“Seriously, your attitude, Kenn!” Marlin exclaimed in frustration as he shook his head. “I’ve been more than patient with you. If you would like me to find another beta, I will. If that will make you happy, I’m fine with it. Whatever makes you happy. And apparently it’s not me.”

Kenn clicked his tongue as he moved around the kitchen in Marlin’s wing, preparing dinner. “It’s not you. It’s him.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think of Nic.”

Kenn slammed the head of lettuce onto the counter and turned toward him. “Yes, it does. I’m here to serve you. I’m here to serve your future omega. I’m here to help raise your future pups. You will never have pups if you keep... keep... doing what you’re doing with that human.”

Marlin’s head jerked back. “I...” Holy Poseidon, he needed to tell Kenn that Nic wasn’t human before his brothers sat around the table talking about that very thing. Kenn might end up poisoning his meal.

“You’ve been with me a long time, Kenn—”

Kenn interrupted him. “That’s right. I’ve been nothing but loyal to you for years and now you talk about throwing me aside for another beta.”

Marlin scrubbed his hands over his face and bit back a scream. “I don’t want to toss you aside. I want you to be happy. I appreciate everything you do for me, everything you’ve ever done. But what I don’t appreciate is this attitude you have toward me and Nic. Being with Nic isn’t going to stop me from finding my fated mate.”

“So you say.”

“No, so the fates say. Because it’s up to the fates who I end up with. It’s not my choice, you know that. And need I remind you, it’s not my beta’s choice, either. In the meantime, I’m spending time with someone I want to spend time with.”

“He’s desperate and needy, otherwise why would he rut with the younger brother of a former lover?”

“He’s not desperate or needy. Don’t believe the things that Kai has told Vin.”

“So, your brother is a liar?”

Marlin ground his teeth. “He—” He quickly stopped talking when he heard his brothers entering his quarters. Shit. He grabbed Kenn’s arm and made him focus his attention on him instead of the salad he was preparing. “Listen to me,” he whispered fiercely. “There’s something I need to tell you before you hear my brothers talking about it.”

Kenn put the knife down on the cutting board and turned toward him, his eyebrows almost to his hairline.

“You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you.” That was putting it mildly.

“If it has to do with Nic, I probably won’t.”

Marlin closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath to lower his blood pressure. “Why do I allow you to talk to me this way?”

“Because I’m family. And you’re family. And we’re going to raise a family together. You know that’s the only way I’ll have that chance. So please do not take that away from me by not finding your omega.”

Marlin’s head snapped back at Kenn’s words. “Today was only the first of most likely a few upcoming Presentation Ceremonies. There’s a good possibility I’ll find my fated mate at the next one or the one after that. You’ll get to hold a pup in your arms soon, even though it might not be as soon as you’d like. But I have no control over that, so don’t act like I do. I promise I will provide you pups to love and care for.”

Kenn’s eyes softened as did his jaw and a small smile appeared. “I cannot wait, my prince.”

“I know.”

“The sooner, the better.”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about.” Dread filled his chest at what he was about to reveal to his beta. “Nic isn’t human.”

Kenn blinked, his mouth dropped open for a moment, before he barked, “What?”

“No, he’s an omega hybrid.”

“What!”

“Yes, and though I haven’t told my brothers yet... And I know I shouldn’t even tell you...”

“He’s pregnant!” Kenn shouted.

Marlin winced. “I don’t know.”

“Oh great sea gods, he’s pregnant?”

“I don’t know,” Marlin repeated, not knowing what else to say.

Kenn grabbed Marlin’s arms and shook him. “Is he pregnant?”

“I don’t know. Can you please keep your voice down? My brothers—”

Kenn’s gaze landed somewhere over Marlin’s shoulder. And when his beta’s gray eyes widened the dread that was creeping up Marlin’s chest began to choke him. “Are they standing there behind me?” Marlin asked under his breath.

“Yes,” Kenn whispered back.

“Did they hear us?”

Kenn nodded. “Yes.”

“Shit.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to get so excited. I—”

“You do know you just got excited over the possibility of Nic, the male you do not like, carrying my son, right?”

“Yes, but we could raise the pup without him.”

Marlin closed his eyes and groaned.

“Marlin, please don’t tell me Nic went into heat,” Kai bellowed from the direction of the kitchen’s doorway.

“Sounds like Nic not only went into heat but Marlin rutted with him, knocking poor Nic up,” Caol stated with a chuckle.

It wasn’t funny. Not funny at all.

With an inhale to steel himself, he turned to see all four of his brothers standing just inside the kitchen.

“There’s a possibility that happened.”

“Which? The heat? The rutting? Or the knocking him up part?” Caol asked.

“You said he was on heat suppressants!” Kai hissed.

Zale’s head twisted toward Kai. “You knew Nic was an omega?”

