Every single time Braun rode the bus, his self-confidence grew. He stood straighter, shoulders back, eyes ahead. He no longer cared if alphas sniffed at him or made lewd comments. They wouldn’t touch him because of his mingled scent: claimed, even if not mated. Not yet.

Less than two months until his next heat, and then they’d be mated.

Braun grinned at the back of someone’s head as the bus lurched to a stop. His stop. He climbed off with a handful of beta passengers, then headed down the street to Tarek’s house.

No, our house.

He’d only lived there for a week, and yet Braun felt completely at home in Tarek’s cozy little cottage. He looked forward to waking up in bed with Tarek every day, for the rest of their shared lives. They’d developed a comfortable routine this past week. Braun often worked midday shifts, and Tarek beat him home by about thirty minutes, so he had dinner waiting for them. Then they watched television for a while. Most nights they made love before bed. They hadn’t last night, because Tarek had complained of feeling sick, so Braun had pampered him instead.

Braun had still been asleep when Tarek left for work that morning, so he hadn’t been able to ask if he felt better. Must have, since he hadn’t taken a sick day. They texted a bit, with Tarek apologizing for being a burden last night, and Braun telling him not to be silly. He’d enjoyed doting on his alpha for a change.

The fragrant scent of searing meat greeted Braun at the front door, as did the sight of Tarek bent over at the waist, with his head down by the open oven door. A lovely view of his toned posterior also greeted Braun, so he let out a wolf whistle.

Tarek snapped to attention, and then laughed. “Didn’t hear the door open.”

“I was being sneaky, hoping for a nice butt view.” Braun shut the door and put his keys on the hook. “Hi, honey, how was your day?”

“Long and boring.” Tarek poked at whatever was sizzling on the stovetop. “I made steaks and baked potatoes.”

“Good old comfort food. Love it.” He wandered into the kitchen to kiss Tarek hello. “So you’re really feeling better?”

“Of course. I’m not sure what happened last night. My stomach was a mess, but I don’t think it was dinner.”

“No, because I didn’t get sick, too. Maybe it was stress.”

Tarek’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Maybe. How was your day?”

“Same as usual. I like stocking shelves and labeling shipments, though. It’s quiet and I don’t have to really bother with customers all that much. I’d like to find a better, more interesting job at some point, if you’re okay with that.”

“Of course, I am. I want you to do whatever makes you happy, Braun, I mean that.”

“Obviously, I’ll wait until after we mate. It’ll be safer that way.” Safer to move around in a world populated with un-mated alphas, who would be tossed into prison for forcing a mated omega without his alpha’s permission.

‘Without his alpha’s permission’ always stuck in Braun’s craw. It implied that an alpha could share his omega with other alphas, like Krause had, even if the omega said no. It gave the alpha complete power over an omega’s body, and Braun actively hated that. Goddess knew what sort of hell Kell was going through, because no one answered when he called, not even a servant.

“Hey.” Tarek put down the plate of resting steaks and pulled him into a hug. “What’s wrong?”

“Thinking unhappy thoughts when I should be enjoying dinner with you.” Braun let out a long, frustrated breath. “I miss Kell.”

“I know.” Tarek rested his chin on the top of Braun’s head. “We’ll find a solution.”

“It’s been a month since I’ve seen him. I’m scared that when I finally do, there won’t be anything left of my brother to save.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Me too.” Braun pressed his nose into his future mate’s armpit, inhaling his intoxicating scent. It had changed subtly in the last week or so, adding a new layer of sourness that Braun couldn’t identify. Something like fear or upset, but not quite. And he wasn’t sure how to ask Tarek about it.

“As much as I love holding you,” Tarek said, “the potatoes are going to be mush if I don’t get them out.”

Braun laughed, and then let go. He got them both drinks while Tarek put food on the table. The steaks were browned and smelled amazing, and the baked potatoes popped open with a cloud of steam. Braun tucked several large pats of butter into his potato, followed by a big gob of sour cream.

Tarek hated sour cream, but he bought it because Braun loved it on anything potato, even fries and hash browns. It was the perfect condiment. But knowing now that real cows still existed to produce real, grass-fed milk, made him wonder if what he loved tasted anything like the real thing.

No use dwelling on that. He cut into his steak, which was perfectly medium-rare and juicy. Braun sawed off a nice big bite.

Tarek’s phone rang from its spot on the counter. He glanced at it, but made no move to answer.

“It might be a case you’re working on,” Braun said. “I won’t be offended if you answer it.” They had no set mealtime protocol about phone calls during, and he loved that Tarek thought their time together was so important that he’d ignore a potentially work-related call.

