Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It took us two days to get back. The bike we'd found died at the base of the mountain road that led to the pack. We walked back into the Arkansas pack on foot, probably looking like we'd just escaped with our lives. We had. We'd changed our clothes, cleaned off in a river, but nothing about us looked the same. I definitely wasn't the same, and the closer you looked, the more you could feel it. I could feel the change pulsing through me, changing me.

But something about the changes had been freeing. All my confusion—the debate on what to do, where to go—had disappeared. This was Kicks' home. If I left, so would he. I wasn't doing that to him, and screw anyone who thought I should. I didn't care what the pack thought of me anymore. The only thing that mattered was Kicks. This was where he needed to be. The people here loved him, and he loved them. And it wasn't just Kicks. Charlie would have a good life here if Kicks was the alpha, even if I became something beyond recognition. They deserved to have this place.

As we walked into the community, people came out of their homes and buildings. There was a mixture of expressions upon their faces, from smiles, as they saw Kicks, to fear, as they saw me. Some rushed forward. Some hung back, skeptical because I was beside him.

Evangeline rushed over to us, giving Kicks a fierce hug.

"How are you two?" she said.

"We're good," Kicks said.

"We heard some crazy stories," Crackers said, joining us.

"They're probably all true," I said.

"Wow, badass." Crackers nodded.

Kicks glanced at me. I'd given him the broad strokes on the trip home. I had a feeling he'd be getting a more embellished version soon.

Death had wanted the story to spread, and it looked like it was moving faster than the plague in the Middle Ages.

"You want to go get washed up?" Kicks asked, giving me an out to go tuck myself away in the cabin.

"No. I need to say something first, and I want to do it now."

He knew that the last thing I'd ever wanted to do in the past was address the pack. "Should we talk about this first?"

"No." It wouldn't change anything, so I was doing this now.

Both of us were dead on our feet, but I felt surer of this than anything I'd done in a year. I walked over to one of the picnic tables and called out, "I need your attention."

It didn't take long to get it, since most of them hadn't stopped staring at us since we walked in. Still, I waited until every last set of eyes were focused on me because I was only going to say this once. If they didn't hear it, that was their problem.

"I'm sure all of you here want to know what's going on, where we've been. Some of you have probably already heard some gossip."

I was pretty sure anyone with a satellite phone had called everyone they could after the bloodbath at Dirkin's. From some of the evasive looks, it was clear they'd heard.

"This is Kicks' home. He grew up here. You're his pack, and that runs deep for an alpha, especially one such as him. He didn't want to leave here, ever, and I know you didn't want him to go. The same can't be said for me. At least some of you want me gone." There were no denials from the hushed crowd. "Well, I've got bad news for you, because I'm not going anywhere. If this is where Kicks wants to be, I'll be staying as well."

I let that sink in, waiting to see if there was a revolt. When the crowd didn't seem to go wild, I continued. "If your intentions toward me and my family are pure, we won't have a problem. If you're okay with humans, that bodes well for you. If you don't like me or Charlie, if you don't like humans, come and find me. It'll be easy, because I won't be hiding. Odds are, you won't live long enough to cause me a problem. On the other end of the spectrum, if your intent is good, we'll be fine. Just know this place is going to be my son's home and I will protect it with my life."

The crowd looked stunned. I could see Evangeline and Crackers in the back, looking at each other and then nodding, as if they could live with my terms.

I'd turned to climb off the table when a lone voice in the crowd called, "Wait."

I turned out of curiosity. It didn't matter what they wanted or what they thought of me anymore. I'd made my choices, and I was good with them.

A girl stepped forward. I'd seen her before, but she'd never spoken to me, always seeming to leave a buffer between us.

I waited for her to speak, not bothering to soften my expression. I no longer cared enough.

"Is it true that they poisoned Kicks? That they threw him in a hole to die?" Her eyes were large, as if she couldn't believe what she'd heard.

"Yes. That's exactly what shifters did to him." They might not have been of the same pack, but they were shifters. They weren't other , like me. For so long I'd been treated as less than because they could shift. Well, there was her kind in action. Let her claim them.

"And you saved him?" she said, not reacting or smarting from the barb I'd thrown her way.

I scanned the rest of the crowd, and no one seemed insulted by my words, at least not outwardly.

"Yes. In a manner of speaking, I did." It felt strange to claim that deed when it had truly been Death's doing, but try explaining that to this crowd. It was easier to just own it. And after all, I'd be paying the price for it. Why shouldn't I take credit?

An older woman, one I remembered for her sharp looks, stepped forward. This was probably where the witch hunt would start. It would end quickly, because I wasn't going anywhere, not right away, not until it was time, and good luck to anyone who thought they could make me.

"There's a rumor that some among our kind had a hand in Death Day. Is that true?" Her voice held a wobble, as if the truth truly rattled her to her core.

It didn't make me soften to her at all.

"If by ‘a hand,' you mean ‘orchestrated the death of most of my kind'? Then yes. That's true as well." I had a lot more to add on that if she pushed the subject. Her kind, which she'd thought so superior, had nearly wiped out my race and then looked down upon me. At this point, I was hoping she'd give me an excuse to lay into her further.

She didn't. She dropped her head, nodding and then mumbling something.

"What did you say?" I asked.

Kicks, who'd been standing silently beside the table, reached over and grabbed my hand. "She apologized," he said.

I'd heard him clearly but didn't believe the words he'd said. "What?"

"I'm sorry," the woman said loudly.

I turned to see her looking at me with an open expression that looked genuine.

Now I was speechless.

"I judged you as unworthy," she said. "I thought you were a plague on our pack, and I was wrong. You were purging the evil from our ranks, strengthening us."

I still couldn't seem to find my words as Kicks squeezed my hand. I ran my eyes over the rest of the pack. As if they understood my shock, several of them nodded, and there were murmurs of thanks through the group.

"Thank you for returning to us," another woman said.

There were nods and more murmurs of thanks.

I nodded back, still dumbfounded. I hadn't known what to expect, but this wasn't it.

I turned, and Kicks lifted me off the table. He took my hand, leading me toward the cabin.

He shut the door and then leaned against it, staring at me.

"Did you mean all that?" he asked.

"Every word. This is your home, and I don't want you to lose that." If I still had one, I'd be holding on for dear life.

"Every time I think I can't be more amazed by you, I am."

He stared at me as if I were truly something phenomenal. I dropped my gaze to the floor.

"What?" he said. "You just stared down a pack you used to be afraid to walk among, but you can't face a couple compliments?"

"I'm not amazing. I'm just doing what has to be done," I said.

I didn't want to be cold to him. I had to be. We both knew what was coming, and his joking wouldn't make it easier in the end.

"If you don't mind, I could use a few minutes," I said, walking toward the bedroom.

He stayed there, leaning against the door, his disappointment so thick it nearly broke me. As brave as he thought I was, I rushed to the bedroom and shut the door so I didn't break in front of him.