Kell cried himself to sleep. Braun hated leaving his side, but Tarek pulled him into the small attached bathroom to clean up and blow his nose. Braun’s face was red and puffy from crying, and he looked like a deranged mess.

“You got him back,” Tarek said with wonder in his voice. “That story you told was beautiful.”

“It was true. Our omegin was fond of picnics when the weather wasn’t too hot or cold, and every time we had one after that, the magical creatures were our guests. Even Omegin got in on the act, spotting new birds and animals watching, hoping for a bite of our sandwiches.”

“Your omegin sounds wonderful.”

“He was. He died when I was nine, and then we were left with our father, and the magic disappeared after that.”

“It didn’t disappear.” Tarek pressed a flat palm on his chest. “It just hid inside your heart for a long time. It’s nice to see it coming out again.”

“I don’t believe in magic anymore, but I’ll believe in anything that helps Kell through this.”

An odd commotion outside drew their collective attention to the room’s door. Loud, angry voices, too muffled by the shut door to understand. Tarek immediately took a defensive position in front of Braun, which made Braun roll his eyes. “Stay back,” Tarek said.

He opened the door and slipped out quickly, shutting it behind him. Braun only heard a snip of “—every right to see him—” in a hauntingly familiar voice. He’d only heard it once before, at a very awkward mating celebration after Kell moved into Krause’s home. The voice belonged to Krause’s father, Senior Iverson.

Braun cast about for a possible weapon, in case the man somehow made it past two patrolmen and two alpha constables, but the only thing in sight was one of those small vomit basins. The commotion quieted, though, as did his flaring anxiety. Kell hadn’t stirred from his deep sleep.

The door opened again, and Braun braced himself, hands clenched by his hips. Tarek entered, alone, and shut the door behind him.

“Senior Iverson,” Tarek said. “He wanted to see Kell.”

“I know, I recognized his voice.”

“The constabulary won’t allow him access, not while Kell is being held as a murder suspect.”

Braun shuddered at those words. “Good. Senior Iverson is as creepy and entitled as his son is. Was. I shouldn’t be glad someone is dead, but I am.”

“It’s understandable, given the circumstances.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that someone’s son is dead.”

“And we still don’t know for a fact that Kell killed him.”

“I don’t remember,” Kell said, so softly Braun wasn’t sure he’d heard it at all. Not until he turned and looked into Kell’s swollen, red-veined eyes. “Krause is dead?”

“Yes.” Braun sat next to him on the bed and took his hand again, grateful for the lifeline to someone he’d missed having in his life. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Kell’s face scrunched up into an expression of abject misery. “Krause having sex with me. I’ve been tender since giving birth, and I don’t usually complain, because he never stops or even slows down, but I did today. I told him it hurt and asked him to stop, so he went harder. I think he was trying to make me bleed again, because he likes it when I do.” Kell’s voice cracked, and he looked down at his lap. “When he finished, he was angry. I don’t know if it was because I’d complained or because I hadn’t bled, but he started punching me in the ribs. I couldn’t breathe, and he said he’d make me bleed for being such a child about a little pain. Then he left the room.”

Tarek put a steadying hand on Braun’s shoulder, and he didn’t realize how much he needed his alpha’s touch until he had it. “What happened after that?” Tarek asked.

“I don’t remember.” Kell lifted his head, twin tear tracks glistening on his cheeks. “I really don’t, I’m sorry. It’s all a blank, up until Braun talking about our picnics. How did Krause die?”

“Good question, Mr. Kell,” Jenks said. He and the two patrolmen stood just inside the room. Braun hadn’t even heard the door open. “Hopefully, now that you’re aware of your surroundings, you can help us answer that question.”

“I’ll, um, do my best, sir.”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened today?”

Kell repeated everything he’d told them, his cheeks flaming red while telling law enforcement about sex with his mate. “I keep trying, but I don’t remember anything after him leaving our bedroom. I’m sorry. I’m so sore, and I don’t understand what happened.”

“That’s what we’re trying to piece together,” Jenks said. “The servant who called emergency services, a Mr. Scully, said he found you and Mr. Iverson in bed together, both of you naked. You were catatonic. Mr. Iverson was dead, his throat cut open.”

