Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,174
little blinking lights from my pocket. I put one light against the inside of one of their ears and a magnet on the other side, holding it in place. I did the same for Dominique before she broke off from the group and headed toward the bunker. She growled over her shoulder at Jessie, and in my head, I heard her song of safe safe LoveJessieBeautiful stay safe stay before she was gone through the trees.
Mom turned her face toward the star-filled sky, the sliver of the moon shining down upon her. Her eyes flashed as she dropped to the ground, her shawl fluttering in the wind. When she looked back up, she was the wolf mother, fangs bared. She nosed my hand before growling at Jessie, who affixed the same blinking light in my mother’s ear. She did the same for the large brown wolf who stood next to my mother. He licked the back of her hand.
Jessie looked to me. Her eyes were bright in the dark. She had a twisted smile on her face, and I knew she was ready to hunt. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, lips smacking. “We can do this. It’s time to end it.”
“And we’ll be free,” I told her.
“Damn right we will.”
She followed my mother and uncle into the woods, running full tilt, arms pumping. Chris and Tanner and Rico crossed the road and entered the woods on the other side. The last I saw of them was their tails before they too were gone.
Gavin stood beside me on the empty road.
Behind us, the wolves howled.
In front of us, the people of Green Creek showed why no one fucked with our town.
Gavin said, “You and me.”
I looked at him. “You and me.”
His eyes were orange. “Mates.”
I kissed him. “Mates,” I mumbled against his mouth. He was smiling. I could taste it.
He pulled away, gripping my arms. “Stay by my side.”
“Always.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“Never.”
And he said, “I love you. I know it’s hard. This. Us. Wolf brain and human brain are still together. But I love you. For a long time. Even when I was wolf.”
I said, “You fucking asshole. What the hell? Why would you—”
He kissed me again. “Stupid Carter. Questions. Always questions. Just know it. Keep it. It’s yours. From me to you.”
“Thump, thump, thump.”
He grinned at me. It was dazzling.
“I love you too.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know. You came for me.”
“When this is over, we’re going to have a long talk about—”
“Talk, talk, talk,” he muttered. “That’s all you do.”
He lifted his shirt over his head.
The scar between his shoulder and neck was on full display.
I trailed my fingers along it, feeling the bumpy ridge, the mark of my fangs.
He turned his face and kissed the back of my hand. He took a deep breath, and his muscles and bones began to move underneath his skin. It came quicker than it had before, and it was only a moment before a large timber wolf stood before me.
He pressed his snout against my chest, right above my heart. I pressed the blinking light in his ear, snapping it in place with a magnet on the other side. The people of Green Creek would know who we were, even in the face of battle.
He said, MateLovePack with me you stay with me together we’ll be together and nothing will stop us you are mine and i i i am yours.
“Yes,” I told him. “Yes.”
He tilted his head back and howled. It was a song of rage and hope, and although he was a feral wolf no longer, his howl was a terrifying thing. I knew his father would hear it, and I hoped it tore at him, knowing all he’d lost.
I followed Gavin.
THE WOLVES AT THE BRIDGE hadn’t been the only ones.
There were others. They must have been on the opposite end of Green Creek.
The moment the wards broke completely, they entered the town. And though their numbers were fewer than had been with Gregory, they were closer to the town, and enraged.
And it was their downfall.
As we hit the first buildings in town, I heard the sharp snap as one of the wolves hit a thin rope stretched between two trees. I didn’t need to see it to know what had happened. An animal screamed in extraordinary pain as the rope broke, the rigging that had been wrapped around the tree snapping, a pallet with large silver railroad spikes embedded through it swinging around the tree and