Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,58

his just as much as he is yours. Nothing will change that. And I know you’ve never been the type to be jealous of something like that, but I need you to hear this from me, okay?”

I nodded, unable to speak.

My father said, “I love you no matter who you’re meant to be. I don’t care that you’re not an Alpha. You are as important, and not just to Joe. To me. You mean so much to me, and I don’t think I’ve told you that enough.”

“Dad,” I said in a choked voice.

He pressed his forehead against mine, and I breathed my Alpha in. “No matter where your travels take you, just know that I’m always here waiting for you whenever you decide you’re ready to come home.”

He hugged me then.

I held on as tightly as I could.

And later, when Mom was telling us to get together, to smile, Kelly, smile big, Dad was next to her, and I could see how proud of us he was.

It went like this:

We stood in order, oldest to youngest, Kelly in the middle, his arms around our shoulders. I laid my head against him. I could feel him smiling, and the tips of Joe’s fingers pressed against my back.

Mom said, “Ready? One. Two. Three.”

The camera clicked.

Ox came out of his house dressed in his work shirt, his name stitched on the chest. Joe left us and ran toward him, talking excitedly. Maggie appeared in the doorway, already dressed for the diner. She called after Ox, holding out a brown paper lunch sack. She waved at us.

We all waved back.

My mother cried as I left.

Dad did too, though he tried to keep it from us by wiping his eyes when he thought we weren’t looking.

Joe and Kelly hugged me as hard as they could, and I breathed them in, my brothers, my pack.

“I promise,” I whispered in the snow as the memory faded.

I put the photograph back in the tree.

He would know I’d been here. My scent would be thick around this tree.

I looked at the tracks leading away.

I stood.

Kelly said, “Don’t. Carter, please. Stay here. Go back to the cabin. Or better yet, find the truck and leave.”

“I can’t,” I said, looking down at the paw prints in the snow.

“You can,” he retorted. “You need to get to us. Call home. Tell us where you are. Let us help you. I need you. Why can’t you see that?”

“What would you do if this were Robbie?”

“That’s not fair. He’s my mate.”

“And Gavin is mine.”

Kelly snorted derisively. “Not yet. He’s feral, Carter. He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t want you here. He’s told you that over and over, and you just won’t listen.”

My hands curled into fists. My fangs lengthened. “Stop.”

And Kelly said, “I won’t. You need to listen to me. This is stupid. There are others, Carter. Other people who could be your mate. It’s not just Gavin. You know that. You haven’t even thought about being with a man before. You never have. I could smell them, the women you fucked. It would cling to your skin for days, and you didn’t give a shit about who knew. If he was really your mate, you would have known the first time you saw him. I knew with Robbie. Mark did with Gordo. And you saw how Joe was the first time he met Ox.”

My fangs pierced my bottom lip as I ground them together. Blood trickled down on my chin. “You don’t know shit about me, then.”

“He’s using you,” Kelly (Not-Kelly) said. “He used all of us back in Green Creek. We kept him safe. And you know as well as I do that he knew who we were. Who Gordo was. Who Livingstone was. And he did nothing.”

“He saved us.”

“He saved himself,” Kelly growled. “And you fell for it. You left us all behind because you fell for it. You promised me, Carter. You promised it would always be me and you. Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you to make you hurt me like this? Fuck you, Carter. Fuck you for making me think you gave a damn about me.”

“Leave it,” I said in warning. “No more. Kelly, I’m telling you to stop. Now.”

“Or what? What will you do to me? You’re nothing. You’re a shadow of who you used to be. You turned feral once, and I begged you not to. And yet here you are, doing it all over again. Jesus