Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,104

all the stupid things you could have done, you chose the worst. Taking it upon yourself to go after them, to leave your pack behind like we didn’t matter. How the hell could you think that was okay?”

And oh, there it was. His anger. His rage. It tasted like ash. He was furious, and even though he was doing his damndest to keep it from his face, his eyes grew darker, his brow furrowing. “I didn’t—”

“That’s right,” he said flatly. “You didn’t. Didn’t think. Didn’t ask. Didn’t look to me or Joe or anyone else in your pack. You left a fucking video, as if you thought that was enough. How dare you. Three years. One month. Twenty-six days. I lived through that. I lived through the thirteen months it took for us to get Robbie back. I saw firsthand what happened with Mark and Gordo. And then you decided to… what? Be wholly original and leave too?”

“Whoa,” Kelly breathed. “That was a bitchy thing to say. Go Ox.”

“I expected more from you, Carter,” Ox said, and he was a fucking liar. He didn’t sound like my brother. He sounded like my father. “And I need to know if I can trust you again. Because with everything we face ahead of us, we can’t be continuing to look behind us to see if someone we trust still has our back.”

“I’m here,” I said stiffly, trying to keep my own anger in check. “I came back. I was always going to.”

“You could have been killed.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were shot,” Gavin muttered, and now he decided to say something? “Back broke.”

“Fine,” I allowed. “I was almost killed. But I did what I thought was right, and I get you’re pissed off. You have every right to be. I would do it again if I had to.”

“For him?”

“Yes,” I said defiantly.

“Because of what he is to you.”

Jesus Christ. This wasn’t going like I thought it would. And yet…. “Yes.”

Gavin sucked in a sharp breath.

“Good,” Ox said, and suddenly he was smiling. It was dazzling, and I was breathless at the sight of it. “Because you need to take Gavin as your mate.”

I almost swallowed my own tongue. I started coughing roughly, bending over, trying not to die.

“You did that on purpose,” Joe said, shaking his head fondly. “Jesus, Ox. We talked about this.”

Ox shrugged. “We did. But he made me mad, so now we’re even. I feel better.” His smile widened. “All right there, Carter? Do you need a moment?”

“Fuck… you,” I wheezed.

“Bitchy Alpha,” Kelly muttered. “I don’t know why more people can’t see it.”

They were all out of their minds. That was the only explanation. “You can’t just say that!”

“And yet I did,” Ox said. “Funny how that works. Circle. Remember how time is a circle that we’re stuck in? Abel couldn’t see it. Thomas, for all that he was, underestimated it. We have allowed ourselves to spin out of control trying to survive. It’s time that we take matters into our own hands.”

“And that involves me and….” I couldn’t finish.

He was amused. “What did you think would happen? What was the point of the last year? You found him. You, Carter, all on your own. And while I may not be happy how you went about it, I couldn’t be prouder of you for what you’ve done because I understand the lengths you went to, what you did in the face of the impossible. And I think Gavin knows that. He’s very lucky to have someone such as you.”

I sighed as I heard the familiar grind of bone and muscle, the tearing of clothes. The hand fell away from the back of my shirt as a timber wolf rose behind me. I turned around to see him backing away slowly, his tail between his legs. He made a soft sound as he curled in on himself, trying to make himself small. It was ridiculous, of course, given his size and the fact that there was nowhere for him to hide.

Before I could go to him, my mother was there. She took his face in her hands, running her fingers along his snout. “You can be however you want,” she told him. “If it’s easier to be a wolf, then that’s okay. I just hope you don’t stay that way forever. I like the sound of your voice. Don’t forget that.” His tongue flicked out against her palm, and she laughed. “Yes. It’s been a very strange day. I find that when things