Heartsong (Green Creek 3)

The people of Caswell, Maine, all bared their necks to him.

His eyes filled with fire again, and when he howled, I knew things would never be the same.

In the ruins of the compound, we howled with him.

Joseph Bennett.

The Alpha of all.

heartsong

On a normal day toward the end of September, I knew it was time.

Or at least Gordo knew for me, and didn’t seem to have a problem telling me as much.

“You’re being fucking stupid about this,” he growled as he closed the door to his office in the garage. He pointed to the chair in front of his desk. I thought about arguing, but the look on his face made me keep my mouth shut. He wasn’t here for my shit.

I sat down, refusing to look at him.

He sighed as he sank back down into his own chair. “Kid, I don’t know why you want to drag this out.”

“Yeah, well. Who wants to remember the time they almost killed two members of their pack?”

He grunted as he scratched the stump of his arm. “It’s more than that.”

I grimaced. “That’s not—”

“What are you so scared of? Aileen and Patrice said it has to be—”

“I know what they said,” I snapped. I took off my glasses and scrubbed a hand over my face. “I just….”

“You just….”

I didn’t want to say it out loud. It sounded ridiculous even to me. But I didn’t think Gordo was going to let me out of here without saying something. And if I couldn’t talk to him about it, I probably wouldn’t ever say anything at all. I gnawed on my bottom lip before saying, “What if I don’t like the person I was?”

He blinked. “What?”

I tried to keep my frustration down. “I’ve got this… this life. I’ve made it for myself, even after everything. What if I get my memories back and everything changes? What if I don’t like who I was and who I’ll become? There’s no going back after this.” I looked at him hopefully. “Unless you could take it all away again if I—”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. I wouldn’t do that to you, kid.”

I deflated. “It’s hard.”

“I know. But you’re being a dick about it.”

“Hey!”

He sat forward, elbows on the desk. He looked grumpy as fuck, and I felt a surge of affection for him. This ridiculous man who for some reason loved me like a brother. Which, of course, I didn’t necessarily talk about out loud, given how touchy the subject of brothers was at the moment. I knew Gordo talked to Mark about Gavin, though not the specifics. Other than that, Gordo didn’t mention him at all. But I knew he was hurting, maybe almost as much as Carter was.

After the fight, Joe had decided to stay in Caswell for a while to give everyone there time to get used to him, to help them rebuild their homes and lives. He also wanted to make sure that no one was still under Livingstone’s hold. Michelle had been their Alpha. Livingstone had taken that power away from her, but he hadn’t asserted con

trol over the compound. He’d just left. He’d gotten what he wanted. Mostly.

A few of the wolves had left, not wanting anything to do with the Bennetts. Santos, the one who’d been guarding Dale and who’d gone after Alpha Wells and her pack, had been one of them. I didn’t know if he went looking for Livingstone, but he was there one day and then gone the next, without so much as a note left behind.

I had a feeling we’d see him again.

But Joe’s favor with his new pack rose when he honored Michelle Hughes with a pyre worthy of an Alpha, regardless of all that she’d done. She’d burned, and when she was nothing but smoke and ash, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I allowed myself a few tears over her, but that was all.