Tarek stood and checked the caller ID. His hesitation to flip the phone open and answer dialed up Braun’s curiosity. “Constable Bloom,” Tarek said. He angled his body away from Braun. “Yes, I am. Why?”

Braun wasn’t sure how he knew something was wrong. Tarek’s shoulders went rigid, his free hand curling into a fist. The air charged with something unpleasant, and Braun’s stomach curled in on itself. Tasty food forgotten, he put his fork down and stood, on alert for anything.

“Yes, sir,” Tarek said. “We’ll be there. Thank you for calling.”

“What’s wrong?” Braun asked.

Tarek pivoted so slowly that Braun nearly asked him a second time. His handsome face was pinched and grief-stricken.

Braun’s insides turned to jelly. “It’s Kell,” he said. “What happened to him? What did Krause do?”

“Krause didn’t…” Tarek blanched. “Sweetheart, Krause is dead.”

He hadn’t heard that correctly. No way. “He’s what?”

“Dead. Kell killed him.”

“No.” The world swayed, and Tarek grabbed him before they both hit the floor, Braun practically in Tarek’s lap. His boby trembled and shook, and he clutched at Tarek’s shirt. “I don’t understand. Kell couldn’t…he’s not…”

“People snap. You push them too far, and they push back.”

A strange sob tore from Braun’s throat—not for Krause, but for Kell. He’d never shed a tear for Krause, but he’d cry forever if it eased his brother’s suffering. “What happened?”

“I didn’t get all the details over the phone, but a servant named Scully called emergency services when they found the pair naked in bed together. Kell was alive, but bloodied, and Krause was dead. His throat had been cut open.”

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck, not Kell.”

“Kell was taken to the hospital to get checked out, because he was catatonic at the scene. Once he’s released, he’ll be transferred back to the constabulary for questioning.”

Braun lurched toward the door. “I need to see him.”

“You will.” Tarek kept him from racing blindly off with a firm hold. “We’ll go in a few moments. I need you to breathe. Whatever happens, whatever Kell has or hasn’t done, we’ll get through this. I’m here.”

“This isn’t happening.” As much as Braun hated Krause and wanted his brother free, he’d never imagined it would come at the cost of Krause’s life—and possibly Kell’s freedom. Murder was a serious charge, the penalty often death, but no way had Kell planned this. Kell wasn’t that kind of man, to willfully plan the death of another human being. It had to have happened in a moment of sheer panic or rage. Tarek said Kell was bloody, too; Krause had probably been hurting him and finally pushed Kell too far.

“It was self-defense,” Braun said. “It has to be. Kell isn’t a murderer. I know him. He’s not.”

“We’ll figure it out, sweetheart, I promise. Right now, you need to try and eat. Even if only a few bites, because the next few hours are going to be very difficult, and you’ll need your strength.”

“Are you crazy? If I try to eat right now, I’ll vomit.”

“You are going to eat.” Tarek stood and pulled Braun up, then got him sitting in front of his food. “This is me going alpha on you, mister. Three bites of steak, two bites of potato. You won’t be able to see Kell until he’s at headquarters, and that won’t be for at least another hour. We don’t have anywhere to rush off to yet.”

The orders rippled down Braun’s spine in a way that only his alpha’s words could. And they spurred him into picking up his fork and eating the bite of steak he’d already cut. The meat tasted like ash, but he swallowed, dutifully eating what Tarek requested, while Tarek did the same. All Braun wanted was to see his brother, but he also understood he needed to take care of himself, too. Tarek was making sure of it, like any good alpha would when his mate was distressed.

Krause was not a good alpha. He was cruel and selfish.

And now he was dead, apparently at Kell’s hands.

“I don’t know any lawyers,” Braun said. He contemplated a fourth bite of the steak, but his stomach was already upset over the first three, so he put his fork down. “Kell will need a lawyer, right?”

“Probably, I don’t know. They haven’t officially filed charges. If Kell isn’t speaking, it’s difficult to know what actually happened in that bedroom. Health reports only tell so much.”

Health reports. Kell had been bleeding.

Braun bolted for the bathroom, and he barely made it to the toilet before his meager dinner rushed back up in a wave of gagging. Acid scorched his throat and mouth, and he spat over and over, unable to dislodge the taste. Tears streamed down his cheeks, both from the strain and fear.

Warm hands rubbed his back and shoulders, brushed his hair from his face. Eventually his heaving ceased, and Braun sank to the cool tile. Tarek attentively wiped his face, then handed him a glass of water to gargle with. Once finished, Tarek flushed the whole smelly mess down the toilet.

