The next morning, Liam woke groggy and a little achy, as if he was coming down with the flu. In the bathroom, he checked his temperature, which was elevated, so he popped two ibrosporin and hoped for the best. It was the weekend, so Isa was home to help with Layne, but Liam really didn’t want to get sick.

Isa had a breakfast of French toast and bacon ready and waiting, but Liam ate with little enthusiasm. The food tasted…off. Not as good as it usually did, but Isa and Demir ate without complaint, so Liam forced down what he could, and then excused himself. On the walk to the living room, a new ache made itself known. An ache in his gut and lower passage that he hadn’t felt in almost a year.

“Goddess.” Liam spun around and collided with Isa, who reached out to steady him.

“Are you okay?” Isa asked.

Liam belted laughter. “Better than okay. I think I’m going into heat. All the signs are there.”

His eyebrows winged up. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve only done this once before, but yeah, I’m pretty sure.” Liam grabbed his shoulders. “We can finally seal the bond and become true mates.”

Isa laughed, and then kissed him. A hard, claiming kiss that showed exactly how excited Isa was for this event. “How long?” Isa asked.

“A few hours, I guess. Do you think your boys can watch Layne? Or is that too much work?”

“I think they’d be glad to, unless you want to call Kell or Brogan?”

“No, Layne loves those boys.” It felt odd sometimes to refer to a man his age and one older as boys, but that’s simply who they were: Isa’s boys. Soon to be Liam’s stepsons. “If they don’t mind.”

“We don’t mind,” Demir said. He seemed positively giddy. “I’ll pack up some stuff for both of us, because I know you won’t want me getting in the way.”

“You’re never in the way,” Isa replied with a fond smile. “But privacy for a first heat would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Not a problem.”

“I need to run to the grocery store and make sure we’re stocked up for the next forty-eight hours. Any particular food you’d like, Liam?”

Liam considered it a moment. His meals during his first heat had been as bland as all of Lawry’s cooking. “Steak and eggs. Frozen pizza. Maybe chocolate cake?”

“All of it.” Isa kissed him. “Demir, do you mind hanging here until I come back? Then you can head out with Layne.”

“Sure thing, Dad.”

Once Isa left, Liam gently woke Layne from his nap to see if he wanted to nurse one last time. After Liam heated, his milk would dry up until his next birth. While Layne attached himself to his nipple and took the offered gift, Liam’s heart seized with worry. To officially mate, Isa needed to knot him bare. By taking Isa’s seed, their scents would permanently mingle, declaring them true mates, and Liam wanted that.

One time. He wasn’t ready to become pregnant again. If a single joining resulted in a baby, like it had with Braun’s heat, then Liam would welcome the child with his entire heart and soul. But he’d rather not try to get pregnant, and he’d forgotten to ask Isa to buy condoms.

But Isa proved himself perfectly in-tune with Liam. When he returned, he not only had an amazing array of food to eat, he’d also purchased a box of condoms. Liam gave him a grateful kiss and took the box into their bedroom. He was hotter now, his skin beginning to flush. The first hormone surge, timed with his body’s production of natural slick, could happen at any moment, and he welcomed its arrival with open arms.

Today he got to truly, finally mate with Isa.

Liam said goodbye to Layne and Demir, and then returned to the bedroom. Discarded all his clothes and waited. Isa appeared in the doorway a moment later, his shirt already gone. His warm scent washed over Liam as Isa stared at him with lust in his eyes—lust tempered with love and joy and overwhelming passion.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Isa asked from the safety of the hallway.

Liam’s lower body tightened and his cock began to thicken. “Yes. Please, I want to mate with you. No condom the first time, but after that…I’m not ready.”

“I understand. First knot, no condom. After that, I swear I’ll use them.”

“Thank you, my alpha. Now get your furry ass in my bed.”

Isa laughed and launched himself forward. He squashed Liam onto the mattress and smothered him with kisses. He was as excited as any child getting his first bike, or the best gift he’d ever asked for. Liam managed to get his hands between them and work at Isa’s pants. He’d had a lot more practice lately, so he had pants and underwear down below his ass quickly, and a hard cock was riding his thigh.

“Eager?” Isa asked.

Liam nipped his chin. “Ask that again when my surge hits, and you’re trying to stop yourself from mounting my ass.”

“Hmm.” Isa lost the last of his clothes, and they spent lots of time kissing and rutting, enjoying each other and this moment, until Liam’s scent changed. Pheromones filled the small bedroom, and he felt the first trickle of slick between his cheeks.

He attacked Isa’s mouth, needing more, needing everything right the hell now. And he had it. He was with an alpha he loved and trusted. His bondmate. His everything. For the first time, he didn’t fear his heat. He craved it, wanted to lose himself in it. So he turned his body over to Isa, along with his heart and soul.

Liam’s utter joy over his heat fueled Isa’s own excitement to mate with the young omegin and make him legally his. They’d be bonded, bound, and no one could try to separate them ever again.

