“Why do you think he’s here? Why do you think he’s stayed?”
He spoke through gritted teeth. “Because he’s got it in his head that Carter is—”
“It’s not just about Carter, Gordo. That’s part of it, and maybe a big part, but I don’t think that’s all it is. I think part of him knows. Like part of me knew. And you never gave up on me. You never let me go.”
“I couldn’t,” he whispered.
“You fought for me. All of you.”
“Yeah, kid.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know if we’ll even make it out of all of this alive. But don’t you think the wolf needs to know we’re fighting for him too? Because he’s part of this. Just as much as you are. Just as much as I am. You wouldn’t let me go. You didn’t forget me, even after all of you were taken from me. We don’t give up on pack. We never have. And we never will.”
“He’s not pack,” Gordo said harshly.
I waited.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Felt that, did you?”
“The lie? Yeah. But that’s okay. I don’t need to hear your heart to know you don’t mean it.”
We were quiet for a long time after that. I wanted to get back to the house, but I didn’t want to leave him here by himself. Even though he wouldn’t say it out loud, I thought he needed me here just as much as I needed him.
So I stayed.
Eventually he lifted his arm and put it around my shoulders, pulling me close. I laid my head on him, and he didn’t even try to shove me off.
“I’m happy you’re here,” he said quietly, as if it was a great secret just between the two of us. “It wasn’t the same without you.”
I nodded against him. “Can we beat this?”
He didn’t answer right away. And that seemed to be answer enough until he said, “I don’t know. After everything we’ve been through, all those we’ve faced, this should be just another thing.”
“But it’s not.”
“No. It feels different. It’s not just about me. It’s about Mark. It’s about Carter. It’s about all the other Omegas who have had their lives stolen away because of him. And you. It’s about you, because
I’ll be damned if I’ll let my father keep the memories from all the times I made fun of you because of your stupid fucking glasses.”
I laughed. It was shockingly loud here in the forest, and it echoed through the trees.
He held me tighter.
And then he said, “I made Kelly a promise. A long time ago.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I told him I would find you. That I would do everything I could to bring you back. And I did, but not all the way. And I aim to keep that promise all the way through to the end. No matter what.”
I felt cold.
They knew we were coming.
Livingstone was right when he said the element of surprise was gone, if we’d even had it at all. Rico and Tanner and Chris wanted to move now, but Ox turned his focus on the wolves who’d sided with the Bennetts, the ones who’d taken in Omegas. He began to move them into hiding, instructing them to stay that way until he heard back from us.
“And what if we don’t hear from you?” one Alpha asked, voice crackling through the phone.
“You will,” Ox said simply.