Heartsong (Green Creek 3)

“Yes,” Ox said. “And we decline.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What?”

“We decline,” Ox said. He stepped toward the screen. “Can he hear me? Is he there with you? I think he is. And I think he scares you. You’ve found yourself drowning in something you thought you could control. But you can’t, Michelle. You’re already too far gone. And for that, I’m sorry. I thought… I thought once I could save you. That deep down, there was still good in you. That was a mistake, and one I won’t make again.” His eyes filled with red and violet, and I could hear him howling in my head. His voice was deep when he said, “Robert Livingstone. You took from me. You took from my pack. Show yourself.”

At first nothing happened.

I thought we had it wrong.

That he wasn’t there at all.

Then I heard him sigh from somewhere in the office, and I was hit with a wave of agony, biting and tearing, thinking of how I’d lived with him. How I’d laughed with him. How I’d loved him when he smiled at me, when he put his hand in my hair and made me believe that he wanted nothing more than to have me by his side. He had found me, taken me in, given me a home, and it was all a lie.

Robert Livingstone stepped into view. Whatever glamour he’d used to disguise his true nature was gone. All that remained was the man from the bridge, the one who’d tried to kill my pack,

the one who’d taken my mate’s wolf away from him.

Oh god, how I hated him.

And oh god, how I loved him still, knowing everything he’d done. It was a small part of me, twisted and gasping, but it was still there. I didn’t know how to turn it off. It made me feel like I was dying.

My skin crawled as he motioned with the flick of his hand for Michelle to vacate the chair, as if she were nothing but a little lapdog. It was extraordinarily disrespectful to do to an Alpha, and something I never would have thought him capable of when I’d been in Caswell. And she listened to him. She didn’t question it. She stood up quickly, as if it were the easiest thing to do.

Livingstone settled himself in her chair, hands folded on the desk in front of him. I could see flashes of Ezra in every part of him. It felt as if my vision were blurring, trying to see him for who he’d been and who he was now.

“Robbie,” Robert said, voice even as if this was a normal conversation. “I wish that we were seeing each other under different circumstances. I have so much to tell you, things you should’ve heard from me a long time ago. But time has gotten away from me.” He leaned forward. “How are you, dear? Are they treating you well? I expect they are. They always did care for you, just as I came to.”

I cowered. I hated it, but I couldn’t stop. I had a full-body twitch, and my shoulders hunched as I lowered my head. Kelly’s grip tightened on my hand, but it wasn’t enough. It would have been easier had Ezra spoken harshly, making grand proclamations about how he was going to destroy us all. Maybe that would still come, those threats, but here he was, sitting at the Alpha’s desk, and he sounded fucking hurt, like he had any right.

“Don’t,” Kelly snarled at him. “Don’t talk to him. Don’t even look at him. He’s not yours. He never was. And he’ll never be again.”

Robert simply nodded and said, “I understand. Kelly, isn’t it? How do you find being human? You may not understand this, but I know what it’s like to have something ripped from you, something important. I know more than you possibly think. I could have snuffed out the little thing you call your life. I didn’t. I showed you mercy. Could Richard Collins have said the same? Elijah?” He shook his head. “I think not. I gave you a chance.”

“Richard Collins was because of you,” Kelly retorted. “Elijah was your doing.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Really. Elijah was my doing.” He chuckled ruefully. “I’m flattered how Machiavellian you’re making me out to be, but I had nothing to do with the hunters. I wouldn’t have been so inelegant. One could argue that I was indirectly responsible, given the spread of the Omegas, but I’m offended you would think I’d be so brutish as to enact a group as unrefined as hunters.” He sat back in his chair. “Richard, on the other hand, well. When a beast is caged for so long, you can’t expect it to be as forward-thinking as one would hope. Live and learn, I suppose.”

“How dare you,” Elizabeth breathed. “How dare you think—”

“Elizabeth,” he said with a grave nod. “Do you remember what we once had? Because I do. The Bennetts and the Livingstones have a long history, one that goes farther back than even you could imagine. We’re tangled together, these little snips and snarls that connect us all. We were pack. We were harmonious. There was a synchronicity that I don’t regret. Abel Bennett was a good man. I was saddened to hear of his passing. But you managed to survive. Even after everything that’s happened to you, you survived. You flourished. In the face of everything thrown at you, you still managed to be the queen you are.”

“I am,” Elizabeth said. “And it’s my burden. I know why I do what I do. I have lost many. But I carry them with me always. And if you think fear of what could be will stop me, then you’ve made yet another mistake.”

“Of what could be?” Livingstone asked. “Oh, my dear. This isn’t going to go how you think. What do you hope to achieve? I expect you’ll storm the compound, your misplaced indignation filling you with justification for your cause. There will be casualties, you’ll all tell yourselves, but it’ll be for the greater good. You’ll wash the blood on your hands away as if it’s nothing, and then the future will be bright and shining as the little prince becomes a king. Is that right? Am I close? Please. Tell me.”

“Yes,” Joe said bluntly. “That’s exactly it.”

Livingstone nodded. “As I expected. Foolish, but then you’re animals, so I’m not surprised. You think with fang and claw but neglect to consider that I care not for the fate of wolves. I only want—”

“What you did to Alpha Wells says otherwise,” Ox said, rage simmering just underneath the surface. “I was with her when she took her last breath. Don’t tell us you don’t care what happens to the wolves, especially since everything that has happened to them falls upon you.”

Livingstone looked incredulous. “Everything? Alpha Matheson, how can you be so blind? Oh, the stories I’ve heard about the boy who ran with wolves. The human Alpha who led a fractured pack. The boy who became a man even though his daddy thought he would amount to nothing. Look at you now. The Alpha of the Omegas. I am fascinated by you, by everything that you are. And yet you stand where you are, spouting the things you do as if you think I’m some kind of monster. I know mercy. I know kindness. I know love. Isn’t that right, Robbie? Tell them how much I love you. I kept you safe. I gave you a home. And it took over a year for your pack to remember they give a damn about you. Why is that? Why didn’t they love you enough to—”

“They did,” I said through gritted teeth. “They do.”

He shook his head sadly. “I wish I could believe that, but I know better. When I found you, you didn’t fight me. You wanted it. You were begging me to take you away, and how could I ignore such desperate pleas? I couldn’t. Though I should have realized just how much of a hold the Bennett pack had over you. How deep their claws had sunk into your flesh.”

“I didn’t give in,” I said weakly. “I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t do that.” I could feel the others looking at me, but I only had eyes for the man on the screen.