Corey knew even before they told him that he had been “found.” There were only so many possible reasons why Dell would drag him along to the police station one day a few months after the events of the panther battle. There was no real reason for him to be there, and Dell gave him none. That was how he knew.

He looked out the window during the short drive, not thinking of what was to come. He just focused on the idyllic little town, the human inhabitants none the wiser as to how close they’d come to being tossed in the middle of a war. Perhaps they noticed a few more random visitors than before, ambassadors of the panthers meeting with the wolves to discuss the future, but they took it in stride. Eureka was one of the larger cities in the area, situated right next to a large natural park and the Canadian border. Tourists were infrequent but present, and the humans simply assumed that was what the panthers were. No one corrected their assumptions. It was just easier this way.

There was the problem of his pregnancy, of course. While the pack was over the moon with joy, and he and Dell couldn’t be happier, the humans of Eureka were no fools. They knew that men weren’t normally the ones who had the babies and if they ever saw Corey with a large, bulging stomach, they would get suspicious. The solution to that problem was simply for him to never leave the house during his last month or so, when loose shirts and baggy jeans just wouldn’t work as an illusion anymore.

For now, it only looked like he’d been eating a little better than normal. When he saw himself in the mirror, he even thought he might like this look better than his normal appearance. His tiredness had faded away, and the bout of nausea had been brief. His skin glowed. His hair was thicker and, most important of all, he smiled a lot more.

That smile was nowhere to be found today, however. He was nervous and rightfully so. Why had it taken so long for this to happen? He would have been glad toward the beginning of all this, but he had a life here now. He was about to start a family and now this was going to happen to disturb his future. After all, he might not be the same person that he was before disappearing.

“Hey, baby? You okay?”

Corey looked up and tried to smile for Dell, although it felt false on his face and he couldn’t maintain it. “Sure, I’m fine. I’d be even better if you told me why we’re here.”

“Just come inside, okay?”

They exited the truck together and headed inside. Though they normally held hands everywhere they went, Corey kept his hands to himself today. They kept straying to his stomach, stroking the firm roundness beneath.

The station was exactly as he remembered it, occupied by only a few people. Chief Michael was one of those people, his hands clasped before him. “Hello, Corey,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

Corey looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, but he couldn’t shake a distinct feeling of unease. He realized the sensation came from inside himself and looked back toward the Chief. “You found me.”

Michael’s lips quirked, though not in a smile. “Yes. We did. Why don’t you come on into my office and we’ll talk. Dell, you come too.”

“You couldn’t have kept me from coming inside no matter what,” Dell growled.

All three of them walked toward Michael’s office. With every step, the sensation of unease continued to grow inside Corey. This time, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to hold tightly onto his mate’s hand.

Once they were in the office, Michael turned and locked the door behind them. Corey thought that might not exactly be the best sign in the world, but maybe he just didn’t want to chance anyone coming in to interrupt. Whatever the reason, his legs were shaking and all he wanted to do was get this over with.

“Please, take a seat.”

Corey sat, distantly aware that his swollen ankles—the only truly uncomfortable part of this pregnancy so far—thanked him for relieving them of pressure. Dell sat beside him and placed a hand on his thigh, keeping contact to comfort them both.

Michael worked his way around behind the desk and grabbed a file, from which protruded a number of papers. He sat, but rolled his chair out from behind the desk so that he directly faced Corey. “I’m not sure there’s an easy way to begin this for you, so I’m just going to jump right into it. Your name is Corey Valentine. You are 18 years old and your birthday is August 17th.”

Imagine that. I’m almost 19.

“You attended a high school in South Dakota, in the same town where you have lived your entire life. Is any of this ringing a bell?”

Corey just shook his head. None of it was familiar. It was as if he was watching a movie. That information felt as if it belonged to a different person, as if he was suddenly privy to information on someone else’s life. “No. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Michael said, gently. “Your first shift was traumatic for you. It’s very few people who would even survive the shock of that.”

For such a large and imposing man to be acting so kind was almost funny, except Corey knew enough by now to realize that such kindness came to him because he was an omega. Alphas were putty in an omega’s hands.

“How did you find me?” Corey asked, looking pointedly at the file Michael held. “I’ve been watching online and no one ever put out a report on my disappearance.”

“Right,” Michael said. “At this point in time, I’m going to believe that it was a hitch in the system. Many places have a policy that if you’re over 18, you have to wait three days before you’re able to officially file a Missing Person report.”

“What?” Corey exclaimed. “That’s stupid! What if I was murdered?”

