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Chapter Thirty

Sorcha

S orcha had to keep reminding himself he wasn’t dreaming.

His entire life, he’d been made to feel like a burden.

His fathers, brothers and uncles had made their acceptance—he’d never call it love—contingent on what he could do for them.

Now he understood what family truly meant.

With Ronan and Teal, he felt valued beyond what he could bring to them through his labor.

All his life, he’d barely let himself imagine meeting a loving alpha one day. Now he had so much more. He was surrounded by love, enveloped by it. For the first time, he had a place he could breathe and feel secure.

On Sunday night, Sorcha sat on the large sectional in the living room watching a movie with his family. Ronan stretched his legs out on the chaise end of the sofa. Teal lay on top of him. The usually-imposing omega appeared wan and listless, struggling to stay awake.

Teal’s stomach had been hurting all weekend, if the many antacids he’d been downing were any indication. Sorcha sat on Ronan’s other side, rubbing soothing circles over Teal’s back.

“Thank you, my darling,” the older omega murmured. “That feels nice.”

From the opposite end of the couch, Niall smiled at Sorcha while also directing worried eyes at Teal.

Even with the stress of the tribunal hanging over their heads, spending the weekend in the house together had given everyone a chance to connect, including the boys. They’d been snappish and grumpy all week, so it was good for them to be with Teal, Sorcha thought, even if he was sick.

Sorcha had spent a lot of quality time with Zayne over the past few days, and he’d worked hard to get to know the twins better. They were polite to him, but their age and, frankly, their alphaness made them more wary of the situation than their little brother. But they were trying.

They were sweet boys too, easy to love. Garin and Kino sat on either side of Niall, shoving handfuls of popcorn into their mouths and pretending not to be upset about how run-down their daddy seemed.

Jax sat crisscross-applesauce on the floor with Zayne in his lap.

The tiny omega’s eyelids were fighting a losing battle with sleep.

Suddenly, Teal jumped up from the couch, rushing into the downstairs bathroom. Sorcha saw the alarm on Ronan’s face but knew he didn’t want to upset the boys. On the large flat screen, two teenaged characters appeared to have entered an enchanted maze.

Before Ronan could get up, Sorcha put a gentle hand on his thigh. “Let me,” he told the alpha. Ronan gave him a grateful nod.

“Garin, why don’t you bring me that popcorn bowl so we can share?” Ronan asked. The little alpha had noticed his daddy hurry to the bathroom but took the cue from his papa not to make a big deal about it. He sat down on Ronan’s lap with the bowl.

Sorcha made his way down the hallway, tapping on the outside of the bathroom door with one knuckle.

He spoke softly so no one in the living room could hear. “Teal, it’s me.”

The door opened a crack, and Sorcha worked his way in, shutting it firmly behind him. He’d been expecting to find Teal hunched over the toilet, but the other omega was sitting on the edge of the tub, head in his hands.

“You ran out of there so quickly,” Sorcha said. “I figured you’d gotten sick.”

“No.” Teal ran his palms over his thighs. “I felt a stabbing pain in my gut, and I thought that’s what I needed, but when I tried…nothing came up.”

Sorcha sat down next to his partner, repeating the back-rubbing motion he’d done on the couch. “And now?”

“I don’t know. It’s the weirdest thing. My stomach hurts, but somehow, I still have an appetite. And I don’t need to throw up.”

“Ronan mentioned how you’re overdue…for your heat.”

Teal raised an eyebrow. “He did, huh?”

“Yesterday, while you were napping. He told me. Do you think what you’re feeling could be symptoms? That it’s coming?”

“I suppose that’s possible.” Teal placed a fist against his stomach, pushing in. “I’ve considered it, obviously. But my heats have never felt like this before.”

“There’s also the stress from High Court. I’m sure that isn’t helping. And it could be different this time because you’re…you know…”

“Yes…?” Teal challenged playfully.

“You know. You’re… older .”

Teal feigned an outraged expression. “Are you calling me an old man?”

“No, of course not!”

“That’s okay.” Teal nudged Sorcha with his shoulder.

“As soon as I’m feeling better, I plan to show you how not-old I am.

” Even in his condition, Teal leveled Sorcha with a scorching hot gaze, leaning in to kiss the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

“This old man will never be too old to fuck you hard.”

Sorcha shuddered. But then he chuckled. “Teal, please don’t be sexy when you basically just went in the bathroom to cough up your insides. I’m trying to help you here. What can I do?”

