Page 152 of Luna: Posy 2

He's cute, Al grinned, which made me smile.

Row hummed contentedly while devouring 'sammich' after 'sammich,' then chugged his glass of milk. When he finished, he curled up half on Posy's lap and fell asleep.

By then, the four betas had arrived, and I linked them to approach slowly so the boy didn't get scared again. A tremor of shock hit the pack bond -That wasEmerson, Al informed me, as if I couldn't guess - and then the big man himself stumbled toward Row and Posy.

"Thoreau?" he whispered.

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Posy

Curled into a ball, the boy had his head on my legs, his thumb in his mouth, and his eyes fixed on mine.

I moved slowly so as not to frighten him and laid one hand on his dark chocolate curls. They were thick with grease and mats and as dirty as the rest of him.

I began to hum a little melody my mother used to sing for me, my fingers gently stroking over his bruised forehead, and the boy's purple-veined eyelids drooped lower and lower until they closed.

Poor baby. What did they do to you?

"Thoreau?"

Emerson's whisper caught me by surprise. I'd been so focused on the boy that I didn't realize the other betas had arrived.

"He said his name's Row," I said.

Emerson dropped to his knees next to me and stared at Row as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"It's short for Thoreau." Emerson sounded like he was about to burst into tears. "What happened to my baby brother?"

"Your father dropped him off and said he's your responsibility now. They brought him here in that crate," I explained. "He wouldn't come out of it at first. We fed him, then he crawled to me and laid down like this and just now fell asleep. His clothes are filthy and way too small for him, and look at how bony and bruised he is. I think they were very, very cruel to him."

"Bubba?" came a tired voice. "Bubba, I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Reau. So, so much!"

With a choked-off sob, Emerson grabbed Thoreau from me and wrapped him up in a tight hug. The boy hung limply in his arms.

"Will you kill me or will you keep me?" Reau whispered.

"What?" Emerson lifted his head to stare down at his brother's face.

"Mommy Daddy said you will kill me or keep me, and that is okay. Kill me or keep me, just don't send me back. Mommy Daddy are mean, Bubba. They give me ouchies because I'm retarded." Twisting his fists into Emerson's shirt, Thoreau began to cry. "I'm sorry I'm retarded, Bubba, but I will be a good boy if you keep me. I swear I'll be a good boy."

My hands flew to my mouth, and I stumbled back as an arrow of pain hit me right in the chest. Fortunately, Mr. Price caught me before I landed on my bum. I latched onto his forearms, my legs shaking too hard to hold me up.

Boys, are you almost here?I can't take this.I held back a sob.He's so abused and neglected, it's breaking my heart.

Cole and I are two minutes out,came Mason's clipped reply.The three musketeers about twenty. Hold on, baby.

"You are not retarded," Emerson said through clenched teeth. "That is a bad word. Don't say it ever again. And of course I'm going to keep you. You're my baby brother."

Thoreau's cries turned to sobs, and Emerson cradled him like a baby against his chest.

Angelo's here, Tyler linked me.Just got out of his truck.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw the feared Angel of Death racing toward us with a white face and panic in his eyes.

"Emerson!" he bellowed.

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