Ten years ago, he was standing in front of me like a ghost wearing his face.
Hope hit me first — wild, disbelieving, painful. Then confusion. Then something darker, something that made my hands shake around the camera.
How did he end up here? Why didn’t anyone tell me? Why didn’t he look at me?
I stepped closer before I could stop myself, drawn in like gravity had shifted.
“Kasey,” I said softly, testing the name on my tongue, hoping for even the smallest flicker of recognition.
Nothing.
And that hurt more than anything. Because the boy I remembered would’ve smiled at me. Would’ve tugged on my sleeve. Would’ve said my name like it belonged to him.
This version of him…this wasn’t the kid I knew. This was someone Lockswell had shaped. And I didn’t know how to reach him.
This Omega before me was the same, yet so different in ways I didn’t want to find him.
He didn’t look up. Not once. Not when I said his name. Not when I stepped closer. Not when I spoke the way I used to.
Kasey stood there like a statue carved out of fear and obedience; every line of his body held tight.
The kid I remembered couldn’t stand still to save his life. He used to fidget, bounce on his toes, tug at my sleeve, and talk too fast when he got excited.
This version of him didn’t move unless someone told him to do so.
There was no flicker of recognition as I spoke about his name. No inkling of who I was. His eyes stayed dull, like life had been wrung out of him over the years.
Ten years, and I was a complete stranger to him.
The realization punched the air out of my lungs. I’d spent a decade imagining this moment. Imagine finding him and seeing him again. Hearing him say my name like he used to. I thought he’d run to me. Or cry. Or yell. Or something.
But he just stood there, eyes down, shoulders tight, waiting for the next command. Like he’d been trained out of remembering his past.
My throat tightened. I forced myself to breathe, to keep my hands steady on the camera, to not reach for him the way every instinct screamed at me too.
I wanted to pull him into the tightest hug and never let him go. I wanted to shout at the world that I knew he was out there, alive, when his parents were so sure about a mountain lion taking him.
I forced the ache down. This wasn’t the place to break down. But inside, something cracked.
I found him. He was right in front of me.
But he didn’t remember.
I didn’t have a choice but to let him go. For now.
As I finished his pictures, one face, one full body, and one of him kneeling, head bowed in submission; my heart cracked in frayed pieces.
Maybe the adults had been wrong, giving up when there had been hope. But now, it was my turn to make a change somehow. Because there was no way I was going to let this Omega, my best friend, stay in a place like this.
“I’d like to talk to Alpha Lockswell when I’m done here,” I requested, watching Kasey as he walked away and the next Omega took his spot.
“He’s not on the premises today. You can stop in at the Client Center when you are done and get an appointment set up with him.”
I gritted my teeth, hating that idea. I wanted to take Kasey home with me today. Right, this second.
But I wasn’t stupid. I knew Alpha Lockswell was powerful enough. He could easily deny me seeing the Omega in any form.
Right now, I had to play with another Alpha’s rules.