“No, not until the other day and when I found out, Marlin assured me that Nic was on suppressants.”

All eyes turned back to Marlin. “He lied?” Rian asked, his face dark.

“He didn’t lie. He was on suppressants and a masking agent. But during his flu, he couldn’t keep anything in his system. So they,” Marlin shrugged like it was no big deal when it was very much a big deal, “wore off.”

“So now there’s a chance that a hybrid carries your son?” Rian spit out, like hybrid was a dirty word. “That’s not good. Father’s going to kill you.”

“He may actually kill him,” Caol agreed.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Kai said. “Well, I guess the good news is, we weren’t having dinner together to only discuss you and Nic. We wanted to discuss more about me taking the throne and how this will proceed. So that may be more important to you than ever. On that note, let’s let Beck and Kenn finish preparing dinner while we talk, yes?”

“If we can avoid talking about Nic,” Marlin said.

“You know that’s not going to happen,” Rian stated dryly as he disappeared in the direction of the dining room.

Marlin was afraid of that.

Marlin pushed his food around his plate. He wasn’t hungry and his stomach kept churning as he avoided his brothers’ stares. Instead he’d occasionally glance up at Luca, Finn or Del. Each would take their turn at giving him a small, knowing smile.

Out of the three omegas sitting at the table, Kai was the only one who found his fated mate the traditional way even though he hadn’t cared one way or the other if he did.

Now he couldn’t be happier.

But still... Rian and Zale both found their omegas by accident. They also didn’t waste time planting a pup in their belly. Even before their father knew about it. And now?

Now, Marlin might have done the same thing. He was possibly having a son with an omega that was not “acceptable” in his father’s eyes. Or the Royal Council’s.

Or probably by most full-blooded Selkies.

His father’s reaction had been bad because of Del coming from “unacceptable” bloodlines. But the king would absolutely never accept an heir from a hybrid.

Never.

Ever.

Ever.

Marlin pushed a now-cold piece of grilled flounder across the plate once more, that dread he’d been feeling all day just about drowning him.

With a spring in his step and a wide smile on his face, Kenn came barreling into the dining room, topping off everyone’s wine. As he leaned in next to Marlin to fill his glass, he actually heard Kenn humming a happy, little tune.

The beta had been practically floating on air the whole evening as he and Beck served them and tended to their needs.

The male truly believed that if Nic was pregnant, Marlin would just toss the omega aside after the whelp and allow Kenn to step in to help raise his son, pater-less.

Marlin would have to dispel the beta of that notion. He wasn’t that kind of alpha and he never planned to be, either. So any of Kenn’s lofty ideas that he would simply raise Nic’s son without the omega needed to be stricken from the beta’s thoughts.

Marlin would have to address that after dinner, after all his brothers and their mates left. Because once he did, he was sure Kenn would slip back into a foul mood. And no one other than Marlin should have to deal with that.

Especially since it was all Marlin’s fault.

“My prince, you must eat and keep your strength,” Kenn murmured as he straightened. “You will need your energy for once your pup arrives.”

Marlin sighed. “If there is a pup, it’s nine months away. What I eat now will not affect my energy level in the far future.”

Marlin sighed again much louder and purposely more exaggerated this time as Kenn tsk-tsked and moved down the table, ignoring his alpha’s words.

Then Marlin realized the table had become completely silent, not even the sound of forks could be heard scraping along plates.

“Marlin,” Zale said, leaning forward to catch Marlin’s attention. “You do know Father will never accept your son if he’s born to a hybrid.”

Silence encircled the table once again.

“You’re right,” Rian finally said, his voice low and tight. “We fought with him to accept our mates. Each and every one of us. But I can’t see him ever giving in on a hybrid.”

Marlin lifted his gaze and let it sweep around the table. “My fear is not of him accepting Nic, my fear is of him not accepting my son.” He quickly added, “If there is one.”

“You don’t want Nic as your mate if he’s pregnant? You would just take your son from him?” Luca asked, his eyes round.

“Yes, that’s the plan,” Kenn called out from the kitchen.

Marlin’s lips flattened, and he growled, “That’s not the plan. I don’t have a plan. I won’t know if I’ll even need a plan for another two weeks.”

“I would rather that actually be the plan,” Kai announced.

“Kai!” Luca exclaimed.

“Well, it’s true, my love. Do you really want the former lover of your mate living in the same castle as you? Do you really want to sit across from my former lover at dinner on a nightly basis?”

“I want whatever makes Marlin happy,” Luca said firmly, frowning at Kai. “I’m secure enough with our bond that I can handle being around one of your former lovers. Former being the key word. So, if Nic is carrying Marlin’s son and he wants Nic to be by his side to help raise him, then I’m fine with it. Apparently, it’s you who’s not. So, don’t make me question the strength of our bond because of your issue with it.”

