The second court-appointed visit went about as well as the first, with Liam stiff and wary, and Isa pretending he didn’t want to beat Mancini to a pulp for holding Layne again. This time Layne was sleeping, and he stayed that way for a good five minutes before waking up and crying. The kid was only ten weeks old, but he had great instincts about people.

When they got home, Isa was delighted to see all three of his boys had overtaken the kitchen and were cooking dinner. They ate as a family, and it was wonderful. It also became a bit of an impromptu celebration for Tarius, whose classes were over for the year.

Three nights later, everyone got dressed up for the class graduation ceremony, which was held in the secondary school auditorium. Herris had passed away only a few weeks before Aven graduated, and he hadn’t wanted to walk with his class, so this was the first graduation Isa had been to since his own from the constabulary academy.

Since the ceremony was in the evening, Tarek and Braun agreed to come over and babysit Layne. Braun probably could have done it himself, but he was six months into an at-risk pregnancy, and Tarek was as overprotective as any alpha Isa had ever met. Isa remembered how overprotective he’d been of Liam, and his child wasn’t even biologically Isa’s.

Their quartet found seats in the middle of the bleachers. He spotted familiar faces in the crowd, other parents he’d met over the years, along with their kids. Classmates of both Demir and Aven. It was a small school, but one of the best districts in terms of public education.

When the graduating students marched out, Isa’s heart swelled with pride. Tears stung his eyes when he spotted Tarius in his cap and gown. Demir had the family camera, and he took shot after shot. The ceremony itself was kind of boring, with lots of speeches by different people, and he caught Liam yawning twice. They finally started calling students up to receive their diplomas. Demir probably used an entire roll of film when Tarius walked across the stage, and Isa was not ashamed of brushing away a few tears.

Two down, two more to go.

Demir had three more years of school before he graduated, and Layne was eighteen years away. He looked over at Liam and tried to imagine them both nearly two decades older, watching a grown Layne accepting his diploma. And he could see it.

He wanted that future. They would have that future.

Isa draped his arm across Liam’s shoulders and hugged him from the side. Liam leaned into him, one hand resting on his thigh.

The school was hosting a small celebration in the cafeteria, and that’s where Isa found his graduate, surrounded by friends, laughing and talking. Tarius hugged everyone. He even introduced Liam to his friends as his dad’s bondmate, and that made Liam puff with pride. Demir spotted someone he knew and went off to chat.

One of Tarius’s friends recognized Liam from the papers and asked about Layne. Liam pulled a picture out of his wallet and started nattering on about his favorite subject.

Isa excused himself to use the bathroom. On his way back, he passed a familiar face at the far end of the cafeteria. “Walt Mylan?” Isa asked.

The alpha stopped and squinted at him. “Holy hell, Isa Higgs. You’re still alive?”

He laughed and shook Walt’s hand. “Still kicking for sure, although the job might do me in yet. What have you been up to?” Walt had been a Chief Constable for six years before retiring two years ago after forty-five years in the constabulary.

“Can’t keep a good dog down,” Walt replied. “Even with the grandkids around, the house was too quiet, so I took a job doing campus security at the university.”

“So much for retirement.” Isa completely understood a quiet house, though. “Who are you here for?”

“My oldest’s first graduated. First grandkid of many to do so, and I’d forgotten how boring these things can be. You?”

“Definitely boring. My second graduated tonight, and I couldn’t be prouder.” Isa pointed across the room to where his family was interacting with others their age. He loved seeing Liam speaking so freely to a mix of beta and alpha teenagers and twentysomethings.

“Right.” Walt looked around. “Speaking of your boy, how’s he doing after that incident on campus?”

Isa blinked at the other man. “Incident?” Aven hadn’t mentioned an incident, other than the friend who’d had a problem at a party.

Walt blanched. “Shit, that wasn’t my place to mention. I mean, if he didn’t tell you, I guess he had a reason. It was good to see you again, Isa. Take it easy.” Walt hurried off in the direction of the bathroom, leaving Isa staring after him.

What had that been about? Walt was campus security, so he could have been called about an incident at an on-campus party. He could simply be asking after Aven because he knew Aven’s friend had been hurt, but this was months ago. He couldn’t…he couldn’t mean something had happened to Aven, too?

