Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,158

pack or us. We built a bunker on Bennett land. Concrete walls inlaid with silver and some magical hinky-dink that Gordo and that woman witch made up. Aileen, I think her name was. First sign of trouble, those with kids know to bring ’em to the bunker, as well as the elderly. Enough food and water in there for at least three months.” He chuckled. “Cost a pretty penny, but your ma assured us there was no cost too high for the safety of the people who can’t fight for themselves. Made some other alterations to the town too.”

“A fallout shelter,” I said in wonder. “You built a fallout shelter.”

He sat back against the booth, looking proud of himself. Everyone else in the diner looked the same. “We sure did. Kept it off the books. The people we brought in to build it just thought we were small-town kooks planning for the end of the world.” His face hardened. “Might as well think that’s the case. We’re with you, Carter. We’ve got your back. And the sooner you realize that, the better off we’ll be. We’re in this together.”

“You’re all fucking crazy,” I said faintly.

He arched an eyebrow. “And you’re a shape-shifter. We all have something, I guess.”

I lowered my head to the table, pressing my forehead against the surface, struggling to breathe. I was overwhelmed by these ridiculous people who had so blindly put their faith in us. Normal people would have run screaming the moment they’d seen me shift in the Lighthouse when a massive timber wolf was chasing after my pack. And to be fair, some had left Green Creek behind. But most had stayed and kept our secret.

“Why?” I muttered into the table. “Why are you doing this?”

I felt Will’s hand on the back of my head. It was a gentle touch. He said, “I told you once I knew your daddy. Didn’t always understand him, but I knew a good man when I saw one. He was kind to me when no one else was. Never you mind about what, but I never forgot it. And once my eyes were opened to what was really going on, I knew then what a great man he was. He ain’t here no more. We are. And we’ll fight until our last breath. You’re not alone, Carter. You never have been.”

I blinked against the sting of tears. I shuddered when people murmured around us, reaching out to touch my shoulders, the back of my neck, my hair. Their voices sounded like the wind, and though they weren’t pack, it sounded like they were in my head. They said, “We’re here” and “We’ve got your back” and “No one messes with our wolves” and, randomly, “I’m gonna fuck some shit up, you better believe it, you just watch me, I swear to god.”

I laughed wetly. These ridiculous people. Humans all, but how they sounded like wolves.

Eventually they subsided and stepped back.

I lifted my head as I wiped my eyes.

Will had a soft look on his face, craggy and wonderful. He said, “You see? Now. Let me tell you what else we’ve done to this town while you were gone. Might have a trick or two up our sleeves yet. I asked Ox to let me be the one to tell you so I could see the look on your face. Don’t let me down.”

I listened.

And in the end, I didn’t let him down.

What the fuck.

I LEFT THE DINER BEHIND a half hour later, dazed. The bell rang overhead as I pushed through the door out into the shocking cold. I turned my face toward the sky, the blue-black that only seemed to exist in the dead of winter. I breathed in and out. That odd pressure in my head grew, and I didn’t know why.

I took a step, meaning to cross the street toward the garage.

The pressure increased sharply.

I stumbled.

I barely managed to stay upright.

I gripped the sides of my head. The blue-black sky was in my skull, and it burned, it burned, it hurt it hurt it hurt—

From across the street came the howl of a wolf.

I raised my head as I panted through the storm.

Gavin was running toward me, eyes violet and bright. His arms pumped as he ran, claws and fangs flashing in the winter sunlight. Chris and Tanner and Rico followed him, their eyes narrowed.

Gavin skidded to a stop in front of me. He gripped my shoulders, violet eyes searching mine. “What is it?” he