He took a life. He created a life.

Life.

Death.

He did what he had to do. And he would continue to do so as he regarded his too quiet omega in the back of the limo. Nic was staring out of the rear driver’s side window. He hadn’t said a word since leaving Dr. Maniford’s office.

That in itself worried Marlin.

They had a future to think about but right now, that was hard with the turmoil that surrounded him.

Things had imploded.

The outboards on Nic’s boat needed to be replaced or repaired. After doing what Marlin needed to do with Douglass, they had to radio for help and get the fishing vessel towed back to the docks. When Marlin heard the cost to fix them, he told the mechanic that he would cover the bill no matter what the cost.

However, it wasn’t just that.

What they had feared ended up being true.

A guard found his father’s body in the crashing surf along the northern shore of the colony. Kai and Rian took the late king’s remains farther out to sea and without any ceremony, without the pomp and circumstance their father loved so much, they let him go home without fanfare back to the Great Sea. Kai would not allow anyone else to go along as he said their father was almost unrecognizable after being tossed against the rocks for hours.

Marlin didn’t know which would’ve been worse. Actually seeing it or being reduced to imagining it instead.

Either way, Marlin was empty. Right now, he didn’t feel anything.

He had taken a life. He had created a life.

That life he took was his blood, his brother. The life he created was his son. His future heir.

And now they knew for sure that Nic was pregnant, the omega would be outed. Everyone in Seaport would now know he wasn’t human. Everyone in the Northern Colony would know he wasn’t full-blooded Selkie. His secret, the one he kept all his life to protect himself, would now be exposed. The only way to avoid that was if the omega went into hiding until their pup was born and then afterward picked up his life where it left off. And to do that would mean his life would not include their son or Marlin.

Marlin would never let that happen.

He didn’t think Nic would, either. Marlin couldn’t imagine Nic allowing him to raise their son without him.

Besides, Marlin didn’t want to.

Not after seeing the omega’s face as the doctor showed them on the small black and white monitor an image of their pup. Not after being told the tiny spot in the center was their unborn son.

Something had changed with Nic as he stared at the image. His face had softened, his eyes became shiny. He smiled once and only once before becoming somber and silent.

As Kenn and a guard drove them back to Nic’s cabin, Marlin had no idea where they would go from here. Marlin needed to live in the colony and he doubted Nic wanted to leave his little cabin in the woods.

He doubted Nic would want to give up his independence. Because if he became Marlin’s mate, he would need to let his old life go. He would no longer live on his own. He would no longer fish for a living. On the other hand, he’d want for nothing.

Living separately was one thing when they were simply lovers, it would be another if Marlin took him as his mate.

They would be alpha and omega. A bonded pair.

Without his father to block their bonding ceremony, they could go about doing that. They might not be fated mates, but they’d still be mates.

The search for his fated mate would cease.

But then they’d have to deal with the Royal Council. They would not accept Nic. They’d never accept a hybrid as a prince’s mate.

For Poseidon’s sake, being a prince was both a blessing and a curse.

Marlin closed his eyes and rubbed his throbbing temples as the headache that had started this morning became worse. “We’re going to drop you off, then I’m going to go speak with Kai.”

“He will be king.”

“He will, but I’m not sure how soon that will happen.”

“Marlin...”

“Nic... I don’t have answers right now. These last two days have been mentally and physically taxing. I’m not sure if I could even think straight if I tried. And I’m afraid any decisions made right now could be flawed.”

Nic said nothing, making Marlin open his eyes and turn toward his omega. But the male had returned to staring blankly out the window of the moving vehicle.

“Tell me what you want,” Marlin whispered. “I’ll do my best to give it to you, my omega, but I make no promises. Some things you ask for may not be possible.”

Even though Nic kept his head turned away, Marlin didn’t miss the tightening of his jaw.

Marlin continued, “I don’t want you to think less of me for what I had to do yesterday.”

Nic still didn’t answer.

“He could have killed you, Nic. He could have killed our son. He killed five guards. He injured others.”

Nic nodded, his solemn face reflected in the glass. “He killed your father.”

“Yes.”

Nic finally turned his head and met Marlin’s gaze. “He was mad.”

“Yes.”

“He deserved worse, my alpha, but not by your hands.”

“No, he needed to die by my hands, my omega, and now the Great Sea has taken him home. Hopefully, if he is reborn, he will come back a kinder soul.”

“Maybe he ended up like that because he was treated as unwanted and unworthy.”

“Could be.”

“Just like Zander and your beta brother in the Southern Colony.” Nic tilted his head as he studied Marlin.

