He closed his eyes.
“Why did you come back?” I asked.
“David King.”
I frowned. “What about him?”
“What was left of him was found in Idaho.”
“What was left,” I repeated.
“Pieces, Ox,” Gordo said, opening his eyes. “He was found in pieces outside Cottonwood. In a shitty Motel 6. His head was placed in the middle of the bed.”
“When?”
“A few weeks back.”
“Richard.”
“Probably. There was a message written on the wall in his blood. I saw the photos. Four words. Yet another fallen king. Joe. Well. Joe lost it. Just a bit. It had been a long time in coming. There were deaths in Washington. Nevada. California.”
“All around Oregon,” I muttered.
Gordo nodded. “David was the last. It was like Richard was taunting us. Joe. He—we headed home. After that. We needed to make sure—” He shook his head. “You need to talk to Joe. He’d tell you that—just talk to him. My turn. When did you become an Alpha?”
Not how, but when, like he knew that it was only a matter of time. “Omegas came,” I said.
“The wards.”
“Jessie was outside them. She smelled like us. Like me. They took her. Tanner, Chris, and Rico were already part of us by then. We went to the Omegas. We fought. They lost. The others, they looked to me. And since there was no one else here to lead them, I did what I had to do.”
“You always did,” he said.
“I’m not a wolf.”
“No,” he said. “But you’re something. Last question.”
So many things I needed to ask. About the last three years. About where we stood now. About the state of his mind. If he was the same Gordo he used to be. If that Gordo was dead and buried. If we could ever be what we were to each other.
But there was only one question, really.
“Am I still your tether?”
His eyes widened.
His hands shook.
His bottom lip trembled.
He took a great shuddering breath.
When he spoke, his voice was cracked and wet.
He said, “Yeah, Ox. Yeah. Of course. You always have been. Even when things got dark, even when we were hundreds of miles from home sleeping on the side of the road, yeah. Even when I was tired and didn’t think I could take another step. Even when I found places in my magic I didn’t think were possible. Yeah. You were. You are. I thought of you because you’re my home. You’re my pack too, okay? I don’t care if you’re an Alpha. I don’t care if you’re my Alpha. You’re my pack too.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
He said, “My turn. Ox. Ox. Am I still your friend? Because I don’t know if I can stand not being your friend. And your brother. Please say that I’m still your brother. Because I need you to be. I need it so bad. I don’t know what to do if you’re not. Ox, just please say I’m—”
And I put my head down on the desk and cried.
THEY FOUND us sometime later, Gordo crouched down at my side, rubbing his forehead against my shoulder, both of us sniffling and wiping our faces.
“Jesus Christ,” Tanner muttered.
“It smells like feelings in here,” Rico said. “Is that what I would say if I was a werewolf?”
“Are you guys crying all over each other?” Chris demanded. “I thought we could still be angry at him! Ox, you traitor!”
I laughed wetly. At the rate I was going, I’d never be a man like my daddy said a man should be. I didn’t think that was such a bad thing anymore.
Gordo muttered something darkly, still pressed against me, hand gripping mine. I didn’t know that I was ready to let him go just yet.
“We can still be mad at him,” Tanner said. “Even if Ox caved already.”
“Three days, alfa,” Rico said with a glare. “You lasted three days.”
“I’m still going to be mad,” Chris said.
“Twenty-five years we’ve been friends,” Tanner said.
“And you kept this shit from us,” Rico said. “Brujo.”
“You told us things were just weird sometimes,” Chris said.
“That your tattoos didn’t move,” Tanner said. “That we were just crazy.”
“Or that when you broke up with Mark, that’s all it was,” Rico said. “Just a breakup.”
“And that your father was in jail for murder,” Chris said. “Not that he had murdered people with magic.”
“In hindsight, it kind of makes sense.” Tanner frowned.
“Now that we’re saying all this out loud, I feel kind of stupid.” Rico scowled.
“Like, why did we even believe him when he disappeared on full moons sometimes?” Chris sighed.
“But we’re still mad at you,” Tanner said.
“Because you’re an asshole,” Rico said.
“The biggest asshole,” Chris said.
They crossed their arms over their chests and glared at Gordo.
“I missed you guys,” Gordo said hoarsely. “More than you could possibly know.”
“Goddammit,” Tanner said.
“Mierda,” Rico said.
“We need to hug now,” Chris said.
And they piled on top of us.
I WALKED home that night.
The stars shone overhead.
I reached the dirt road that led to the house at the end of the lane.
Joe was there.
I hadn’t seen him since the first day.
He was dressed normally now. A pair of jeans. A soft sweater.
He’d shaved the beard off. I saw the boy in him that he’d once been.
Barely, but still there.
Just… more, now.
He wasn’t the seventeen-year-old boy he’d been.
Bigger. Stronger. A man. An Alpha.
He didn’t say anything as I approached.
We were the same height now. I was sure of it.
I wondered how big his wolf was now. If he shifted and looked like his father.
I had so many questions.
But I couldn’t.
I said, “Not yet,” knowing full well that it would burn.
He flinched but didn’t speak.
I walked by him without stopping.
TWO DAYS later, Carter and Kelly kidnapped me.
Technically.
I came out of the diner after I’d finished up a sandwich for lunch. Before I could even take a step to cross the street back to the garage, a familiar SUV squealed to a stop in front of me. I barely had a chance to react before the passenger door was thrown open and two wolves glared at me.
“Get in,” Carter said.
“Or what?” I said.
“Or we’ll make you,” Kelly said.
“Really. You want to try that again?”
“Sure,” Carter said. “Get in now.”
“Before we drag your ass along,” Kelly said.
I contemplated walking away.
“Fucking werewolves,” I muttered.
I got in the SUV.
They looked surprised when they turned back to stare at me.
“Well?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
“I didn’t think that would actually work,” Carter said.