Heartsong (Green Creek 3)

I smiled grimly at him. “It’s Saturday.”

“Yes, dear. It is.”

“I was out of it for a little while.”

“Yes. You were. You’ve been overworked. That, coupled with these dreams you seem to be having—”

“Why?” I asked him. “What was wrong with me? And why didn’t you say anything to me? Seems like I should have been told that I was missing three days.”

“Because it’s nothing to be concerned with,” Michelle said. “Ezra assures me that you’re well, all things considered. With everything going on, I don’t like having to worry about you too. I need you to be strong, Robbie. For me. For your pack.”

I didn’t know why I said what I said next. It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t something I considered. But it came out all the same.

“Ezra told me about the Bennetts.”

She didn’t react. “Did he?”

“Yes. He said they were the enemy.”

She glanced at Ezra. He wiped the rainwater from his face. “He needed a history lesson. So he could understand.”

“And do you?” Michelle asked me. “Do you understand?”

You. Are. Wolf.

You. Are. Pack.

You. Are. Bennett.

I said, “Oh yes. I do. More than you know, I think.”

She didn’t like that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

It felt like we were dancing, and both of us were trying to lead. It went against everything I knew, every instinct I had. She was my Alpha, and I was pushing her—toward what, exactly, I didn’t know. But still we danced. “All I ask is that I be kept informed. I can’t do my job if you don’t tell me what’s going on. Even if you don’t think it concerns me. What will I do if something happens to you? To both of you?”

Ezra’s expression softened. “Nothing will happen to us, dear. I promise.”

“No one can promise that. Things happen every day. It could be something mundane.” Like a car accident, a tiny little voice whispered, and it felt like there should have been more to it, but it was lost in the fog. “Or it could be a boy in a tree, trying to be as quiet as a mouse.”

I saw the moment it clicked for her. She was feeling something, and it was making her uncomfortable. “It’s not… that won’t happen. Not here. Not to us. And never to you. You’re safe, Robbie. I swear to it as your Alpha. Nothing will happen to you.”

It already had. And I thought she knew that. Both of them did.

“Why don’t you head on home?” Ezra suggested. “Get some rest. You’re obviously still a little under the weather.”

“I’ve had enough rest,” I told him. “I don’t need any more. I think I’ll go for a run, if I’m not needed here anymore.”

“That sounds fine, Robbie,” Michelle said. “Stretch your legs. I need you at your best. Do what you have to.”

Oh, I would.

I nodded at both of them as I stepped off the porch into the rain.

I stopped only when Ezra said my name.

I didn’t turn around.

“How did you get inside?” he asked.