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Every married person was in a sedoretu. An alpha and an omega from the morning moiety, and an alpha and an omega from the evening moiety. In Jame Herondale’s marriage, he was the evening omega, and his sister Lucie Herondale was the evening alpha. The morning alpha was Matthew Fairchild, and the morning omega was Jesse Blackthorn.
They loved each other, the four of them. Obviously, James and Lucie did not love each other romantically, as they were siblings and of the same moiety, and although Matthew and Jesse were not siblings, they were also of the same moiety and did not feel romantic feelings toward the others. But James loved both of them, was married to both of them, and loved Lucie as his little sister.
However, he had to admit, he was not a big fan of Jesse’s sister, Grace Blackthorn.
James and Grace had had a… thing going on, when they were younger. James had not realized that he was too hasty in assuming his feelings for Grace were romantic, and Grace, despite knowing neither of them loved each other, had never informed him of this. Although those times were long past them, James still carried an almost petty grudge against her. Being married to her older brother certainly got rid of some of that pettiness, but the sentiment still remained.
Matthew, who had been friends with James for a long time, often took his side whenever there was a disagreement regarding Grace. However, Jesse would take her side, as they were siblings, and Lucie would take Jesse’s.
Grace was unintentionally forming a rift within the sedoretu, and James was tired of it.
Yet it did not stop.
James didn’t exactly hate Grace - not anymore, at least - but he had apparently disliked her enough for Lucie and Jesse to start hiding things from him.
Such as a deal the three of them had made with Malcolm Fade.
“You did what?” James growled out, glaring at Lucie and then Jesse. “And you- you hid this from me?”
“We don’t have to tell you everything,” Lucie protested.
“You don’t,” James agreed. “But it becomes a problem when you start lying.”
Lucie swallowed. Jesse looked visibly nervous. Matthew was silent, seeming confused as to what was going on.
“You told me that you two were just… spending more time together,” James said, and his voice almost broke. “I was fine with that- Matthew was fine with that- we- we actually thought you were just…” James sighed. “But now… the fact that you were with Grace this whole time, and hiding it… I would have been fine if you’d told me about Grace! But this is too much!”
“I’m sorry,” Jesse murmured, and Lucie nodded and repeated his statement. But James was already leaving the room.
Matthew came up behind him and caught his hand. “James,” he said, and James turned to him. “Are you okay?”
“I need some time… away,” James murmured, shaking. At least one member of this sedoretu hadn’t betrayed him.
“I can try to help you,” Matthew offered, but James was already shaking his head.
“No, Math,” he said. “You already have your own problems to deal with.” So many mornings now, Matthew had woken up and immediately thrown up. He was constantly sick. And James knew why. Matthew was trying to stop drinking, and the side effects were bad.
Matthew’s hand fell away from James’s. “Okay,” he murmured. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will,” James promised, not knowing if he would be able to keep true to those words.
He began walking to the house of his best friend, Cordelia.
When James woke up the next morning in Cordelia’s bed, covered in her alpha scent, he realized that maybe he had fucked up a bit.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Everyone is going to know who I was with…”
He could explain the fight. He could explain that he went to Cordelia’s place to seek comfort and a warm bed. But he didn’t want to. That was his private family business, and he would not tell any stranger about it.
When he went downstairs, he saw Cordelia at the breakfast table, already eating. She smiled at James when she saw him. “Hey,” she greeted.
James smiled back. “Hey,” he said. Sitting down across from her, he sighed as her nose seemed to twitch.
“That’s a problem,” she said.
“Yeah,” he groaned. “Now everyone’s going to think… yeah.”
“Call Matthew to pick you up,” Cordelia suggested.
James shook his head. “No. He’s… he’s probably not doing so well.”
Cordelia, also being Matthew’s best friend, immediately knew what James was talking about. “Ah.”
“I could just… stay here…?” James said slowly, then shook his head, immediately dismissing the idea. “No. It’ll just be even worse when I leave.”
Usually, James wouldn’t be so worried about people thinking he was having an affair. However, he knew that if word of his fight got out, then people would start to think…
Besides, he needed something else to worry about anyway.
“Call Jesse and Lucie,” Cordelia finally said. When James started to protest, she shook her head. “No, trust me on this.”
James stared at her for a while, then slowly, he nodded. “Alright.”
It was the most awkward car ride ever.
Jesse and Lucie sat in the front, silent. Matthew, who did not look well enough to drive, or to even be a passenger, but had apparently insisted on coming, sat next to James in the back.
It was up to James to break the silence.
“I get why… you hid things from me,” James said slowly. “Especially since ‘things’ was Grace Blackthorn.”
“Work on your wording,” Matthew muttered.
“And I’m still not happy about that,” James said. “But… I still love you guys.” Jesse, the husband in his day marriage, and Lucie, his sister. He would always love them. “We can… work on our communication, I guess.”
“We should,” Lucie whispered, finally speaking. “It’s just… Grace and I were friends, and you never… approved.”
That’s right, James thought. But Grace never did anything terrible. I need to learn to accept that.
“And Grace is my sister,” Jesse said. “I’ll always stand by her side.” He didn’t take his eyes off the road - Jesse was always a careful driver - but James knew that if it weren’t for the car, Jesse would be staring right into his eyes. “Just like you and Lucie.”
James’s heart warmed, and he whispered, “Alright. Later, let’s talk. Honestly.”
They all agreed to that.
And when they returned home, James changed into clothes that smelled like his partners.