“Hey, Dean? Can we talk?”

Dean looked up from the stove as Gavin came into the room. He’d swapped shifts with someone at work so he could be there to pick Gavin up from school and help him with his homework, which proved to be unnecessary since most of the stuff the kid brought home went way over his temporary foster father’s head.

Gavin had been silent the entire car ride home, and while Dean knew he wanted to ask the question the Alpha had been trying to delay the answer two, he hadn’t. Now Dean knew better than to think he’d be able to get away with putting it off for another day.

“Sure,” he said, turning off the stove. “Dinner’s ready, anyway.”

Gavin helped set the table without asking, but the sullen look on the boy’s face told Dean he’d been weighing his own words since they’d arrived home. “You found something out about my birth parents, didn’t you? Something bad.”

With a heavy sigh, Dean set a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of Gavin before taking his own seat. Food was the last thing on his mind, even though he’d skipped lunch. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it. I got your adoption papers and took them to a lawyer friend of mine.”

Gavin’s eyes widened. “What did he say?”

“The adoption wasn’t legitimate. The papers were filed incorrectly, and the way Brad tells it, it looks like someone did it on purpose.”

“Why?” Gavin asked, shaking his head. “I don’t understand.”

This was the part Dean was dreading the most. How were you supposed to tell a kid he’d been sold, for all intents and purposes, rather than adopted?

“There are a lot of people out there who want kids and can’t have them, for one reason or another,” he began carefully. “Some of them are good people who just want a family so badly they’ll do bad things to get there, and others…”

“Others are like the Kriegs,” the boy muttered. The look that came into his eyes whenever he spoke of his ex-adoptive parents was the kind of look that might be off-putting to a foster family who’d expected a perfectly behaved kid with no lingering issues from the fallout of his chaotic upbringing. “Are you saying they didn’t really adopt me?”

“Not legally,” said Dean. “Now, there are lawyers out there willing to turn a blind eye and push these things through for the right price. I’m trying to track down the guy who signed your adoption papers, but you need to know, it’s a long shot.”

“But if you do, he’d know who my real parents were, right?” Gavin asked eagerly.

“It’s possible, but it’s not a guarantee. Even if he does, Gavin, you need to consider whether you really want to meet people who —”

“Who what?” the boy challenged. “Who sold me to the first jerks who wanted a kid and were willing to pay a few thousand bucks?”

“I know you’re upset. You have every right to be. I’m just trying to prepare you for the possibility that this isn’t gonna go the way you hope.”

“I know that!” Gavin snapped. The tears in his eyes shone through the anger. “I still want to try. What if my parents didn’t just throw me away? What if the Kriegs stole me? It happens, right?”

Dean hesitated. “It does, but —“

“You’re telling me I should stop caring about who they are because they might not be good people, but what if they are? What if they didn’t want to give me up at all?”

“I’m not saying that, kid. I know you’re always gonna care, and you should.”

“Then help me find them.” Tears welled in the boy’s eyes as he gritted his teeth. “Please.”

Dean’s heart ached at the desperation in his voice. He nodded. “Yeah. Of course I will. I made a promise, and I plan on keeping it. I just need you to be prepared.”

Gavin fell silent as he ate the rest of his food. He reached for his empty plate and Dean took it. “Go on, finish your homework. I’ll take care of these. Try to get some sleep, I’m dropping you off early at my mom’s.”

“Why?” Gavin asked, a look of confusion crossing his features. Every time Dean left him somewhere, whether it was at his mother’s house or at school, he could tell the kid wasn’t expecting him to come back. The surprise on his face every time Dean showed up broke his heart anew.

“I’m going to find this attorney, now that I have a name.” When he saw Gavin about to say something, he added, “You can’t come. Not on this one.”

“But —“

“Listen, I may not be your dad, but right now, I’m responsible for your wellbeing, so I need you just to trust me. Can you do that?”

Gavin frowned and Dean could tell he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. “Fine,” he muttered, turning to leave the room.

The door slammed shut and Dean groaned, leaning back in his chair. He’d always wanted a family and kids of his own, but he’d imagined there would at least be some buffer between new parenthood and raising a preteen. Some part of him already knew that this would be nothing compared to the day he had to give Gavin back.