“There is that. Mostly, it was a policy put into place to stop parents from clogging police logs with reports that their kids have gone missing, only for them to show up again the next day because they got drunk at a party somewhere. Other times, people up and leave of their own accord. It’s stupid, but necessary.”

Just as with Jefferson’s convoluted plan, Corey thought he might be able to see some sense in it. A right idea but carried out in the wrong way. “But, I’ve been gone for a lot longer than three days.”

“Which is where the hitch in the system comes in. Either the police believed they had evidence that suggested you’d left of your own accord, or else your case just… fell by the wayside. It happens, especially in larger cities. More important things come up.”

And people like me are forgotten.

“Apparently, your family finally saw that we had put out a bulletin for a found person, and recognized you. They contacted us early this morning. They’ll be here in an hour.”

Dell spoke up for the first time, his handsome face creased with displeasure. “Now, wait a minute. That isn’t a lot of time to prepare. I wasn’t informed of this.”

Corey slumped against Dell a little, grateful for the support. His heart was pounding, shaking his entire body with the force of its beat. Not even his mate’s strong arm wrapped around his shoulders could serve to calm him.

“Neither was I,” Michael replied, gruffly. “Until a little bit ago. They decided to hop on a flight.”

“Well, who is it?” The omega tried to breathe deeper, to no avail. “Do I have siblings?”

“You can look at this file here. It’s got everything I know inside. You can double-check me, Dell, because I know you will.” Michael folded his hands once more after handing over the file. “You are an only child. Adopted. I wasn’t able to establish if you knew prior to these events that you were adopted. Your mother is Heather Valentine-Briggs, and your father is Austin Briggs. Apparently, you were adopted as an infant.”

Something clicked for Corey. “I was an orphaned baby shifter. Do we know what happened to my real parents?”

“No. But I think we’re along the same line here, aren’t we? Something happened to your biological parents. It might have scarred you and made you incapable of shifting. Or, you just didn’t know what you were and so you never discovered the ability.”

My parents don’t even know I’m a shifter and they’re going to be here in an hour.

Michael stood up. He looked uncomfortable and sympathetic, a blend typically not found on a police officer’s face. “I bet you two would like some time to discuss this alone, so I’ll be out at the front desk if you need me. Otherwise, you’re welcome to stay here until your parents arrive.”

Neither Dell nor Corey said anything else, so Michael just shrugged to himself and continued on out the door. He shut it behind himself to give the two of them some privacy. His footsteps receded down the hall and, when they were gone entirely, Corey burst out, “What are we going to do?”

Dell slid forward in his chair and reached out to pull Corey against his chest. Corey closed his eyes and tried to relax, to let the feel of the other’s fingers in his hair soothe his shattered nerves. It didn’t work nearly as well as he would have liked. “There’s nothing we can do but look in that file and see what we can find out. They’ll be here soon enough.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Dell murmured, kissing the top of Corey’s head. “It’s a lot to take in all at once but you have to remember that you’re an adult. You’ve probably been through way more than they have by now, in fact. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.

And that was right, wasn’t it? He had survived a dangerous trek through the wilderness when he was barely aware of who he was. He had gone through lies and betrayal and even a battle. He could do anything. What were some parents going to say to him that could surmount all that?

As it turned out, there was something they could say that would sweep all his accomplishments under the rug as though he’d never had one in the first place. Corey didn’t discover that for a long while, not while he was simply waiting in Michael’s office with Dell. They read the file together, discussing each little scrap of information. Some of it rang truer than others, as if he could almost remember but not quite.

And then the hour was up.

Michael knocked on the door a few minutes later and then stuck his head in. “They’re here,” he murmured, voice hushed. “Come on out here, Corey.”

Corey stood and followed the Chief out down the hall. His nervousness was gone now that the moment was upon him. He stepped out into the lobby of the station and saw them.

They were the epitome of parents, almost exactly as he remembered them. His mother had pale green eyes and brown hair done up in a loose bun. Her makeup was a bit too thick to be truly flattering, obviously to cover wrinkles. She wore a paisley dress and sensible shoes that showed off an unflattering glimpse of her veiny ankles. Corey could relate to that.

His father had a bit of a beer belly, which was also something he could relate to. His blond hair was wispy and thinning, though he sported a full moustache and beard. His t-shirt was stained, and his glasses perched crookedly on his nose.

And he did remember them. It all came back in a flash. Memories flew by him like startled butterflies, offering a glimpse of wings before joining the flock that composed the entirety of his memory.

