Valentin stood by the bookshelves, running a hand along the wood.
Antoni coughed from the doorway. “The day you built those, I told you to be careful,” he said to him. “I was always sorry that warning ended up being prophetic, but it makes me happy to see that you overcame the odds.” A flicker of a smile touched his lips. “How is Decoy?”
“Still a menace.”
“Yes…well.” Antoni cleared his throat again. “I’ve packed up Lanni and Bevin’s things. They’re watching TV with the other boys now.”
“I’m going to speak with them,” Asher said. “Explain things. Hopefully they understand, since I doubt they remember me.”
“I’ll help you,” Daddy offered, rising from the couch. Zinn noticed how frail he was. “This will be different for them, but good, I think.” He hesitated in front of Zinn with his arms out.
After a few beats, Zinn stepped into Daddy’s embrace, feeling the omega bond flow between them. It was bittersweet, knowing he’d never see him again.
Asher looked at them with approval. “We’d better go so we can get to the hotel before dark. I’m sure Lachie is hungry, too.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Daddy said, as much to himself as the others. “Lanni and Bevin will have their uncle Zinn to show them how to be good, strong omegas.”
“They certainly will,” Valentin said, resting a hand on Zinn’s shoulder. “Just like their cousin Lachie.”
Daddy hugged Zinn one last time. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in his ear, “and I’m so proud of you.”
After Asher left with Daddy, the men pulled each other into a group hug. Zinn closed his eyes, pushing his face into Calder’s chest as he held hands with Assa and Valentin, Wes a calming weight against his back.
“Thank you for coming with me,” Zinn said.
“You’re our omega,” Wes murmured. “Where else would we be?”
“You deserved to look them in the eye and have them know you’re unbeaten,” Assa said.
“Unbowed and unmatched,” Calder agreed.
“They never understood how special you are.” Valentin pushed their foreheads together. “Everything you went through to get to this moment…and the man you are to all of us. The lover. The friend. The omega of our pack.”
Epilogue One
Zinn
ONE MONTH LATER
The third day of Zinn’s heat began on a Tuesday morning.
Wes, Calder, and Valentin had been surprised when he told them he was feeling symptoms on their way home from Warburton, but Assa, knowledgeable in these matters thanks to his work in the lab, reminded them that Zinn’s first four heats had been in the summertime. He’d only had a February heat when he got pregnant with Lachie because he’d been using suppressants.
By the time they’d stepped off the train and settled the children with Asher and Xan at the bakery house, Zinn was sweating, his heat imminent.
Now that the third day had dawned, Zinn woke sleepy and satisfied, even as his body reminded him that there were morewaves coming. He stretched his arms above his head, enjoying the slight burn in his shoulders, and smiled.
“Well?” he asked Wes, who happened to be the one lying next to him.
Wes winked. “Congratulations.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm,” Calder drawled, cuddling Zinn from behind. “It’s a good thing the boys are with Asher and Xan, because that was the loudest breeding orgasm I’ve ever heard.”
“I’m pretty sure it was the loudest breeding orgasm anyone has ever heard anywhere,” Assa said from Calder’s other side.
“Most beautiful sound in the world,” Valentin said, kissing Wes’s shoulder from behind.