liam, including allowing an unmated alpha to claim him as his mate.”

“Mr. Mancini has never claimed Mr. Liam as a mate. Mr. Liam was in Lawry’s care for several weeks following the heat and insemination, but Mr. Mancini never came to claim his mate. In fact, Mr. Liam’s mate of record is a sixty-year-old retired beta from Delphia Province, a record falsified by Lawry when he sold Mr. Liam to Mad Dog Productions last year. Why on earth is Mr. Mancini coming forward after all this time?”

“That is an excellent question. Mr. Mancini, why did you fail to claim the omega you supposedly mated with under consent at the time, and then wait nearly a year to do so today?”

“I’m also curious,” Ronin said, “how Mr. Mancini came to know both Fynn Lawry and decide he wanted to mate with Liam at the time that he did.”

“All fair questions,” the arbitrator said.

Liam watched Mancini’s unchanging expression, but Mancini replied directly to the arbitrator. “It’s a matter of public record that Fynn Lawry kept anywhere between six and twelve omegas in his halfway house at any given time, and he had financial incentives to help them find mates.”

“Lawry also held illegal shopping days with the omegas in his care,” Ronin said sharply. “Allowing alphas into the house to view the omegas. I have more than one statement from his former residents to that effect, and it’s also known that unmated alphas are prohibited from entering such halfway homes.”

“I never attended those illegal viewings,” Mancini said. “Lawry posted his new omega residents to the Omega Classifieds pages, which is not illegal. Anyone with legal custody of an omega is able to post about said omega in those columns, and that’s how I found Liam’s profile. I thought he was handsome, and I related to his story. My sire and one of my two brothers died in a car wreck when I was seventeen, and I lost my omegin last year, as well.”

“If you related to Liam so much, why didn’t you set up a meeting with him through Lawry? Why come into the house in a clandestine manner, while Mr. Liam was caught in the throes of heat, and force yourself on him?”

“Objection,” his lawyer said.

“We aren’t in court,” Ronin said. “I’m trying to figure out his motives here, because they don’t make any sense to me, and we sure as hell will not be reaching any sort of custody agreement until I understand.”

Liam’s hands jerked in his lap. He didn’t want to reach an agreement, he wanted to go home with Isa, period. Beneath the table, Isa lightly squeezed his thigh.

“I’m curious about that, as well,” the arbitrator said. “Please answer counsel’s questions, Mr. Mancini.”

“When I called Lawry to enquire about Liam,” Mancini said, “Mr. Lawry informed me that Liam was going into heat, and that a meeting wouldn’t be possible. I’d have to make the decision to become his mate without getting to know him first.” Mancini’s tone made it sound as if he’d done the world some sort of favor for fucking someone who couldn’t consent.

Liam glared at him.

“So you’ve never had a coherent conversation with Mr. Liam?” Ronin asked.

“No, he was caught in a surge when Lawry brought me to him. Even when we were between surges, Liam seemed…incoherent. Extremely tired. I’ve never been with an omega during heat, so I assume that’s normal. We ate, we rested, and we knotted. It was a wonderful experience.”

“Maybe for you, you fucking rapist,” Liam snapped. His broken voice didn’t carry the weight of his hatred, but he felt better for saying it.

Mancini looked at him—finally—with a wounded expression. “I didn’t rape you. I had permission from the man you gave legal consent to make those choices for you.”

“While I was drugged out of my mind. Goddess only knows what Lawry was giving me during my heat to keep me docile between surges so I couldn’t tell you to fuck off.”

“Constable Higgs,” the arbitrator said, “please keep your charge under control. He’ll have his chance to speak.”

Isa squeezed the back of Liam’s neck, then leaned in to whisper, “I want to tear his throat out, too, but please be patient.”

Liam nodded. He could do that for his legitimate alpha.

“As I said,” Mancini continued, “we had a wonderful two days, but Liam was exhausted when his heat finally ended. He was sleeping heavily, so I left him to rest. The choice to mate with him was so sudden that I hadn’t made any plans. I still lived with my one remaining brother, and we shared a room. I was finishing up my final year at university. I asked Lawry for a month to make plans so I could support my mate.”

“Why did you never return to Lawry’s house and introduce yourself to Liam?” Ronin asked. “Or ask to have an escorted meeting outside the house? Liam didn’t know who you were, he’d never met you outside of heat. Were you just going to show up one day, introduce yourself as the man who raped—”

“Objection,” the other lawyer said.

Ronin glared. “As the man who knotted him during heat, and then hope he’d willingly go with you as his mate? A little presumptuous, aren’t you?”

“He’s my mate, Mr. Cross,” Mancini said. “We’ve been apart for a long time, but even your nose can smell our mingled scents. Before I could arrange a visit with Liam, Mr. Lawry called and told me there had been an accident in the house, and Liam had passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning.”

“Did you ask for a death certificate?”

