to his lap, and for several agonizing seconds, the only sound in the room was their joint breathing. “It was a long time ago.”
“I know, and call it an omega’s intuition, but I get the sense that it’s still affecting you somehow. And it’s definitely influencing your decision to speak with Dustin about the past.”
“You’re right, it is.” Dorian put the remote on the opposite cushion and clasped Hyatt’s hand. “I don’t remember him but I had an older brother. Kane. He was beta and about a year older than me. My sire wanted heirs and I’m told that after those first three years they conceived regularly. I was about two and Omegin was pregnant with my other brother Orrin when Kane died. I just remember him there one day and gone the next. My parents said he’d gone to the neverlife, that the goddess had called him home.”
The grief in Dorian’s voice hurt Hyatt’s heart. “You said he died of natural causes?”
“That’s what I was told but never exactly what was wrong with him. Or with Orrin. I was older with him, maybe four. I remember one day he was crying a lot. Omegin tried to soothe him but all Orrin did was cry. Samuel and I were taken away by one of our infrequent governors to another part of the house. When we saw our parents again, Orrin was gone.”
“He’d died?”
“That’s what we were told. We saw the memorial plates. Omegin was sad for a long time.”
“And your parents never mentioned any sort of inherited disorder or disease that could affect you or Samuel? That you were at risk of becoming sick too?”
“No. We were children, and we accepted what we were told.”
Hyatt had learned late in life that many adults were not to be taken at face value; they had an ulterior motive. The first adult to completely disprove the theory had been Jax Jenks during the pizza sauce incident. Rebel had been prepared to take Hyatt’s punishment, but Jax had only been concerned about Hyatt’s burned hand. It had helped Hyatt slowly learn to trust the other older men in his life. But something about Dorian’s story felt wrong.
“You said Kane was beta,” Hyatt said. “What about Orrin?”
“Omega.”
“And Dustin didn’t have any other pregnancies after Samuel?”
“None that I knew about, and obviously none that were viable. Why?”
“I’m not sure.” Hyatt only had theories and no real facts to work with. Two of Dustin’s four birthed children died very young. Meanwhile, Symon survived until adulthood and his existence made Dustin so jealous he tried to have Symon killed. Something didn’t add up. Could there be more to Dustin Fowler than Hyatt had seen before? More than grief over two children who’d died before their time?
“One of my nightmares last night,” Dorian whispered. “I heard one of them crying. Sobbing. But I don’t know who it was. One of my brothers or my omegin.”
He leaned into Dorian, wishing he could take away some of his bondmate’s old grief. “You’ve never requested their death certificates? For your brothers? Or their medical records?”
“No. Why?”
“To know. I suppose after knowing everything Peyton’s family went through with finding out he had Donal Syndrome when he was a toddler, I would personally want to know if there was something in my family history that could affect me later in life. To make sure there isn’t some mysterious illness lurking in the background.”
Dorian grunted. “So you don’t mate me only for me to keel over dead in six months?”
“That’s not what I meant at all.” Hyatt pinched his thigh. “No. I’d still want to be your mate even if you told me tomorrow you’re dying of cancer. You’re my bondmate, Dorian Fowler. Nothing will change that. But if there’s something we should know, something we could potentially pass along or prevent, wouldn’t you want to find out?”
“I don’t know. How would I even get those records?”
“Lucky for you, I know a couple of constables who could help us get that information. But only if you truly want to know. I don’t want to pressure you into something you aren’t ready for.”
Dorian didn’t answer for a while, and Hyatt didn’t push. He held his alpha and waited, allowing the man to come to his own conclusion. A decision he could live with on his own terms with no pressure from Hyatt. “I want to know,” Dorian finally said, so softly Hyatt thought he imagined the words. “Natural causes could be so many things, and for