Gunfire dropped around us like rain, shattering the car window and littering hot bullet shells onto the floor. “Floor it!” Charlie screamed.

With tears in his eyes, I leaned out of the window and aimed. Liam followed my lead and fired his clip. “Got one!” Liam cried out when he saw one of the soldiers fall to the floor. I reloaded and took aim, but lowered my weapon when the house disappeared from our vision.

I had no one now. I could barely trust my own father, let alone my newly found omega mate. The words I heard come from Sandoval’s mouth hit me like a gunshot to the chest. Every time I thought about it, I collapsed against the leather interior.

The car was quiet. Eventually, I looked over at Liam. I didn’t want to be angry with him anymore. I could see the confusion in his eyes and the more we moved along with the pregnancy, the more confused he would be.

Liam was the first to communicate to me. “I don’t want to leave, okay? I’m just freaking out.” His hand rolled onto my thigh. I glanced down, feeling unsure. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.”

I turned back to Liam and rested my forehead against his. “I just want to know that I’m yours,” I said. “I can’t do that if you’re threatening to leave me.”

Liam sniffed and buried his lips into my temple. His soft, hurried breathing made me emotional. I never wanted him to feel any pain. The past few days had been hard on the whole pack. We needed a change.

“I’m such an idiot. Why would I ever want to lose this? I have no one else. Our love is perfect, Carter. Please, let me be your omega forever,” he said.

His scent reminded me of our history together. It was full of bumps, but I felt like we were right for each other still. He understood me better than anyone in my life. I didn’t even have to think about it. “You already are mine,” I whispered, kissing him.

He held my arm and rested his head against me. For a second, I felt whole. Charlie muttered, “We’re not far from the grids, but Sandoval will be looking for us there. I’m sure of that.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “But we don’t have anywhere safe to go now.” Nobody had any answers, not even the elders.

My father was staring at me through the rearview mirror. The hopeless feeling crept back into my psyche. I let myself sink into cold bewilderment and anger. I felt the pit in my stomach grow. I broke the silence.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“Did you even want to know?” My father asked me. His eyes were earnest and held a deep sadness I was only now beginning to understand. Still, I couldn’t let go of the fact that I wasn’t from my real parents. I felt like I was living the lie of the century.

“I want to know why everyone tells me that I’m special if my own father wouldn’t even fight to get me back. I was put in this situation thinking I was Carter Thompson. It turns out that it was all bullshit. I’m just some orphan,” I said.

“You are Carter Thompson,” he said.

I chipped away at the broken window next to me. “No, I’m some doctor’s son. I didn’t even get any time with my real father,” I muttered.

“Do you really want to know the truth?” he asked me.

I nodded confidently. “For once, yes,” I said. Liam squeezed my hand.

My father wiped his eyes against his dirt stained shirt. “Your father was the love of my life. It didn’t take much for me to fall in love with him. He was an incredible chef, a strong believer in justice, and just an all-around wonderful man. The only problem was that he couldn’t have children. We tried, and we tried, son. Every fucking day, we tried,” he said.

“Gross,” I whispered.

My father shook his head. “Eventually, we knew that it just wasn’t part of our story. We were going to be childless. I came to terms with it, but your father… Well, shit. He couldn’t live a life without a child to love,” Daren said.

“So you stole me away from Jared? That was your great plan?” I asked, feeling the heavy emotions begin to creep back in my chest. Liam tried his best to soothe me, but it wasn’t working. He ran his hands down my shoulders, tickling my back. It just made me more annoyed.

He continued his story without getting angry or overreacting. It was like he had been planning this talk for some time now. “Son, you have to trust me!” He cried and it was alarming to see my father this hurt. I started to feel really bad about giving him any crap, especially since he had gone through so much already during his life.

“I never stole you, okay? We went through an agency. This was before the gray wolf ban. It was back when we still had our designated packs. We chose you, but I never knew Jared. I never met the guy or heard his name. The news hit me hard too,” my father said.

“I don’t want to blame you,” I whispered, lowering my head. “I just wish you told me I was adopted. I don’t even know how to feel about myself right now. I feel like an alien.”

He reached his hand back. I took hold of his calloused palm and squeezed. No matter what, he would always be my real father. I knew that.