“Of course not. I took the man at his word, and I mourned my mate.” For only the second time in the conversation, Mancini looked directly at Liam, but Liam still saw no real emotion in the man’s eyes. He barely heard them in the alpha’s voice, and while yes, their scents were faintly mingled, the odor of Mancini repelled Liam. “When I saw your photo in the paper two weeks ago, you and our son, I was shocked. I hadn’t even considered you were one of the rescued omegas, because I assumed you were dead. When I realized you were alive and you had another guardian, I contacted a lawyer to find out my options.”

“And what is your situation now?” Ronin asked.

“I graduated university two weeks ago with a degree in Economics, and I already have a full-time paid internship that I start next week. I also have a two-bedroom apartment in the Stonecrest area. My family will want for nothing.”

Liam bristled. Mancini was not his family.

“Twenty-five is a bit old to finally graduate university,” Ronin said. “The average age is twenty-two.”

“I don’t come from a wealthy family,” Mancini replied. “I was not able to attend at the usual age of eighteen, because my brother and omegin needed me to work. Once my surviving younger brother was able to work and help support us, I applied.”

“And your brother?” the arbitrator asked. “What is his situation?”

“He has his own accommodations now,” Mancini said.

Liam simply glared at the man, putting as much poison into the expression as possible. He hated Mancini. Liam didn’t care if any part of Mancini’s story was true, he didn’t buy the majority of it. Mancini hadn’t even tried to explain how a month went by after the heat before he found out Liam “had died,” or why he hadn’t come for Liam sooner.

“All right, thank you, Mr. Mancini,” the arbitrator said. “You have very compelling arguments in your favor.”

Isa growled, which caught Mancini’s attention, and the much younger alpha bristled. Mancini was twenty-five, which surprised him. How had a seemingly healthy young alpha gotten so old without taking a mate before Liam?

Something doesn’t add up. At all.

“Mr. Cross, your arguments?” the arbitrator asked.

“Last year, Liam Haley lost his family in a car accident in which he received devastating injuries of his own,” Ronin said. “When he was turned over to Lawry’s care, he was under heavy doses of painkillers, of which I have hospital documentation. Any paperwork signed by him at that time was not done with any reasonable awareness of what he was signing. Lawry took advantage of that fact, the way he’s taken advantage of dozens of omegas in his care, and perhaps Mr. Mancini’s story of how he learned about Liam via a personal ad is true, but Liam was not given a choice in the matter of who”—he made air quotes—“mated with him. And he did not knowingly give that power to Lawry, nor was he told Lawry had that power. All he knew was that a strange alpha came into his bed during a traumatic time and took advantage of his body.

“Liam has repeatedly said he remembers very little about his heat, which I find incredibly strange. I’m mated, my best friend is as well, and while it isn’t unusual for an omega to experience moments of delirium from surging hormones, once the surge is satisfied, there is a period of lucidity. Coherence. The omega can hold a reasonable conversation and they remember those conversations. It is Mr. Mancini’s own testimony that Liam seemed incoherent and extremely tired between surges, and the only conclusion I can come up with is Lawry drugged him to keep him docile. All that mattered to Lawry was getting Liam pregnant so he could be sold to Ness Udall.

“I can’t guess as to Mr. Mancini’s motives here, and to be honest, I don’t care. My concern is my client, who has already been severely traumatized. He was forcibly impregnated, sold, held captive for five months while forced to bulk up, never knowing why until the day he was rescued. He watched one of his fellow rescued omegas die giving birth. And the last thing he needs is for the life he’s built, the sense of safety he’s finally created, to be destroyed by that man whose claim to Liam is as flimsy as his excuses.”

Mancini’s eyes narrowed, showing irritation for the first time. Maybe Ronin was getting to him. His words certainly made Liam want to stand and applaud.

“Liam has also met his bondmate,” Ronin said, lobbing their final bomb.

Across from him, Mancini’s lips parted and his eyebrows crept up. His certainty seemed to fracture a little, too, and Liam bit back a smirk.

“His bondmate?” the arbitrator asked.

“Yes, his bondmate,” Isa said. He took Liam’s hand and raised it so both were resting on the table between them. “We felt it that first day, when I rescued Liam from his prison, but we couldn’t define it. My first mate died over two years ago, and Liam was pregnant when we met, so it took us several months to understand what we felt.” Isa looked right at Mancini. “Liam is my bondmate, and I’m his legal guardian. I will not give him to you.”

Mancini growled.

“Gentlemen,” the arbitrator said. “It sounds as if you both have compelling arguments to make, and that there is no chance of reaching any sort of agreement today, am I right?”

Both lawyers agreed.

“Then I will pass this case along to family court. You’ll both be notified when a court date has been set.”

“I want to see my son,” Mancini said.

“No,” Isa snapped.

“We have a test that proves he’s mine.”

This time Liam couldn’t withhold a sharp, “No,” of his own. “He’s ours.” Liam wrapped his arm around Isa’s and leaned in.

The look Mancini leveled at Liam was black enough that Liam ducked a bit behind Isa, relying on the protection of the bigger man.

“The request isn’t unreasonable, given the circumstances,” the arbitrator said. “I’ll contact social services and have them schedule a supervised visit.”