Isa’s mind was spinning out with too many scenarios, and he needed to do what any good investigator did: ask questions.

He approached the group and pulled Aven aside, off to a quiet corner of the room.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” Aven asked. “You look serious all of a sudden.”

“I ran into an old colleague a moment ago,” Isa replied, his gut uneasy. “Says he now works security on campus. Walt Mylan.”

Aven’s eyes widened a fraction, before his expression evened out, but Isa saw it. “Okay.”

“He asked after you, how you were doing after that incident on campus. I’m going to be the overprotective parent right now and ask what incident? Does this have something to do with the friend you said got hurt at a party?”

Aven looked past Isa, then down at the ground, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Look, he made me promise not to tell you.”

Alarm bells went off in Isa’s head. “He who? Aven?”

“Tarius, okay?” Aven looked up, upset and clearly annoyed at Isa for meddling. “The friend I was talking about is Tarius.”

Isa’s stomach rolled, even as his temper flared. “What happened?”

His son let out a harsh breath. “He’s going to kill me. Look, earlier this winter, Tarius and I went to a party. He didn’t get the grade he wanted on a mid-term, and he wanted to blow off some steam, so I brought him with me. I tried keeping an eye on him, but I had friends there, and we got separated.”

“Were you both drinking?”

“I had a few beers, but I wasn’t drunk. When I didn’t see Tarius downstairs, I asked around and someone said they saw him go upstairs with a guy.”

Isa’s entire body went rigid. “What guy? What did he do?”

“When I asked Tarius about it later, he told me he hadn’t been drinking alcohol, but at some point during a conversation with this guy Skip, he started feeling dizzy. Out of it.”

“Did this Skip bastard drug him?”

Aven looked ill. “According to his blood tests, yes, Tarius was drugged.”

“Blood test?” Goddess, he’d had his blood tested, and Isa was just now hearing about it months later? He squashed down a flash of anger, because he needed to keep a level head.

“We needed proof Tarius wasn’t drunk, and FYI, Skip’s been expelled.”

“What else did he do?”

Aven looked around, before focusing on Isa’s chin. “Skip had Tarius in a b-b-bedroom. Fuck, Dad, you really should ask Tarius about this.”

“If he was drugged, then you’re the one who saw what happened.” Isa put a hand on Aven’s shoulder, as much to encourage his son as to brace himself. He didn’t want to know more, but as a parent, he needed to know. “Please.”

“Tarius was face-down on the bed, and his pants were down.” Aven looked equal parts furious and upset. “Skip was on top of him, and his pants were down, too, and I just lost my shit. This guy was trying to rape my little brother, and I slammed him into the wall. The fight was why campus security was called, and I remember an old guy named Mylan asking me questions, but it was like they didn’t care about Tarius being assaulted. All they cared about was me hitting Skip first, because the guy was a fucking alpha. But the blood test proved I acted in Tarius’s best interest and I wasn’t at fault for the fight. The whole investigation was a fucking joke.”

Isa was having trouble wrapping his mind about the word rape in relation to one of his own kids. He’d interacted with more abused omegas and betas in the last year of his life than he cared to admit, and yes, he worried about his boys, but this was…beyond. It took him a moment to push his rage and hatred of this Skip character down enough to find his voice. “Was Tarius raped?”

Aven looked sick to his stomach. “I don’t know. Skip wouldn’t admit how far it had gotten, and the doctor who examined Tarius said there was no physical evidence of penetration. Tarius doesn’t remember. It’s why Skip wasn’t charged. There wasn’t even fucking proof Skip had been the one to drug him or take Tarius’s clothes off.” Now Aven looked furious. “I didn’t protect him, Dad. He’s my little brother, and I should have been watching out for him.”

“You did protect him.” Isa pulled Aven against him and hugged his eldest. “You noticed he was missing, and you stopped it. It could have been so much worse. Thank you for protecting your brother.”

Aven clung to him for a moment, before yanking free. “Don’t tell him I told you about this, please? He swore me to secrecy, and he’ll be pissed if he finds out you know.”

