“You’re kidding, right?” I slam the mug down on the dining table with enough force that it should have broken. Damn ceramic must be lined with titanium or some shit. The splashes of dark coffee that stain my mother’s white table cloth don’t offer nearly as much satisfaction as a broken mug would have, but I take what I can get. “What the hell is wrong with you people?”

“Ethan, be reasonable.” My mother’s patronizing voice just pisses me off even more. “He’s eighteen. There was nothing more we could do for him.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. How could they be talking about the sweet kid they seemed to adore just three months ago when I last saw them. “Nothing you could do for him? How about finish fucking raising him? He’s a senior in high school. Why couldn’t you have given him the rest of the school year? I don’t understand.”

“Your father and I have decided…” Mom takes a deep breath before looking at my father. When he nods, she exhales and seems to have the strength to continue. “We’re getting divorced. We’ve already received an offer on the house, and I’m moving to Florida at the end of the month.”

Wow. I did not see that coming. Like, not in a million fucking years. But it still doesn’t answer any of my questions. “What does that have to do with kicking Andy out? He could have just gone with you to Florida.”

Mom shakes her head and almost looks sad. “It’s an over forty community. He can’t stay with me.”

I turn to Dad, wondering what the fuck his excuse is. When his cheeks turn a shade of pink I’ve never seen on him before, I know he’s not going to say anything I want to hear. “I’ve, uh… Well, I’ve met someone, Ethan. And, she has younger kids. There just isn’t room for Andy.”

“So, where the fuck is he?” I stand up and pace the kitchen, wondering where the hell my little brother has been staying. He has a few good friends, but I’m not sure any of their families would have been willing to take in an eighteen-year-old who just tested as an omega and was kicked out of his home.

A tear finally slides down my mom’s face and I wonder if she realizes what she’s done. “He won’t answer our calls.”

“So, he’s with friends?” I sit back down again, already planning to pick him up and take him home with me. My apartment isn’t big, but I’m never there. He can keep an eye on the place when I’m gone, and he can finish off school. “Does he have any money?”

Mom looks at Dad again and I want to flip the damn table over. Just fucking spit it out already.

“We gave him his passport and a check for three hundred dollars when he left. He said he didn’t want to stay where he wasn’t welcome, and he walked out the door with whatever he could fit in his car. I just paid his phone bill, so he can call us when he’s ready.”

“And he’s been going to school?” I look at them expectantly but not at all confident I’m going to like their answer.

“We’ve been getting truancy calls. He hasn’t showed up in about a week. That’s all we know right now.” I stand up again, but Mom reaches for my arm. “Ethan, honey. He’ll come around. He’s just upset right now, but once he realizes we had no other options, he’ll reach out. Hopefully by then he’ll have a decent job and maybe even an alpha to take care of him.”

What the fuck? Who are these people? Seriously, I don’t even know them anymore.

“You’re sick, you know that!” I grab my wallet and keys from the counter and head straight to the front door. “Now I can see why he left. You’re totally delusional, Mom.” I turn to my dad and have to restrain myself from punching him. If he didn’t look so weak and pathetic, I would do it in a heartbeat. “And you. How could you abandon your family for some…new family? Have a nice fucking life.”

I don’t bother waiting for their response as I step outside and slam the door behind me. I’m dialing Andy’s number before I even get to my car. My heart sinks when the call goes straight to voicemail. Why won’t he answer the damn phone. If he’s somewhere safe, I won’t make him leave. I just need to know he’s okay. Just because he’s eighteen, doesn’t mean he’s ready to be on his own. He’s still just a high school kid. Determined to find him tonight, I head to his friend Michael’s house. Hopefully, he’s there. If he’s not, I’ll check every fucking house in the city until I find my brother.

* * *

“I need to cancel the rest of this month.”

Amber, the tour coordinator for the company I work at lets out a deep sigh. “Are you sure, Ethan? This group specifically requested you. They’ll be so disappointed.”

“My brother is still missing. Until I find him, I can’t leave the country.” I’ve never had to cancel a tour in the two years I’ve been working at AdvenTours International, but this is nonnegotiable. “I’m sorry, Amber.”

“I understand,” she says sadly. “But if things change before the fifteenth, please let me know. After that, I’ll have to reassign the Red Hatters.”

I smile at the memory of my tour with these ladies last year. I took them on a ten-day “adventour” through Alaska and these old ladies were hilarious. We had a great time, and I was looking forward to seeing them again in London. But I can’t leave without knowing Andy is okay. “I will, Amber. I promise.”

“Okay, I’ll let you get back to your search.” She giggles just as I’m about to say goodbye. “And if it helps sweeten the pot, Gladys said she’s been training her pelvic floor all year. She wanted you to know she’s got the hoo-hah of a thirty-year-old.”

“Um, it doesn’t.” I cringe at the image of the seventy-year-old woman doing whatever kind of training is necessary for…that. “But thanks for the disturbing visual.”

“Anytime.” She hangs up before I can say anything else.

Before my phone is even out of my hand, I reach for the map of omega shelters in the tristate area. I’ve organized a grid of every location I could think of and am visiting each and every one with Andy’s picture and my contact information. In the next city I plan to hit, there are three shelters, but only one has a good reputation. The first two are known for offering prostitution services as a method for getting homeless omegas “back on their feet” and the third is an Omega House.

I pray Andy ended up someplace safe and clean like Omega House. I’ve been to a few of their facilities this week and each one has given me hope that he’s okay. I haven’t found him yet, but I know I will. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.