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Teal eased his shoulders and willed himself to relax.

He wasn’t afraid of Mikel. The alpha had always been more talk than walk.

They’d been hired within months of each other, and Mikel had been jealous of Teal ever since.

Even when they’d both been assigned menial tasks those first few years, it had been obvious Teal was the better lawyer.

But Mikel was right about one thing. Teal couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

***

When Teal returned home before lunch, he found Ronan and the boys engaged in a fierce water gun fight.

Fill station buckets were placed strategically at several locations around the backyard and folding picnic tables had been turned on their sides to create hiding places.

Zayne and Ronan faced off against the twins.

Classic rock blared from a soundbar on the back patio.

“Who’s winning?” Teal called out. Four pairs of eyes turned to him as he walked onto the grass.

“Get Daddy!” Ronan ordered.

Within seconds, Teal found himself soaked. Good thing his weekend office wear consisted of track pants and an old T-shirt.

As the boys laughed, the five of them fell onto the grass in a group tackle.

From the corner of his eye, Teal noticed movement behind the curtains of the unit next door. The duplex had a shared backyard, although only the McGinns ever used it.

He imagined Sorcha watching from the shadows. He knew it was the young omega spying on them, since he’d seen Dale and Abe head out for the weekend on his way to the office.

Teal kept glancing toward the window, but the curtains didn’t move again. Eventually, they all went inside and changed into dry clothes before Ronan prepared dinosaur chicken nuggets and cucumber slices for lunch.

“Kino’s pick?” Teal asked, glancing at the food.

Ronan nodded. “Yep. Garin tried to talk him into grilled cheese, but he wasn’t having it. I swear Kino is gonna turn into a chicken nugget.”

“I kind of like that they’re his favorite,” Teal said. “He’s usually so serious about everything.”

“Are you implying chicken nuggets aren’t serious?”

“I’m pretty sure this one is a T-Rex with an enormous penis. So as far as foods go, they’re a whimsical choice.”

Ronan chuckled. “Well, Garin’s favorite food is steak. What does that say about him?”

“That he’ll need to watch his cholesterol." Teal swatted Ronan with a dishtowel. "I wasn’t trying to psychoanalyze our six-year-olds via their preferred cuisine. It’s just good to see Kino acting like a little kid. Sometimes it’s like having another adult in the house.”

Ronan laughed again.

Teal had always known Ronan would make a great papa, but the alpha had surpassed his highest expectations. He loved their three boys fiercely and completely, never holding himself apart the way some alphas did.

Teal reached for a second nugget and thought about how his heat should arrive soon.

He needed to discuss the possibility of breeding with Ronan.

Because of Teal’s intense situation at work the past few years, they’d used condoms for his last two heats.

But did his husband feel like their family was complete?

Both Teal and Ronan were only children. One thing they’d agreed on when they’d gotten married was that they wanted more than one child. The question was how many more.

There was certainly no lack of love in their home.

They had each other and three amazing boys.

They also had Niall, who’d been in their lives since the twins’ birth.

As Teal watched Ronan pile cucumbers onto the boys’ plates, he thought to himself that more people could only mean more love.

No matter how busy and chaotic their lives were, he wanted to try for another baby. He hoped Ronan felt the same.

Garin, Kino, and Zayne filed back into the room and sat down at the kitchen table to eat.

They hadn’t been seated more than a few moments when noise arose from outside the front door. First a faint knocking, followed by a thud , then the sound of something sliding against the wooden frame.

Teal and Ronan looked at one another with alarm. They’d been receiving more threatening messages as the High Court proceedings for the Bannon case drew closer. But no one had ever come to the house before.

Ronan stood and walked to the door, motioning for Teal and the children to stay back.

The alpha looked through the peephole first, turning back to shrug at his husband. “I don’t see anything.”

“Maybe a bird flew into the door?” Teal suggested.

“Oh no! A birdie! Is it hurt?” Zayne cried.

“We don’t know anything, sweet pea. Just stay behind Daddy,” Ronan said.

Carefully, the alpha opened the door. As he pulled it back from the frame, Teal watched in horror as Sorcha’s slumped-over form fell into the entryway.

Blood covered Sorcha’s face and the front of his shirt.

“Oh my stars!” Teal shouted, rushing over and kneeling next to the younger omega.

Ronan squatted down behind him. “Sorcha! Sorcha!”

At first, the husbands couldn’t tell if he was conscious. But after a few seconds, Sorcha wheezed out with his eyes closed, “Ronan…Teal…need…help.”

Teal turned to his sons, all straining to get a glimpse of the bloody omega.

“Is that the guy from next door?” Garin asked.

“I’m pretty sure it is,” Kino answered.

A silent tear slipped down Zayne’s face. “Is he gonna be okay?” He began sucking loudly on his fingers. Garin noticed, but said nothing, placing a comforting hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.

“We’re going to take care of him,” Teal assured his sons. “But right now, I need you to please go back in the kitchen and finish your lunch.” Garin opened his mouth to argue, but Teal cut him off. “Now, young man.”

Grumbling, the boys returned to the table.

Ronan picked up Sorcha from the floor and laid him gently on the couch. He appeared to have passed out. “Should we take him to the hospital? Or maybe call Dale and Abe?”

“No…hospital.” Sorcha’s weak voice made Teal’s heart leap, confirming the injured omega wasn’t entirely unconscious. “Just…bumped my head.”

Teal went into the half-bath near the living room and ran warm water over several washcloths.

Ronan looked on as Teal sat gingerly next to Sorcha and cleaned the blood from the younger man’s face, watching for any sign that his actions were causing further distress.

But Sorcha leaned into his touch, sighing as Teal ran the gray linen over his cheeks, jaw, and neck.

Once most of the blood was cleared, Teal discovered a deep gash across the middle of Sorcha’s hairline. Despite Teal’s best efforts to put pressure on the wound, it continued to bleed.

Ronan assessed the cut. “That needs stitches.”

Sorcha groaned. “Do I have to? My uncles will be…so mad.”

“I don’t care if their heads explode.” Ronan straightened to his full height, emitting a low growl.

Teal hadn’t heard the menacing noise coming from his husband’s throat in a long while.

Both omegas’ heads tilted toward Ronan instinctively as his rarely-used alpha voice reverberated through the room.

“Sorcha, you need medical attention. We are going to the hospital.”

Teal’s breath caught as the young omega looked up at his husband and said, “Yes, alpha.”