I was dizzy. I couldn’t focus. It was too much to take in. “And what about Livingstone? You really think he’s just going to let this go? He won’t. He thinks we’ve stolen from him. He’ll come for us. That barrier won’t hold him forever.”
“We know,” Ox said, a hint of a growl in his voice.
“Then… what?” I looked at all of them. “What’s the plan here? Just wait until he breaks out? Hope for the best? He could hurt people. Innocent people who have nothing to do with this. If he hurts those witches, the ones who stayed behind, then that’s on us.”
“A year,” Ox said. “You’ve been gone a year.”
I frowned at him. “I know you’re pissed, but you don’t need to keep rubbing that in my face.”
“And I’m not trying to, if you’d let me finish.”
I snapped my mouth closed.
Ox nodded. “Over the past year, Aileen and Patrice have gathered the remaining witches. They’ve gone from pack to pack, shoring up their wards. Livingstone is a wolf now. He’s lost his magic. And even though he’s not like anything we’ve ever seen, he’s still a wolf. Which means he has limitations. He’ll feel the call of the moon. And he’s an Alpha, which means he’ll want to find his pack. It’ll be a singular focus, especially if he sees this territory as his. He may draw others to him, stragglers who don’t have a pack or Omegas we couldn’t find, but he’ll learn quickly how limited those numbers are. Things have changed in your absence, Carter. While you were looking for Gavin, we were looking for you, and still preparing for the endgame.” He looked grim. “Because that’s what this is. It’ll either be him or us. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let it be him. Green Creek isn’t as it once was. We’re ready.”
“And all that’s left is for me to….” I couldn’t finish.
He moved until he stood before me, and he was all I could see. He filled my entire world as he cupped my face, eyes filling with fire. “Yes,” he said. “But not yet. I want you to heal. To know you’re home, and to see if your heart belongs to someone who needs it more than you know.”
My eyes burned as I reached up and gripped his wrists. “No pressure, right?”
He smiled. “You have a choice, Carter. And even if you don’t choose him, he’ll know that he still matters to you because you won’t let him forget it. And maybe that’ll be enough. I’ll give you as much time as I can, but it can’t go on forever. We need all of us if we can ever hope to take Livingstone out. Think hard on it. This isn’t a decision to be made lightly, and no matter what we’ve told you, it’s up to you. And Gavin.”
“He might not even want this,” I muttered. “He’s said so often enough.”
“We often say things when we’re scared,” Ox said, brushing his thumbs against my cheeks. “Things we might not mean. It’s what makes us human.”
I said, “Ox, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t know how to be good enough.”
And he said, “You already are, Carter. Can’t you see? I have faith in you. I love you, and I know he will too. How could he not? Look at you. You are my strength. And I know you can be his too. But you don’t have to carry this alone. We’ll help you. All of us.”
He hugged me then, hugged me as I fell apart. And in an office that still smelled like my father, I breathed my Alpha in.
HE WAS IN MY MOTHER’S STUDIO.
She was painting, bright strokes of green and blue. She had paint on her cheek, and her eyes glittered as she slashed the canvas.
Gavin watched my mother move. It was like she was dancing.
She said, “Today, today, today. Today feels green. There’s still some blue, but that’s life, I think. Sometimes it can be a forest. Other times it’s an ocean. But we float, don’t we? Along the surface. I always thought so, even when I was drowning. There’s a song I like. An old one.” And remarkably, she started singing. “Sometimes I float along the river, for to its surface I am bound. And there are times stones done fill my pockets, oh Lord, and it’s into this river I drown.”
He was entranced by her, swaying side to side in time with the song. His tail was curled around his legs, and his eyes were violet.
He didn’t startle when I put my hand on his back.
He looked over at me.
I looked back.
I didn’t speak.
He leaned forward, pressing his nose against my chest.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.