their judgment over him and Lars being stepbrothers? But what was the alternative, always hiding this from them? And what about his relationship with Grayson? Would he have to hide that too? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t treat it as something dirty, something to be ashamed of.
“No, I didn’t, unfortunately. My adoptive mother died young, and my adoptive father was…unpleasant. In fact…” He took a deep breath. “Lars is my adoptive brother, their biological son. I also have an older brother, Enar, who lives here as well.”
Gavin looked confused. “I thought you said Lars was your partner.”
“He is. He protected me from my adoptive father when things got…dicey.”
His mother paled. “The gene.”
Sven nodded. “Because we weren’t related by blood, it affected him. Lars got me out, and we fell in love.”
Gavin darted his gaze from Sven to Lars, then back. “I think that under the circumstances, I understand. The gene… changes everything. Are you two married?”
“I am married, but not to Lars. We have a third mate, an alpha named Grayson. I’m married to him so he could protect me legally.”
“Rumors are Lidon Hayes’s whole pack consists of threesomes,” Michael said.
“True,” Lars said. “Aside from the pack alpha himself, who has three mates, most men here are in a committed triad.”
Michael made eye contact with his brother, then swallowed as he addressed Sven. “D-do you think he’d be open to letting us join?”
“You want to join the pack?” Sven asked, surprised. He wouldn’t have expected their parents to be able to let them go, not after the horrible losses his family had already faced.
“They’d be so much safer here,” Abby said. “We’ve heard about Lidon Hayes, about the Hayes clinic he runs. Well, one of his mates, I think, but the point is that he’s a good man. And we’ve heard how his men are helping out right now, treating the sick omegas in the camp and others. We thought that maybe this would be a safe place f-for Michael and M-Matthew.” A sob escaped her, and both her sons grabbed a hand at the same time. “I don’t want anything to happen to them. All I want is for them to be safe and happy, even if that’s not with me.”
Lars spoke before Sven could. “There’s a second pack, split off from the Hayes pack, the Hightower pack. Rhene Hightower, Palani Hightower’s brother, is the pack alpha. His second-in-command is an omega. I know they’re looking for omegas to join. Their land adjoins our pack, and we have a loyalty oath to defend each other.”
Lars was right. The boys would be perfect for Rhene’s pack. Wow, how cool would it be to have his cousins join?
“Mom?” Michael asked.
“I want to meet this alpha first, and then we’ll make a decision. For now, we should let Aunt Gillian and Uncle Gavin talk to Sven, okay?”
They talked until it grew dark, and when his parents left, they both hugged Sven for a long time. What an amazing day.
It had been a week since he’d seen Sando, and Maz was done. A week in itself would have been long, but it had felt like a month. Maz thought he’d witnessed his fair share of suffering and that he’d heard cruelty before, but nothing had prepared him for the stories the omegas in the camp had shared, the pain they had endured. On more than once occasion, he’d had to step out to find a place to cry, and it had been the same for the others.
He didn’t know if he could’ve survived without Lucan. The beta had worked so hard, constantly by Maz’s side, doing whatever he asked him to. Carrying water. Washing patients. Hand-feeding them. Nothing had been too much for him, no task too menial. He’d served in every sense of the word, and Maz’s respect for him had grown even more.
As soon as cell service had been back up, they’d talked to Sando. Bray had set up a roster for people to stay with Professor Melloni, since Yitro and Sivney were helping in the omega camp. Sando was no longer part of the rotation, the other pack members covering for him. He’d offered to come to the city and help them, but Maz had turned him down. He didn’t want Sando here. He was too innocent for this, too pure. This much agony would break him.
“That was the last one.” Enar snapped off his gloves and threw them into a wastebasket. “All omegas have either been discharged or transferred to