Something monumental had shifted between Ronin and his omega after they finally knotted. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what, but it had something to do with trust. Kell trusted Ronin to help bathe him after his surges, instead of depending on a nurse. Ronin trusted himself to hold Kell during those surges without fearing he’d lose his mind and fuck Kell without express consent.

It wasn’t easy to oppose what his body wanted to do naturally, but Ronin held himself together while Kell suffered three more surges, each one spaced about six hours apart now, giving Kell much more relief and resting time in between. They had about eight hours left before it was over, and Kell had just settled down to eat again after his latest surge when Ronin’s phone rang.

He glanced longingly at his patty melt and chips, then snagged his phone off the small table between them. The name on the display didn’t surprise him as he flipped the phone open. “Constable Jenks, how may I assist you?”

Kell looked up from his food, eyebrows arched.

“Mr. Cross,” Jenks said. His snarling tone set off alarms in Ronin’s mind. “I’ve got news for you, and I’m not entirely sure if it’s good news or bad news.”

“Okay. Is this news I should share immediately with my client? He’s right here.”

“If he’s there, then yes, he should hear this.”

Ronin switched the phone to speaker mode. “Go ahead. It’s just me and Kell in the room.”

Kell stared at the phone as if it was about to explode.

“We were able to exact a second search warrant on the Iverson house,” Jenks said. “Senior Iverson attempted to impede the first warrant to such an extent that I could argue we were unable to properly and thoroughly search the home. We went in last night. We found the recording device.”

Kell paled so quickly Ronin braced to catch him. But he clung to the arms of his chair with a white-knuckle grip and rasped out, “Where was it?”

“In the bedroom, wired in through the ceiling fan. Pointed directly at the bed.”

“Oh no.” Kell raced to the bathroom, and in seconds, the sounds of retching made Ronin’s inner alpha roar to life.

He needed to comfort his omega, but this information was too fucking important. “Have you watched the recordings?” Ronin asked.

“Yes.” Now Jenks sounded ill. “And if that Krause bastard wasn’t already dead, I’d bring him back simply to kill him again. From what little I’ve watched of three years worth of footage, Cross, Mr. Kell barely scratched the surface of what he suffered.”

Ronin tamped down his growing rage—at Jenks for seeing his omega so battered and helpless, and at Krause for having ever existed at all. “What about the day Krause died?”

Jenks’s lengthy silence was the answer to his question.

He switched the call off speaker and whispered, “Kell did it, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.”

“It’s not as cut-and-dry as the prosecution is going to make it out to be,” Jenks said. “When you watch it, you’ll see. Mr. Kell simply wasn’t there, in his head. And what Krause did leading up to that…it’s chilling.”

Ronin didn’t want to know this, but he’d rather hear it from Jenks than be shocked by the video footage. “What did Krause do to him?”

“After he, uh, fucked Mr. Kell, Krause called him names, promised to make Kell bleed, and then left the room, which matches Mr. Kell’s memory of events.” Jenks cleared his throat hard. “Krause returned after a time with a broom. One of those kind with the wood handle and straw bristles.”

A sharp chill raced down Ronin’s spine, and he felt the urge to vomit himself. “Go on.”

“Krause, ah, beat Mr. Kell with the broom handle, which accounts for the bruises the doctors found on him. When Mr. Kell was nearly passed out and not moving, he, uh…fuck.”

“Tell me.”

“He fucked Mr. Kell with the broom handle until he was bleeding. When he was done he screamed at Mr. Kell more, then he dared him to try and run. Dared him to ever leave. Said he’d take Braun to replace him, and Braun would only have it worse. Then he left the room with the broom.”

Ronin started pacing before he exploded. “Then what?”

“It was weird. Despite how hurt he was, Mr. Kell rose up from the bed like in those zombie movies. The angle of his face isn’t great but you’d think he’d be crying or wincing, but it’s flat. Empty. He goes into the bathroom, and you can hear the vase shattering. Then he goes right back to bed and sprawls out. Can’t be sure but it looks like something is in his hand.

“Almost an hour of time goes by before Krause comes back into the bedroom. Says the sight of Mr. Kell lying there all bloody and bruised was making him horny. He shucks his robe, climbs into the bed, and Mr. Kell simply sits up and slices him across the throat. Then he lays right back down while Krause flops back and bleeds out. Doesn’t move again until the paramedics show up and move him.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Ronin needed to rein in his temper before he terrified Kell, but this was his worst fear come to life. Physical proof beyond a fingerprint that Kell had killed his mate. Ronin would still argue self-defense, but the video was incredibly damning. It was now Ronin’s sole job to convince the jury that Kell had acted in self-defense.