Isa glanced to where Liam and Tarius were still engaged in conversation, unaware of their distress. “I wish he’d felt he could tell me about it. Goddess, do you boys really think I won’t listen when you have problems? Especially serious ones?”

“It happened before you mellowed out and stopped acting like an alphahole all the time. Tarius was afraid you’d blame him or be angry with him.”

Isa pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off bitter tears. “I’d never blame you boys for anything like that. I work with victims every day, and informed consent is something I take very seriously.” He swallowed hard to find his voice again. “I don’t suppose you have a last name for this Skip.”

“Dad, no.”

“All I need to do is make a phone call. I’ll break that bastard’s hands for touching my kid.”

“Yeah, and you’ll get yourself arrested when Liam needs you most.”

“Fair point.” Isa needed to do something to fix this. His kid had been hurt, no one had told him, and he needed to fix this.

“Listen, Dad, I’ll try to get Tarius to talk to you, okay?”

“Thank you.”

“You might want to look less like you’re going to commit murder before you go back over there.”

“I think I need a walk.”

Isa stalked down the opposite corridor toward one of the school’s side entrances. The warm summer air did nothing to cool his temper. He paced the sidewalk for a few minutes before he became aware of being watched. Liam stood by the door with a cup in his hand, his expression curious.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked. “You disappeared after you talked to Aven. Did you guys have a fight?”

“Nothing like that.” Isa sat on an iron bench, unsurprised when Liam joined him. His mate’s familiar scent helped quell some of his blazing anger and grief.

Liam squeezed his thigh. “Talk to me.”

Isa explained his conversation with Walt, and then his suspicions regarding Aven. “When I confronted him, he admitted that the friend who was assaulted at this party…” Angry tears stung his eyes. “Fuck, it was Tarius.”

“What? Oh, no.” Liam wrapped both arms around him, and Isa melted into the comforting embrace of his omega. “Oh, Isa.”

“He was drugged, and he doesn’t know how far it went, but he’s my son. And he couldn’t come to me. How was I so blind in my anger and grief over Herris that I didn’t see my own kid was hurting?”

“It’s not your fault. You’re an amazing dad. And assault…it’s hard to talk about, especially when you aren’t sure what really happened.” Liam’s voice cracked.

Isa reversed the hug so he was holding Liam close to his chest, annoyed at himself for unloading this on his omega. His omega who was dealing with his own pain. Pain that had been drummed up from the past by Mancini’s interference in their lives. “I’m so sorry, little one. I forgot.”

“It’s okay. You’ll always put your kids first.”

“No.” Isa pulled back far enough to meet Liam’s tear-filled eyes. “No, I will put all of you first. You, Layne, Demir, Tarius and Aven. All of you are my family.”

“Thank you. And I’m so sorry Tarius was hurt. Was his attacker punished?”

“Well, apparently Aven beat the hell out of him.”

“Good. I guess that’s something.”

“Believe me, I want to find the prick and feed him his own dick for touching my kid, but Aven seems to think me being in jail is a bad idea right now.”

His slight attempt at humor made Liam crack a small grin. “Yeah, I’d much rather have you out of jail, thanks. Even if I do understand the impulse. You love your kids and you want to protect them. I know exactly where that comes from.” Liam’s hands twitched, as if realizing he wasn’t holding someone. “You ready to head home soon?”

“Yeah. Thank you for following me out here. I needed to vent.”

“You can always vent to me, Isa. It’s what partners are for.”

Partners. He loved that word, and Isa truly believed it applied to him and Liam. They were equal partners in the life they were building together. Maybe Isa was the breadwinner, but Liam helped make his house a home again, simply by being there. Liam took care of him, Layne, and Demir.

“Love you,” Isa said.

Liam grinned. “I love you back. Come on, let’s see if Demir is ready to leave. And I know it’s going to be hard, but let Tarius come to you about this, okay? Let it be his choice.”

“I will, thank you.” He kissed his bondmate, then stood. Hand in hand, they returned to the cafeteria.

