In Liam’s memory, Daniel was the most perfect submissive. Sweet, biddable, hungry for his Dominant and eager to please. He’d also been emotional, traumatized by the denial and surgeries he’d endured, and it had made him shy and afraid.

He should have run away with Daniel.

But he didn’t. He was a coward and a rule follower, and he didn’t take Daniel or Dr. Chang seriously. What sort of monster would torture his own son the way General Burrows did?

If Liam had been a better man, a worthy Dominant, and what Daniel deserved, he would have gone on the run with him. There are resources, rumors of submissives and Dominants who live off the grid and beyond the reach of the military.

That’s the Dominant Daniel deserved. One who would put his safety first, prioritize him above everything.

But that isn’t what Liam did, and he’s regretted it ever since. He’ll regret it until the day he dies. It weighs on him heavily, and the failure and loss of his submissive is etched into the lines of his face, the premature gray of his hair. The tremble of his hand as he accidentally nicks his jaw with the razor.

Jesus Christ. He’s probably aged a decade in the last three years. He doesn’t sleep, doesn’t interact with the world beyond work, and while he doesn’t get into fights like he used to, he still drinks too much. His brother described him as maudlin.

Is it cruel to try and claim Daniel again? The bond is severed, so it’s possible Daniel could be with another Dominant—not likely, but possible—and what if he owes that to Daniel? A chance to finally make one decision for himself, to get a Dominant who will fight for him?

Liam goes to his closet. What does one wear to meet the submissive they bonded to after years of separation and a cryogenic freeze between them?

He’s lost so much weight in the last three years that he isn’t even the same size of clothing anymore. Daniel might not even recognize him. He might not want Liam. If Daniel were meeting him for the first time today, he wouldn’t choose Liam. Not that he chose him before. Liam was just the Dominant Dr. Chang trusted in the moment.

Their bond is gone, of course. It was faint, just forming, and now years have passed. Daniel has a chance of choosing another.

And there are a lot of Dominants who don’t survive without their submissives. They take their own lives. Liam had thought about it, more than once. His brother would say his actions were so reckless that he might as well have been trying to die.