Kell’s shocked gasp was not the manufactured reaction of someone lying about what he remembered. He paled and started trembling. “Someone cut his throat?”

“Yes, with what appears to be a piece of a broken vase. We found the rest of it on the floor of your master bathroom.”

“We had a blue vase in there. Artisan glass. Heavy.”

Jenks nodded. “That’s consistent with the murder weapon.”

“Murder weapon.” Kell shook his head. “I don’t understand, did someone come into our room and kill him with a broken vase?”

“Not just someone, Mr. Kell. You.”

“Me!?” His affronted squawk did nothing to sway the hard-eyed constable. “Why would I kill my mate?”

“Your mate has a history of using extreme domestic discipline on you, as your medical records, as well as the house staff, have confirmed.”

“Extreme domestic discipline is a fancy way of saying you were beaten and abused on a regular basis,” Braun snarled, in no mood for word games meant to excuse an alpha’s cruel behavior toward his omega.

“Muzzle your omega, Bloom,” Jenks said.

“No,” Tarek retorted. “Braun made a valid point. Call it what it was, Jenks. It was abuse. Not discipline. Abuse. Not sex. Rape.”

Jenks snorted. “You can’t rape your spouse.”

Braun’s skin buzzed with anger, and he used his physical connections to both Kell and Tarek to stay put, instead of lashing out at a constable twice his size. “Do you have proof Kell did it?” Braun asked.

“His fingerprints are on the vase,” Jenks replied.

“He lives there, he probably touched that vase a hundred times,” Tarek said.

“The oil on the print was fresh, not old.”

“How do you know one of the servants didn’t kill Krause, and then put the glass against one of Kell’s fingertips?”

“We’re still interviewing the staff, but betas aren’t that smart.”

Tarek bristled that time. “They’re smarter than you give them credit for. If Krause abused Kell so badly, you can be certain he at least verbally abused the staff as well.”

“He did,” Kell said. “He belittled them verbally, and I’ve seen him knock staff down and kick them. I caught him in the kitchen once, the cook on his knees giving Krause a blow job.”

“Did you ask the cook if it was consensual?” Jenks asked.

“I tried, but Krause fired him the next day. I never got a chance.”

“Do you remember his name? I need to ask him some questions.”

Kell gave a name. “My mate was a cruel, sadistic man, but I never wished him dead. I never saw myself as a person capable of murder. Omegas are life-bringers, not life-takers.”

“I know.” Some of the hard edge came off Jenks’s stance. “That’s why we’re taking this case very seriously. If you can give me a list of past staff that’s been fired in the time since you mated with Mr. Iverson, that would be appreciated.”

“I can come up with one, yes. Thank you.”

Jenks looked directly at Kell and nodded, the gesture almost friendly. Sympathetic. “You’re welcome. I’ll be back in touch.”

“I’m sure.”

Once Jenks and the patrolmen left, Kell sank deeper into his pillows, his previously flushed face pale again. He began to pant. Braun dove for the vomit basin and had it under Kell’s chin as he began to retch. Tarek brought a damp cloth from the bathroom, and once Kell had finished, they gave him water and cleaned him up. He collapsed against the bed, trembling all over.

“What can I do?” Braun asked. “Anything. I’d offer you the chocolate-covered peanuts Tarek bought you, but I’m afraid you’d barf them back up.”

Kell gave him a wan smile. “Shame to waste. I’ll eat them later. Thank you, Tarek.”

“You’re welcome,” Tarek replied. He stood on the opposite side of the bed, his expression full of worry. “I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened to you. Not every alpha in the world is like Krause or your father.”

“I’m starting to see that. You be good to my brother. Please?”

“Always. I love him.”

“Good.” Kell stifled a yawn. “I feel like I could sleep for a year and still not be rested. Krause was erratic in his cruelty. Sometimes at night, he’d kick me out of bed and make me sleep on the floor, and I never knew why. Or I’d wake up with him pushing his way inside of me with no artificial slick. I came to fear that bed and sleeping in general.”

Tarek growled. “I’m so sorry all this happened to you. No one deserves that kind of life.”