“I fucked up. So bad, I fucked it all up,” he cried. “I tried to teach you as best I could. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better life.” I felt my heart break in two.

Again, I started to tear up. I had no idea that this would become the most emotional trip of my life. “Dad, please don’t cry. I know you didn’t do anything wrong. The news just hurt me,” I said.

“We have to stick together. We can’t keep doing this to each other,” Liam said, taking hold of both our hands. “We’re family now, right?”

“Forever,” I said, suddenly remembering Liam’s commitment to me the other night. We had to remain strong together. We couldn’t let the world get to us. Even if we failed at this, we tried, and that was something to be proud of.

Miles later, we entered into an old city. Some of the buildings loomed high in the sky, but most were torn down. In the center was a rusty statue of a wolf shifter, holding a rifle proudly. Graffiti covered the foot of the figure.

I envisioned a whole city of people, reading books on the steps, and connecting with one another. Those days were long gone it seemed. The town looked empty and omnious.

“What was this place?” I asked.

Daren squinted his eyes and put the car in park. There were old shops, restaurants, and hotels. Hansel then opened his eyes. “We’re in Chicago,” he said.

“Chicago,” I whispered.

I glanced at Liam who couldn’t hold back his enthusiasm. “No way. We made it to Chicago?” he asked.

“I didn’t anticipate it looking like this. It looks like the soldiers bombed the hell out of it,” Daren whispered. “Come on. We should see if there are supplies in some of the stores before driving through.”

“I’m staying in the car,” Hansel muttered. “You all better come back for me.”

“We will,” I assured him.

We stepped out of the car and carefully walked forward. Liam dropped to his knees, unable to hold back from puking. He held his hand up to stop me from helping him.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I think it’s starting to happen.”

Liam spat down onto the shattered concrete and growled loudly. “Fuck, I hate puking,” he groaned.

I hugged him and smiled. “Whatever you need, I’m your man,” I said.

Liam laughed, a little embarrassed. His grin quickly faded when we realized where we were. We started to walk, carefully holding our weapons against our chests. “This city gives me the creeps,” Liam whispered.

Charlie nodded. “Be on the lookout. I’m feeling worried again,” he said. “I never saw anything on TV about a war zone in Chicago.”

“Is this what we’re fighting for?” I asked. “For nothing?”

Liam looked worried, yet confident. “It’s not for nothing. It’s for our right to survive,” he said.

“Then what happened here? Why aren’t they reporting on it?” I asked.

Liam looked around for clues, but it quickly became apparent there weren’t any to be found. A dark color formed on his face. “What if this city was taken over by another pack of wolves?” he asked.

“Another pack?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, another pack, other than the Alliance,” he said. “There are other factions. We can’t be the only ones fighting for our freedom.”

“Impossible. The other packs never got the resources we did,” Charlie said.

Liam’s worry shook me, and as soon as I glanced at the rooftops, I saw something even more worrisome. “Guys,” I whispered.

“What is it?” Daren asked.

A man on the rooftop became visible. As soon as I pointed, a bullet ricocheted near my foot. “Freeze, trespassers! Put down your weapons!”

Charlie dropped to the ground with his rifle. “What the fuck is going on?” he called out.

Suddenly, a wild pack of shifters appeared at every angle. There were at least twenty of them. They had every advantage on us. I threw my arms up into the air. “Don’t shoot!” I yelled. “We’re with the Northern Alliance!”

The shifters slowly enclosed around us. “Charlie, let go of your gun,” Liam said.

“Like hell!” he shouted back.

The leader of the pack walked forward and put his gun to Charlie’s head. “Your rife,” he said, in a deep voice.

“Tell me who you are first,” Charlie said.

“Project Sanctuary,” he said.

Mine and Liam’s eyes lit up. “The Sanctuary?” I asked.

“The one and only,” he said.

“Charlie, give him your gun,” Daren growled.

Charlie reluctantly handed over his rife. “On your feet,” the pack leader said. “Stand over by that wall. Go on, now. We don’t have all day.”

We quickly walked to the wall and put our hands behind our heads. My heart was beating so fast. “This is it,” Liam said. “We’ve found them.”

