you just as much as you need us.”
I went to them then. I couldn’t not. They were ready for me, arms open wide. They surrounded me, my head against their shoulders, and they allowed me this moment. To break. To be tired. To wish that things could be different. Joe’s hand was in my hair, and Kelly was whispering in my ear, voice wet and cracked, saying he was still angry with me but that he was never going to let me go, that I was theirs, theirs, theirs, and it wasn’t just a matter of pack. “We’re brothers,” he said. “And no one will ever be able to take that away from us. Carter, don’t you see? We found you. We found you.”
They held me up as my knees gave out, and I knew no matter what happened next, I wasn’t going to be alone.
scar tissue/broken parts
Gordo stood in one corner of the cabin, Gavin in another.
They glared at each other, neither of them speaking.
They barely acknowledged us when Joe closed the door behind him. “Going well?” he asked.
“Heard every word you said,” Gordo grunted.
“Talking,” Gavin said. “Always talking.”
“It’s genetic,” Gordo said. “They never shut up.”
“Speaking of genetics,” Kelly muttered.
Gavin and Gordo turned their heads at the same time to look at him, eyes narrowed.
“We’re leaving,” Joe announced. “In the morning. All of us.”
Gavin snarled. Joe looked unaffected. He had the Zen Alpha bullshit going on, something he’d obviously learned from Ox. He repeated, “All of us.”
Gavin shook his head furiously. “Can’t. Stay here. Need to stay here.”
Joe said, “Do you know me?”
Gavin looked confused. “Joe. Alpha.”
Joe cocked his head. “Do you remember me from before? In Green Creek.”
“Yes.”
“And you remember the pack.”
He hesitated.
“Their names,” Joe said. “Tell me their names.”
He looked at me, but I didn’t speak.
Gavin said, “Joe. Kelly. Carter.” He sneered. “Gordo.”
Gordo rolled his eyes.
“Who else?” Joe asked.
“Stop.”
“Who else?”
Gavin backed away slowly, but he didn’t have far to go. His back hit the wall. He said, “Why?”
“Because I asked you,” Joe said. It was subtle, but I heard the deepening of his voice, the undercurrent of Alpha. His eyes remained blue, but it was undeniable.
“Mark,” Gavin said, and my heart lurched in my chest. “Tanner. Chris. Rico. Jessie. Bambi. Dominique. Elizabeth. She dances. She sings. I like it when she sings.”
“We all do,” Kelly whispered, and I took his hand in mine. He didn’t try to pull away, instead squeezing my fingers tightly.
“And?” Joe asked Gavin.
He shuddered like a tremor rolled through him. “Ox. Loud. Heard him. Alpha, but different.”
Joe nodded. “He is different. Alpha of the Omegas. Did you hear him above all others?”
Gavin shook his head.
“Who, then?”
He shook his head again.
“Gavin.”
“Carter,” he bit out. “Always Carter. Heart. His heart. It went—”
I said, “Thump, thump, thump.”
I could feel their eyes on me, but I only saw Gavin. He scowled. “Thump, thump, thump. Tricky heart. Makes me forget everything else.”
“Do you know why?” Joe asked gently.
“No.”
“I think you do.”
“No.”
“You want us to go away.”
“Yes.”
“To leave you here with your father.”
“Yes.”
Joe said, “Okay. We will. And we’ll take Carter away from you.”
And Gavin’s eyes filled with violet. His fangs dropped and his claws extended from his fingertips. He pushed himself off the wall, going for Joe. Before we could react, Joe sidestepped Gavin, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. Gavin struggled, but Joe didn’t let him go. He put his head next to Gavin’s, his nose near Gavin’s ear. He said, “Maybe the others can’t hear it. You’re good, Gavin. But I know when someone is lying, even if they’ve convinced themselves they believe what they’re saying.”
Gavin laid his head back on Joe’s shoulder, his throat bobbing. Joe let his arm go but didn’t move away. “It hurts. It hurts.”
“I know it does,” Joe said. “But there’s a way to make it stop. You trusted us once, I think. Even if you didn’t quite understand it, you did. You stayed with us. You lived with us. You made yourself a home. This place? It’s not where you belong. You don’t need to go this alone. You’re like Carter that way, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, thinking you’re doing the right thing. You’re not. It’ll crush you. Let me help you carry it. Let us do what we can to make it right. None of us want to leave you behind.”
Gavin looked at me, eyes still violet. I nodded at him.
He was confused. Unsure. I didn’t know what to say to convince