“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.
Branson’s hug was everything. Tarius could breathe a little easier, think a bit more clearly. His entire being wasn’t barreling forward at a thousand miles an hour. Branson rubbed gentle circles on his back. He didn’t offer platitudes or ask questions; he supported Tarius until he could stand straight again.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Tarius said.
“I know you,” Branson replied softly. “You’re trying to be strong for your parents, to be supportive and not show your own fear. But they have each other. Layne has Peyton. Someone needs to be here for you.”
“Thank you. This wasn’t how I thought we’d be spending time together today.”
“There are a lot worse things I could be doing.”
“Like what?”
Branson held eye contact, his green eyes shining with emotion. “I could be here, waiting for word aboutyoursurgery after a car accident.”
Tarius tried to smile but doubted he succeeded. “I’d be on that table in a heartbeat to save my brother pain.”
“I know. I’d do the same for Caden or Emory. Rei, too. When our brothers hurt, we hurt.”
“Yeah.” He resisted taking Branson’s hand, and instead, guided him over to one of the couches. “How did the phone chain reach you?”
“My parents texted me about thirty minutes ago. I was having trouble sleeping so the notification woke me up. Papa said not to rush down to the hospital, but I couldn’t stay home. Not knowing you were here.”Here aloneshined unspoken in Branson’s eyes.
They both understood how it felt to be all alone in a room full of loved ones.
“Thank you.” Tarius gently bumped his shoulder. “It really helps having someone.”Having you.
