I looked at my phone again. Only two minutes had passed since the last time I looked. It wasn't as if I could expect a call or text from Levi yet—they'd only been gone a few hours—and I'd probably hear from Ray whether their mission was a success or not before I heard from Levi.

The twins were lying happily on Ray and Papa's living room floor under their play gyms, mostly just staring up at the toys. They were too little to reach them yet, but they loved watching the pretty colors. I'd already tried reading a book, and after reading the same page for the seventh time, I'd just given up.

"Don't worry too much, son," Ray said. He sat on the couch with his tablet, reading and flipping through something. "These boys know what they're doing. Especially Levi. He's been at this game for over a decade. He'll come home to you."

"They always do," Papa P said, coming behind his husband, wrapping his arms around his shoulder and kissing his cheek, but giving me a sympathetic look.

"You don't know these people like I do," I said quietly. I didn't want the twins to pick up on my agitation. "They fight dirty. They don't care about fair play."

Ray's face darkened, and he set his tablet aside. "Trust me, I know more than you think." He stood up and left the room abruptly.

I looked at Papa P, whose eyes followed his husband sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend him."

"Oh, sweet boy. You didn't." Papa P circled the couch and came to sit next to me on the loveseat, taking my hand. "Cases like this... they just bring up dark memories. It's harder for Ray than it is for me, surprisingly."

Now I was completely confused. "What do you mean?"

Papa P's eyes fell. "I probably should have told you my story before, but... well. You see what Ray got like at the barest mention of it."

He fell silent, and I held back my curiosity. If he wanted to tell me, he would tell me.

"Ray and I met when we were just barely on the cusp of adulthood. It should have been your typical alpha meets omega tale: heat, rut, and live happily ever after. But it wasn't." Papa P paused to check my reaction, then continued. "I was in a similar situation as you, Cody. Except I was sold to the men who kept me. My stepfather did it to me. Ray and I met only briefly, at a state fair. A few of us had been 'working,' and were being escorted back to the parking lot. I couldn't say anything, but we caught each other's scents and locked eyes. He tried to speak to me, but my guards pushed him away. He started to shift, to defend me, even though we hadn't exchanged anything more than a scent and a look, and they beat him until he couldn't move."

"That's terrible," I gasped.

Papa P nodded. "It all seems like it happened to someone else now. That's why I made sure you got into therapy right away—it does wonders for the soul."

"What happened then? Did Ray have friends who got you away from your captors?"

Papa P shook his head. "I was crying, people were standing around in shock, or pretending they didn't see what was going on. They started dragging me away. I realized if I disappeared now, I'd probably never see him again. All I could think of was he had to know who I was, even if this was all we had. I screamed my name at him until they knocked me out."

"Holy sh—cow." I glanced at the twins. They were still too young to understand or repeat bad language, but I suspected it was going to be a while before I taught myself to keep it clean around them. "So how did he find you?"

Papa P shook his head. "I don't really know. Meeting him sent me into heat, and there is little more painful than enduring your heat without bonding with your alpha. It left me feeling like half a person for the three years it took him to track me down and free me. But when he finally did... Well. I suspect you understand that relief. He won't talk about what he did to find me. I just know that everyone involved in my captivity, even my stepfather, were dead by the time he took me home. Our alphas are ruthless when it comes to protecting their loved ones. And I don't regret it one single bit. The world is better without them in it."

I nodded. That was exactly the frame of mind Levi was in. Anyone who might have hurt me or might have helped others hurt me would answer to him.

I felt a little guilty at the relief I had at the idea of those men being dead. But Papa P was right. The world would be better with them gone. But something else in Papa P's story caught my attention. I opened my mouth, then closed it, blushing.

"Oh, come on, Cody. I've just shared my deepest, darkest story. If you've got a question, ask away."

"I just... you said you went into heat after meeting Ray. That didn't happen for me and Levi. Is it because I'm... broken?"

Papa P laughed and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, Cody, of course not! You didn't go into heat because you were pregnant. But you will at some point, once your body's hormones have regulated. And when that happens, you just leave those sweet babies with Grandpa P and Grandpa Ray. Because trust me, you're not going to want any interruptions."

I blushed but had one more question. "So... is that why you help omegas like me? Because you were one of us?"

Papa P leaned back and bopped my nose. "That was the beginning of Team A.L.P.H.A." The doorbell chimed, and Papa P jumped up. "Enough serious talk now—that's Cindy and Preston. Let's let them watch the babies and I'll teach you how to make a proper pumpkin pie."

Cindy came in just in time to hear the end of his sentence. "Justin! I have been after your secret recipe for months, and you're just giving it away to Cody?"

Papa P scoffed. "If I let you in on my secrets, you'll use them to win all the boys over to your side."

Cindy smiled and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "What do you mean win them over? They already know I'm the best."

Papa P dragged me out of the room and into the kitchen, shouting over his shoulder, "In your dreams, Cindy!"