“Neither Zander or Aegir are unwanted or unworthy. Now that Father is gone, Kai will want to bring them home where they belong.”

“And what about me?”

Marlin’s brows dipped low. “What about you?”

“I’m unwanted and unworthy, too.”

“Nic—”

Nic raised his palm. “Not by you. By others. Humans. Selkies. I can’t call myself either. As a hybrid, I’m, like Douglass said, a mutt. He was right. By me having your son, I’m tainting your royal bloodlines. Your perfect Royal Council will never allow that. Your father was only one obstacle, Marlin. But the Royal Council will remain another. I will be considered unacceptable by the citizens of your colony and all the other Selkie colonies, as well. How can I stand by your side as your mate, and pater to your son when I know others will look down on me, down on our pup?”

“No one looks down upon Del,” Marlin reminded him.

“Del is full-blooded. The only problem he had was the Royal Council’s acceptance and once your father approved of him, and it turned out that Del was Rian’s true fated mate, he was accepted by the Council without question. I won’t be so lucky. I’m not only a hybrid but not your fated mate. Double whammy, Marlin. And we can change neither.”

“No, we can’t. We’ll just have to live with it. But again, I ask you, my omega, what do you want?”

“I want you, my alpha.” Nic’s hand dropped to his belly. “And, surprisingly, I want our son. I never thought I would want a pup, but now that he exists, I can’t help but feel something toward him. That being said, I don’t want everything else that goes along with you being a prince. I’m not sure I want to give up my life to live amongst a society that will look down upon me and this little one or any future sons we may have. My mother hid who I was because of that reason. I’m not sure if I could put our pups through that.”

“Nic, just like you can’t change that you’re a hybrid or an omega, I cannot change that I’m an alpha prince. I have duties and responsibilities as such to my family, my colony and my race as a whole. I cannot simply abandon all of that. Nor do I want to. I cannot just simply give up my title and walk away. That would be selfish of me. Would it be easier on you? Yes. On me? No. If you’re unwilling to move into my wing with me at the castle,” Marlin shook his head, “then I’m not sure what we’ll do. But I do know this, you carry my son and no matter what, I’ll be a part of his life. I never want to be like my father and be emotionally detached. Our son needs to feel love from both of his parents. He also needs to be a part of a family which would include his uncles and his cousins.”

“You want me to move out of a home I love and into a stone castle that I know nothing of. A place I was never welcomed before. But are you doing it because you want me as your omega mate, Marlin?” Nic lifted a hand before Marlin could answer. “What will happen if you cross paths with your true fated mate and find a connection with him that we don’t have? May never have. What if your instinct overrules your heart and you take him instead? Where will that leave me?” His hand swept over his flat stomach. “Where will it leave us? Abandoned? Cast aside while you take another? I don’t think I could live with that.”

“I would never cast you aside.”

Nic made a noise. “No, you’d set us up somewhere else instead. Then take your true fated mate and go on to have sons with him.”

Marlin couldn’t stop the little growl that escaped him. “I would never do that, Omega.”

“You say that now, but the fates are unpredictable. You may not want to take another but may not be able to resist. That’s what scares me. I know you want me. You know I want you. But is it truly for the best? Will I end up alone in the end?”

“You love your independence,” Marlin stated, surprised at Nic’s fear of being alone.

“Yes, I do, but I love you more.”

They were gathered in Kai’s study in his wing. He officially could have held this meeting with his brothers in the royal library, but the eldest prince admitted that he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.

Marlin wasn’t sure if the rest of them were ready for that, either. Dinner had been quiet, even Caol remaining subdued. They went through the motions of eating and drinking, then the omegas went off to Rian’s wing while the children were in Zale’s being cared for by Kenn, Beck, and Ford.

Marlin leaned his head along the back of the comfortable couch Kai kept in his study/office and stared at the ceiling, his hand absently rubbing at the ache in his chest.

He was having a difficult time wrapping his head around everything that had happened in the last couple of days. And it didn’t help that he kept hearing what Nic said over and over in his muddled brain.

I love you more.

When Marlin didn’t answer him, or even react—basically because he was in shock at his omega’s declaration—Nic again became quiet and withdrawn and minutes later, when the limo pulled up to his cabin, he escaped the car before Kenn could even assist his exit. Nic had not only slammed the car door, but had rushed into the house, slamming the front door behind him, as well. It was slammed so hard that Marlin could hear it all the way inside the limo even with the car doors shut.

Marlin needed to tell Nic how he felt about him. Make him aware of what had happened the moment he’d opened his eyes underwater and met Nic’s. He had been drowning, dying, and Nic saved him. It wasn’t his skin that saved him, it was Nic.