Caol slammed back in his chair and opened his mouth to most likely howl with laughter but Rian raised a hand cutting him off before their youngest brother could even make a noise.

A muscle popped in Kai’s jaw and his eyes darkened as he considered his omega. “If you’re fine with it, then so am I,” he finally said tightly.

Luca rolled his eyes. “Then there’s no issue.”

“There is the issue of Father,” Zale reminded them.

“Right. So let’s finish the discussion we started before dinner, which was Kai taking over the throne,” Caol announced. “I, for one, am all for it. I really don’t want Father to tell me who can be my mate.”

“That would be up to the fates,” Rian reminded him.

“I’m aware of that. But if the Seekers can’t find my fated mate, then I want to choose for myself.”

“You can’t choose Beck since he can’t produce pups,” Rian reminded him.

Caol’s eyes slid toward the kitchen where the two betas had headed. “I’m aware of that.”

“I’m sure you are. Otherwise, you’d have more pups than Kai by now.”

“I only have two,” Kai exclaimed. “Luca is the one holding out on a third. And soon, Rian will have two, as well.”

“As will we,” Zale announced unexpectedly.

Marlin’s gaze landed on the empty wine glasses sitting in front of both Del and Finn. Apparently, their family was going to be growing again soon.

Marlin raised his wine glass. “Congratulations, Zale, Finn. I’m happy for you both.” Then he put the glass to his lips and quickly downed half of it.

“And soon congratulations may be in order for you, too,” Finn replied with a smile. “I think it’s exciting that our sons will have so many cousins to grow up with. I love being part of one big, happy family.”

Zale leaned over and kissed Finn’s temple. “You deserve a big, loving family my omega. Your own blood never deserved you.”

“So, let’s get back to Kai taking the throne,” Rian said, his hand absently rubbing Del’s extended belly. As with his last pregnancy, the omega’s stomach was once again huge.

“How? How are we going to do this?” Zale asked.

“As discussed prior, we could simply ask him to step down,” Rian suggested.

“He would never agree,” Kai said with a shake of his head. “You know that. He would probably just laugh at us.”

“Laugh? No. How about bluster like he does so well.” Zale sighed. “We could tell him what he’s doing with Douglass, keeping him in this castle is unacceptable to us and our mates. It puts our own sons in danger.”

“I doubt he’ll care,” Kai said dryly.

“There’s five of us, only one of him. He doesn’t even have the weasel at his back anymore,” Caol stated.

“So we think,” Marlin muttered.

“There may be only one of him, Caol, but he is the king. And his rule is supported by the Royal Council,” Rian told him.

“So what else can we do? He’s not unfit to rule, so we can’t petition the Royal Council to have him removed. And the Royal Guard is sworn to protect him and will, if we physically try to remove him. Not that I want anything unfortunate to happen to him,” Caol added. “I just don’t want him to be king.”

“You’re only afraid of him taking Beck from you,” Kai said.

“Untrue. We are his sons. He’s never loved us. If he does, he’s kept it hidden. Why? I see how you are with your sons, Kai, and also how Rian and Zale are. I never knew the love of a father could be like that until I saw you three with your pups. You truly love your sons and they know it. Your omegas know how true and loyal you are to them, as well. Our father’s omegas, our own paters, ended up where? Thrown out to sea? Just simply tossed away like trash? Traded to another colony like livestock? We don’t even know the truth! So we all missed out on that love, too. How any of us are normal is beyond my comprehension.”

“You think you’re normal, Caol?” Rian asked with a cocked brow. “Normal males do not stick their cock into any and every hole available.”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve had no father-figure in my life to actually guide me.”

Marlin groaned. “Go tell your story to Dr. Phil.”

Kai sighed loudly. “Caol, you’ve had all of us. But I agree. He’s never been a loving father, but that still isn’t a good reason to remove him from the throne forcibly. Even trading away both our beta and omega brothers, we are now learning that it’s acceptable among the royals. So, we don’t have that reason, either.”

“What about the questionable demise of all our paters? I truly doubt that they all died in whelp like he said. The discovery of beta and omega brothers prove that our paters disappeared after our unwanted brothers were whelped.”

“Not all. As far as we know, both my pater and Rian’s died during whelp. Otherwise, Rian would never had been born to the omega Aenon. The omega would have been thrown out to sea after Douglass was whelped. He wasn’t. But that doesn’t mean that Zale’s, Marlin’s and Caol’s paters weren’t,” Kai winced, “disposed of. Zale’s after the omega Zander was born, and Marlin’s after the beta in the Southern Colony was born. We can only assume Caol has a full-blooded brother out there somewhere, as well.”

“If so, that would make nine of us in total if you include the weasel.” Marlin blew out a breath. “Nine!”

“Right and when I become king, all of us—except for the weasel—will be sitting around the dinner table together every night like a real family.”

