Sergi and Franklin spent the whole night searching through the videos. I paced the room, despite how tired I was feeling from the pregnancy. I probably should’ve gone to bed hours ago, but I was too invested in this. After about six hours, the guys at the computers looked defeated.

“There’s nothing here,” Sergi said. “We’ve looked through hours of footage.”

“Fuck,” I whispered to myself. “There has to be something.”

Franklin raised a finger in the air. His face was so close to his laptop screens that the light seemed to cover him in a transcendent glow. “Wait a second,” he said. “I might’ve found something.”

Both of us ran to the other side of the desk. We looked at the footage, but it didn’t seem to be anything of consequence. “I don’t get it. What are we looking at here?” I asked.

Franklin smiled deviously and sat back. “Look. That’s you two by the grill, right?” he asked.

“Sure. So what?” I asked.

I remembered that day with great fondness. It was a perfect day by the lake. The whole town came out, and everyone seemed to get along. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary that day, so I was confused.

“Just watch,” Franklin said.

He slowed down the footage and pointed to the corner of the screen. “See? Look, the white truck pulls up over there,” Franklin said.

Sure enough, in the corner of the screen, Sid’s white truck could be seen on the top of the hill. But that wasn’t the only revelation that we found.

First, officer Daniel Thornton wandered away from the group. Looking both directions, he made sure that no one witnessed him leaving. Then, he made his way toward the vehicle.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

I instinctually placed my arm around my baby bump and took a step back. I felt the drive to protect my family take over my instincts. I couldn’t believe that, at one point, I had worked with those men.

“Yep. The footage gets better,” Franklin muttered.

On the tape, Officer Daniel Thornton leaned into Sid’s window. First, they laughed and talked at great length about something we’ll never know. Maybe it was a joke at my expense. Or maybe they were laughing about terrorizing our families.

Daniel reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a white envelope, opened it, and proudly displayed the cash. He counted the bills before putting them back into the envelope. Sid took the money and motioned toward the back of the truck. Inside were the weapons and bullets in question.

My eyes widened as everything started to click inside of my head. “That’s it! The money. The guns,” I said. I ran out of the room and grabbed Tate, dragging him inside. “I’m sorry for stealing you away, but you need to see this,” I said.

Tate patiently watched the video. When it was over, he leaned against the desk, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. “Play it again, Franklin,” Tate said.

Franklin replayed the video as Tate’s body bobbed against the desk. “Fuck me,” Tate said to himself, laughing.

“Um, okay,” I replied. Sergi let out a loud snort.

Tate smirked and stood up, back now against the wall. “I didn’t mean that literally, omega,” I said. “I just mean…”

Rowan stepped into the room. “You found something. Didn’t you?” he asked.

I nodded and waved him closer to us. “Hey, Franklin. Can I get in there for a second?” I asked.

I clicked out of the account and went to the camera feed on my old house. I rewound the footage until I found Sid standing at my doorstep, counting the same envelope of money.

“There it is,” I said, leaning back. The rest of the video showed Sid walking out of my home angrily. Before he stepped back into his truck, he called out to his friend in the front seat, “They wouldn’t take the fucking hush money.”

“We got them, guys. They can’t defend this,” I said with joy.

Tate leaned forward, hands against his kneecaps. He took a deep breath, but as his face turned a dark shade of red, he finally let the tears fall to the floor.

“Dammit, I need to stop doing this,” Tate said with a melancholic, yet joyful sigh. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for almost a decade now. I’ve been yearning for peace, for my family to be able to live again.”

I embraced my omega and never wanted to let go. Rowan clung to both of us, tears in his eyes. “I’m proud of you. Both of you. I’m so happy that you found each other,” Rowan said.

It was all a dream. Life with Tate had been hard. People wanted to destroy our bond, but when love was this real, it couldn’t be taken away. We were outcasts, but our hearts were fuller than ever.

“They can’t take this away. We’re family,” Tate said.

“And family is everything,” Rowan said.