It was at that very moment when their gazes met, he was pretty sure the two of them had bonded.

Because of that, as he currently sat in Kai’s wing with his brothers, he felt a pull like no other. Bonded mates couldn’t bear to be apart for very long. Short periods of time, short distances were tolerable. But miles and miles and hours and hours... No.

He wondered if Nic was feeling that same pull, the urge to go find his mate and be together.

He decided he wouldn’t stay the night in the castle as he originally planned. Instead he’d head back out to the cabin as soon as the business with his brothers was concluded.

A painful kick to his shin had him lifting his head and paying attention.

“Holy Neptune, Marlin, you look like a love-sick cow,” Caol said, his arms crossed as he stared down at Marlin with an amused expression.

“Nic is pregnant.”

Silence met his unexpected announcement. He let his gaze slide through the room. Finally, he looked at his oldest brother, the future King of the North. Kai’s face said it all...

Disappointment and maybe even some anger. Actually, there was no maybe about it. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Kai muttered. “I was hoping for another outcome.”

Of course, he was. Kai wanted nothing more than Marlin to find his fated mate and quit seeing Nic. He never hid that fact.

“So now what?” Rian asked with a frown as he leaned back against the desk Kai sat behind.

Marlin shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve been sort of numb since I had to...”

“Right,” Kai interjected quickly when Marlin’s words drifted off. “You don’t need to relive that. The ultrasound was today?”

“Yes, this morning. Dr. Maniford confirmed it.”

Kai nodded sharply. “I honestly don’t want to sound like Father, but, Marlin, if you take Nic as a mate... You’ll lose your chance to find your true fated mate.”

“I know.”

“Are you willing to give that up?”

“I think so.”

“You think so?” Zale echoed in surprise.

“Nic wants me to give up my title and come live with him at the cabin.”

“No,” Zale said.

“No!” Rian exclaimed.

“Impossible,” Kai growled.

“What?” Caol shouted.

Marlin lifted a hand. “I don’t plan on that. But I don’t think he’s willing to move into the colony.”

Zale frowned. “Why?”

“Think about it. His worry is valid.”

“What worry?”

“Being accepted,” Marlin said simply. Then looked at his oldest brother. “He’s a hybrid. He’s not of royal blood. And he’s your former lover, Kai. As king, you would need to accept him first and foremost.”

Kai’s expression went blank as he tried to hide his true feelings. Which was obvious. “Not just me, but the Royal Council. They don’t want any full-blooded Selkies mating with hybrids. But a prince?” Kai shook his head.

“Why even tell them? Can he shift?” Zale asked.

“Yes. We’ve swam several times together. And yesterday...”

They all waited. He hadn’t told his brothers everything that happened. Only that Douglass had been thrown overboard and drowned. He didn’t tell them any details. He didn’t want them to know the blind rage that overcame him when both his omega and his son’s life had been at risk due to the beta.

“Yesterday,” Marlin continued, “he saved my life.”

“How?” Rian asked.

“I fell into the water without my skin.”

“Marlin...” Rian breathed.

“Great sea gods!” Zale exclaimed

“Because of Douglass?” Kai asked.

“Yes. He pulled me in. I swear I was gone, Kai. To be forever lost in the Great Sea. But Nic saved me. My skin was sinking, and he retrieved it. He forced me to take it. Somehow, I found the ability, the energy to put it on. To shift. I think...”

Holy Poseidon! Could it be? Was it because of the fates?

“I think it was because of Nic. I truly think he’s my mate. I’m honestly wondering if the fates had a hand in all of this.” He glanced at his brothers who looked like they were waiting on bated breath to hear what Marlin revealed next. “While I was falling into the water’s depths, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think or react. I couldn’t help myself at all. I felt totally powerless. Gone. Like I no longer existed. Until Nic...” Marlin shot to his feet and began to pace, brushing a hand over his hair as he thought back to what happened the previous day. “Until he was there. In front of me. I couldn’t react until he touched me. When he did, it was like I woke up. I could move. I could see. And what I saw was Nic.”

“Are you sure?” Kai asked, leaning back in his chair, watching Marlin pace through narrowed eyes.

Marlin paused and turned toward Rian and Kai. “Yes! I am now! It only makes sense. Think about it. We drown when we fall or are tossed into the sea without our skins. Do you know of anyone that has survived? Not until this very moment was I sure, but I am now. It was the fates that saved me, and the fates did it by using Nic. Nic is my omega. He carries my son. I’ve alpha claimed him.” Marlin ignored the noises both Rian and Kai made at that news. “I think... I truly believe we bonded at the exact moment I awoke. Up until then, we’d done everything required for an official Bonding Ceremony.”

