Chapter 4
FOUR
Tarius Higgs couldn’t remember having a happier nine months in…
a long time. Things were going well at work, their track record with defense cases was as strong as ever, and Tarius adored his job.
He loved knowing that his work, his research and effort, helped other men obtain justice, especially in abuse cases.
Work Tarius might never have pursued so passionately if Liam hadn’t come into the Higgs family when he did.
Dad was getting around better than ever for his age, and even though he sometimes groused about Tarius living at home and not having a life, Tarius was sure Dad secretly loved it.
Liam loved being a grand-omegin to little Caleb Tovey, as well as an honorary great-uncle to Asher Danvers.
It was also a badly-kept secret that Asher’s omegin, Khory, was pregnant again, but they hadn’t hit the three-month mark, so no one was confirming it.
Tarius wasn’t usually in on that type of inner circle family gossip, but he overheard a lot more now that he was home.
Not only from Liam gossiping with his best friends Jaysan and Brogan, but from Linus, who was in his second-to-last semester at university.
And tonight Linus had played the absolute best soccer game of his life.
Their entire family had been present, scattered throughout the bleachers, cheering on Sansbury’s university team as they played for the Territory Championship.
Tarius had felt a brand-new surge of pride for his littlest brother when Linus kicked the winning goal for Sansbury.
It had been difficult to get down on the field to congratulate him, but he’d managed.
Then he’d sought out Branson, who’d attended with his own family, and they’d hugged hard.
For a long time.
Branson had been the other best part of the last nine months. Their friendship had strengthened and grown, as had their physical affection. Tarius had missed being held by someone who wasn’t family. Missed genuine affection with no sexual intent behind it. They were…comfortable.
So comfortable that Tarius woke one morning with sunlight in his eyes, unfamiliar covers tucked up to his chin, and a handsome, snoring man in bed with him.
Both of them fully dressed, heads on separate pillows, but still facing each other.
As Tarius studied Branson’s scrunched, sleeping face, he didn’t have to worry or wonder, didn’t have to clench or hope.
He knew nothing had happened. They’d stayed up too late, sharing takeout and beer, and they’d crashed together.
In Branson’s bed. Because Branson was his friend. His very best friend. They’d slept together like it was the most natural thing on earth.
And it was.
Relationships didn’t have to be sexual to be meaningful.
Tarius slept over with Branson two more times leading up to Linus’s big win, and neither Dad nor Liam commented on him not coming home.
By now, everyone had full lives of their own, mates and grandchildren, children or babies on the way.
Tarius hadn’t been terribly excited about turning forty, but whatever.
He loved his life, his job, his family, and this slow thing he was creating with Branson.
Tarius went home with Dad and Liam after the game, instead of celebrating with Branson’s friends.
For as much as he loved that entire collection of young people, Tarius had been eighteen when most of them were born, and he didn’t want to be “the old guy.” Besides, he’d had a long week at work, and he already had plans to see Branson tomorrow.
He tried calling Demir on the drive home, because he’d been the only Higgs not at the game tonight, and he suspected that had hurt Linus’s feelings. This had been the game, but Demir’s work in genetic disease research was cutting edge, and sometimes he forgot about events outside his lab.
Voice mail. Demir had probably already heard, but Tarius told him about Linus’s spectacular win before signing off with, “Talk to you soon, yeah? Night.”
His relationship with his oldest younger brother had its share of ups and downs over the years, especially when Demir (at only 20 years old) had started dating a widowed alpha eighteen years older than him.
An alpha constable who worked below their own sire, for crying out loud!
Tarius had done his best to be supportive, even though he worried constantly that Brandt Lars was taking advantage of the much-younger, less experienced Demir.
But for the last seventeen years, Demir, Brandt and Oliver had been happy as a triad, and that was all Tarius wanted for all his brothers: a happy life with someone who loved and appreciated them.
After watching a movie with Dad and Liam (Liam was the same age as Tarius, and he’d never been able to really see him as a parental figure), Tarius went to bed.
He started dreaming about being out on a soccer field, surrounded by strangers, with no idea whose team he was on, when the ringing house line startled him awake.
He got up and stumbled into the hall by instinct, and he nearly collided with Liam.
