He turned away in order to save his son.
And then he just never went back.
No wonder Osmond freaked about me being human. Being courted by Joe.
/> Joe was meant to be the next great leader.
Just like he told me he would be when he was a kid.
I should have tried harder.
I should have asked more questions.
But when the fantastic reveals itself in front of you, it’s easy to go blind to all the rest.
the beast/fire and steel
THEY TOOK her on the second day, as dusk fell.
We were prepared. We were. We were.
We were.
I’ve told myself that over and over again every day since.
We were.
I swear to god. On everything I have.
We were.
But not enough. It was never enough. It would never be enough.
Mom said, “I need to go to the house. Pick up some clothes. A uniform for work tomorrow.”
I said, “I’ll go with you.”
She said, “Stay here. It’s just down the road. You’re busy as it is.”
And I was. I was training. With Thomas. Joe. The others. Osmond watched me closely. I felt like I had something to prove to him. Knowing what I was. My position. Within the pack.
With Joe.
I said, “You can’t go alone.”
Osmond said, “I’ll send two of mine along with her.”
And I said, “Okay.”
Okay.
I said okay. Like it was nothing. Like it was absolutely nothing at all.
Elizabeth and Mark were inside. Carter and Kelly were clawing and slicing at each other to my right. Gordo was checking the wards around town. Osmond was watching us move back and forth, but his eyes kept coming to me. I was something he couldn’t figure out. He was cautious. Curious. Ever since the tone in my voice had caused his Betas to tremble.
We didn’t talk about it. Or, at least, I never heard him talk about it.
I was distracted.