“Except branding him,” Zale mumbled.

“Right, except for that.”

“Which will be discontinued in this colony under my rule,” Kai added.

Marlin gave his brother a relieved nod. “Thank you.”

“Okay, so you’ve bonded but he can’t actually be your fated mate, can he?” Zale asked. “I mean, can a hybrid be chosen by the fates?”

“Why can’t they? How do we know for sure?” Caol asked. “It may only take the smallest amount of Selkie blood to be subjected to the fates. Does anyone know otherwise?”

“No,” Rian said, shaking his dark head. “We don’t know. Since hybrids are forbidden to be mates of any full-blooded Selkies, they are never presented by the Seekers and they hardly cross paths with us. But I suppose it’s possible.”

“Anything is possible when it comes to the fates,” Kai muttered behind his hands as he drew them down his face.

“Right! Anything is possible!” Caol exclaimed. His eyes lit up. “That opens up so many more possibilities!”

“Caol,” Rian growled.

Caol lifted a hand. “No, not just for rutting. I mean keeping our race alive and well. I know the Royal Council wants to ignore hybrids, but why not accept the ones that can shift: the omegas, the betas and alphas? Forbid the ones that can’t: the males and females. The Seekers have admitted there are not enough omegas for all Selkie alphas and the selection gets even more narrow if we’re waiting for one specific omega, which we may never find if our paths never cross. Or he’s a hybrid!”

Kai groaned loudly. “Caol, the Royal Council hasn’t banned branding yet, even though I’ve petitioned them several times, the last time with the support of several kings. What makes you think they’ll start accepting hybrids?”

“Is there any real way to prove that Nic is a hybrid?” Zale asked.

“Yes, one way is DNA, I suppose. But the other would be by the recording of his whelp. He would need to be born in a colony and records would’ve been kept on who his father and pater were,” Rian answered.

“Nic had a human mother. His sire was a Selkie who was put to death because of impregnating another human female. He apparently had no taste for males, only females, so his only choice was to breed with humans.”

Rian shuddered. “Not only humans, but female!”

“To each his own,” Caol stated with a shrug.

“Caol, you haven’t... Not with a female... Right?” Rian asked their youngest brother.

“No!” Caol scrunched up his nose. “No way. Females. Ick.”

Marlin rolled his lips inward to keep from laughing at Caol’s reaction. But his amusement quickly faded when Zale said, “Okay, back to hybrids. Or at least Nic. If Marlin thinks Nic is his mate... What can be done, Kai? Would you deny your own brother of his fated mate because he’s a hybrid?”

“We don’t know if they’re fated mates. He’s just saying they bonded, which can happen, Zale,” Kai answered.

“You didn’t come home last night after everything that happened yesterday, Marlin. Why?” Zale asked him.

“Because I couldn’t. I had a hard time leaving Nic’s side. I’m struggling right now. My instinct is to rush back to him. I know it deep down inside I’m his alpha. And believe it or not, I knew he was an omega before he told me. I knew it even when he was using the masking scent. I just ignored all the signs. I refused to see what was right in front of me. Why was it that Kai never recognized Nic’s gender while he was on the suppressants and masking agent when I did? I can tell you, I believe it’s because Kai wasn’t his alpha. I think if I wasn’t his fated mate, I never would’ve known prior to him going into heat. I’m sorry, I might not be making sense because it’s all so confusing and I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around any and all of this.”

“You knew he was an omega before he admitted it?” Kai asked, his dark eyebrows raised.

“I sensed it, but like I said, I ignored the signs and all those feelings thinking it was a simple attraction to him. I should’ve known. I alpha claimed him and knotted him almost every—”

“Ooookay,” Rian cut him off. “I don’t want that picture of you and Nic together in my head. That may put a damper on what Del and I—”

“Nobody wants that in our heads, either, Rian,” Caol quickly cut in.

“Oh, you have plans tonight, brother?” Kai asked Caol.

Caol’s expression went neutral. “No. Not at all. I’m just saying, I don’t need to picture any of my brothers with their mates, thank you very much. I’ve already had an eyeful of you and Luca during his first heat.”

“Just like we don’t need an image of you and your beta,” Rian reminded him.

“I—”

Rian lifted a hand and barked, “Save it. Don’t lie to us. I’d rather you just not say anything.”

“Whatever,” Caol grumbled.

