She smiled a lot, Gordo said. And laughed loudly.
She didn’t know about witches. About wolves.
And one day she’d disappeared for a long while. When she came back, she wasn’t the same. Nothing was.
“It’s okay,” Mark said as we sat in the truck, watching Gavin and Gordo walk toward a little park with benches and a playground. The equipment was mostly empty. A few kids played on the swings and the monkey bars, their parents sipping from travel mugs as they watched. “Gordo has this.”
“I know,” I muttered, trying to resist the urge to get out of the truck and run after them. Mark took my hand in his, holding me in place. I didn’t know if I was grateful or irritated. Both, probably. “I just worry.”
“Of course you do,” Mark said. “You were too young to remember what happened here.” He pointed out the windshield toward the park. Toward the houses around it. “I came here after. I needed to see for myself. They said it was a gas main explosion. This entire block was gone. Leveled completely. It was still smoldering when I came. People were digging through the rubble.”
“Wendy was already dead.”
Mark nodded solemnly. “Livingstone was too late to save her. Gordo’s mother just… cracked.”
“How did you all not see it? How could you just let it go on? You were probably too young, but Dad? Grandad? They had to know something was wrong.”
“Maybe,” Mark said. “I know there were times they were sealed away in the office, and even though it was soundproofed back then too, I swore I could still feel the vibrations through the walls and floors as they raged at each other. But Gordo was right. His mother was a victim in all of this. As was Gavin’s mother and all the people who died here when Livingstone came.”
Gavin’s shoulders were hunched, his head bowed as Gordo took him by the elbow, leading him farther into the park.
“Why doesn’t he hate Gavin?” I asked.
Mark shrugged. “I think he did. At least at first, though maybe hate is too strong of a word. Resented? He was shocked. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to think you’re alone only to find out that someone existed who could understand.”
“Did you talk to him? I’ll be honest. I fully expected Gordo to act like an asshole if I ever found Gavin and brought him back.”
My uncle laughed. “I don’t blame you for that. He is an asshole. It’s like armor to him. You see through it eventually. But he was one of the first to put plans together to go after the both of you. He and Kelly and Joe.”
“For Gavin.”
He shook his head. “Both of you. You have to know that. Of course he would come after you. For so long he had nothing. And when we came back to Green Creek, he convinced himself he wanted nothing to do with us. I don’t blame him for that.”
“You blamed my dad.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. I guess I did. I loved your father. But our relationship was… complicated.”
“That sounds like an understatement.”
He said, “I suppose it does. But you can love someone and hate them all at the same time, so long as you don’t allow hate to rise up and smother everything else. That’s the difference between us and someone like Livingstone. I believe he truly does love Gavin. Gordo. Robbie too, in his own way. But he’s allowed his hatred to overwhelm him. It’s blinded him. Rage often does when it’s all you know.” Then, “It was Robbie who got through to Gordo about his brother.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
Mark nodded. “After we found out about Gavin, Robbie took Gordo away for a couple of hours. Gordo was fuming. When they came back, he was… resigned. Which is better than being pissed off at a feral wolf, I guess. I don’t know what they talked about, but whatever Robbie said
, Gordo listened.”
“Whoa.”
“Whoa,” Mark agreed. “That armor Gordo has, he wore it for so long that he forgot how to take it off. We had to crack it, piece by piece. And it wasn’t just me. It was all of us. We were there to remind him that he didn’t have to be alone. I loved your father, Carter. I loved him more than almost anything else in the world. Which is why I hated him too. Because it hurt me. He hurt me. I could never be an Alpha. Can you imagine what that must be like? Having to make choices like that. Ox and Joe, they’re stronger than I could ever be. It seems so thankless.”
Gavin and Gordo were on the opposite side of the park. Their heads were bowed so close together, they were almost touching. Gordo’s lips moved, and if I tried hard enough, I probably could have picked up what he was saying. But it wasn’t for me. I glanced at Mark. “He loved you too.”
Mark hummed a little under his breath. “I know. We found our way back to each other in the end. Brothers often do.” He blinked rapidly. “I just wish… I don’t know. That I had one more moment with him. To tell him I loved him. He knew. We didn’t say it much, but I tell myself he knew in the end.”
“He’s still here,” I whispered.
Mark took his hand away from mine and wrapped it around the back of my neck. He pressed his forehead against my ear. The pack bond between us vibrated. It was stronger now. “I think so too,” he said.