“I’ve got the call, don’t worry,” Liam said. He seemed half-asleep himself but unbothered. Since Dad had retired from the constabulary, they didn’t get many house line calls that weren’t telemarketers. Everyone used their mobiles now.
Tarius went back into his room, but didn’t shut his door all the way, especially when he saw the time on his alarm clock. Almost midnight.
“He’s what?” Dad shouted.
The shock in his sire’s voice drew Tarius across the hall to their bedroom. Dad was holding Liam in a tight hug, and he was pretty sure Liam was shaking.
His stomach twisted into an icy ball. “What’s wrong?” Tarius asked.
“Linus was in a car accident,” Dad said, his tone so raw it punched Tarius right in the gut. “Hospital says he’s critical. Fuck me. We need to go.”
The world spun briefly sideways, but Tarius shoved his own shock and panic aside in favor of taking care of his family. “Okay, you guys get dressed. I’ll drive.”
“Thank you.”
Tarius thrust his body into clothes and shoes, and then they were on their way to Emergency. “Should we call anyone else? Aven?”
“Not yet. Let’s get there and see what’s what before we get everyone worried.”
“Okay.” Tarius hated keeping his other brothers in the dark, but what did they really know? Almost nothing. It made sense to have a few answers before they terrified the rest of the family. Tarius was already inwardly freaking out enough for five people, but he kept it tightly inside.
Once they reached Emergency, Tarius let Dad and Liam out so he could park.
He sprinted from the parking garage, back across a wide lawn full of sidewalks going here and there, and charged into the department.
He was shocked to see Brogan and Mikel Tovey standing with Liam and Dad, all of them upset.
Before Tarius could ask, Liam said, “Miko was in the car with Linus.”
“Oh shit.” Linus and Miko were lifelong best friends, and they’d gone to a post-game party together. “But neither of them have a car.”
“We spoke to an officer,” Mikel said, his deep voice as wrecked as his expression. “They were in a taxi that apparently ran a red light, and they were hit. Miko was banged up pretty good and aware at the scene, but Linus…the other car hit his side.”
Genuine fear squeezed Tarius’s throat tight. He didn’t know what to say or how to feel.
“I wish we knew more,” Mikel continued. “We’re waiting for a doctor to come and fucking tell us something.
” His alpha temper began peeking through, and Tarius took an instinctive step back.
Angry alphas made him nervous. Had for years, ever since accidentally witnessing his own grieving sire’s temper.
“Goddess, I’ll strangle that taxi driver for running a light,” Dad snarled. “What the fuck was he thinking? Is he here?”
“I’m not sure if he was hurt or not.”
“I’m going to make some calls. See if I can get some damned answers.”
If anyone could get answers fast, it was former Chief Constable Isa Higgs.
Dad moved to a chair to make his calls. Mikel paced.
Liam and Brogan hugged each other. Best friends for twenty years and both omegins of two sons, their firstborns were bondmates with a child, finally happy after months of immeasurable hardship.
And now their second-borns were going through something terrible together, but none of them knew exactly what.
Goddess, I need Branson.
But was it fair to call him? To wake him up after midnight, when Tarius had no real news to share? Or was it selfish? He couldn’t be selfish right now; he had to be strong for his family.
No calls until they knew Linus would be okay.
The surgical waiting room had a few windows, but Tarius didn’t know what time it was when Branson strode into the room, only that it was still dark outside.
Their entire family had overtaken the waiting area’s chairs and small couches.
Right after Dad and Liam had made the painful, impossible decision to amputate Linus’s right leg, rather than put him through more hours of surgery with a serious concussion.
Bright, lively, star athlete Linus Higgs would never walk on his own two feet again, and it had devastated all of them. Miko Tovey, on the other hand, was in another wing of the hospital, being kept sedated through his first heat, because his battered body and bruised ribs couldn’t take the stress.
That one thing—heat—made Tarius incredibly grateful to be beta. No leaking asshole, no forty-eight-hours of desperation for sex, for an alpha’s knot to fill him.
No, thank you.
Despite the early hour, Tarius wasn’t surprised that the news had gotten around to the far reaches of their friends and family groups. He had no idea who’d called Branson, but he wanted to give them a big wet kiss. Tarius stood from his uncomfortable chair and met Branson halfway.