Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,70

forgot how big he was.”

Joe snorted. “Don’t let Robbie hear you say that. Might get jealous.”

“What? Oh, fuck you, Joe, that’s not what I—look out!”

Gavin darted forward. He closed his jaws around my wrist. I winced at the pressure from his teeth, but he didn’t break the skin. He jerked his head back, tugging me away. I tried to hold my ground, but he dug into the snow. I stumbled forward as he let me go, standing in front of me, putting himself between me and the others. He backed up slowly, crowding against me, pushing me toward the trees.

“Well,” Gordo said. “We tried. Sorry, Carter. Looks like you’ll have to stay here.”

I smacked Gavin on the back of the head. He turned to look at me, eyes narrowing. “Knock it off. They’re not going to hurt me.” His nostrils flared, and he pressed his snout against my hand. I looked down to see the smear of blood. “Okay. I can explain that.”

“I punched him in the face,” Kelly said. “And I’m going to do it again.”

Gavin didn’t like that. His ears flattened as he fucking hissed at Kelly, a sound I’d never heard from a wolf before. I tried to walk around him, but he wouldn’t let me.

“This is going well,” Gordo said.

“Not helping,” Joe said, pushing by him. My little brother kept his hands up, palms toward us. Gavin had pushed us almost to the tree line. His tail twitched, the tip brushing against my hip. “Gavin. Look at me.”

Gavin did.

Joe nodded. He was being cautious, eyes only for the wolf. “That’s right. Hey. I know you didn’t expect us to be here. And I don’t even know if you understand me right now. But I need you to know that no one is going to take Carter from you. No one is going to hurt either of you. You have my word as an Alpha.”

Gavin whined, shoulders stiff.

“Yeah,” Joe said, taking another step. “I promise. You know me. You do. Somewhere inside that wolf brain of yours, you know me. Not only as an Alpha. But as Carter’s brother. I would never let anything happen to him. Or to you. You’re important, okay? And not just to Carter. To me too. You’re with me.” He tapped his chest. “Here. You’re my pack. You have been for a long time. And I’m sorry we didn’t see it for what it was. We should have done better. We should have done more. For you. For Carter.”

Gavin relaxed incrementally. I thought Joe was getting through to him.

It was a lie.

Kelly shouted in warning as Gavin launched himself at Joe, snow kicking up around him in a cloud of ice. He was quick, but Joe was quicker. He took two running steps toward us, then fell to the ground on his side, sliding through the snow. Gavin sailed over him, his teeth missing the top of Joe’s head by inches.

He landed roughly in the snow, paws slipping out from underneath him. He recovered quickly, whirling around as Joe stood in front of me.

“Gordo,” Joe snapped. “Now.”

Gordo raised his hand as his tattoos began to glow again.

I said, “Wait,” but it was already too late.

The air grew thicker, almost stifling. The hairs on my arms stood on end. Gordo’s magic felt bigger than it’d been before, unrestrained. Gavin snarled as his shift was ripped from him, the hair receding, his fangs receding into his gums. He grunted as he fell to his hands and knees, back rippling.

Gordo lowered his hand, looking weary.

I shoved by Joe and went to Gavin. I put my hand on his bare shoulder. “It’s okay,” I said, mouth near his ear. “They’re not going to hurt you. They want to help.”

“No,” Gavin said, the word sounding as if it’d been punched out of him. “No. No. Help. No. Help.”

“Yes help. Listen to me. You know them. Just like you know me. It’s Kelly. It’s Joe. It’s Gordo. Pack. They’re our pack.”

He raised his head, hair hanging down around his face. “Pack.”

“Yeah, man. Pack.” I looked up at the others. Gordo was pale, eyes like bruises. Kelly was tense, as if he thought Gavin was going to attack again. Joe gave us a wide berth as he circled around back to the others. “And pack is everything.”

He turned his head to look at me. “You. Call them. You. Brought them here.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t. But they found us all the same. Because that’s what pack does. We