“That’s easier to hear than to believe when your entire life, you’re told that you’re shit. Unlovable. Only worth what I can push from my womb. And the one time I manage to push someone out, he’s taken from me.” Kell’s chin trembled.

Braun wrapped his brother’s shaking body up into as tight a hug as he could manage. Kell pressed his forehead against Braun’s neck, and they rocked together for a while.

“I’ll find out what happened to your son, one way or another,” Tarek said.

“What if you can’t?” Kell asked, his breath hot against Braun’s chest. “What if Branson is the only child I’ll ever carry and he’s lost to me forever?”

“Don’t think like that,” Braun replied. “Positive thoughts only from now on, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Do you think we’ll ever get to take Kell home? He’s already been questioned.”

“I doubt it,” Tarek replied. “He’s a suspect in a murder investigation. He’ll be kept under guard until he’s either charged, or cleared and released.”

“Damn it.” He wanted to take his brother home and pamper him with drinking chocolate and peanuts.

“How can they clear me?” Kell sat up. “They have glass with my fingerprint on it. If their coroner’s analysis confirms Krause’s throat was cut with that glass, I’ll be arrested for sure. Probably convicted, and I don’t even remember what happened.”

“Don’t think about that until the report comes out,” Tarek said. “These investigations don’t happen overnight, and it’s a good sign that Jenks is looking into past employees. He isn’t ready to name you the killer and be done with it. For all his anti-omega rights views, he’s a very thorough and fair investigator.”

“I’m not sure if that’s comforting or not. Am I going to need a lawyer?”

“Only if this goes to court. For now, you’re being held as a suspect, nothing more.”

Kell blinked back more tears. “I still can’t believe he’s dead. This entire thing feels like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”

“Hey,” Braun teased. “Do I usually show up in your nightmares with chocolate-covered peanuts?”

“No, that’s true.” He kissed Braun’s cheek. “I still can’t believe you’re here, safe and sound, bonded to a kind alpha that seems to adore you. I’m so happy that you’re happy, Braun, I mean it.”

“Thank you. It doesn’t feel right to have gotten so lucky.”

“Enjoy him. I don’t know where my future is going. I could easily end up in prison, or free, but what alpha will ever want me now? Another pregnancy could kill me, I already know that. My lower body aches, so I know Krause hurt me again. I don’t want another alpha to come near me in a sexual way ever again. I’d rather die.”

Braun’s insides burned for his brother’s grief. They held each other for a long, long time while Tarek stood silent guard so the Etting brothers could grieve everything Kell had lost.

* * *

Even though they were past official visiting hours, no one asked Tarek to take Braun home. Tarek took advantage of that and left the two omegas under the watchful eyes of two patrolmen he vaguely knew, and he went to the nearest cafeteria cart for food. Neither of them had eaten dinner, and he’d heard Braun’s stomach rumble from hunger a few minutes ago, despite being fast asleep in Kell’s bed.

The two of them together was the most precious thing Tarek had ever seen, and he finally understood the bond the brothers shared. Tarek had never been that close to any of his siblings, the youngest of whom was five years older than Tarek. He’d always been the baby, the bother, the extra alpha in the family. So he’d struck out to create his own life, and he’d done so here. With Dex and Serge, and now with Braun and Kell.

They were all family now.

He bought sandwiches and sodas from the cart, and he was grateful his card went through. After the expense of those peanuts earlier today, he was grateful payday was in two days. He couldn’t handle another unexpected bill or purchase until then. If he’d been suspended without pay, he’d have been screwed.

Constable Heely was chatting with the patrolmen when Tarek returned. Tarek had an unfavorable opinion of the man ever since learning Heely had been the one to take Braun and several other omegas to Fynn’s halfway house. He couldn’t get over the idea that maybe Heely was getting something out of the deal, but there was no proof.

“Hey, Bloom,” Heely said. “Must be babysitting your omega’s brother.”

“Something like that,” Tarek replied. “They haven’t seen much of each other these past few years, and after what he’s been through, Kell needs the company.”

“What he’s been through? Murdering an alpha, you mean?”

“Allegedly. The investigation is ongoing.”

“Your life has been nothing but a series of problems since you got with that omega. Braun, right?”

