[BL]Reborn as the Empire's Most Desired Omega-Chapter 456: Dominant alpha

The hallway outside the medical room was quiet in a way that didn’t belong to the Fitzgeralt manor. The sconces burned low, casting warm light along the carved walls, and the air carried only the faint hum of distant night staff.

Trevor stood with his arms crossed, leaning one shoulder against the wall. Lucas sat on the nearby bench, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped loosely. Neither spoke, but silence between them had never been uncomfortable.

They had been here before different years, different circumstances, different fears. This one was easier, expected, and very much natural.

Still, Lucas exhaled slowly. "He handled it better than I did."

Trevor’s lips lifted slightly. "You were charming as a hormonal mess."

"Windstone said that you manifested later, after you were declared a beta. You broke furniture."

Trevor let out a low breath, the kind that carried amusement and memory in equal measure. "I did," he admitted. "A bookshelf. Two chairs. And something Cressida still refuses to describe because she claims I embarrassed the furniture."

Lucas huffed a soft laugh, rubbing his palms together slowly. "I didn’t break anything. I just... refused to come out of my room."

"You hissed at Marin," Trevor reminded him gently.

Lucas’s shoulders dipped. "She startled me."

"She opened the door," Trevor said.

Lucas didn’t contest that. "Fine. She opened it too fast."

Trevor shifted, glancing toward the closed medical room. "Sebastian is doing better than both of us combined. Fever aside."

Lucas nodded, his gaze softening with pride and a trace of worry that hadn’t fully faded. "He’s always been calmer than he looks. More like you."

Marin stepped out, closing it behind her with the careful quiet of someone who understood family boundaries and royal nerves. The physician’s expression was composed, but her eyes flicked briefly between Trevor and Lucas with something warm, almost proud.

She held a small tablet in her hands, the screen still glowing with freshly run results.

Marin approached them with measured steps, her posture steady and her voice softened by the hour.

"It’s out," she said gently. "The test is confirmed."

Trevor straightened immediately, his arms uncrossing as instinct took over. Lucas rose from the bench without a word, his hands falling to his sides but not quite relaxing.

Marin nodded once, giving the news the gravity it deserved.

"Sebastian is a dominant alpha," she said. "The markers are clear. His surge was strong but controlled, and his vitals are steady again."

Trevor exhaled slowly, a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Lucas’s shoulders eased, though only slightly, the tension shifting rather than disappearing.

"We thought as much," Trevor murmured.

Marin’s mouth lifted in a faint smile. "Most parents don’t take it this well."

Lucas huffed. "We had... clues."

"Many clues," Trevor added.

Marin’s gaze warmed with understanding. "He’s doing well. He’s resting now. The fever has broken, and his breathing is even. I’ll stay nearby through the night to monitor any fluctuations."

Lucas nodded once. "Thank you."

Marin shifted the tablet under her arm, her expression turning more serious. "For what it’s worth, his presentation is a textbook for a dominant. Strong pheromone node development, early instinct triggers, and no signs of volatility."

Trevor relaxed further, his jaw unclenching. "Balanced?"

"Very," Marin confirmed. "He’ll be powerful, but his body knows how to regulate itself. That’s rare at his age."

Lucas closed his eyes briefly, relief washing through him. "Good."

Marin paused, studying them both before continuing.

"You know what this means politically," she said. "Discussions will start. Actually, they probably already have."

Trevor’s expression remained calm but sharpened at the edges. "They’ve been waiting for an excuse."

Lucas’s tone softened but held steel beneath it. "They won’t get one."

Marin inclined her head. "I assumed as much. I can prepare a neutral medical statement for the academy if you prefer. Something factual, without inviting speculation."

"Do that," Trevor said.

Lucas nodded. "We’ll manage the rest."

Marin hesitated, then added quietly, "He asked if you were still here."

Lucas felt something tighten in his chest, warm and familiar. Trevor’s expression softened by a degree that only family ever saw.

"We’re here," Lucas said, steady again.

"We’re not going anywhere," Trevor added.

