Before I could snarl at them, demanding to know what the fuck they were thinking, Kelly said, “No.”
Joe frowned. “Kelly, I don’t…. I know you think you need to be there. But you’re human. You could get hurt.”
“So could I,” Jessie said. “Are you going to tell me to stay behind?”
“That’s not—”
“Me too,” Rico chimed in. “Go ahead, alfas. Say it to my face. Say, ‘Rico, you handsome devil, you’re staying right here in Green Creek while the rest of us ride off to kick some ass.’ Say it. I dare you.”
Joe threw up his hands. “I’m not trying to piss anyone off. But Kelly can’t—”
“Maybe don’t worry about what Kelly can’t do and focus on what he can do,” Jessie retorted. “He’s not a wolf anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak. He’s one of us.”
“Motherfucking Team Human,” Rico agreed. “We had to open up enrollment since lobito here tried to eat up half of our membership.” He kicked me in the shin. It hurt. “No offense, little wolf.”
I glared at him as I rubbed my leg. “None taken.”
“And you need me,” Kelly reminded them. “We go as a pack. All of us. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Stronger together, remember?”
“What about Robbie?” Joe asked, sounding apologetic as he glanced at me. “We know what Livingstone is capable of. What he’ll do. What he’s already done. Can we really take the chance that he won’t try to trigger Robbie? If we’re in the middle of a fight, we can’t be worrying about whether or not we’ll literally get stabbed in the back.” He winced. “Sorry, Robbie.”
I tried to keep a straight face, even though it hurt to hear. He had a point. We didn’t know just how far Livingstone’s reach over me extended.
Gordo stepped in, though he sounded unsure. “We’ll shore him up as best we can. Patrice and Aileen are coming back to Green Creek with as many wolves and witches as they can. I can’t make any promises, but we might be able to keep my father from triggering him.”
That wasn’t the ringing endorsement I’d been hoping for.
“And he’ll be with me,” Kelly said fiercely. “I won’t let Livingstone anywhere near him.”
“That won’t matter if he gets to you again,” Joe argued. “Kelly, I love you so goddamn much. All of you. I don’t want to risk losing you. I can’t. What if Livingstone does get to Robbie? What if he forces him to turn on you? What do you think that would do to him?”
“Everything is a risk,” Elizabeth said quietly. “All that we do. And yet we do it anyway, knowing it’s for the greater good.”
And Joe said, “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you’d all take this chance.” His chest was heaving. “We… we’re so close to ending this. And you’re all getting hung up on this one detail. This one thing.”
And on and on it went, spinning in dizzying circles.
They were talking around me. Talking for me as if I wasn’t even there. I turned and left the room, struggling to breathe.
The timber wolf followed.
Gavin.
I’d barely stepped off the porch when I heard something behind me. I glanc
ed over my shoulder to see him coming down the stairs, trotting toward me.
I waited until he was next to me before continuing on.
It felt strange. Talking to the wolf without knowing if he could understand me. Ox said he was an enigma, that trying to connect with him through pack bonds wasn’t unlike what was going on with me. There was an empty space, a void. He was an Omega, but Ox didn’t have control over him as he did the others. And yet he didn’t seem to be feral, not completely. There was a spark of intelligence in his eyes, but that didn’t mean he knew what we were saying. What I was saying.
And there was something weirdly cathartic about it.
“And Carter’s pissed off too,” I said as we walked. “Though I don’t think he knows why, exactly. He’s good, Carter. And brave. Smart. But not about this. How the hell can he not see what’s right in front of him?”
The wolf snorted, and I took it for what it was.
“Did you know? About him? About Gordo? Before you came here?”