Ronan
The next morning, Niall brought the boys home to have breakfast with Ronan and Teal as promised. When Ronan asked, Niall told him Jax had stayed at their apartment to work and clear his calendar. He planned to remain in town during High Court to support Niall and the McGinns.
“How is Sorcha doing?” Niall asked Ronan in a whisper while Teal made smiley faces with raisins in the boys’ oatmeal.
“Good. He’s sleeping upstairs now.”
“He’s here?”
“Yes. After what he’s been through, there’s no way I’m letting him be alone in that house, or worse, stay with his uncles.” Ronan remembered that Niall only had basic details about Sorcha’s situation, and he didn’t want to get too specific with the boys seated feet away. He settled on, “We’ll tell you more later, but for now I’ll just say that Dale and Abe left their nephew in a very precarious position. It all worked out in the end, but it could have gone a different way.”
Niall gave Ronan a knowing look, replying, “Well, I’m glad Sorcha had you guys.”
“Me too.”
An hour later, Niall left with the twins to drop them off at school. Teal was in the living room with Zayne, half-heartedly working on prep for High Court. Ronan could hardly believe the tribunal started in two days.
Ronan’s shoulders stiffened when he heard Dale’s car turning into the driveway. Teal frowned at him over Zayne’s head as the telltale sounds of the beta couple returning home drifted through the air. Car doors opened and closed. Muffled voices conversed. Plastic suitcase roller wheels dragged roughly across the garage cement.
Ronan’s blood boiled. Dale and Abe didn’t seem to have a care in the world, acting like they hadn’t left Sorcha locked in a makeshift prison that could have killed him. They chatted happily, as though they’d just come back from a fun trip. They’d probably enjoyed themselves, away from the responsibility of being decent human beings to their nephew.
Teal and Ronan stared at one another as they waited. Dale and Abe would surely check on Sorcha, would discover the kicked-in door and the disheveled appearance of his room.
The doorbell rang less than a minute later.
Ronan and Teal had already discussed how they would handle this. They’d spoken with Sorcha about it last night before he’d fallen into a deep post-heat slumber.
Ronan nodded at his husband and calmly opened the door. Both of Sorcha’s uncles stood on the porch.
“Hello, gentlemen. Can I help you?”
Dale took a step back. “Oh, Ronan,” he stuttered, tightening his forehead. “You’re home. We figured it would be your beta nanny.”
“No. Teal and I are both here today. He has High Court later this week.”
“Oh, right.” A sour look crossed Abe’s features.
Ronan narrowed his eyes. “Did you need to speak with Niall?”
The betas exchanged flustered expressions. Ronan felt a grim satisfaction at their discomfort.
“We just got home from the coast,” Dale said. “And, um, our nephew isn’t at home.”
“Okay,” Ronan replied, stone-faced. Teal came over and placed a gentle hand on his forearm. It was a subtle reminder to stick to the script they’d agreed on. If Ronan had his way, the consequences they’d planned for Sorcha’s uncles would be more severe, but Teal and Sorcha had insisted on a subdued approach.
Still, Ronan wanted to make the awful men squirm as much as possible.
“Well, have you seen him?” Dale asked irritably.
“Or maybe you heard something at the house?” Abe chimed in.
“What do you mean, ‘heard something?’”
Abe’s face looked pained as he ground out, “You know, noises. Like maybe something got broken.”
“What got broken?” Teal asked.
Dale scraped a hand over his jaw. “We never said anything got broken. We just wanted to ask if you heard anything. Or if you’ve seen Sorcha. We were expecting him to be here when we got home.”
