As Max sat at the booth in the back of the diner, he couldn’t keep his hands from shaking even though he’d bundled up against the cold and the heat was on full blast. He sipped the coffee the waitress had brought him and looked around, anxious for John’s arrival. He worried he’d missed him come in, but the second the beta appeared, he realized there was no missing him.

John was a tall, imposing figure for a beta, and with his plain tan overcoat and the dark circles under his eyes, he looked the part of a private investigator. He removed his hat and made his way over to Max as if he’d known where the omega was from the moment he walked in.

“Morning,” he said with a polite nod before sitting across from Max.

“Good morning. Thanks for meeting me so early,” Max said, clasping his hands to keep them still as the waitress came over to take their order. He was too nervous to eat, but he ordered toast out of obligation. As John folded his napkin in his lap and sipped his coffee, Max felt his patience waning. “You said you had a lead?”

“I said I think I have a lead,” John corrected, sliding a pale tan folder across the table. It caught on a bit of half-dried jam stuck to the plastic coating.

Max opened the folder so eagerly it tore a little at one corner. He looked over the page, a printout of a foster care website that listed the profiles of children in the system like contestants on a TV show.

Name: Gavin Jacob Krieg

D.O.B.: Dec. 2, 2005

About: Gavin is a smart, headstrong young man who loves history, model trains and solving puzzles. He’s a bright student who performs well with the right encouragement, but he does have problems in a classroom setting and will need a family who can help him find healthy ways of channeling all his excess energy.

Max ran his hand over the words on the page, feeling the outline of a small square on the other side. He flipped the page over and his breath caught in his throat as he sat the picture of a young boy with dark hair and his own blue eyes attached to the other side of the paper.

“It’s him,” he breathed once he was able to remember how to speak. “That’s my son, it’s Gavin.”

“I know he has the same name, and there is a strong resemblance, but the birth date —“

“I don’t care what the paper says, the birthdate is wrong,” Max insisted. “That’s him. That’s my son.”

The look on John’s face told Max he wasn’t as convinced, but he nodded patiently. “Maybe it is. I put in a request with the state to get his birth certificate, so by Monday, I should be able to give you some more information.”

“Can I see him?” Max asked, straining to keep his voice level. “They put his picture up online, that means he’s not been adopted yet, right?”

“It could mean that. These websites aren’t always up to date. There’s a lot of gray we still have to figure out, but it’s a good sign,” he said in the most reassuring tone a man who spent his days sitting in cars outside people’s homes seemed capable of.

“But he’s in foster care,” Max said shakily. “That means he’s alone. Who knows who has him?”

John reached across the table and covered Max’s trembling hand in his. Coming from anyone else, it might have seemed like a move, but the compassion in the beta’s eyes prevented Max from making that assumption. “I’m going to do whatever I can to help you find your son. I just want you to be prepared for the fact that this may not be as straightforward as we both would hope. And before you think of just going down there yourself, remember that there are laws about these things.”

“I know there are laws,” Max seethed. “No one seemed to care when they were being broken by the Alpha who took my baby from me.”

“I know,” John said calmly. “And I’m not saying that what happened to you was right, or that whoever has him now has any right to call him theirs. I just don’t want you to let the emotion you’re feeling now push you to do something that will hurt your case later. We need facts first. Then we can act.”

Max nodded reluctantly. It went against his instinct to find his son at any cost, but he knew John was right. He was just trying to help. “How much do I owe you?” he asked, reaching for his wallet.

“Nothing. Like I said, I don’t want the rest of the money until you find him, one way or another.”

“Thank you,” Max said stiffly, looking up as he saw one of the other omegas enter the Cabin across the street. “I should get back to work. Please, let me know if you find out anything else.”

“I will. And Max?”

“Yes?” the omega asked, turning to face him.

“Happy Thanksgiving.”

The omega cracked a smile, but he murmured a meek return of the greeting and got out of the diner before the tears in his eyes could fall. No matter how many years had passed, November would always be the darkest shadow on the calendar until he was reunited with his son. Twelve years and a few weeks earlier marked the day his entire world had been taken from him at the hands of an Alpha who could only see his own interests, and only when that wrong was righted would Max have anything to be thankful for.