“Of course you can. She’s your daughter.” But just the same, it took a mighty effort to relinquish her when all Sidian wanted to do was cling to her, to the undeniable proof she was real and alive and in front of him. He had her back. It almost didn’t seem real.
He showed Roman how to hold her and then leaned back to give him space, his heart clenching at the sight of his mate cradling their daughter in his arms. She looked so small in his embrace but so comfortable, patting his arms as she gazed around the living room. When a cool breeze filtered into the room and ruffled her hair, she perked up and patted Roman’s arm, babbling louder at him as if to tell him about the wind. And the way he smiled at her, eyes glittering and crinkling at the corners… Goddess, helovedher. He loved her.
“Amethyst is the perfect name for her,” he said, stroking her dark hair before he laid a kiss on her tiny forehead. “I promise you on my life that nothing will ever happen to her. And when our second child is born, I’ll swear the same. No matter what, Sid, this is our family.Ours.And I will do everything to take care of all three of you.”
“I know you will,” Sidian reassured him, and Amey cooed in agreement.
For just a moment, it was nice to lean back against the couch and just be. Roman gave Amethyst back to him, and Sidian sighed in relief, then cackled when his alpha draggedbothof them into his lap, his arms bracketing them with strength and warmth. Though he’d never wanted to be an omega, Sidian indulged his instincts and let his alpha cradle him and his daughter, secure in his mate’s embrace.
“Thank you for letting me know.”Captain Nightingale’s voice was clipped.“I’ll talk to the boss and figure out where she wants to go from here. We’ll need to investigate. How’s Puppy?”
Sidian glanced over to where she was sitting on the coffee table, her legs folded beneath her, chewing at one of her nails with a blank expression. Better than he would have been, that was for certain, though the fact she still hadn’t spoken did concern him.
Roman sighed into the phone. “She’s all right. I think she’s going to stay with us for a while.”
“That would be acceptable.”Nightingale paused.“And the omega? Extraction will take him in if he needs somewhere to go. We’ve handled far more omegas than just one.”
Lilac glanced up from where he was still packing Amey’s diaper bag. “Is that okay?”
“I think he would appreciate that. Place him somewhere where none of this can ever touch him if you can. He took care of my daughter. He deserves it.” Roman wasn’t looking at Lilac; he missed the soft blush as the omega dropped his head, bundling tiny socks together.
Sidian smiled and tickled Amey’s stomach, grinning when she giggled. “He did a good job, too.”
“Consider it done. Is there anything you need from us going forward?”Nightingale asked.
Roman rested his chin on Sidian’s shoulder, and Sidian rubbed their cheeks together without thinking. It seemed the right thing to do, scenting his bonded mate. “No. We’re going to go off grid for a while, I think. We’ll let you know if we need anything, but I would appreciate if you would pass on a message to the captain for me. I don’t know when I’ll next speak to him.”
Nightingale paused.“What would you like me to tell him?”
“That I appreciate everything, but as I have a family to take care of, I’ll be retiring from the Vipers. It was an honor, though.” Roman gave Sidian a gentle squeeze, not even wincing when Amethyst caught one of his damp curls and gave it a yank. “We’lltake care of Puppy, you take care of Lilac, and I think we can call this even.”
He cut the call off after, passing the phone back to Lilac, and kissed the side of Sidian’s head.
“Where are you going to go?” Lilac glanced between them, his expression troubled.
He was a sweet omega. Sidian rather liked him. “We’re just gonna go. It’s supposed to be a nice day out and we could all use some actual fresh air. When we figure out what we wanna do, we’ll do it. For now, I think we just want to be together for a little while.”
Puppy hummed in agreement, and Amey hummed back at her, eliciting a small, genuine smile.
Yeah. They would figure it out together.
Chapter Forty-Four
Roman thought he might be a coward for not calling the Vipers himself.
It occurred to him it would have been the respectful thing to do, therightthing to do, to reassure them that all was fine, and he was where he wanted to be. He knew that disappearing into the trees was what he needed to do for himself, and his happy ending had materialized in front of him after years of separation, so how could he stop himself from pursuing it? But as he watched Sidian change Amey, the two of them vocalizing to each other as only omegas could, he didn’t think he had it in him to make another call. He didn’t have it in him to hold on to that life anymore.
But he did second-guess himself in the end. He made one more phone call standing at the broken sliding glass door, staring out at Talon’s body and the crow that pecked at his broken skull.
Lorcan Devereaux picked up on the second ring.“Hello, Roman.”
“You knew I was calling you, boss.” It wasn’t a question. It didn’t need to be. They knew each other better than that.
“I expected a phone call after speaking with Noel. The moment he broached the subject of your designation, I knew it was a matter of time.”Lorcan chuckled, the faint hiss underpinning his words. Wherever he was, he was masked, then.“If you’re expecting an apology, I wouldn’t hold your breath. I don’t regret the decision I made not to tell you.”
Roman let himself digest that, though he didn’t know what to do with the way he felt about it. “That’s fine, I guess. Did you know about Sidian, or was that a miscalculation?”
Lorcan quieted on his end of the line.“I suspected it , but I did not have enough evidence. Considering everything that has occurred, my current assumption is that Kincaid was informed about Vey’s placement within the breeding center before I searched for him on your behalf.”