Kell had reacted to save not only himself, but also his brother, who’d been threatened again by Krause. Ronin cheered for his omega’s strength in the face of so much pain and fear.

“I’ll have copies of the tapes sent to your office here in the law building,” Jenks said. “Given the length and the new discovery, it’s possible the prosecution will ask for a continuance.”

“If they don’t, I will.” Ronin needed to see these tapes and use them to bolster his own case. The last thing he wanted was for Kell’s naked body to be on display for the judge and jury, but he’d do anything to keep his omega out of prison and in Ronin’s arms where he belonged.

“I’m sorry about this,” Jenks said.

“You’re doing your job.”

“Mr. Kell doesn’t deserve to go to prison, not at all.”

“And I intend to make sure he stays out.”

“Good luck.”

Ronin hung up and took a few deeps breaths to calm and center himself, so he could center his omega. He found Kell curled up on the bathroom floor near the toilet, which contained part of Kell’s lunch. Kell was shaking all over, so Ronin flushed the toilet, wiped Kell’s flushed face with a damp washcloth, and then picked him up. Carried him to the bed and tucked them both under the covers. Kell trembled and panted, and Ronin tried to comfort him. He tried, but he wasn’t sure how.

“I killed him, didn’t I?” Kell whispered.

“I’m not going to answer that question, nor am I going to allow you to watch the footage of the hours you don’t remember. If your mind locked it away, it was for a reason.”

“Fuck.” Kell buried his face into Ronin’s chest. “I did do it, I can tell from the way you were shouting. But I don’t remember.” Kell began sobbing then, and Ronin held him tighter as his tears soaked Ronin’s shirt.

“I’ve got you, love,” Ronin whispered. “And I’m never letting go.”

Ronin held him long after Kell had cried himself to sleep, stroking his hair and back, watching his creased, unhappy face. Loving him as best as he could, while Kell accepted a horrible truth about himself—a truth they’d both suspected but hadn’t confirmed until now. Deep down, Ronin knew the Kell he loved hadn’t drawn that glass across Krause’s throat. Someone else had done it. An instinctive part of Kell’s lizard brain that had to protect himself from further damage. That had to protect Braun from harm.

And yes, that lizard part was still there somewhere, but Ronin would do everything in his power to make sure Kell never had to protect himself like that again.

* * *

Kell’s final surge occurred at nearly the final hour, possibly pushed back by his severe emotional upheaval, and Kell took Ronin’s knot for the second time. He took it, because it was his last chance to do so. His last chance to provide this relief for his alpha. Because Kell had committed murder, and very soon, he’d be in prison, if not the gallows.

Kell clenched around Ronin’s knot, barely feeling the pleasure of it against his gland, but loving the way it made Ronin moan. Ronin still believed in him, could still look at him like Kell was the most beautiful creature on the planet. Kell knew better. Kell was a murderer.

He went through the motions of waiting out the knot, and then taking a long shower with Ronin. Allowing Ronin to wash his body with gentle reverence Kell didn’t deserve. To dry and dress him, and then hold Kell in his lap as their erections both blessedly faded. Their pheromones calmed and Kell’s slick dried up.

It was over.

His first heat without expectations of becoming pregnant was over. A deep-down part of Kell mourned that, because he would have proudly carried Ronin’s child. But no child should be born in prison. No child should be born merely to have their omegin wrenched away, either to his cell or to his death.

Kell preferred death to the future in prison that Senior Iverson had laid out. He’d rather take his own life than allow anyone except Ronin to touch him ever again.

Dr. Troi arrived, and Ronin excused himself while Kell was examined. “No tearing, no bruising,” he announced. “You were well taken care of by your alpha.”

“Yes, I was.”

“Then why the down spirits? Not looking forward to the trial starting back up?”

No way was he going to go around confessing to murder, so Kell said, “No, I’m not.”

“Understandable. If you ever feel as if the stress is too much for you, please call me and I can prescribe something.”

“I appreciate that, Dr. Troi, but I’d prefer to stay clear-headed for the trial. It’s too important.”

“I understand, but as your doctor, I’m required to see to your continued health.”

“Of course.”

