I felt numb as we walked through the streets. Payton sniffed silently every now and then. I could feel his distress, but he chose to be brave. My own omega was scared, and every time we walked past a dark alley, or we heard quiet mutters somewhere close by, it got terrified. I tried to keep us all calm and focus on finding us a place to stay for the night, but I was on the verge of crashing. I really wanted to sit down and start crying, but we had to keep going. We had to find shelter. We weren’t safe as long as we stayed outside.

I had to be strong, or at least act like I was.

We would be somewhat fine for as long as the bars and restaurants stayed open, and there were plenty of people on the streets, but four o’clock would bring out the kidnappers to search for easy, drunken prey. We didn’t want to be outside when that happened.

There was a cheap hotel in the older part of the city. It was our best bet. They usually had rooms available, and they were so cheap we could stay for a few nights if needed. And I realized we needed to stay for a few nights because I was going into heat. No matter how well we’d hide, alphas could easily find us just because of my pheromones.

“How much did he give you?” I asked Payton, nearly spooking him after staying silent for so long.

“I… uh… Didn’t check…” he mumbled, and searched through his pockets. He found the small stack and gave it to me.

I quickly counted it. A little over one hundred bucks. That should be enough for three nights…

“I’m going into heat,” I told Payton.

“Thought so,” he murmured back.

I nodded slowly. “We need to stay in a hotel until it’s over.”

“Gotcha,” he said.

“But it means we’ll have to spend most of this money…” I muttered.

“Derek gave it to us so we’d be safe,” he reminded me gently. “And I could use a few nights in an actual bed after all this…”

“Yeah…” I said, and gave him a small smile. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”

He smiled back at me, but his eyes were still gleaming after all the crying.

“Maybe we can go buy something good to eat if the hotel isn’t too expensive,” I suggested. “How about hot dogs?”

He groaned a little. “I love hot dogs…”

“Then we’ll go get hot dogs,” I promised him.

We arrived safely at the hotel half an hour later. The doors were already locked, but we rang the doorbell. A short moment later, a big, old alpha came to open the door for us, but he wasn’t happy to see us. He pushed the door open but didn’t move out of the way. My heart dropped before he could even say a word. I already knew we weren’t welcome.

“Looters aren’t allowed anymore,” he said sternly, giving us both the stink-eye.

“We’re not looters,” I said as confidently as I could. “A pipe burst in our home, and we have nowhere to go…”

Payton had the perfect timing when he sniffed and tried to hold back a sob, failing a little. The man and I both turned our attention to him. My poor best friend wasn’t even faking it, and it was clear to this man he had been crying for a while now.

“It’s been a really rough night,” I told him quietly. “We have cash, so we can pay up front. We just don’t want to spend the weekend outside…”

The man’s expression changed as he watched Payton, who tried his best not to cry. I assumed he was afraid we’d have to sleep outside, after all.

“All right,” the man finally said, and stepped out of the way. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to call you looters.”

“It’s all right,” I said quietly as we followed him to the front desk.

“How many nights?” he asked while stepping behind his computer.

“Uh… How much is a room for us both for one night?”

He gave us both a short up-and-down look. “Is twenty-five bucks all right?”

I smiled in relief. “It’s more than all right. Can we get a room for three nights?”

“Sure,” he said, and turned to his computer. “You want to pay now or when you’re leaving?”

“I can pay now.”

“Sure. That’s seventy-five bucks.”

I gave him the cash, and he gave us the keys and directions to our room. I was glad he wasn’t asking any questions because I didn’t really want to give him any answers, and asking for personal information was useless in this country. Most of the registers were gone, destroyed by True Order terrorists, and it was still rare for omegas to have such luxury things as social security numbers, anyway. Or last names. Payton and I didn’t have either.

Because up until twenty years ago, all omegas in this country were considered property of alphas. Our kind hadn’t had any rights. We were considered broodmares, housekeepers, nannies…

Slaves.

And on that same day when us omegas finally got our freedom twenty years ago… That same exact day when we were finally considered equal to alphas… The war against the True Order began. That day, the day of The Eleven Flags, started in excitement and happiness as the vast majority of the country celebrated the beginning of this new era of equality, but it ended with tens of thousands of people dead, and eleven major cities bombed to ruins by True Order alphas who couldn’t accept the fact that omegas were given basic human rights.

And that war still went on even after twenty long years.

Our room was on the third floor, and it was pretty easy to find it. We entered the room, dropped our bags by the door, and stopped to stare at the tiny little room with a big bed in the middle.

My need to start crying rushed back to me, and I had to fight hard to stay calm. I was happy that we got to stay indoors for three nights, but at the same time, I wanted to go back home. To my clan. To the clan I still had only a few days ago. The one that didn’t want to steal babies or force us to sell ourselves for money.

When I sniffed, Payton burst out in tears. I pulled him into a hug and held him tightly when I lost my battle against my tears. The emotions hit me so hard I could barely stay up on my feet. I felt so miserable and defeated and lost I couldn’t even breathe. I was so scared about what would happen to us next. We wouldn’t survive alone on the streets. We’d end up as slaves. Payton would be forced to give birth to baby after baby, and each of them would be ripped away from him and sold to the highest bidder. And I would end up as a prostitute once they’d realize I was infertile.

I was so scared… It hurt so much… And Payton cried even harder against my chest… We both were in so much pain… Our entire world had been taken away from us. How could Kent do this to us…?

I just wanted to go back home…

But our home was gone.

*****

I woke up the next morning feeling so uncomfortable that I knew my heat had already started. It wasn’t bad enough yet, but it would get unbearable before nightfall. I let out a breath and tried not to think about it.

Instead, I focused on Payton, who was tightly wrapped in my arms. I forced my tired, dry eyes open and stared out the window. I felt numb now. I felt nothing. We’d spent a long time crying ourselves to sleep last night, but now… I couldn’t feel anything. I was so tired…

It was sunny outside. I couldn’t really see much behind the rooftops, but I saw the bright blue sky. I stared at it for a long, long time. I didn’t even try to think. Not at first, anyway. I moved my hand slowly on Payton’s arm, focusing on his smooth, soft skin. It was calming. So was his steady breath against my chest.

And little by little, I could feel my strength returning to me. I could’ve given up, but why would I give up? I still had Payton. My best friend. He was like a little brother to me, even though he was a year older. He was more sensitive than I was, so I had to protect him. And to protect him, I couldn’t let myself fall in despair. Our home was gone, and our little world destroyed, but we’d build a new life with good people who shared our views.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. We would be all right. I’d make sure of that.

First, we had to go see the homeless society. They had never liked us looters, but maybe, if we were lucky, they’d take us under their wing. And if not… Well, there was the mafia. They led a dangerous life since they fought against the terrorist just as fiercely as the army. It wasn’t the safest option, especially now that the terrorists had dared to attack their leader in his own home, but it was an option, nonetheless. Better than living on the streets.