“I’m so sorry,” Tarek said. He held Braun’s overheated cheeks in his clammy palms. “I’m so sorry I made you eat. I should have known you’d get this upset. I’m so sorry. Forgive me?”

Tarek was near tears himself, which only made Braun’s chest ache more. “You wanted to help me,” Braun replied. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m freaking out a little bit here.”

“I noticed.” Tarek kissed his sweaty forehead. “Come sit on the couch, and I’ll bring you some soda water for your stomach.”

“Okay.”

Instead of letting him do the work, Tarek swept Braun into his arms with dizzying strength and speed. Braun relaxed into his alpha’s embrace, and he missed it when Tarek left him on the couch, a blanket wrapped around his legs and middle. He need Tarek’s comforting touch so he didn’t go mad with worry.

In Braun’s relatively short life, he’d never heard of an omega killing an alpha, no matter what the reason. Not even in an automobile accident, because so few omegas were allowed to drive. It simply didn’t happen. Braun had no idea how the court would treat such an unusual case, especially given Kell’s history of being abused by his alpha. Would that earn Kell their sympathy? Or would it make him appear weak and unbalanced and capable of murder?

Tarek returned with the soda water. Braun brushed away more tears of anxiety and frustration, and he waited with his future mate as the minutes ticked by with the speed of a man awaiting his own death sentence.

* * *

More than an hour passed before Tarek got a second phone call. Whoever called him did most of the speaking in a tinny voice Braun couldn’t hear properly, so he waited impatiently for Tarek to end the call.

“Kell still isn’t responding to questions from officers or any of the medical personnel,” Tarek reported. “They’re keeping him in the hospital for now, under guard.”

“Can I go see him? Maybe he’ll talk to me.” Braun needed to see his brother so badly he could barely breathe.

“Yes, that was my supervisor’s thought as well. We can go anytime.”

Braun leapt from the comfortable cocoon he’d made from his blanket and Tarek’s lap. “Now. We’re going now.”

“Of course, we are. Is there anything in particular Kell loves? A treat we can bring him?”

“He’s always had a secret love of chocolate-covered peanuts, but peanuts are so expensive. The treat is difficult to find.”

Tarek tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “I might know a place.”

“They’re expensive.”

“Kell deserves it.”

If Braun hadn’t already been desperately in love with Tarek, those words would have sent him straight there. Tarek genuinely cared about Kell’s well-being, and that meant everything to Braun. He pulled Tarek up to his feet, and then kissed him solidly on the mouth. “You’re amazing,” Braun said.

Tarek nuzzled his cheek. “Anything for you, my omega.”

“Then let’s go get some peanuts.”

* * *

Braun waited in the car while Tarek went into a high-end sweets shop that looked like it charged a fee just to look at its offerings. Tarek didn’t even have to ask him to stay put. Braun watched passersby, observing their fancy clothing and expensive shoes. This was the kind of place Krause could afford on a regular basis, and he’d probably never once bought chocolate-covered peanuts for his mate.

Kell deserved so much more than candy, but it was all Braun could offer right now, so he’d take this gift from Tarek and give it to his brother. One small thing to show Kell he was still loved.

Tarek returned and his skin reeked of sugar. He gave two small white sacks to Braun. “The one with the red mark is for you.”

Braun frowned, curious, and opened the bag. Chocolate and spice hit his nose all at once. Small squares of dark chocolate with a red dot on top. “You didn’t.”

“The owner had just made a fresh batch of chili pepper chocolates. I couldn’t resist.”

“They’re my favorite.” Braun popped one of the delectable squares into his mouth. The bitter dark chocolate was perfect against the slight heat of the pepper, and it melted on his tongue, smooth as velvet. “Oh my goddess, they’re divine.”

He leaned over the console to give Tarek a thorough, chocolaty kiss.

“Mm.” Tarek licked his lips. “I’m not usually a chocolate person, but yum.”

Braun indulged in one more square on the drive across town to the hospital, then tucked the rest away. The temperatures had cooled down to long-sleeve and light jacket level, so he had no fear of them melting in the car while they went inside. Tarek navigated the intensely confusing underground visitor parking garage, looking for the area closest to their ward. The campus was sprawling, because it serviced so many thousands of people.

Tarek finally parked, and Braun practically leapt from the car, candy bag in hand. He strode toward the nearest elevator, with Tarek struggling to catch up. An elevator seemed to take forever to arrive, and Braun didn’t realize he was tapping his foot on the floor, until Tarek put a comforting hand on the back of his neck. The touch settled him a bit, but his insides were still rumbling with nerves, guilt, and unease.

