1. Thorn
1
THORN
One year Later, Present Day
T horn ran from the big house he shared with his brothers to the winery, his mind running through the list of things he needed to do before Ledger woke.
He’d had a terrible night, unable to get comfortable.
The girls had grown so big, Thorn worried that if they didn’t come soon his gorgeous, tiny sweetling could burst open.
It was all Dacian’s fault for putting that idea in Thorn’s head just the other day.
They were more than aware that male omegas were capable of carrying children.
Except, Vampires always had the expectation they would find female mates, not male, so they had no idea how a male omega would handle vampire babies.
They couldn’t even find a record anywhere in their family history of this having happened before.
Thorn had looked.
The secretive nature of vampires added to the issue, yet he’d reached out to other vampire families and found no answers.
Simply put, if he was to believe all the other vampires, he appeared to be an anomaly for having a male dhampir.
In the last year, he’d never once wondered if Fate had gotten it wrong for him.
What he doubted was the pregnancy aspect when his mate was much more breakable, despite their eternal connection.
Still, it was hard not to see the two girls Ledger carried as a gift.
Their family hadn’t produced a child in centuries, this included his sister, who lived with her husband thousands of miles away.
Everyone was ecstatic for him.
It didn’t stop them winding him up and feeding his damn fears—fuckers!
He was careful to hold his fears in check around his omega because of their connection.
It all stemmed from the lack of knowing how to deal with what was happening to Ledger the bigger he got.
His tiny body surely wouldn’t just burst?
“What are you doing here?” Dacian questioned, as he rushed into the main reception.
He was bent over Calvert’s shoulder, looking up at him from the computer screen with an arched brow.
“You’re officially on Ledger watch.”
Thorn decided to ignore the smirk he so desperately wanted to knock off his brother’s face.
“I’ve several outstanding emails to deal with,” he explained, heading for his office without pausing.
He’d had to leave the night before when Ledger got upset at not being able to bend to pick up something he’d dropped.
“Just forward them to me,” Calvert muttered as Thorn opened the door to his office.
They all had their own in the winery, but Calvert spent quite a bit of time sat at the computer in the reception area, where Ledger usually was.
“He’s using it as an excuse to get away from weeping willy,” Dacian said, loud enough for Thorn to catch it.
Through the door, he swung back around, stomped over to Dacian and grabbed hold of his suit jacket, which he wore summer and winter.
Thorn tugged so hard on the lapels that they strained as he brought them face to face, needing an outlet for his fear.
“I’m not and don’t you talk about my dhampir in that way.” His fangs dropped, the lack of sleep and all his worry having left him with little restraint.
Not his usual state for sure.
Dacian had wound him up since the beginning, when he had returned with Ledger to the winery, the fang marks on his throat there for all to see.
Calvert had been quicker to recover.
They’d both ribbed him some as brothers do, but they’d settled down when Ledger had proven to be such a great asset to their business and absolutely adorable.
Okay, he thought Ledger was adorable!
Calvert groaned as he got out of the chair and wrenched them apart as Dacian’s fangs dropped, too.
The sound of ripping cloth, as Thorn hadn’t let go of the jacket, got Dacian snarling at his twin, who didn’t so much as flinch.
“You two give over. Dacian, stop winding him up. Poor Ledger is struggling and with the girls being just like you and me, squabbling inside his womb, it’s enough to make anyone teary. Say sorry!” Calvert demanded.
“Sorry,” Dacian muttered around his teeth, his eyes continuing to glow red despite the apology as he lifted the two bits of his torn suit jacket.
Thorn headed back to his office, head shaking at the lost opportunity to pound on his brother.
Calvert had always been the more sensible one of the twins and he tended to want a quieter life than Dacian, who was born a wind-up merchant.
He stalked to his desk, sitting to open his emails.
His fingers flying over the keys, he paid no attention to his two brothers, who had followed after him.
Dacian was now minus his suit jacket.
“What gives?” Calvert asked gently.
Thorn didn’t answer, keeping his focus on the screen as he answered a query about a future order for their specialist wine-blood mix.
Only the vampires knew about the unique blend that they’d worked on for decades, perfecting it to sustain vampires with no need for human blood.
It was ideal for those who hadn’t found their mate or a life companion.
“Come on, talk to us,” Calvert persisted, perching on the edge of Thorn’s desk, looking like he’d just stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine.
Thorn flicked his gaze to them, ignoring the smirking sod standing off to Calvert’s left.
“Ask your twin!”
He returned his attention to the computer, adding a reminder to those he was emailing to say he was going on paternity leave, and they’d need to reach out to Dacian with any future enquiries for orders for the foreseeable future.
It was normally Thorn’s job to deal with the merchants whom they shipped their wines to.
Dacian managed the winery production and Calvert managed the vineyard properties they had built twenty years back to cater to tourists and those seeking to hold an event at the vineyard.
After getting numerous requests to stay at the vineyard from visitors sampling wines, they’d also built a hotel.
It was an easy choice, with so many guests telling them how much they loved how beautiful it was in the hills and valleys that stretched out before the vines.
It had worked out and after years of Calvert juggling the visitors and the sommelier role, they’d decided to hire Ledger.
His application had spoken to Thorn, and he now understood why.
The universe had sent his dhampir to him and he was grateful for it every day.
Even when he was terrified about Ledger giving birth to their babies.
Don’t think about it!
There were other things to think about, like how to replace Ledger until he decided what he wanted to do.
Ledger, a tremendous asset to their business, from the wine tastings and to his extensive knowledge of what foods went with each wine, had brought in a deluge of additional bookings.
They were still in the considering stage of hiring someone else to replace Ledger and someone to help in the wine shop.
Right now, they’d made no decisions, just that Thorn was taking an indefinite amount of time off to be there for Ledger and the girls.
His brothers and the existing staff would cope for the next two months.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what he’s talking ‘bout.” Dacian interrupted his thoughts, having gone for innocent and if it had been anyone but them, he’d have succeeded.
Thorn jabbed a finger at his brother. “Weren’t you the one who said Ledger was going to burst?
My poor sweetling is so big he can’t even get up without me helping him.
” The panic was back, clawing at his innards, making him glad Ledger was up at the house and not close enough to sense it.
Could they hear how close to tears he was?
Were pregnancy hormones catching?
Calvert gave him a sympathetic look before glowering at Dacian.
“Why would you say that? Let’s hope when you find your dhampir that Thorn doesn’t tug your balls!”
Dacian roared with laughter, head thrown back, light caught in his dark locks making them appear like spun silk threads.
“It’s taken centuries for one of us to find a mate, there’s very little chance I’ll find mine for decades, by which point he’ll have forgotten.”
“Fuck you. I hope you are the one who gets pregnant!” Thorn muttered, his attention returning to the task at hand.
Time was ticking down and those senses he had attuned to Ledger said he would wake soon, and Thorn wanted to be there.
“Like that can happen! We can’t get pregnant, remember?”
He lifted a hand, giving Dacian the middle finger, still typing out the last email with the other.
“The universe also doesn’t give us male dhampirs either,” he pointed out, because he wanted to pay back Dacian just a little.
Calvert cough-chuckled behind his hand.
“If you could see your face, Dac.”
“Whatever!”
Thorn shut down his computer quickly, already rising with the sensation of Ledger waking and immediately getting pissed off.
“Shit, I gotta go.” He was out the door and running for the house before either brother could utter a word.
Please let him be in a better mood today.