He also remembered the high of heat. The way the omega’s pheromones left Isa hard for forty-eight hours, ready and willing to fuck and knot as frequently as his omega asked. Isa treasured the nights they made love, but their first heat was something to be celebrated.

Isa kissed his way down Liam’s body, licking heated skin, lapping up small drops of perspiration, tasting every bit he could on his descent. Liam tangled both hands in his hair, pulling without hurting, and he screamed with his quiet voice as Isa sucked down his length. Oh, but he loved giving Liam head, loved the way his body reacted, the noises he made. And with the heat surge, Liam came after only a few hard pulls.

He swallowed down the sweet spend, then spent some time sucking on Liam’s balls. Licking his taint. He pushed Liam’s legs back and apart, tilting his taut ass into the air and exposing his slightly-open hole. It glistened with slick, Liam’s maple-sweet scent even stronger here, so Isa dove in for his first taste.

“Goddess,” Liam said. “Oh, yes, that.” He had rimmed Liam before, but the natural looseness of heat allowed Isa to thrust his whole tongue into Liam’s body, pulling out more slick, filling his senses with it. Nothing mattered more than giving his omega all the pleasure he could before their first knot.

And as much pleasure as humanly possible for the rest of the heat.

He drank from Liam’s body until Liam came a second time, and Isa paused long enough to lick Liam’s dick clean before returning to his hole. Isa jerked himself into an orgasm, hoping to stave off his body’s urgent need to push his weeping cock inside Liam’s willing body.

“Please, alpha, please.”

Isa nipped Liam’s left cheek. “Please what, my omega?”

“Fuck me. Knot me. Please.”

“With all my heart.” When Liam tried to roll onto his hands and knees, Isa kept him still with a firm grasp of his hips. “Like this, little one. I want to see your face.”

“Oh.”

Isa leaned down to cup both of Liam’s cheeks, loving how blown his pupils were. His omega so gone on lust and love. “This isn’t something I’m doing to you or taking from you, my heart. This is something we’re doing together.”

“Isa.” Liam drew him down for a kiss. “The day you found me in that room, I had no hope I’d ever find something like this for myself. A man who adores me, and who I adore in return. Be my mate, Isa Higgs.”

“Gladly.” He slotted his cock against Liam’s entrance and, without breaking eye contact, pushed inside his bondmate.

Liam’s eyes rolled back and he gasped out short pants of air. “Oh, it feels so good. So different. Goddess.” He clung hard as Isa began to thrust, keeping a steady pace at first, keenly aware that despite the looseness of heat and help of the slick, Liam was still kind of tight. Isa didn’t want to ever accidentally hurt him.

They moved together for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, scents mingling and bodies slicking. Isa wanted it to last forever, but his release winked just out of reach. So close. He clasped Liam’s cock and stroked him, managing a third climax from his omega before Isa’s took over. He shoved deep inside as his cock pulsed, coating Liam’s insides with his semen, marking him.

Mating them.

A knot swelled at the base of his cock, just inside Liam’s body, stretching him, pressing against Liam’s gland in just the right way to trigger a fourth, fluid-less orgasm. As Liam’s body tightened and jerked around him, Isa clung to his mate as wave after wave of pleasure assaulted his body.

They’d be connected for a good ten or fifteen minutes, and this wasn’t the most comfortable positions for joining. Isa eased himself backward, careful to keep a firm grip on Liam’s torso, until Isa was resting on his back with Liam plastered to his broad chest.

“Goddess, that was perfect,” Liam said. “This is perfect. Love this.”

“Me too. And I love you, my beautiful omega.” Isa couldn’t reach him for a kiss, so he contented himself with stroking Liam’s hair and back. Curious, he trailed a single finger down to where their bodies were still joined. Traced around Liam’s rim.

Liam gasped. “Tease.”

“Feels good then?”

“Oh yes. All of this feels perfect. I almost can’t wait for the next surge so we can do it all over again.”

Isa grinned at the ceiling. “We can do this as often as you like. Every surge, if that’s what you want. With condoms, going forward.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime, my love. Anytime.”

* * *

They spent the rest of the day in bed, leaving between surges long enough to clean up and feed themselves. Isa showered his mate with steak and eggs, all the pizza he could eat, and big slabs of chocolate cake. Liam was ravenous, too, gulping food down, despite Isa understanding that food wasn’t supposed to taste as good during heat.

Since when has anything about our relationship been ordinary?

Isa didn’t think to check his phone for messages until the next morning. A few things from work that could wait two more days. One text from Constable Lars congratulating him on winning the custody case. Isa texted Braun the news about Liam’s heat, knowing the young omega would spread the word to their shared friends.

Braun sent back: Did you guys mate?!?!

He didn’t respond, because while he and Liam had made no secret about their desire to mate, Isa wanted Liam to be able to make that announcement. He put together a hearty breakfast, then carried it into their room. Liam had spent the last six hours or so fast asleep, and it was time to eat.

With the tray on the side table, Isa eased onto the bed and gave Liam a gentle shake. “Breakfast, little one.”

Liam groaned and stretched. “Time is it?”

