I blinked in the low light spilling in through the window in the hallway.
Elizabeth said, “Hello.”
I said, “Hi,” feeling foolish. “I was just….”
She crouched down next to me. She ran a hand through my hair. I leaned into it, and she laughed quietly at the low rumble in my chest. “You were just,” she said, and it was warm and kind.
I nodded. She understood.
“I wonder,” she said.
“About what?”
“What makes a man?” Her face was covered in shadow. Her hand never left my hair. “If all he knows is stripped away, what is it that remains?”
“I don’t
know.”
“I didn’t either until we found you again. I think I know the answer now. Would you like to hear it?”
“Yes.” Almost more than anything.
She said, “What remains is a broken heart shattered like so much glass. Pieces are missing, and the ones that are left don’t fit like they used to. But still it beats, because no matter what is taken away, no matter what is lost, it needs to continue. To survive. You are a survivor, Robbie. And not even magic can take that away from you.”
I closed my eyes, struggling to breathe.
She sang then. Softly, just a song for her and me. She didn’t mind being lonely, she told me, because her heart told her I was lonely too.
We stayed that way as the sun rose.
It was an adjustment—Green Creek and all it entailed.
I tried to memorize the names of everyone that came to see me at Gordo’s. I stopped asking after the second morning if every person coming in had something wrong with their car. It turned out that Original Flavor Robbie (I hated Tanner for that) was quite popular, and Robbie 2.0 (I hated Carter for that) was barely keeping up.
They didn’t ask me where I’d been, most leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially that they understood it was wolf business. Most of them knew something was off, but they didn’t ask. They’d seen the missing flyers posted around Green Creek. They had bits and pieces of rumors, but they mostly left it alone.
On Friday morning two weeks after I’d arrived back in Green Creek, Gordo told me the garage would be closing early.
“Why?” I asked.
“Full moon, kid. Chris and Tanner are still newer wolves. Don’t want to take any chances.”
I glanced through the door. Chris was bent over an open hood. Tanner was on his cell phone calling about some parts that hadn’t yet been delivered. “There been any problems?”
Gordo shook his head. “They’ve taken to it quicker than I ever thought they would, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“And we’ve got company coming in.”
That was the first I’d heard about it. Granted, I didn’t think the pack was filling me in on every detail, given that they were still walking on eggshells around me. “Who?”
He twirled a finger at his eyes. “Ever since Ox became….”
“Werewolf Jesus?” I asked.
He glared at me. “You need to stop listening to Carter.”