In the distance, a covered wooden bridge appeared, rising up over a small creek bed. A thin crust of ice lined the edges of the creek, the water bubbling over the rocks. It was only going to get colder. Soon enough it would freeze over completely.
I stopped a few yards in front of the bridge.
I looked at the plaque fixed to the entrance.
Six words.
May our songs always be heard.
“He would have loved this,” I said quietly. “This little thing.”
Silence.
Then, “You think so?”
Joe. I nodded but didn’t turn around. Gravel crunched under their boots as they walked toward me. I rubbed my hands together to warm them.
Kelly appeared on my right, Joe on my left. They pressed against me. They each took one of my hands, holding them between their own. I was tired, but it was a good kind of tired. Not like when I was on the road, my sleep fractured by nightmares that felt too real.
“When did you know?” Kelly asked. “That we were following you.”
I laughed quietly. “Right away. You’re both loud. Always have been.”
“I told you,” Joe mumbled.
“I’m a Beta,” Kelly retorted. “You’re an Alpha. That’s all on you.”
“Oh, bullshit. You’re older than me, you should have—”
I said, “He would’ve loved it, but not necessarily about it being for him,” and they fell quiet. I looked at the words carved into the metal. “It’s like the little wolf on the sign for Green Creek. It’s a secret.”
“He did like his secrets,” Kelly said, and I winced at the bitterness in his voice. I couldn’t blame him. I’d thought the same thing time and time again. “Gavin. Ox. Gordo and his tattoos. Richard Collins. It makes you wonder what else he knew and didn’t tell us.”
“He had his reasons,” Joe said, but I didn’t think he believed his own words. “And maybe we won’t ever know what they were, but I don’t think he did it to hurt anyone.”
“Even if he didn’t mean it, it still happened,” Kelly said.
I sank to the ground. They came with me, all of us crossing our legs. Our knees bumped together, and they didn’t let go of my hands. We huddled together. Their warmth chased the worst of the chill away.
I said, “I saw him.”
Joe hung his head. “Where?”
“In the woods. Before you and Kelly showed up. I was lost. Hurting. Slipping. I don’t know if it was part of my head being fucked or… something else. But I saw him. And he told me to howl as loud as I could. And I did, because he was asking me to, and I would have done anything for him.”
“We heard you,” Kelly whispered, laying his head on my shoulder. “It was big. I felt it in my bones. I ran as fast as I could.”
“You found me.”
Joe said, “We knew we would. I don’t know if I can explain how we knew, but we did. It was… different. There. More different than any other place we’d looked. We got to the house and we smelled your blood mixed in with all those hunters, and for a moment I thought we were too late. I thought you were—” He choked. I squeezed his hand. He cleared his throat and said, “But I knew. Once I pushed the stench of blood away, I knew. We both did. Gordo too.”
“I’m sorry,” I said roughly. “For that. For everything.”
“We know,” Kelly said. “It’s in the past. I’m still mad at you, but you’re here now. That’s what’s important.”
“Truth,” I whispered. “The truth is important.”