Page 63 of A Wolf's Wound
“Only if you keep us up to date, something you haven’t been great at.”
“I knew you were still pissed about that!”
“You’re right!”
“Okay, fine!I fucked up and I should have told you guys sooner.Happy now that I admitted it?”
“Oh, yeah, thrilled,” Gavin says sarcastically.
“So okay, the pack will know.The pack will know every damn thing.”
“And no, I’m still not going to sign off on this crazy idea!”Gavin says.“I don’t care if you skywrite ‘I’m Provoking You’ over Stonehaven to keep everyone in the goddamn loop.I don’t like this idea, Ryder.”
“Yeah, you’ve made that clear.But if I can pull this person into the open and the pack can trap him, we’redonewith all of this, Gavin.Don’t you want that?”
“Don’t you ever question my loyalty to our pack,” Gavin says hotly.
“I wasn’t doing that!”
“Not explicitly, but with all of your talk about finishing this quickly as opposed to finishing it smartly, that’s exactly what you’re doing.”
“No, that’s what you’re hearing,” I shoot back.“And hey, if that’s because you feel guilty that we haven’t found this person yet, that’s all you.”
“I don’t feel guilty about anything,” Gavin growls.“I haven’t been withholding information.I haven’t been receiving mysterious notes that point to something I did as the cause of all of this.”
Stung, I step back.“That’s a low blow, Gavin.”
“So is implying that I don’t care, Ryder.I am the alpha of this pack!How dare you question my loyalty and commitment?”
“And I’m the beta!How do you think it feels to know I have to follow your lead when, yeah, my mistake is killing people!”
“Maybe you should have thought of that back when you were out drinking every night and fighting anyone who looked at you funny!”
“You think I haven’t thought of that?That I haven’t been blaming myself every minute since I got that first fucking note?”I cry, my hands clenching into fists.
“I don’t care what you’ve been thinking about!”Gavin yells back, his hands also balled up.“This ismypack you’re fucking with, Ryder.You are all my responsibility, and I can’t keep any of you safe right now.Or anyone else!Do you know how frustrating that is?”
“I have some idea,” I spit out, advancing toward Gavin until I’m close enough to smell his sweat.“Because you might be taking on responsibility for the pack, and yeah, I’m sure that’s tough.I feel for you, brother.Because I’m taking on responsibility for Hannah.”
“That’s hardly the same,” Gavin snarls.“You haven’t even known her a month.You barely know her.I have my son to protect, Ryder.My blood.”
“I know Hannah well enough,” I hiss.“I know that I need to protect her just as fiercely as you need to protect Cody.”
“If you actually believe that, then act like it,” Gavin says.“Don’t rush out there with some idiotic plan about luring this beast out into the open.Don’t provoke a killer.They can’t be reasoned with.”
“I’m not planning on reasoning with him.I’m planning on killing him.”
“Be careful,” Gavin warns.“Don’t take the idea of killing someone lightly.”
“Whoever this is, I hate him,” I say flatly.“I’ve seen what he’s done.I would enjoy killing him the exact same way he’s killed so many others.”
“Don’t go down that path, brother,” Gavin says, his voice softening a little.“You kill someone, you can never take that back.”
“I know that.”I shake my head, remembering the last body that I saw, the one with the note near it.That fucking taunting note.“This isn’t something I’d ever want to take back.I’d never regret killing this bastard.”
“Are you sure?”a voice behind me asks.I whirl around and see Hannah standing there, her face stricken.I wonder how long she’s been there and how much of our conversation she heard.
“Would you really kill someone, Ryder?”she asks with fear in her eyes.