“Yes, Braun, and my life has been better for meeting him. We’ve had our problems, but we’re working through them.”

“Oh yeah, sure, being suspended is such a simple problem to work through.”

“That’s private and between us. Stay out of my personal life, Heely.” Tarek shouldered past the man, and his stomach cramped when he noticed the door to Kell’s room was open a few inches. They hadn’t spoken loudly, but voices still carried.

He pushed the door in, and he stopped cold when he saw Braun leaning against the wall by the door, one hand covering his mouth.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Tarek shoved the door closed and dumped his food onto the closest chair seat. “Braun—”

“What did he mean, you’ve been suspended?” Braun asked, a chill in his voice that Tarek didn’t recognize. “When?”

He pulled Braun into the small bathroom and shut the door, so they could keep this as private as possible. “The day after you were questioned about the missing omegas, I was called into my supervisor’s office. Constable Lars was there, too. They asked why I’d been seen at the scheduling clerk’s desk, and I said I needed a pencil.”

“Did they buy it?”

“I think so.”

“Then why were you suspended?”

Tarek tried to rearrange the words so they didn’t sound as if it was all Braun’s fault, because Tarek had made choices of his own. “I was suspended pending further investigation into my possible involvement in the omega disappearances.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me that?” Braun looked more disappointed than angry, and it made Tarek feel like an even bigger ass. “I could have handled that. Instead, you left every day like you were going into work, and you never said otherwise.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, this is bigger than I’m sorry. Something else is going on, because I don’t believe for a minute you’d keep something so small from me.”

His beautiful, stubborn omega wasn’t going to let this go. “I wanted to protect you. I’m your alpha.”

Braun rolled his eyes. “I know your instinct as an alpha is to protect me, and I get it. But I’ve told you over and over again that I don’t need a protector, I need a partner. A mate who sees me as an equal, not a child he needs to shield from the world. I thought you understood that.”

“I do.” Tarek did understand Braun’s needs, but it was difficult to override his own instincts. And the look on Braun’s face said Braun didn’t believe him. “I’m sorry. You were so happy over the omegas that I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Upset me with what? Tell me now, Tarek.”

“Krause Iverson lodged a complaint against you after the incident at his house, when you tried to comfort Kell over the baby.”

Braun’s eyebrows jumped. “He did what? Against me!?”

Tarek shushed him. “Yes. He went to the constabulary and said you’d entered the home without permission, flung false allegations at Krause, and when he asked you to leave, he said you bit him, and then kicked him in the balls.”

“Well at least that part of the story is fucking true.” Braun crossed his arms, his face flushing an angry red. “That was weeks ago. Why didn’t anyone get my side of the story?”

“You’re an omega, and we’re culturally conditioned to accept the word of an alpha over an omega, no matter the situation.”

“Kell didn’t tell them the truth?”

“Krause somehow persuaded Kell to verify his version of events. I may have pitched a small fit in front of my two superiors and levied a few allegations against Krause about his abuse. I got the standard ‘domestic discipline isn’t illegal’ crap line. I stood by what I’d seen with my own eyes, and I was suspended with pay while they investigated.”

Braun’s green eyes flashed with anger. “You were suspended because of me.”

“No, and this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you about the suspension. You do not get to blame yourself for this. If you truly want a partner, then we’re both equally to blame. We both kicked back against a system that oppresses omega rights, and this is the outcome. I own that, Braun, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when it happened.”

“You lied to me for a week, Tarek. A week.”

“I know, and I’m so—”

“Will you please leave?”

Tarek’s entire body jerked like he’d been punched. “What?”

“I need you to leave me alone. You lied for a week. I cannot be around you right now. I can’t.” Braun’s open hurt hit Tarek in the heart over and over, each jab worse than the last. “Go away.”

“Braun—”

“Get out!” His sharp voice echoed in the small room.

Tarek flinched. “Okay. Do you want me to—”

“I don’t need or want anything from you right now.” Braun yanked the door open and stormed into the main room.

Kell was awake and shooting Braun questioning looks. Tarek offered Kell a sad smile before doing as Braun asked. He left the room with a heavy heart, uncertain how he’d ever make this betrayal up to his omega.