Page 29 of Ethan
He smirked. “Hey, you’re learning.”
After dinner, I headed back to my room, my limbs pleasantly sore from the training earlier and my stomach full.
I showered, then flopped onto my bed in just sweats, hair still damp, and exhaled into the silence. It was just starting to get dark outside when my phone lit up with an incoming call.
Carter. I groaned but answered anyway.
“What now?” I demanded.
“Nice greeting, baby brother,” Carter said, deadpan. “Heard you picked a fight with a pack of wild wolves and had to get rescued.”
I rolled my eyes and flopped onto my back. “News travels fast.”
“When it involves you, it always does,” Carter said.
I rubbed a hand over my face. “Look, I’m fine. I didn’t die. Maurice and Griffin handled it.”
“Dean.”
There was a pause.
“You don’t have to force yourself to stay there, you know,” Carter said quietly. “There’s still a place for you in Thornebane. We could work things out. Together.”
I stared at the ceiling.
“My wolf still won’t acknowledge you as alpha,” I said. “It’s not personal. It’s just… instinct.”
“That’s the problem,” Carter said. “If I didn’t give a damn, I’d let it go. But you’re my brother. And it’s killing me that you think you’re better off away from me.”
“It’s not about what I think,” I said, voice hoarse. “It’s about what keeps the pack stable. What keeps you safe. If I stayed, I’d divide it.”
Silence hummed over the line.
“I agreed to come to Pecan Pines because I wanted to help. But also because…” I hesitated, then exhaled slowly. “Because I think I have a reason to stay now.”
More silence.
Then Carter’s voice turned sly. “Oh? And does this reason have a name?”
I didn’t respond.
“I knew it,” he said, triumphant. “You met someone.”
“Carter…”
“Is it that healer? The one you mentioned before?” Carter asked excitedly.
“Would you calm down?” I demanded, worried the walls were thin and my next door neighbour might hear.
“I won’t! I’m emotionally invested now,” Carter said.
I groaned into the phone. “I don’t know exactly what this is yet, but I know he’s important.”
Carter was quiet for a beat. Then, “You’re serious.”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “I am.”
“I didn’t think I’d see the day,” Carter remarked.