Liam wanted to punch the man in the face for allowing Mancini anywhere near his son, but that wouldn’t solve the problem, and Liam didn’t want to come across as a violent person. Not when his child’s future was at stake. He stayed behind Isa until Mancini cleared out with his lawyer and the arbitrator.

Once they were alone in the room, Isa turned and hugged Liam tight. “I’m sorry you had to sit through that,” Isa said.

“I hate him,” Liam replied. “I don’t even know him, and I hate him. I won’t go with him.”

“No, you won’t,” Ronin said. “Not if I have anything to say about it. There’s too much in his story that doesn’t add up.”

“What are you going to do?” Isa asked.

“Dig deeper. First I want to speak to this surviving brother of his, see what he has to say about all this. Then I’m going to look at Mancini’s movements over the last year or so, especially that month post-heat when he never bothered to contact Liam before he disappeared. And with Lawry dead, there’s no one else to corroborate Mancini’s version of events, or the conversations he supposedly had with the man.”

“Is that good or bad?” Liam asked.

“Depends on the judge. Most men are conditioned to take the word of an alpha over an omega or beta, and a conservative family court judge is likely to buy what Mancini is selling. So it’s on me to bear the burden of proof and figure out what exactly Mancini hopes to gain from this. He’s twenty-five, which is somewhat old for an unmated alpha. Obviously, there are older, unmated alphas out there, but the average alpha mating age is twenty-one.”

“Is it possible he lied about being unmated before Liam?” Isa asked.

“Anything’s possible, the problem is proving it. The good news is these cases can take days, if not weeks to be heard by a judge, and because the minor child is safe and in no immediate danger from his custodial parent, this case won’t be pushed to the front of the docket.”

“If you need anything from me or the constabulary, name it. My mate is staying with me.”

Liam hugged him tighter, grateful for the unceasing loyalty from his bondmate. “Thank you. Mancini scares me. He’s got dead eyes.”

“He is a bit off-putting,” Ronin replied. “And I’ve got quite a lot of research to do. Constable, can you have your main records office send over everything they have on Hank Mancini and his family?”

“Absolutely,” Isa replied. “I’ll have it couriered to your office by the end of the work day.”

“Much appreciated. Shall we head out? As much as I know Kell enjoys watching Layne, you must be eager to see your little man again, Liam.”

“I am.” Liam shuddered. “I hate that the court is going to force a visit on Layne. I don’t want Mancini touching my son.”

“The good news is, it’ll be a supervised visit, which means a social worker will be present, and you can request to stay, as well, Liam. Mancini might be his biological sire, but he’s a stranger to you both.”

“Oh yes, Layne doesn’t go out of my sight for a moment during this fucking visit.”

“No, he doesn’t, and as your guardian, I’ll be there, too,” Isa said.

He called the records request in on their walk to the parking structure, and Isa was done with the call by the time they found the car. “If there is any dirt to be found on this character, we’ll find it,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for this. We’re both working to keep you and Layne safe. This Mancini could be the sweetest gentleman on earth, but a lot of his story doesn’t add up, and besides, you’re my bondmate. You both belong with me.”

“Yes, we do.” Liam kissed him before getting in the passenger seat, and he fretted the entire drive to pick up Layne. Ronin was an excellent lawyer, as he’d shown today, but Mancini had legal documents on his side. The only sure-fire way to keep Liam with Isa was for them to mate, but he couldn’t exactly call on his heat at will.

He waited until Isa had parked on the street in front of Kell’s place before asking, “Can we have sex tonight?”

Isa’s hand jerked the wheel, so yeah, good idea to wait. He twisted to face Liam, his eyes wide with shock. “You want to have sex?”

“Yes.” Liam reached over to hold both of Isa’s hands, luxuriating in his bondmate’s warm cedar scent. “I belong to you, Isa Higgs. I need to feel like I belong to you, like there is no force on earth strong enough to tear us apart. And I know it won’t officially mate us, but I want this. I want to give myself to you, mind, body, and spirit. Please?”

Isa loosened a hand so he could cup Liam’s cheek. “Are you absolutely sure you’re ready? I don’t want this to simply be a reaction to today.”

“Today is part of it, I won’t lie, but I’ve wanted you for a while now. My heart knew it, but my mind took a little more time to understand that I love you. I trust you. I want to make love to you, my alpha. Can we?”

Isa growled softly, and then tugged him closer for a deep, promising kiss that made Liam’s entire body ache with want. This was desire and passion—two things Liam had never felt before. Things he didn’t want to feel with any other alpha, ever. Only Isa Higgs.

“I love you,” Isa panted when they broke apart. “So much. I’d love to make love with you tonight. We’ll need to swing by the store on the way home.”

“We don’t need condoms.”

Isa chuckled. “No, little one, but we do need artificial slick. If I still have any, it’s long since passed its use-by date.”

“Oh. Of course.” That made sense. They’d need it to prepare Liam’s body, since he wasn’t in heat, and the idea of Isa deep inside of him made his hole clench with need. Isa’s cock had been difficult enough to suck. How would it feel buried in his body?

I can’t wait to find out.