Demir asked to hang out longer, and Aven promised to drop him off at home by ten. Isa hugged all of his sons goodbye, and maybe he clung to Tarius a bit longer than the others. He middle son had gone through a trauma, and Isa hated that Tarius thought he had to hide his pain. Hopefully, he’d come to Isa one day, ready to talk about it.

Please, goddess, let my boys trust me again.

At home, Isa tried to pay Tarek and Braun for their time, but they simply laughed it off with promises of equal babysitting opportunities in the near future. Isa looked forward to seeing his friends’ family expand, and he shook Tarek’s hand on the way out.

“Come here,” Liam said. Layne was fast asleep in his crib, so he pulled Isa into the living room and made him sit on the floor. Liam sat on the couch and started massaging Isa’s shoulders.

There were a lot of tension knots.

“Feels great,” Isa said as his muscles got looser and looser.

“You deserve it. It isn’t every day you watch your son graduate secondary school and find out he was sexually assaulted within the same hour.”

Isa shuddered. “You have no idea how badly I want to find this Skip and teach him a lesson.”

“I can imagine, and something tells me that’s part of the reason Tarius kept it to himself. Alphas are notorious for losing their tempers when someone they love is hurt.”

“True.”

“Have you heard anything from Ronin?”

Isa shook his head. “Nothing specific, but he said he had a lead on something that could be a smoking gun for us. Mancini has a past, and hopefully we can use that to keep him the hell away from you and Layne.”

“I hope so.” Liam worked at a particularly sore knot on his shoulder. “The idea of being in the same room as Mancini makes me sick, never mind being forced to live with him.”

“You’d rather take Layne and disappear.” Isa twisted around to meet Liam’s eyes. “And I’d go with you.”

Liam’s eyes widened. “You’d leave your sons behind?”

“I don’t want it to come to that, and I hope they’d come with us as a family, but I love you and Layne with my whole heart. I’ll do anything to stop you from going to that man. I don’t trust him to keep you safe.”

“Same.” Liam slipped from the couch and settled in Isa’s lap, his head resting on Isa’s shoulder. A perfect fit. “What if I said I might know someone who knows of a safe place we could go? A place outside the boundaries of provincial law?”

Isa was proud of how much he did not react to that comment, because part of him had suspected as much. “Then I would say we should keep that someone close by in case of emergency.”

“Okay. My life is here with you, Isa. My future is with you, not him. And that future is completely in Ronin’s hands.”

“Ronin is one of the best lawyers I’ve ever seen. If anyone will keep you here, it’s him. He kept Kell Iverson out of prison.”

“Kell pled guilty.”

“He did.” Isa stroked Liam’s back. “But that was Kell’s choice, and he didn’t spend a day in prison. He’s fighting for you, too, Liam. For all of us.”

“I know. It’s hard because we’re waiting so long for this hearing to happen. I hate that my future is so uncertain, when only a few weeks ago, everything was certain and wonderful. The only thing I didn’t know about was my next heat, and now I hope every single day that I feel a symptom so we can become a mated pair.”

“You know I’d love nothing more.”

“Biology sucks.”

Isa chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of Liam’s head. “It can suck quite a lot, yes. I know a lot is riding on this, but have faith, little one. We’ve fought too hard to lose each other now.”

“Yeah.”

They were still sitting like that when Demir came home. Instead of leaving them be, he added himself to their jumble of bodies and limbs, and Isa started laughing. And tickling. Demir squealed and tried to get away, so Isa and Liam teamed up on him, until Demir was a giggling mess begging for mercy. Then Isa turned his attention onto Liam, who begged for help from Demir, and then Isa found himself ganged up on.

They laughed themselves silly, until Layne started crying. Demir volunteered to check. “He’s gonna be my brother, right? Gotta do my part.”

Liam looked ready to burst into tears as Demir left the living room. “Did he really just call Layne his brother?”

“He did.” Isa pulled Liam up onto the couch and back into his lap so he could kiss him. “You’re my bondmate, Liam. You’re part of the family now, custody suit or not.”

“I’m still scared, but I’ve never been so happy.”

“Same. The hearing is in ten days. We can manage ten more days by loving each other with our whole hearts, and by focusing on our family.”

Liam sighed, then kissed him again. “I like the sound of that.”