“Because I asked you,” Joe said. It was subtle, but I heard the deepening of his voice, the undercurrent of Alpha. His eyes remained blue, but it was undeniable.
“Mark,” Gavin said, and my heart lurched in my chest. “Tanner. Chris. Rico. Jessie. Bambi. Dominique. Elizabeth. She dances. She sings. I like it when she sings.”
“We all do,” Kelly whispered, and I took his hand in mine. He didn’t try to pull away, instead squeezing my fingers tightly.
“And?” Joe asked Gavin.
He shuddered like a tremor rolled through him. “Ox. Loud. Heard him. Alpha, but different.”
Joe nodded. “He is different. Alpha of the Omegas. Did you hear him above all others?”
Gavin shook his head.
“Who, then?”
He shook his head again.
“Gavin.”
“Carter,” he bit out. “Always Carter. Heart. His heart. It went—”
I said, “Thump, thump, thump.”
I could feel their eyes on me, but I only saw Gavin. He scowled. “Thump, thump, thump. Tricky heart. Makes me forget everything else.”
“Do you know why?” Joe asked gently.
“No.”
“I think you do.”
“No.”
“You want us to go away.”
“Yes.”
“To leave you here with your father.”
“Yes.”
Joe said, “Okay. We will. And we’ll take Carter away from you.”
And Gavin’s eyes filled with violet. His fangs dropped and his claws extended from his fingertips. He pushed himself off the wall, going for Joe. Before we could react, Joe sidestepped Gavin, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. Gavin struggled, but Joe didn’t let him go. He put his head next to Gavin’s, his nose near Gavin’s ear. He said, “Maybe the others can’t hear it. You’re good, Gavin. But I know when someone is lying, even if they’ve convinced themselves they believe what they’re saying.”
Gavin laid his head back on Joe’s shoulder, his throat bobbing. Joe let his arm go but didn’t move away. “It hurts. It hurts.”
“I know it does,” Joe said. “But there’s a way to make it stop. You trusted us once, I think. Even if you didn’t quite understand it, you did. You stayed with us. You lived with us. You made yourself a home. This place? It’s not where you belong. You don’t need to go this alone. You’re like Carter that way, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, thinking you’re doing the right thing. You’re not. It’ll crush you. Let me help you carry it. Let us do what we can to make it right. None of us want to leave you behind.”
Gavin looked at me, eyes still violet. I nodded at him.
He was confused. Unsure. I didn’t know what to say to convince him. We were close, I knew. So damn close.
It was Gordo who spoke next. “You trusted Thomas Bennett.”
Gavin closed his eyes. “No.”
“Okay,” Gordo allowed. “Trusted him enough to at least try to find him. That’s what Carter said, right? You went to Green Creek to look for Thomas.”