“Almost ten.”

“Hmm, breakfast in bed. Have I mentioned recently that you’re the best?”

“Not in the last six hours, you haven’t,” Isa teased.

“I’ll have to do better.”

Isa pulled the tray over, and they took turns feeding each other forkfuls of scrambled eggs, sausages and buttered toast. Cinnamon bread toast, because Liam loved it better than regular bread.

“Did you get the paper?” Liam asked.

“I didn’t even think to.”

“I’ll get it.” Liam put his fork down. “I need to stretch my legs.”

Isa couldn’t help a light swat at Liam’s bare butt as he crawled past him across the bed. “Make sure the neighbors don’t see you naked.”

Liam laughed, then grabbed Isa’s robe off the dresser. It was huge on him, which only made it ten times more adorable as he swaggered out of the room. Isa swiped the last sausage and had just taken a bite when the doorbell started ringing, over and over.

What the hell?

Isa bolted from the room, not even pausing to grab something to cover himself. But Liam stood alone at the door, hands over his face, and the bell ringing had stopped. “Who’s here?” he asked, instantly on alert. Had Mancini tracked down his address? Isa would cut his balls off if—

“No, I rang the bell,” Liam explained. “I couldn’t shout for you. Look outside.”

He didn’t see anything through the peek hole, so Isa nudged Liam out of the way and opened the heavy storm door. On his small porch, next to the morning paper, were three dead birds. And not just dead, but necks visibly broken. Ice water skittered down Isa’s spine, even as fury filled his mind. That wasn’t an accident. Someone had left dead animals on his doorstep.

“What does it mean?” Liam asked.

“It’s a threat,” Isa replied. “Give me my robe, and then go put some clothes on. I’ve got to call this in.” He hated the idea of other people being in or near his house while it reeked of slick and heat pheromones, and he’d probably want to attack anyone who came near Liam, but he couldn’t let this go. Not two days after Mancini lost his lawsuit.

Isa put on the robe while Liam raced back to the bedroom. His phone was in the kitchen, so he called the emergency line to report the incident. He wasn’t surprised when, ten minutes later, Senior Constable Roken appeared on his doorstep with a forensics officer. Roken worked weekends and covered shifts when Isa or Lars couldn’t work during the week.

They spoke on the porch. “My omega spotted this when he came out for the paper,” Isa said. He filled Roken in on Mancini’s lawsuit and his spectacular loss. “I can’t think of anyone else who’d want to threaten us right now.”

“You don’t think this has anything to do with the upcoming Iverson trial, do you?” Roken asked.

“Possible, but unlikely. I’ve been involved in the case for months, and I’ve never received a threat from his camp. No, this feels extremely personal.”

“May I speak with your omega?”

“With all due respect, it’ll have to be through the window.”

Roken smiled. “Not a problem, I understand. I wouldn’t want another alpha too close to my omegin in heat, either.”

“Thank you.” Isa went inside to collect Liam.

He opened the living room window near the porch, and Liam recounted exactly what he’d seen and done. Liam was also trembling a bit, and Isa had no doubt another surge was near. They needed to wrap this up.

Isa returned to the porch.

“We’ll take photos,” Roken said, “and bag the animals to see if there are any prints or DNA from the perp. And I’ll have Mancini brought in for questioning. But if we don’t find tangible evidence, it won’t go anywhere.”

“I know, but I wasn’t about to brush this off as a prank. Not with my family’s safety at stake.”

“I completely understand. If you want to return to him, we’ll finish up out here. When will you be available again?”

“Tomorrow around noon.” Isa still needed to call and take tomorrow off. He’d completely forgotten about that.

Roken nodded. “How about I call Chief Underhill for you? You think about your omega, alright?”

“I appreciate it, thank you.” Isa shook the man’s hand, and then went back inside. Locked the front door, and then made sure all the other windows in the house were locked, too. After this incident, he was seriously considering an alarm system. Sometimes Demir was home alone, and if anyone tried to hurt his family again…

“Isa?” Liam watched him from the hallway, arms tight around his middle. “Was it Mancini?”

“Maybe.” Isa scooped Liam up in his arms, then sat in an armchair. “He’s the mostly likely suspect. Sore loser, I suppose.”

“He scares me. Truly, to my bones, scares me.”

“I know. Something about him scares me, too. But I will protect our family, Liam, I promise. From Mancini or anyone else who tries to hurt us.”

“I know.” Liam pressed his forehead against Isa’s neck. “Goddess, another one is coming.”

“Let’s get back to it, then.” He carried Liam to the bedroom and undressed him, piece by piece, then shed his own robe.

While sex during heat was always hurried and frantic in its own way, Isa took his time as this surge hit. He ate Liam’s hole for ages, savoring the juices and the sounds his mate made. He sucked Liam’s cock through two more orgasms, before finally gloving up and sliding home. They made love to each other, drunk on lust and heat and pheromones, and Isa put all his love and devotion into each thrust. Needing his mate to believe Isa would protect him.

He’d protect all of them, against any enemy, for the rest of their lives.