Tanner shook his head. “It’s Sunday, papi. Tradition. They’re at the house waiting for us. We only came into the shop today to get ahead on work so we can close for a couple of days. Give you a proper welcome back. Probably yell at you a little too.”
Chris grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back toward the truck. “By proper welcome, he means lying on top of you. You know how it is.”
“Being a werewolf is so weird,” Rico said. “If I’m not randomly craving hunting down some raw meat, then I’m wanting to make sure everyone I know smells like me. But I can do backflips for whatever reason, so I guess it all evens out.”
“He does them even when there’s no reason to,” Tanner whispered to me, and I wanted to hear them talk forever. “Walking into a room, walking into the garage, just… walking anywhere, really. It got old real fast. You’ll see. Maybe you can convince him to cool it. He doesn’t listen to the rest of us.”
We were stopped almost immediately, people crowding around us, smiling widely as they shook my hand or squeezed my arm. They said they were happy to see me, that it was good I was back, that it wasn’t the same without me. A few of them told me they’d taken over some of my responsibilities to the town, even though the title of mayor was mostly for show, to keep Bennetts embedded into the fabric of Green Creek.
Will, the owner of the motel on the outskirts of town, was one of the last. He was carrying, his revolver strapped to his hip. He hugged me roughly. “Good to see you, Carter,” he said. “You tell me where to shoot, and I’ll kill whatever I need to. Been training some of the guys.” He stepped back. “And by guys, I mean men and women. Jessie made sure of that. Said that women are just as good a shot as men. I thought about arguing with her, but then a couple of the girls from the diner put me to shame during target practice, so I decided it was best I let Jessie do whatever she wants. Seemed safer, anyway. I’m all about female empowerment now.”
I grinned at him. “Jessie is scary when she wants to be.”
“Don’t I know it. Now, get on home, you hear me? Your mama is waiting. You’re probably in for an earful. I’d hate to be you right now, that’s for sure. Elizabeth Bennett is not to be trifled with.”
He turned around and started waving his hands. “That’s it!” he yelled. “That’s the show, folks! Get out of the damn road and let them through. Boy’s gotta get home so they can do werewolf stuff. Let ’em hear it!”
My skin prickled when the humans tilted their heads back and howled. All of them. They’d gotten better at it. They almost sounded like wolves.
I paused when I saw Ox standing at
the passenger side of the truck. He wasn’t speaking, though the window was rolled down. Gavin’s head was bowed.
“What’s going on?” I asked Kelly. I trusted Ox, but it still made me nervous.
Kelly shook his head. “Just… being near him, I guess. Letting him know that he’s welcome. That he was always supposed to be here.” He looked at me. “Does he know that, you think?”
“He’ll learn,” I muttered. “One way or another.”
“Go easy on him, Carter.”
I blinked. “What?”
Kelly bumped his shoulder against mine. “He’s not used to this. He’s been a wolf more than he’s been human, and for a long time. He’s got to learn how to be this way again. You’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“I can do it,” I said, hating how defensive I sounded.
“I know. And he’s lucky to have someone like you. Just be gentle about stuff.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Gentle? Gentle about what?”
He sighed. “Oh boy.”
“What stuff? Kelly? Kelly!”
But he ignored me as he walked around to the driver’s side.
Ox reached in and touched Gavin’s shoulder. Gavin didn’t pull away, but it looked like he wanted to. He was radiating so much discomfort a human could have sensed it. Ox withdrew his hand. “Whenever you’re ready,” Ox said. “I’ll be here.”
Gavin nodded tightly. He lifted his head and relaxed when he saw me.
THE DIRT ROAD WAS THE SAME.
The trees were the same.
Gavin was breathing heavily. Before I could ask him what was wrong, he reached over and grabbed my hand again and pulled it into his lap.
I said, “Thump, thump, thump.”