“I don’t understand. We were supposed to find them over the border,” I whispered. “What are they doing in Chicago?”

The leader of the wolf pack had feathers attached to his hair. On his arm was his pack’s tattoo, a wolf paw with rifles behind it. He searched us and couldn’t find any more weapons. “Okay. What are you three doing here? This city is off limits now to trespassers,” he said.

“Sir!” One of the guys in the pack found our SUV. “There’s a Cross Militia member here. We gotta take them in,” he said.

The leader pointed his rifle at us again. “I’ll ask you one more time. Who sent you?” he asked.

“We’re with the Northern Pack Alliance,” Charlie muttered.

“Bullshit. They lost their battles a year ago,” the stiff man said.

I felt a surge of energy push me to act. I turned around, facing him. “He’s telling you the truth. We’re some of the last members. My omega here is pregnant,” I said.

Liam dropped his hands to his belly. The man looked at his small bump. “An omega? Pregnant? Is this some kind of cruel joke?” he asked.

“I am pregnant,” Liam said. “I left the militia to find a better life. I found my alpha.”

“You got pregnant during a war?” The soldiers around him started laughing loudly. The man signaled for them to stop. “I’m just trying to add this all up. As far as we know, there haven’t been any registered births in years. You don’t look too pregnant either.”

It was Liam’s turn to be angry. “Well, I am. I’ve been having a hard time coming to terms with it too, so your stupid jokes don’t make me laugh. Because you’re right, the world is a dumpster now, and we are at war. I wanted to bring something good into this earth. I admit, we weren’t thinking about the consequences, but that doesn’t mean we’re not worth a damn,” he said.

I dropped my hands and grabbed my omega. I held Liam close to me, shielding him from the leader. “If you’re going to make us turn back, you can go ahead and shoot us both. We need safe refuge,” I said.

The man nodded to himself and handed his rifle to one of the soldiers. “What do you think, boys? Should we shoot them?” he asked.

One of the soldiers grinned and stepped forward, checking us out. “They look pretty docile and cute. They must have forgot their true nature,” he said.

The leader laughed and cracked his knuckles. “They trained the fight out of you,” he muttered to us. It pissed me off.

I felt something take over my body. The alpha inside of me didn’t take shit from men like him. “Fuck you,” I said, pushing him. I pressed my chest up against him. “I come from a family who knows humility. Like I said, if you want to kill us, go ahead.”

“Settle down, boy. Let me think,” the leader said through his laughter. “You are willing to fight?”

I nodded, glancing at my pistol on the concrete. “We were headed to the central power grid. As far as we know, it’s our last shot,” I said.

“It would be a miracle if you got through there. It’s the most heavily guarded area in the country,” he said. “Without a badge, you won’t be able to get through the wall.”

Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. “We have a way in,” he said.

The man laughed and held his chin. I couldn’t tell if he admired us or thought we were bat-shit-crazy. “By the time you get there, you’ll be too big to be inconspicuous,” he said.

Charlie chuckled. “That’s what I said!”

“Sit down,” he pointed to Charlie. Then, turning back to us he said, “You’re serious about this?”

“We are,” Liam said, glancing back at me. A day ago, he was too apprehensive to continue. Now, he’s back to fighting the good fight.

He held out his dirt-covered hand. Liam grabbed it and shook. I did the same right after. I felt the courage rise up in me again. “The name’s Ori, and if you even try to fuck with us, you’re dead. On the spot, no questions asked. Got it?”

Liam and I both smiled big. We took one look at each other before exclaiming, “Got it!”

Without thinking, I grabbed my omega and kissed him more passionately than I had in days. “I never want to lose you,” I whispered.

“I’m such a fool. How could I tell you that I was going to run away?” he asked.

“It’s all in the past now,” I whispered.

The soldiers were not amused. “You’re going to have to save the sappy crap for another time. We need to take you four to headquarters, where you can then get processed. We’ll go over everything there,” Ori said.

Ori whistled loudly. It wasn’t long before three vehicles came out from a small side street. “Leave your car here. It’s a government vehicle. They have chips in those things,” he said.

I took Liam’s hand and looked down as his fingers knitted with mine. I was never going to let him go. Never.