“Piper hasn’t called or texted me in two days,” I said to Dylan and Kinnat, the only friends I had in this city. I clung to the banister above my window, glancing down at the packed street. “I’m getting anxious.”

Dylan sighed, glancing at the scattered pages of my father’s notebook on my bedside table. He was a young man who had gone through the same drama. He understood the risks my omega was facing. Kinnat did too. We all did.

“The lawyers are ready if any action needs to be taken,” Kinnat said.

I paced around my room. Everything was ready, except the go-ahead from Piper. I thought we were safe, but something was apparently wrong. Did Jacob know about our plan? If he did know, what did that mean for our future?

“I’m driving there. I don’t care how far it is. I can take an advance out for the gas money,” I said.

Dylan stood up, running his hands through his jet-black hair. The chipped, black nail polish could be seen as his hands fell to his chest. “If you think you need to go there now, I’m ready for a drive,” Dylan said. “He’s three months pregnant. This is turning into a dire situation.”

Kinnat nodded his head in unity. “I’ll go too. I can take off a week of work,” he said.

It was up to me to make a decision, but the choice was obvious. We had to go. It was a twenty-four-hour drive, but that distance didn’t seem so far when I thought of what Jacob was capable of.

“Let’s go,” I said.

We ran to the ATM machine, took a cash advance out with far too much interest, and rented a car. The whole process took hours, and I couldn’t stop my heart from racing against my sternum.

That night, we took turns driving through the country. We left the city lights and entered into smaller territory. We were tired and hungry, but that didn’t stop us.

As I held the steering wheel in my hand, I grabbed the gas station coffee with my other. I took a big gulp and relished in the energy that it gave me. The endless cars passed us on the highway. I wondered if they also had people they were fighting for.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Piper. We were going through what was supposed to be the best time of our lives together. Piper was creating life at every second, but I was absent for so much of it. I would do anything to make him feel better at this moment.

The night turned to day, but the roads stretched on. By the time we arrived in the town I had grown up in, I felt dizzy from how long we had been driving. None of that mattered. I was where I needed to be, and that meant I was one step closer to getting my man back.

“Have the lawyers responded?” I asked Dylan and Kinnat.

“They’re waiting on us,” Kinnat said.

“Good. We won’t know until we find out how dire the situation is,” I said, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

When we pulled into Jacob’s driveway, we stepped out of the car. The streets looked deserted, but they always looked like that to me. Still and motionless, the lack of human presence gave me an eerie feeling.

I reached out my knuckles to knock against Jacob’s wood door. Finally, I felt the courage to do it. I hit three times, waiting for a response. However, after waiting a good five seconds, I realized nobody would be coming to the door.

“I don’t understand,” I said, turning to my companions. “They should be here. I don’t know where else they could have gone.”

Dylan and Kinnat stood silent, waiting for me to act. Think, Cole! I felt hard-pressed for time as I glanced at the closed windows. I reached into my pocket, feeling the jagged edge of the photo of my fathers.

That’s when it hit me. “Come on. I think I know where to look,” I said.

Dylan and Kinnat both look confused, but they followed me as I ran as fast as I could to my father’s old house. Suddenly, everything started to fall into place. Deep memories flooded my mind. They were moments in time I forgot even existed.

I ran so fast that I tripped against the cobblestone driveway. I scraped my arm, but I couldn’t be bothered to recognize the pain. I opened the door and called out, “Piper!” There was no sound, but I still kept my hopes high.

In the hallway, the three of us saw my blue door, but only I felt the hesitance to step inside. Kinnat grabbed my shoulder and said, “Come on. Don’t get nostalgic on us now. Follow your intuition.”

I knew that he was right, but as my palm gripped around the doorknob, I started to shake. I twisted the knob open and closed my eyes. First, I could smell my old room. More memories came back to me. I opened my eyes and sighed.

“Piper. You’re in here, aren’t you?” I asked aloud.

I walked to my closet door and slid it open slowly. Years ago, I built a small door. It took me months, but Piper and I always needed a safe place to hide in case my father woke up in the middle of the night. The door was closed, but it was unlocked.

I looked back at Dylan and Kinnat with worry. They urged me to move forward. There was no stopping us now. If Piper were safe, he’d be inside.

I opened the trap door. I collapsed, kneecaps hitting against the wooden floorboards. “Piper!” I screamed.

There he was, my beautiful omega. He was glistening with sweat, chest pumping with anxiety, but he was there, completely safe from harm! I couldn’t begin to describe the emotions I felt at that moment, but it was a mixture between going to heaven and kissing your first crush.

I threw my arms around him and covered him with my kisses. “You came,” he whispered. “I didn’t know if you would.”

My chest flooded with passion. I kept Piper close to me. I wanted him to know that I could protect him. I felt horrible that I left him here for so long.

“I’m such a fool,” I said. “How could I have left you here?”

Piper smiled for the first time. He kissed my lips, tenderly running his hands down my biceps. He moved his fingers toward my chest, feeling my heartbeat. Together, we closed our eyes.

“You are not a fool. You are an angel,” Piper said. “You knew I was in trouble, didn’t you?”

I nodded, pursing my lips together tightly. “When you didn’t answer, I knew something had to be terribly wrong. What happened, my love? What did Jacob do to you?”

“He found me in here. I was just thinking about our past, and what the future might hold for our child. If anything, I’m the idiot. I told him everything. I don’t know why. I just felt… free. At that moment, I didn’t care what he thought or did,” Piper said frantically.

“Did he hurt you again? I’ll kill him, I swear. How could he hit a pregnant omega?” I was shaking with rage. I wanted to destroy Jacob, but Piper calmed me down.

“No. This time, Jacob didn’t resort to that type of violence. Instead, he was emotionless. He was like a robot,” Piper explained. “He took us home. He got into bed. I must have fallen asleep. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by the neighborhood. They took me out of bed. They threw me into a car. It was the most terrifying experience I have ever felt.”

“How did you escape?” I asked him, glancing back at the empathetic team I brought with me.

Piper shook his head, staring into my eyes. “It was a miracle,” he said. “I was alone in the car. The driver was silent and ominous. I nearly gave up hope, but I looked down at my baby bump. I thought about all that could be. I remembered what you told me, about all of the families in other cities. It revived me, Cole. I begged the driver to take me here. At first, he didn’t respond. But when I showed him my stomach and told him I was bearing a child, he stopped the car.”

Piper took a second to breathe. This experience was so traumatic for him. I didn’t want our baby to be affected by the stress, so I told him, “It’s okay. We don’t need to talk about this now.”

Piper insisted on telling his story to me. He licked his dry lips and took another deep breath. He exhaled the next sentences. “The driver didn’t know what to say. He knew he had a job to do, but how can a human deny a pregnant man common decency? He took me where I needed to go and made me promise that, if I got caught, I would tell them I held a blade to the back of his neck. I agreed.”

The whole story was incredible. Piper was my one and only, and I knew that when we found our place in the world, he would make a fantastic omega father. “Piper, you’re a freakin’ warrior,” I whispered. “You’re so much stronger than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Piper laughed bashfully and blushed. “I couldn’t have done it without your love. You taught me that there is another way of living. I never knew that before you came back,” he said. Then, glancing at Dylan and Kinnat, he added, “And both of you… I don’t know you yet, but I can tell you are good people. Thank you for helping us.”

They both hugged Piper and comforted him. Both of us stood up and carefully left the room. We were safe for now, but I couldn’t be sure for how long.

“Come,” I said. “We need to leave. We’ll be safer in the city.”

We left my room, but this time, I looked back and sighed. Goodbye, old house. May you rot in hell.