Teal ran a gentle thumb along Sorcha’s cheek.

“I don’t think there’s anything to be done, my darling.

Maybe it’s stress. Maybe it’s my heat coming on.

Maybe it’s just an ill-timed stomach bug.

But whatever it is, it’ll have to wait until after the High Court proceedings.

If I’m still feeling like crap then, I’ll see the doctor. ”

Sorcha frowned. Teal looked so pale, and he was clearly masking a lot of pain.

Sorcha wanted to force Teal to see a doctor immediately, and he imagined Ronan, Niall, and Jax felt the same.

But Teal was stubborn, not to mention in the middle of a tribunal arguing about how omegas should have control of their own bodies.

If Teal said he could wait to see the doctor, Sorcha figured he should accept it.

“There is one thing you can do,” Teal said, rising gingerly to his feet.

“Anything.”

“Can you help me to bed? Please have the boys come in and give me a kiss and hug goodnight when they’re ready, but I think I need to tackle the stairs now before I’m completely out of gas.”

“Yes, just lean on me.”

Sorcha helped Teal up the stairs, signaling their intentions to Ronan along the way.

Sorcha’s heart soared when he caught the faint whiff of Teal’s honey lavender scent, again struck by his ability to smell another omega.

He hugged Teal closer to him. By the time Teal got under the covers, there was more color in his cheeks.

“The pain has lessened a bit,” he told Sorcha. “I’m sure a little rest will help.” He closed his eyes, drifting into a half-sleep, though Sorcha knew he’d rouse to say goodnight to his sons.

Sorcha hoped Teal was right. The thought of something being truly wrong with his omega partner was unbearable. Watching the steady rise and fall of Teal’s chest, Sorcha felt another emotion he’d never felt until he joined the McGinn family. Protectiveness.

***

The next morning, Sorcha was relieved to see that Teal appeared much better, as though he truly had only needed a good night’s sleep.

Teal’s car arrived earlier than it had the prior week.

He planned to get to the courthouse before the majority of angry protestors arrived.

The other men in the house were all awake and waiting to say goodbye when he came downstairs in his suit, mentioning that he still planned to pick up his breakfast from Fontaine’s and check in with the affable barista he’d met there.

When Teal had first mentioned that barista, Brinn, an omega who had the same name as Teal’s much-beloved alpha father, Sorcha had experienced a flash of possessiveness. But he’d quickly realized that his partner harbored nothing but friendly, perhaps even brotherly, feelings toward the café worker.

Ronan kissed Teal firmly, wrapping his arms around him. “I’m glad to see you feeling better, my omega. I was worried.”

Teal pressed a finger into the crease between Ronan’s eyebrows. “I’m sorry for how hard this is on all of us. It’ll be over soon.”

“Don’t worry about the rest of us,” Niall chimed in from the table. “We’ll be fine. Take care of yourself.”

Teal nodded at the beta before leaning down to give him a quick hug. Jax received a shoulder squeeze, and Sorcha got a peck on the lips before Teal hurried into the living room to say goodbye to the boys and head out the door.

After Teal’s driver pulled away, Ronan left for his job site, Jax disappeared into the office, and Niall began getting the boys’ lesson plans set for the day.

“Do you need my help today?” Sorcha asked the nanny. He wanted to be useful, but he didn’t want to get in the way.

Niall seemed to sense his dilemma and always replied with enthusiasm. As Sorcha had gotten to know the beta more over the past week, he’d discovered that behind Niall’s gorgeous face was an absolute rock of a man who, in his own quiet way, lifted everyone else up.

“I really appreciate everything you did with Zayne last week, helping him not dwell too much on his daddy. I’d love it if you could do some learning activities with him this afternoon.

It’s sweet to see how much he already loves you.

” Although mildly embarrassed by the praise, Sorcha also relished it.

“I promised the little dude he could have screen time this morning, so he’s set up in front of the TV with a few stuffies and his blanket,” Niall continued.

“You can join him, of course, but if you wanted to do something for yourself, that would be okay.”

“Something for myself?”

“I’ve seen you in passing for over three years now,” Niall reminded him. “I know how much time you spent on projects in your uncles’ garage. Dale and Abe were bastards for treating you the way they did, but I always got the impression you enjoyed the work itself.”

Sorcha pursed his lips. “That’s true. My uncles admitted I had a knack for it. Telling me my furniture restoration skills were ‘as good as an alpha’s’ was high praise from them. And I did enjoy it when the finished products came out right, except…”