My hand trembled as I held the phone against my ear. “Cole, I’m sorry,” the voice said. “But you need to come home. Your father is dead.”

I fell against the kitchen counter. Something fierce in me snapped as I heard those words echo in my ears. Your father is dead. I ran my arm across the table, swiping everything onto the marble floor. The glasses shattered, the milk spilled, and my heart sank.

I wanted to scream. Instead, I stayed silent. I punished myself for my father’s death because I left ten years ago. He had no one but me, and I couldn’t even be a good son for him on his last days.

“Why didn’t you tell me? No one told me he was sick,” I said.

“You selfishly left. Can you blame us?” the voice asked. “You aren’t a part of our community anymore. Do not make me regret calling you, Cole.”

Zealots. The harsh voice belonged to a man named Jacob. He was my dad’s right-hand man, and head of their tight-knit, bullshit community of bigoted assholes. As painful as his words were, this was Jacob at his nicest. He actually said sorry…

“I’m not a fucking beta. And I’m not whatever you want me to be. I’m an alpha,” I said.

“You have you made your decision, Cole. I don’t agree with you, but family must come first. I bought your ticket. You’ll fly out tomorrow,” Jacob said.

I threw the phone onto the floor, and the screen instantly shattered into a thousand pieces. Then, I walked outside and fell across the unkempt grass. Why did life have to be so hard? I used to love all of those people so much. I used to love so many things…

I sighed and tried to calm down, but the tears still hit the soil. “Dad. I’m sorry,” I whispered to the sky. The wind rustled against the leaves around me. Then, silence.

The silence was deafening. It seemed to reverberate all around me in short, yet elongated waves. I closed my eyes and felt it. I let it run through me until I couldn’t take it anymore. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath.

When I finally was able to concentrate, I packed my bags. This was going to be the hardest journey of my life, but I needed to do it. I should have come back years ago, but if I had, I would have had to endure punishment after punishment.

The worst punishment of all was having to see Piper again. Rumor had it he had a new, long-term boyfriend. People told me he was as happy as could be, that they were trying to have a baby… the beta way.

The beta way of having children was confusing, to say the least. It meant no touching, no kissing, no anything. It was all methodical and scientific. They had officially found a way to take out all of the love and passion that was needed in any relationship, in exchange for a society that didn’t have to deal with the implications of sex.

The whole thing was fucking absurd. The entire community had convinced themselves that they were betas, but of course, most weren’t. To them, love was a sin. Closeness was even worse. The community decided who you married, and that was supposed to be a joyous experience.

Fuck that. Fuck them all. And Piper? Well, I knew he was better than those jerks. He just never knew how to leave. Once we fell in love, our whole world changed. It became too dangerous.

I didn’t know how I would react when I saw him. In truth, I was terrified to revisit my hometown. But everything that happens happens for a reason. Right?

I lifted my head and looked into the bright, blue sky. “I’m coming home, dad,” I whispered. “I’m finally coming home.”