Marin smiled. "Then he’ll feel better the moment he wakes."

She slipped back into the medical room, leaving the door cracked just enough to signal that they were welcome to enter whenever they chose.

Trevor turned to Lucas, brushing his knuckles lightly against the back of Lucas’s hand.

Lucas looked up at him, eyes warm and a little tired. "He’s really doing it."

"He is," Trevor said quietly. "And he’ll be fine."

Lucas nodded. "He will."

Trevor straightened his jacket. "Ready to go in?"

Lucas took a breath, steady and full. "Yes."

Together, they moved toward the door like this was just another rite of passage. Another step in a life they had fought so hard to build. Another moment they would share as a family, side by side.

—

Trevor pushed the door open first, letting Lucas step in beside him. The lights were dimmed to a soft amber glow, barely brighter than candlelight. Sebastian lay half-curled on the medical cot, blankets kicked halfway down, the faint sheen of fever still lingering on his skin.

His curls were a chaotic mess.

His expression was worse.

He blinked at them with the narrowed, irritated eyes of someone whose entire nervous system had been rearranged overnight.

Lucas smiled softly. "Hey."

Sebastian didn’t soften. He scowled.

Trevor raised an eyebrow. "Ah. There it is."

Sebastian lifted his head an inch. "Don’t talk loud." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"We’re not," Trevor said.

"You exist loud," Sebastian muttered, burying half his face into the pillow.

Lucas pressed a hand briefly to his mouth to hide the laugh forming. "He’s fine," he whispered.

"You’re whispering too loud," Sebastian complained.

Trevor looked at Lucas pointedly. "He’s yours."

Lucas blinked. "Mine?"

Trevor gestured at their son, who was now attempting to glare at the ceiling because glaring at them required too much effort.

"He’s bitey," Trevor said. "He’s dramatic. Everything annoys him when he’s feverish. And he looks like he wants to chew someone’s hand if they get too close. That," he added with a mild expression, "is your exact manifestation profile."

Lucas frowned. "I did not try to bite anyone."

"You bit Marin," Trevor reminded him.

Sebastian groaned loudly into the pillow, voice muffled. "Stop talking about biting. Everything smells weird."

Lucas leaned over him a little. "Weird how?"

Sebastian peeked up at him, eyes glassy and suspicious. "Strong. Like... everything. The whole room smells like you two. And Windstone. And the laundry. And the soap. And the hallway. And Dad’s..."

Trevor cleared his throat. "We get the idea."

Sebastian shut his eyes again. "My brain doesn’t."

Lucas smoothed a hand through his hair. Sebastian tolerated it for half a second before sinking deeper into the blanket, growling faintly under his breath.

Trevor sighed in quiet amusement. "Definitely yours."

Lucas sent him a look. "You were worse."

"I didn’t growl," Trevor said.

"You ruined two chairs."

"I didn’t growl."

Lucas raised his brows. "Cressida said you did."

Trevor blinked slowly. "She lied."

Lucas’s smile grew. "She really didn’t."

Sebastian tugged the blanket up to cover the lower half of his face. "I hate this," he muttered.

"You will for about twelve hours," Trevor said, stepping closer to check the monitor Marin had set up.

Sebastian gripped the blanket tighter. "Dad, don’t."

Trevor glanced at him. "I’m not touching you. I’m checking your vitals."

"You’re breathing near me."

Lucas let out a soft laugh. "He’s melting."

"I’m overheating," Sebastian snapped, which would have been intimidating if his voice didn’t crack halfway through.

Trevor softened, just a touch. "Drink some water."

"No."

Lucas handed him the glass anyway.

Sebastian took it with the exaggerated suffering of a prince forced into manual labor.

Trevor watched him drink, then murmured, half to Lucas, "Hormonal. Dramatic. Hyper-reactive. Hypersensitive smell. Mild aggression. Everything annoys him. Definitely your son."

Lucas gave him a deceptively calm look. "And the part where he’s trying not to complain because he hates worrying us? Yours."

Trevor paused.

Then smiled, slow and warm. "Fair."