Wolfsong (Green Creek 1)

WE LEFT Thomas’s seat at the head of the table empty.

Because it was now Joe’s.

I moved to take my seat, but Mark shook his head and pointed to where Elizabeth usually sat at the end opposite the Alpha.

Elizabeth didn’t even try to sit there, moving instead to my old seat as she spoke softly with Rico. There was no hesitation. She didn’t even look at me.

I didn’t understand what was happening, not completely.

Sure, I had the basic idea of it.

I was the mate of the Alpha.

I had a place in the pack, higher than it’d been before.

But I wasn’t a wolf.

We hadn’t yet mated.

And Joe wasn’t here.

The food was served.

Everyone waited. So I did too.

Until I realized they were waiting for me.

I looked at each of them in turn.

They held my gaze steadily.

I knew I should say something. But I’d never been very good with words.

I needed to try, though. For them. Because they needed it. And I think I did too.

I said, “We’re pack. It’s time for us to start acting like one again.”

And even though we weren’t whole (and the thought that we ever would be was a hope that I didn’t dare believe, not yet), and even though the absence of those we loved throbbed like a rotted tooth, I took the first bite.

The rest followed suit.

It wouldn’t be until later that I realized that had never happened before. That even when Thomas had been missing at dinner, we never waited for Elizabeth to eat first before we did. It was only done for an Alpha.

AT THE end of the first year, I received a message in the middle of the night.

I didn’t see it until morning.

I’m sorry, it said.

I didn’t understand.

about what

A response came almost immediately.

Failed message delivery. The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

A cold chill crawled up my spine.