“We would need to start eating in the dining hall, then,” Finn spoke up.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Kai announced. “That table would also be big enough to include our sons once they are old enough to sit and behave at the table with the adults.”

Luca made a noise beside Kai.

“Maybe you should start listening to yourself, brother,” Marlin warned. “No wonder why Luca is having second thoughts of having a third pup.”

“Nonsense.”

“You’re becoming worse than Rian,” Caol exclaimed.

Kai sat in stunned silence. Then he scraped fingers through his hair. “I apologize. I don’t want to become a tyrant. My goal is to make things easier for all of us. I want our exiled brothers to be accepted and live among us. I also want our sons to be accepted. All of them, no matter who their paters are and no matter what their gender.”

“And while that is noble, brother,” Rian began. “We still don’t have a plan on how to make that happen.”

“Not without throwing Father out to sea without his skin,” Caol said softly.

Once again, silence surrounded the table for a long moment.

“I’m not sure if any of us are willing to go that far,” Marlin murmured. “It would make us no better than him.”

“Then we need to petition the Royal Council to back our takeover. However, we still need a good reason. No, they will want more than one reason. And I’m not sure they will accept any of the reasons we want him removed as king,” Kai said, disappointment coloring his tone.

“I worry,” Marlin murmured. “I do worry if Nic is pregnant what will happen. I always said I would accept a son of any gender, but I also figured that son would be born to my fated mate. Nic’s not that. Nic’s also a hybrid. This situation is not ideal.”

Rian took a sip of wine and after placing his glass carefully on the table, said, “Del being born into the family he was, wasn’t ‘ideal,’ either. But here we are. My omega is carrying my second son.”

“There is nothing wrong with Del’s family,” Luca spoke up.

“You are correct, my love,” Kai agreed, squeezing Luca’s hand. “Rian was trying to make a point, albeit not in the best way. There truly is nothing wrong with Del’s family, but according to royal traditions he was considered unacceptable for Rian, that’s all. Del is actually perfect for my brother. He has somehow removed the royal stick from Rian’s ass. We all thought it was shoved up there so high we didn’t think it could ever be removed.”

“And he must have shoved it up yours, apparently,” Caol grumbled.

“Again, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be that way. But I worry about all of us. I’m the oldest, I feel responsible.”

Marlin spoke for all of them when he said, “You have stepped in as a father-figure when our father clearly didn’t care. That was unfair to you, Kai. You weren’t even old enough for that kind of responsibility. I mean you were six when I was born. How is a male only six years older than me supposed to be a good role model? You had to grow up faster than you should have. I blame Father for that, too.”

“What’s done is done,” Rian stated. “We need to figure out how to improve the future because our sons depend on it. One day they’ll be having their own sons. We don’t want their omegas branded, we want our grandpups to be accepted no matter who they are, and we want them to find true love.”

Del placed his hand over Rian’s, which was still making circles over his belly, and he gave his alpha a warm smile. “I love you.”

Caol made a gagging sound at the end of the table. “On that note, before Rian mushily declares his love for Del at the dinner table, I’m out. Beck!” he called. “Beck! We’re heading back to our... err.... my wing.”

Marlin’s gaze met Zale’s across the table and Marlin frowned. Zale gave him a small shake of his head. Zale believed that they needed to just let whatever was happening between Caol and Beck happen. It wasn’t their business and it had been going on for years. While Marlin didn’t agree with that, the only good part about Caol sleeping with his beta was that the male couldn’t bear pups.

Unlike Nic.

However, none of them had the right to judge Caol’s choices. Not one of them.

None of them were perfect.

However, he feared for Caol and Beck if their father found out if what was supposed to be done was not.

They all watched silently as Beck rushed out of the dining room on Caol’s heels.

Marlin turned his attention back to Kai who still stared at the empty doorway. “That’s not good,” Kai murmured.

“It’s not, but there’s nothing we’re going to say to change it,” Marlin said. “And it’s a good reason to find a better reason to remove Father from the throne.”

Kai’s gaze landed on him. “Not like you have a reason of your own.”

Marlin shrugged.

Kai raised a finger. “I have an idea... what if I go talk to the leader of the Aurora Pack and see how they handled the turnover of their last leader? Maybe the current pack alpha will have some suggestions.”

“We’re nothing like the wolves, Kai,” Rian warned.

“I know, but right now we have nothing. Maybe speaking with them will give me something.”

“Their dynamics aren’t even similar,” Marlin added.

Kai sighed. “I know. But right now I’m feeling helpless and I don’t know what to do.”

“We can go,” Luca said quietly.

Kai’s blue eyes tipped down to his mate. “No. You will remain here with Vin and our sons. I don’t want you traveling into lycan country, my love.”

“Then it’s dangerous?” Luca asked.

Kai said, “I’ll be fine.”

Marlin sure hoped so.