He remembered being shoved into a closet, howling and screaming in turn as he shapeshifted uncontrollably between wolf and boy. His mother’s face, glaring down at him before the door slammed shut.

He remembered being hit and shoved and pushed each time he dared show a semblance of wolfishness, until he stopped transforming at all… and then he had forgotten. By the time he was a teenager, he’d convinced himself that he had made it all up and that he was punished for playing such a stupid game.

But no. It had simply been… beaten out of him.

His nightmares were a child’s dreams, warped and fearful caricatures of memories.

The last butterfly flickered past him and then he was left standing in the station once more. Chaos swirled around him, but it was a small sort of chaos and easily manageable once he found his footing once more. Michael was speaking to his parents, explaining something. Dell’s presence at his back was near and warm, reminding him that he was an adult and could do anything he wished.

“Corey?” His mother said, turning away from Michael in the middle of whatever the alpha was saying to her. “Oh, Corey, is it really you? My baby!”

She dashed toward him with her arms outstretched and he flashed back to seven years old, when she ran to him when he was playing in the backyard as a wolf, pushing around a soccer ball with his paws and snout. He had looked up at her and barked, thinking perhaps she wanted to play. Rearing back from him, she had shouted, “Get away from me, you monster! Stop it!”

Corey reared backward, stumbling into Dell. Dell caught him and pulled him tight against his chest, murmuring in his ear. “Easy now. Easy. You’re okay.”

“Corey?” Heather held her arms out, eyes brimming with hurt. “You don’t remember your mother?”

He bared his teeth at her and deliberately turned them into fangs while she watched. “I remember you. I remember both of you. What you would do to me.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sputtered, but he saw in her eyes that she did.

“I remember. Seeing you made me remember.” He kept his fangs bared, feeling his wolf self just beneath the surface. However, he was completely in control. In fact, he didn’t think he would ever lose control of himself ever again. “You adopted me but you adopted a monster. That’s what you used to tell me. Isn’t it?”

Michael reached down to the gun at his belt, moving a few steps back from the scene to keep an eye on things.

Heather glanced over her shoulder at her husband, who simply looked around blankly. He had been beaten down by years with her and had no fight left in him. “Corey, honey, you weren’t normal. We helped you be normal. Didn’t we, Austin?”

Austin gave a sigh that smelled distinctly of alcohol. “We certainly did, Heather.”

“You abused me.”

“We did it because we loved you. These people…” Heather looked pointedly at Dell and then Michael. “They’re monsters just like you were, aren’t they? They smell like dogs. I’m sure you’re very grateful but it’s time to come home with us. Won’t you?”

“No,” Corey said, flatly. “I don’t think I will.”

“But you have to! We’re your parents!”

“No. I don’t have to do anything that I don’t want to, and I think you should leave me alone now. I’m happy here.”

“But…”

Michael stepped in front of her, hand blatantly on his gun. He said gruffly, “It’s time that you went home. I’m sorry for the inconvenience but I think you’ll understand me when I say that you need to go.”

Heather ground her teeth together, looking much like an angry wolf herself. “I’m not going anywhere without my son.”

“Then I’m afraid that I’m going to have to arrest you for harassment and disturbing the peace.”

“I’m… but… you can’t…” Her hands fluttered down at her sides as she didn’t know what to do with them. She was out of her element, so used to being obeyed.

“I can and I will. Corey has said that he doesn’t want to go with you and he doesn’t have to. You will be the ones that go.”

She didn’t move.

Michael sighed and drew his gun. That got her moving. She fled from the station, sputtering and spitting swears. Her husband followed along passively, clearly not looking forward to the tirade that would follow on the ride back to the airport. “Well,” the Chief said, “I have to admit that that went about as well as I thought it would.”

Corey laughed, but there was no real amusement in it. “Me too, honestly. I really did get my memory back though. I guess seeing them was the trigger.”

The Chief flashed a tired grin. “Well, it’s nice to have the real you. Welcome to the pack. I hope you’ll be staying with us monsters?”

Corey turned his head to look at Dell, the man he loved. “I’m staying. And I think I should talk to your husband pretty soon, Chief. There are some things I’m going to need to know.”

Michael looked confused for all of three seconds before realization flashed in his eyes. “I suppose some congratulations are in order then?”

“Thank you, Chief,” Dell said, graciously. “I have no idea how this happened.”

“You wouldn’t, would you?” Michael laughed. “Always the last one to know.”

And I wouldn’t have him any other way.