Kell was officially cleared to leave the hospital, and then Dr. Troi left the room. Alone for the first time since his heat began, Kell released a long, exhausted sigh. Heat had been a good distraction from the trial, for the most part, and he was overjoyed to have spent it with Ronin, but the real world was waiting for them outside that door. His friends were being threatened. Senior Iverson wanted him dead.

He was in a hospital surrounded by equipment and medication that could help Kell quickly end things. The constabulary obviously had all the video footage they needed to arrest Senior Iverson and expose his cruelty. They didn’t need Kell to spill every lurid, sordid, painful detail on the witness stand. Braun had an alpha to protect him; he didn’t need his big brother to do it anymore.

What about Ronin? Your death will destroy him.

He’d be destroyed anyway when Kell went to prison, and then found a way to kill himself there. At least here, he could find a way that was quick and painless.

A thought that was dashed when the door opened. Ronin and Tarek both entered, and Kell hoped to see Braun behind them. Except he wasn’t, and that brief flash of excitement turned to ash. “You didn’t bring Braun?”

“Not this time,” Tarek replied. “Even if we wanted to risk exposing him, I couldn’t justify his presence here to the court, like I could your previous medical emergency.”

“Oh.”

He’d nearly forgotten the whole reason he was in the hospital was because of a bad reaction to the heat block.

I’m never taking those again. Ugh.

“Are we going home?” Kell asked Ronin.

Ronin grinned. “Yes, we are. The car is waiting, and we have guards to get us downstairs.” He handed Kell a bag with a familiar ball cap and sweatshirt. “Let’s go home, little one.”

Kell dutifully donned the clothing, and then took his place between his two alpha protectors. He wanted to hold Ronin’s hand, but that might draw extra attention.

Not that a disguised omega, flanked by two alphas and two beta patrolmen didn’t attract some attention, mostly from folks who weren’t staff. Kell kept his gaze on the ground, watching the tiles pass beneath his feet, trusting Ronin not to let Kell walk into a wall or something equally embarrassing.

They reached a bank of elevators, and Tarek used his badge to politely keep other civilians off their car. Two nurses in green scrubs got on, though. One got off two floors down. As soon as the doors shut again, Tarek shouted. A body slammed Kell to the ground, and a deafening gunshot rang out. Kell screamed as terror swamped him.

Ronin! Ronin, please be okay.

The heavy body holding him down barely allowed him to breathe, much less ask questions. Muffled voices and scraping shoes. And then the door dinged on the next floor, and someone outside screeched. Someone else hit the emergency stop button, because an alarm sounded.

What’s happening!?

“We need backup on the second floor of the east wing of the hospital right away,” one of the patrolmen said, probably into a radio. “We have an officer shot, and a suspect in custody. It’s related to the Swan Detail, sir.”

Swan Detail? Is that my designation?

“You’re sure he’s secured?” Ronin asked, his voice rumbling against Kell’s back. Ronin had pushed him down and was protecting him still.

“Yes, he’s secure,” the second patrolman said. “We need medical help in here!”

That’s when it hit Kell that he hadn’t heard Tarek’s voice yet.

Oh goddess, no.

“Tarek?” Kell struggled against Ronin’s firm hold. “Is he okay?”

“He’s been shot,” Tarek himself said. “And it hurts like a son of a fucker.”

“Shot where?”

“In the shoulder,” Ronin replied. “Be still, until we’re sure the scene is secure. We’ve got quite the crowd of gawkers forming.

“Braun’s going to kill me,” Tarek said.

“What happened?” Kell asked, still unable to see much except snatches of light and people’s shoes.

“That so-called nurse pulled a gun and tried to shoot you. Ronin pushed you down, I tried to stop the guy and got shot for the trouble. Fuck, Jenson, that hurts.”

Jenson must be applying pressure to the wound. Kell hated not being able to see, but he understood why Ronin was being so cautious.

“Holy shit.” If Kell wasn’t already on the ground, he’d have fallen over. “Someone tried to kill me.” A tremor streaked down his spine. “Holy shit.”

“Try not to think about it,” Ronin whispered. “I’m going to keep you safe, I promise.”

Kell couldn’t possibly not think about it. If he’d acted more quickly, gotten to some drugs or a scalpel, Tarek never would have been shot. Now Kell had a second person’s blood on his hands.

