Chapter 7: Extra

As Lyrian and Kaelen made their way down the garden path, putting distance between themselves and Dorian, neither spoke at first. The vibrant activity of the fundraiser seemed to blur around them, the sounds of laughter and conversation fading into the background as the weight of the moment pressed down on them both.

Lyrian's heart raced, his mind replaying the brief but powerful interaction with the young man who had introduced himself as Dorian Vaelis. The name echoed in his head, sharp and familiar, sending a wave of old, buried emotions surging to the surface.

"Vaelis..." Lyrian murmured under his breath, his pale blue eyes wide with disbelief.

Kaelen walked beside him, his jaw clenched, his golden-brown eyes dark with intensity. He had felt it too—the way Dorian had looked, the resemblance that was undeniable, and that name. Vaelis. It was like a blow to the chest.

"The Vaelis family..." Kaelen finally said, his voice tight with the emotion he was struggling to contain. "It's them."

Lyrian stopped walking, turning to look at Kaelen with a mix of fear and hope in his eyes. "Do you think—?"

Kaelen's expression hardened, though the emotion beneath the surface was raw, barely held in check. "I don't know," He said, his voice low. "But the way he looked... the way he felt..."

Lyrian's breath hitched, his fingers trembling slightly as he pressed a hand to his chest, where his heart raced beneath his ribs. There was no denying it—the moment they had looked into Dorian's eyes, something inside both of them had shifted. That connection, the strange familiarity, the unspoken recognition—it was all too much to be a coincidence.

"And his name," Lyrian whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Dorian..."

The name they had whispered in their hearts for seventeen long years, the child they had been forced to give up to the Vaelis family to protect him. Now, that very name had come from the lips of a young man who looked so much like the son they had once held in their arms, the son they had never stopped thinking about.

Kaelen swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on the path ahead, though his mind was racing. He was a man of strength, of strategy, but even he couldn't deny the painful truth that was beginning to settle in his heart.

"We always knew this day might come," Kaelen said quietly, his voice strained. "But I didn't expect it to be like this."

Lyrian nodded, though his eyes were still wide with shock. "What do we do?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kaelen exhaled slowly, his hand instinctively reaching for Lyrian's, grounding them both. "For now, we watch. We learn. And if it is him—" His voice wavered for the briefest moment before his steely resolve returned. "We will protect him, just as we always have."

Lyrian squeezed Kaelen's hand, his heart aching with the weight of the past and the fragile hope that flickered within him. "If it's him, Kaelen... I'm not sure I could walk away again."

Kaelen's grip tightened, and for the first time in years, the fierce Omega warrior allowed himself a moment of vulnerability. "Neither could I."

Together, they continued down the path, their hearts heavy with the knowledge that the boy they had loved and lost might be closer than they had ever imagined.