Several people spilled out of the elevator car when it arrived, and it stopped on three floors to pick up and dispel passengers, before they finally arrived on the sixth floor, east wing. Tarek studied the floor map directly outside for a moment, and then turned left. Braun followed him down multiple corridors, barely able to avoid walking into people, much less find his way to their destination.

This hospital had changed Braun’s life more than once.

Two uniformed patrolmen and one constable signaled they’d arrived. They stood outside of a shut door with no name on the exterior plate. The beta patrolmen offered Braun sympathetic smiles, but the alpha constable only sneered at him.

“Bloom,” the constable said.

“Jenks,” Tarek replied. “Any change in Kell’s status?”

“Nope. The omega just sits there and stares off into space. They got a guy from mental health services coming by in a few hours, when he’s got time.”

When he’s got time. He should make time! Omegas are as important as anyone else!

Braun kept the angry thought to himself. “I’d like to see him, please.”

Jenks ignored him in favor of asking Tarek, “So how do you like all your free time?”

“I keep busy,” Tarek said in a strange voice. “May we go in now?”

“Yeah, sure. Maybe your omega will get ours to talk.”

“Kell isn’t yours,” Braun snapped.

Jenks’s growl was cut short by a sharp look from Tarek. They were both constables, but Tarek was older and clearly had seniority. One of the patrolmen pushed the door open.

Braun dashed inside the small, private room. Familiar medical equipment, boring tan walls, bed in the center. Trivial details. The only thing that mattered was Kell’s still, pale form sitting upright in bed, hands loose on top of the sheets, staring blankly ahead. He was hooked up to an IV line, but no other sensors or leads, and one wrist was cuffed to the bedrail.

“Oh Kell.” Braun nearly broke down again, but he needed to be strong for his big brother. He approached the bed slowly, not wanting to startle Kell, who hadn’t reacted to his voice at all. “I’m here, brother, it’s Braun. I came with Tarek. We’re both here for you.”

Nothing. Not even a twitch or blink.

He cast a helpless look at Tarek, who was hanging back. Tarek nodded his head in Kell’s direction in a silent “keep talking to him” order. Braun eased onto the bed and took Kell’s cold hand in his. Rubbed his fingers to try and get them warm again, because he shouldn’t be this cold.

“I worked a shift today,” Braun said, going for normal instead of immediately addressing the crisis they were facing. “It isn’t fancy work, stacking boxes and finding parts for the technicians, but I like it. I’ll have to take you by the shop sometime, so you can meet my coworkers. They’re all really nice betas. I think you’d like them.

“Speaking of betas, I want you to meet Serge and Dex. They’re amazing friends. I never thought I’d have friends like that, who are loyal and funny and protective. They’ll absolutely love you, too, I know it.”

He reached up to brush a lock of hair off Kell’s forehead. Kell’s eyes quivered but he otherwise didn’t move. Curious and also desperate, Braun cupped his cheek and slowly turned Kell’s head to face him. His green eyes were blank and empty, and that made Braun’s heart hurt. The brother he remembered had always had life in his eyes, even when he was angry or upset. That life was gone, extinguished by whatever had happened in that bedroom.

“I see you,” Braun whispered. “You’re in there, Kell, I know it. And I know this world has been shitty to you, and you didn’t deserve any of it. And I also know it’s selfish to ask you to come back to me, because maybe it’s safer hiding up there in your own head, away from the pain of living, but I still need you. I need my big brother in my life. You’re my family, and I love you so much.”

Kell’s eyes flickered again, briefly, but it was enough to give Braun hope that he could still reach his brother.

“We’ll fight for you,” Braun said, projecting every possible ounce of confidence he could manage. “Me and Tarek, Serge and Dex, we’re in your corner, no matter what. We’ll fight for you. To keep you safe from whatever comes next, I promise. You were alone with Krause, but you’re not alone anymore. You’re not alone.”

Kell’s eyelashes fluttered.

Braun’s heart leapt.

The door opened and someone cleared their throat, breaking the fragile spell. Braun turned, ready to snap at whoever had interrupted them, only find a doctor standing near Tarek with a clipboard in his hand.

“I’m Dr. Fox,” the man said to Tarek. “I’ve been overseeing Mr. Kell’s care.”

“Tarek Bloom, and that’s Kell’s brother Braun,” Tarek replied.

Dr. Fox actually spared a nod in Braun’s direction, but continued to address Tarek. The lack of attention, when Braun was Kell’s fucking blood family, stirred his temper. “Mr. Kell is mending physically. I found multiple bruises and contusions upon admission, most of them fairly old, but there were several new ones on both sets of ribs. He was bleeding from his rectum, and upon examination, I removed a small sliver of wood that’s been turned over to the constabulary for their investigation.”