A lot happened that Kell could only listen to: the suspect being questioned, Tarek being taken away by medical personnel, statements being taken. They must have cleared the corridor, because when Ronin finally stood and helped Kell up, they were alone with two new patrolmen and Constable Jenks.

“Seems you’ve pissed someone off,” Jenks said with a crooked smile.

“Is Tarek going to be okay?” Kell asked, ignoring the comment.

“He won’t be using that arm to wipe his ass for a while, but he’ll live. Are you okay? Is he going to faint?”

Ronin slipped a solid arm around Kell’s waist. “He’s in shock.”

“Should a doctor see him?”

Kell abhorred being spoken around like this. “Kell wants to go home,” he snapped. “He’s sick to death of this place.”

“That’s understandable,” Jenks said. “I just need statements from both of you.”

Ronin had more to say than Kell, who hadn’t really witnessed a thing, and then they were free to go with their two escorts.

“I’ll keep you both posted,” Jenks added, already half-turned to walk away. “On the off chance this so-called nurse gives up who he’s working for, we might have enough ammo to go after Senior Iverson for conspiracy to commit murder.”

“If,” Ronin repeated. “Men who take chances like that expect to get caught. If he’s being compensated, you can bet it’s for a good enough reason to risk prison.”

“No bet there.” Jenks tilted an imaginary hat, then walked away.

This time, they got to the basement parking garage with no incidents, but Kell didn’t begin to relax until he was in the car, and they were driving away from the hospital. He didn’t question Ronin’s confusing route through the city to avoid any potential tails. It was the smart move, and Ronin was a smart guy. Smarter than Kell, for sure, and deserving of someone more his equal.

Ronin kept a supportive hand on Kell’s thigh as frequently as he could, and Kell loved him for it. He’d have probably freaked out by now if he’d been alone, instead of surrounded by Ronin’s stoicism and strength. Maybe even leapt from the car and into the path of an oncoming bus.

“This isn’t your fault,” Ronin said.

“Hard not to think so.” Kell stared at the city as it passed, unable to look at his alpha. He’d see the swirl of shame surrounding Kell, and then he’d try to fix it. He’d try to make Kell feel better, and Kell didn’t deserve to feel better about this.

“Tarek’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that. The doctor could knick an artery while extracting the bullet, and Tarek could bleed out in emergency.”

Ronin squeezed his thigh. “Where are these worst-case scenarios coming from? We already had a conversation about hope.”

“Hope’s hard to find when your brother’s mate just got shot protecting you. Braun is going to be so angry with me.”

“Doubtful. He’ll be grateful to Tarek for saving your life, and he’ll be happy that Tarek is fine. Tarek might have to wear a sling for a few weeks, but he’ll be fine.”

Kell didn’t reply. All he wanted was the silence of his bedroom and to be alone for a while.

He got his wish ten minutes later. As soon as Ronin unlocked their apartment door, Kell fled for his bedroom. He shut the door, but didn’t lock it, because he knew Ronin wouldn’t enter without permission. His bed was still messy from their last night spent together, and the sheets smelled pleasantly of Ronin. Faint, but still there.

Except he wanted an escape from that for a while, so he stripped his sheets, then sprawled in the middle of the bare mattress.

Ronin knocked. “Kell? Can I get you anything?”

“No. I just…need space. Please?”

“All right. Do you think you’ll be hungry later? I can get something started.”

“Probably. Thanks.”

“It’s no issue.”

Ronin must have moved away, because silence followed. The man was probably hurt by Kell keeping him out, but Ronin was also incredible enough to understand why. To go through the trauma of a mostly-unknotted heat, only to face the trauma of nearly being shot? Kell had no way to process any of it. He didn’t want to process it. He wanted everything to stop.

There’s a gun in the apartment.

Kell sat straight up, his heart pounding in his chest. He’d seen where Ronin had put the gun, in the cabinet above the refrigerator. All he needed was a chance to get to it, and then sneak out of the apartment. To go somewhere else and do it, because Kell didn’t want Ronin to find him like that.

He could easily end everyone’s suffering.

Ronin’s golden eyes flashed in his mind. Ronin would be devastated. He’d blame himself, not only for buying the gun, but for not watching Kell properly. Not taking care of his omega. Ronin was too strong to follow Kell into the neverlife, but he’d suffer more, and it would be all Kell’s fault.

No, he couldn’t do that to his alpha. Maybe Kell deserved the pain and suffering being heaped upon him right now, but Ronin didn’t.

All Kell could do was endure.