“And if he comes back? Or anyone comes? Omegas looking for territory. People like Marie. Or whatever else is out there that none of you have told me about.”
“There will be… protections in place,” Gordo said. I didn’t look back at him, never taking my eyes off Joe.
“Like there were when your father came,” I said. Low blow again, but necessary.
“I’m better prepared this time,” Gordo said, “now that I know. Richard won’t be able to return to Green Creek. Or my father. Or Osmond.”
“But others can.”
“They won’t,” Joe said, sounding less confident than he should, especially if he was trying to sound convincing.
The mask slipped. “How could you know that? You won’t even be here.”
Joe flinched.
“Just so I understand,” I said. “My mother died. Your father died. You took his place. And your first act as Alpha is to divide your pack so you can have revenge.”
Joe’s eyes bled red again. “You’re right,” he said coolly. “I am the Alpha. And I will do what I think is right. You may not agree with me, Ox, but you will respect my decision because I made it.”
“That’s not how that works,” I said, even though a large part of me was demanding I bare my throat in deference. “Just because you’re who you are now doesn’t mean I’ll blindly follow you. Your father understood that. I don’t think you do.”
His claws gouged the wood on the desk as he growled deeply.
Carter and Kelly whimpered, eyes darting between us.
Elizabeth was pale.
Even Mark looked worried.
Gordo, well. Fuck him.
“What if he hurts someone else?” Joe asked, as he regained control. “What if he tries to take away someone else’s family? Do you think I could let myself live with that? He hurts people, Ox. And he does it because he can. I can’t let that happen anymore.”
“Then we all go,” I said. “If you’re going, then you take the rest of us.”
He shook his head. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to risk my mom. And we can’t leave the territory unprotected.”
I bit back the need to point out that they’d left Green Creek for yea
rs and nothing had happened. “Fine,” I said. “Then Carter can stay. Or Kelly. Mark is already here. But I’m going with you.”
“No,” Joe said.
“Why not?”
“Because I said so.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“Really?” Joe said, sounding furious. “You want to know why, Ox? Because I just lost my father and I am broken because of it. Losing him hurts more than anything I’ve ever felt before. But losing you? Ox, if anything happened to you, it would kill me. There is no point for me if you’re not here. So no. You’re not going. You’re going to stay here because I love you more than anything in this goddamn world and I don’t fucking care if you’re pissed. I don’t care if you hate me because of it. As long as I know you’re safe, then that’s all that matters. That’s why, you bastard.”
I wanted nothing more than to tell him the same.
But I pushed. Because this wasn’t right. “You can’t use your feelings for me to keep me here, Joe. That’s not how this works. I’m not going to stand aside just so you can—”