Braun’s stomach lurched, and he covered his mouth with one hand. What in the actual living hell had Krause done to Kell that left wood in his rectum?! If the man wasn’t already dead, Braun would kill him again for doing that to his brother.

“Fucking hell,” Tarek said. “Makes me glad the bastard is dead.”

Dr. Fox didn’t react. “The wound has been stitched, but I also found a troubling amount of scar tissue in his rectum that, for an omega, will make giving birth difficult.”

“He already had one near-fatal birth,” Braun said. “Maybe six weeks ago.”

The doctor gave him a sharp look. “Who’s caring for the infant?”

“Fuck if I know. Kell’s piece of shit husband adopted the baby out.”

Dr. Fox bristled at Braun’s tone. Tarek took a step closer to Braun, angling to act as a human shield in case Braun accidentally provoked the other alpha. At least the doctor earned minor not-a-total-alphahole points by not defending Krause’s right to adopt the child out.

“I understand this is an upsetting situation,” Dr. Fox said, “but you might want to control your omega better.”

Tarek snorted. “You don’t know my omega.”

Braun started to respond, but the hand between his twitched. He looked down at the bed where he was still holding Kell’s hand, but the action didn’t repeat itself. Kell’s eyes were still blank, but seemed less…dead. Braun didn’t say anything, though, not with the doctor still in the room.

“Mental health services is sending someone down this evening to check on Mr. Kell,” Dr. Fox continued. “Having family around might help.”

“Was Kell injured anywhere else?” Tarek asked.

“He has scars and our records show he’s had broken bones in the past, but nothing that is fresh or could be tied to your investigation.”

Scars. Broken bones. He says it as if those old wounds don’t matter. As if Kell hasn’t survived three years of constant abuse.

Braun ignored the man until he left the room.

“You might want to dial back the snappishness,” Tarek said. His presence appeared behind Braun like a warm shadow.

“I’ll stop snapping when alphas stop treating me like a child they can’t directly address, or treat with respect. It’s fucking annoying.”

“I know.” Tarek squeezed his shoulder. “I’m so sorry about Kell.”

Braun closed his eyes as the doctor’s words came back. He couldn’t imagine what Kell had suffered today to make him do what he was accused of doing. “Are they even certain Kell killed Krause? It isn’t possible that one of the servants did it?”

“It’s possible, but I’m not part of the investigative team, so I don’t know what they’ve discovered, or who they’ve questioned. And I won’t become part of it, because of my relationship with you.”

“I don’t suppose that, as his brother, the constables will tell me anything?”

“If I’m with you, perhaps, but there are only certain details that can be discussed during an ongoing investigation. You’d be better off having Kell’s lawyer ask questions, if he’s formally charged.”

Braun shuddered. “How am I going to afford a lawyer? He deserves better than an overworked, court appointed one.”

“We’ll figure it out, I promise. Together.”

“I just want my brother back.” A single tear squeezed out of the corner of his eye and left a slick trail as it fled down his cheek. To Kell, he said, “You remember when we were kids. I think I was seven at the time, and Omegin was still alive? We had a picnic in the backyard while Father was at work, and you convinced me that magical forest animals were at the picnic, but they were invisible so no one could capture them. You said I was sitting next to a squirrel, and I didn’t know what a squirrel was, so you described it in great detail from a book you’d read.

“You told me what a deer was, and what a skunk was, and that they were all sharing our sandwiches and tea. I’ve never forgotten that day, but there was something you told me when the animals all left and went home. I know it was special, but somehow I’ve forgotten.”

Braun held Kell’s empty gaze, watching as a kind of recognition sank in. A light came back on, and Braun squeezed his hand tight. “Do you remember what it is you told me?” Braun asked. “Kell?”

“Magic,” Kell whispered.

His heart seized with joy. “Yes, it was about magic. What about magic?”

“Your heart.” Kell’s eyelashes flickered.

“Keep magic in your heart and…?”

“You’ll never be alone.”

“Keep magic in your heart and you’ll never be alone, Kell, that’s what you said. Even when I missed you, I was never alone. Just like you’re never going to be alone again, I swear.”

Kell closed his eyes. Braun’s entire body trembled with emotions so overwhelming he couldn’t even name them. When Kell opened his bright green eyes again, Braun saw recognition, anguish, and unshed tears.

“Whatever happened,” Braun said, “we’re here for you. I love you.”

“Oh Braun.” Kell broke down then, surging forward into Braun’s arms. Braun held him while he wept, and then Tarek was holding both of them because Braun was sobbing, as well. Sharing in his brother’s agony and fear, supporting him the only way he knew how, with Tarek supporting them both.