“We’re coming for you. I swear it. Carter, wait for us. We’ve got backup. More than I thought we would. Don’t do anything stupid.”
I laughed. “When have you known me to do anything stupid?”
He wasn’t amused. “Please.” His voice cracked when he said, “I can’t… not again.” Then, “It’s bad, Carter. Joe’s not talking. It’s like it was before, when we were going after Richard Collins. He’s shutting down.”
I said, “Put him on the phone.”
“Joe. Joe. Here. It’s for you. Would you just fucking take it? Don’t do this to me.”
I heard him breathing. He didn’t speak.
I said, “He’s okay. Ox is okay. So is Gordo. So are we. We’re here. We’re waiting for you.”
He breathed and breathed.
I said, “Once, when you were… three? Maybe four. You were this chubby little kid. And you talked and talked and talked. About everything you could see. Look, here’s a leaf. Look, here’s a bug. Look, here’s a rock. And one day you were in my room. You were reading a book about wild things. Or at least you were pretending to. You were making up your own story since you couldn’t read the words. You were sitting on my bed next to me. I remembered something Dad had said to me. He said that I was your big brother. That even though you were the Alpha, my job was just as important. He told me that I had to keep you safe. I remember being floored by that. I was just a Beta. What could I do for a future Alpha? Dad said I’d know when the time came. So I listened to your story.” I cleared my throat. “And then you were taken. I—I was so lost. You came back, but it wasn’t the same. I carried you around everywhere I went, begging you to talk. I took you to my room. I set you on my bed. I went to the closet in the hall and found the little book about wild things. And I told you the same story you told me. It wasn’t what was written in the book because your story was better. You didn’t talk, but when I finished, I swore you were looking at me like you knew me. Like you remembered.”
“I did,” Joe whispered. “I remembered everything.”
“Good. That’s real good, Joe. Hold on to that. I have. And I always will.”
“I’m scared, Carter.”
My heart broke. “I know. Me too. But we’re strong. You’ve made us strong. And it has nothing to do with you being an Alpha. It’s because you exist in the first place.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” His voice was stronger. “Thanks, Carter.”
“It’s what I’m here for. You and Kelly. Always.”
“And Gavin.” His voice was warmer now. Filling with life. “Mom texted us. Said you did what you should have done a long time ago. Book helped, huh?”
I laughed and laughed.
IT WENT LIKE THIS:
She was in the kitchen, singing along with the radio.
Johnny and his guitar again.
Of course it was.
She swayed side to side.
I went to her.
She laughed when I bowed low, my arm across my chest.
She took my hand in hers, the other coming to my shoulder.
We danced.
She said, “I’m proud of you. Do you know that?”
I nodded. “I do. Every day.”
She said, “When you left, I was so angry, even though I knew in my heart you were following yours. Sometimes we have to let the ones we love go so that they may learn the world for themselves.”
“I came back,” I told her. “I’ll always come back.”
Her eyes were wet. “Will you? Why?”
“Because this is my home. You’re my home.”
She said, “You are your father’s son. I see it now more than ever. He’s here.”
My hands shook. “Is he?”
She never looked away from me. “We’re never alone. It may feel like we are, but here, in this place, the moon gives back for all we’ve sacrificed to her. I believe that with all my heart. He’s watching. He knows. We’ll hear his song before the end.”
We danced on.
IT WENT LIKE THIS:
Gavin was sitting on our bed in our room. He looked up at me as I entered. I froze in the doorway when I saw what was in his hands.
My mother’s stone wolf, now his.
He said, “I want this. You. Me.”
“I hope so. Otherwise we’re pretty much screwed already.”
He scowled at me. “Not funny.”
“A little funny.”
He sighed. “I changed my mind.”
Oh, how his heart betrayed him. “Liar,” I said hoarsely.
He stood from the bed. He had a determined look on his face. He