(in birth order)
Harrison (A)
mated to Raimy and Cassidy
Emerson (A)
Harley (O)
mated
Fitzgerald “Fitz” (A)
mated to Tanner McCreary
Lucas (A)
Bayley (O)
mated
Randall (A)
River (O)
PROLOGUE
Several years ago…
The sunlight was warm on his back as Emerson Walker stood on the dock with his twin brother, staring down at their uncle’s boat. The wind off the brackish water swept his hair back from his face, bringing the strident scent of salt mixed with a hint of sulphureous rot from decaying seaweed to his nose. The boat had seen better days. The last time he’d been on it, his uncle had snatched him by the throat in a wild flash of anger. Sure, his mouth had spurred on that anger, but the attack had been unwarranted. A twelve-year-old mouthing off was to be expected. A forty-something alpha completely losing his shit over it was not.
Emerson had never gotten an apology, either—but then, he’d given his uncle the widest berth after that encounter. Chances had been few. They’d seenverylittle of each other in the years that followed. When they did, it was usually from across a crowded room filled with family as a buffer.
Maybe the boat bequeathmentwasthat apology.
Or so he’d first thought.
The thing neededa tonof work. From whispers at the funeral, his uncle had stopped taking care of himself near the end. That had clearly stretched to his home, too.
His uncle had left him a floating trash heap.
Some apology.
It now seemed more like a final middle finger.
“You could always sell it,” Harrison said.
He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Harrison on the dock, staring at the mess their uncle had left behind. It was then Emerson noticed theyweren’tactually shoulder-to-shoulder. He was a good inch taller than his twin. They had the same face. The same coloring. The same build.
But he was taller?
“Someone might be able to fix it up,” Harrison continued. “I doubt you’ll get much, but it would be more than you’ve got now. You could use the money to get an apartment… or something. I don’t know.”
Emerson eyed his twin. He glanced down, trying to see if there was something his brother was standing on, but they were level. Same shoes, too. They were both in their Fire Department-issued dress uniform.
Weird.
After a lifetime of being mirror images of one another, noticing the deviation left him feeling… detached. Their bond—already fraught—was somehow weaker. Emerson frowned, the thought unsettling. He loved Harrison. He lovedallhis brothers, but he and Harrison had been together since conception. They’d emerged from the womb as two peas in a pod and continued that way all through their childhood.