“And you deserve to be haunted by what you witnessed, Caol. You weren’t supposed to come into our bedroom like that,” Kai said dryly.

“I was sent in!”

Zale snorted. “No, he wasn’t.”

“They were going to die of dehydration!” Caol exclaimed.

“Enough,” Kai shouted, then dropped his head and shook it.

“It was a trying time for all of us,” Caol went on, ignoring Kai.

Kai lifted his head. “And how was that a trying time for you?”

“The lure of Luca’s scent. And we worried about you two, like I said. You were the first of us to deal with an omega’s heat cycle.”

“Okay, can we get back to Nic?” Marlin asked.

Rian spoke up. “You can’t convince him to move in with us? I mean, your son will need to live here no matter what, Marlin. There’s no reason for either of them to remain in that cabin if you think you two have bonded. He belongs to you. If you are truly his alpha, you should be able to command him to move in here. An omega always has to obey his alpha.”

Zale sighed. “Aaah. There’s the royal asshole that we thought went missing when Del came into your life. So glad to see that he’s not permanently gone.”

“What?” Rian asked, clearly confused.

“’An omega always has to obey his alpha,’” Zale quoted.

“Like you never used that on your own omega?” Marlin asked.

Zale shifted in his seat. “Only when needed,” he admitted after a bit.

“See?” Rian exclaimed. “This is a time when it’s needed. If you’ve alpha-claimed him, Marlin, go claim your omega. Bring him here.”

“And the whole issue of him being a hybrid?”

“We’ll keep that under wraps for as long as possible. We can only hope no one figures it out. Maybe the royal doctor will, but Dr. Harper answers to us. Let’s just get past my becoming king and ruler of this colony. Once that happens, I’ll have more pull with the Royal Council. If they find out Nic’s a hybrid and if we could somehow convince them that they are fated mates...” Kai drifted off.

“And if we can’t?” Marlin asked, worried.

Kai shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. No matter what, Nic is pregnant. You’ll have a son in about nine months. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be king prior to that. And since you’re the fourth alpha-born prince, maybe no one will look too closely at where Nic came from.”

“Things are never that easy,” Marlin mumbled.

“No, but it’s time they are,” Caol announced.

“I need to get back to Nic,” slipped out of Marlin’s lips before he could stop it.

Zale shot him a knowing smile. “You know, I noticed your connection with him when we went to the cabin to search for Finn. I knew I wasn’t imagining it.”

“It’s true. Every time I went there, I was drawn to him. I fought it because of Kai.”

Zale gave Marlin a serious look. “Then you must bring him home, brother. Don’t accept no for an answer. He will eventually see that it’s for the best. For him and our future nephew.”

It could also possibly make him miserable and hate Marlin in the end. Nic was not the kind of male who liked being told what to do, forget being forced into action. He would have to handle that carefully.

Caol spoke up. “Okay, so speaking of bringing Nic home... As well as Zander and Aegir now that Kai will be king, I wanted to discuss another issue with all of you.”

A collective groan rose up in the room.

“No, this is serious. I’m heading to Caledonia as soon as Kai is crowned. I was recently advised by email that there’s another omega that could be the son of King Solomon. He, apparently, looks like me. Us, I should say. But more like my twin. I wonder if it’s possible I could actually have a twin out there. An omega.”

“Hell, anything’s possible now. I swear there are no limits to what our father was capable of. Separating twins being among them,” Zale muttered.

Kai stood and moved around his desk. “If it’s true, Caol, and if he’s not bonded, bring him home. I want all of us home.”

Caol dipped his head. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“It’s not official yet. By default, I’m the reigning prince but won’t be the king until we get word from the Royal Council.”

“Which hopefully will be soon. I’m anxious to go. Especially if he turns out to be my twin.”

Rian rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “For Poseidon’s sake, that’s all we need. Two of you.”

“Well, look how your brother turned out to be, Rian. He was an evil weasel!”

“He was your brother, as well.”

“Half,” Caol corrected Rian.

“There is no ‘half’ in this family. It doesn’t matter which pater whelped us, it doesn’t matter what our gender is. We’re all brothers. No more half stuff. I don’t want to hear it,” Kai announced, sounding all too kingly.

“Then there shouldn’t be ‘half’ when it comes to Selkies. Nic should be accepted whether he is ‘half’ Selkie or not.”

“And while we will accept him among us as your chosen omega, that doesn’t mean he will be accepted elsewhere, Marlin. I’m sorry.”

Marlin gave Kai a sharp nod. “Thank you. It’s better than nothing. Now, I just need to convince Nic.”