Tyler only just caught Ivory's whispered "thank you." He smiled, silently pulling the omega into a hug. At first, Ivory just stood there as Tyler's strong arms wrapped around him. Then, slowly, he followed suit, returning the gesture and resting his head on the alpha's chest.

They stood quietly for a moment, Tyler savoring the feeling of holding his omega close. He stroked the dark brown hair, still damp from the bath, smoothing it down gently. He could smell the sweet scent of honey in the air, and wished he could bottle it up to carry around with him.

Finally, Tyler pulled away, taking Ivory's hand as he spoke softly, "Are you tired? You can take a nap if you want." He nodded in response, following quietly behind Tyler as he approached the bed. Ivory was cautious as he climbed into bed, but quickly caught the alpha's scent and snuggled down into the pillow, clearly exhausted.

Just as his lashes were dropping closed, Ivory spoke in a trembling voice, "You...you won't l-leave me, right?" Tyler smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed and reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. "Of course not, I would never leave you."

It was only a few minutes before the omega was fast asleep, and Tyler stood up. Crossing the room and opening the door, he sat down against the wall directly opposite it, closing it behind him as he did. Pulling out his phone, he quickly dialed 911, and told the operator he was looking for an update on a case.

After being on hold for a few minutes, someone at the police station picked up, and took down Tyler's information. Once she was sure who he was, she told him what had been happening since he had placed the call.

Apparently, the digital forensics team had traced the IP address of Ivory's house, and found photos and videos that had been uploaded to a website. That evidence was enough to arrest the stepdad, but the police were planning a raid on the house that night to gather as much evidence as possible.

Tyler listened carefully to everything the officer had to say, before she arrived at a conversation he was afraid would come up. "Mr Dunwood, the victim is staying with you, correct? This will be a difficult process for him, but he will need to be involved in the justice process. We'll need him to pick out the suspect in a lineup, give a statement, maybe even testify in court. He'll need support to get through it, anyone would."

Taking a deep breath, Tyler assured her that he would do everything he could to help 'the victim,' and that he would break the news to him as soon as he was in a calm enough place to hear it. Thinking that the call was over, he was about to hang up when the officer spoke again.

"There's one more thing Mr. Dunwood. We have officers combing through the evidence from the website. There is more than one perpetrator in this case, far more than just the stepfather. If you can, I mean if it's appropriate, please see if the victim knows of any way the other men could be located."

Tyler was shocked into silence. As the whole situation unfolded it seemed to get worse and worse. "Uhm, yah-yes, I'll try and ask." He stammered, unsure of what to say after such a revelation. The officer seemed to understand, "Thank you for your help Mr. Dunwood, I'll be in touch. I'm Officer Boone, and I'm the detective in charge of this case."

Hurriedly thanking her, Tyler hung up the call and sat quietly against the wall. Why why why hadn't he been there sooner? How could he have just let this happen to his mate. Something so terrible happening to the person he was destined to love. He took a deep steadying breath and stood up from the wall, pushing his hair out of his face as he opened the door as silently as possible.

Ivory was still fast asleep on the bed, no doubt getting his first decent rest in days. Tyler crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to him. He studied the sleeping face, taking in the long black lashes and rosy cheeks. He looked so peaceful, sleeping quietly in the mess of dark blue sheets.

After a few minutes, Tyler noticed a change in the sleeping omega's face. A frown creased his lips, and his face twitched. She mumbled something under his breath, evidently dreaming. His face twitched again, and then he was writhing on the bed, begging some imaginary person 'not again-no more.'

Immediately, Tyler had his hands on the boy's shoulders, calling his name and gently shaking him, trying to wake him up. When Ivory's eyes finally did open, they were brimming with tears, and he was shaking uncontrollably. Tyler pulled him close as he cried, whispering in his ear that it was all a dream, that it was safe here, that no one was going to hurt him.

Slowly, Ivory began to calm down again. Eventually he was only sniffling into Tyler's shoulder, and clutching onto his shirt for dear life. Tyler rubbed his back gently, whispering softly in his ear, "It's alright now, you need to rest. Do you want to try again?" He nodded gently, but did not release Tyler's shirt.

"S-stay-stay here, please." Tyler nodded, smiling secretly to himself as he layed back on the sheets, taking Ivory with him. When they were both flat on the bed, he pulled the covers up to cover Ivory, and stroked his hair gently as he cuddled closer. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Ivory whispered in a drowsy voice, "I'm...I'm safe here, r-right?"

Tyler answered under his breath as the omega fell asleep against his chest, "Yes love, you'll always be safe here."