“I was angry—”
“You weren’t—”
“I was and I still am, Asher! I just don’t deal with anger the way you do! Fuck! I hate this place,” Roman yelled, gripping the back of his hair. “I didn’t want to come back. I didn’t want to do this. I hate that I hate my brothers, and I hate that you both hate me. I wanted normal! That’s all I ever fuckin’ wanted.”
“Well, blame that one,” Asher gritted out, jerking his chin to Gentry.
“Oh, you think I wanted to be the favored?” Gentry asked. “Really? I was left out of everything with you two. You banded together. You talk about being in the shadows, but you put me there, too, on the opposite side of the room as you two. Always talking about me like I was this spoiled little shit, like I wanted the extra attention from Dad. Like I wanted the pack! Asher, I thought you would take it. I looked up to you. I thought if I was quiet enough, you would just come in there and take it and save me from all the shit I didn’t want to do. From all the pressure. I wasn’t some prodigal son. Dad built me up that way, and so did the pack, but I wasn’t feeding it. I wasn’t reveling in it. It wasn’t some warm place to bask in. It was fucking cold and lonely. I hated it because it separated me from the two of you. I wanted to be with you. Three amigos. You wanted normal, Roman? Well, so did I! Why do you think I left when you two got kicked out of the pack? Huh? It wasn’t to chase some easy life. I went through hell when I left here. Guilt hell. Poverty hell. Lonely hell. But for me it was worth it because I was pissed that you weren’t going to be a part of the pack. And if you weren’t there, I didn’t want anything to do with it. I still don’t. Everyone preached about how it was my destiny to take over, but it isn’t. I would rather stay rogue the rest of my life than make the two of you hate me even more. As long as you two stay rogue…I stay rogue.”
Asher was shaking his head, staring at the wall, teeth gritted so hard his jaw clenched. “Not that I care about you—at all—but you need to leave town, Gentry. You and Blaire both. Now. Tonight.”
“What? No, I still have loose ends to tie up. Dad’s ashes still need to be spread. This place isn’t going to clean up itself, and you assholes have been zero help.”
“We’ll do it,” Roman said, but he was looking at Blaire with some warning look she didn’t understand.
Was she supposed to talk now? This felt like family business.
“Okay, spread the old man’s ashes.” Asher strode for the urn and hooked an arm around it as he passed, didn’t slow at all and headed straight for the back door.
“What are you doing?” Gentry yelled as he bolted after him. He and Roman nearly got stuck in the door trying to get to Asher, but that could be blamed on their shoulders, which were roughly the width of a broad side of a barn.
“Get off me,” Gentry growled, shoving Roman.
Blaire sprinted after them, but Asher was doing something really bad. He was standing ten yards into the woods and had jerked the lid off the urn.
Gentry bolted for him. “Wait, he wanted to be buried by the river.”
“He loved this place more than his family, so…” Asher began to dump a cloud of light silver ashes into the snow just as Gentry and Roman reached him.
“Fuck, Asher, stop!” Gentry yelled, grabbing for the urn. “We’re supposed to say something nice and invite Odine.”
Asher wrestled out of Gentry and Roman’s grip, spewing clouds of ash from the ceramic container.
“Oh my God,” Roman said, dropping to his knees and coughing as he speed-crawled away. “I’ve got Dad in my throat.” He gagged and started shoveling snow into his mouth and scrubbing his tongue.
“Goddammit, Asher, this isn’t the way we were supposed to do it!” Gentry yelled.
“Funerals are for the living,” Asher said, chucking the urn at a tree like a football. It exploded into a cloud of leftover ashes and shards of ceramics. “Dad would just be happy we were all here to witness it.”
“Odine wasn’t here,” Gentry yelled, stripping out of his ash-smattered jacket like it was on fire. “And she was his big secret, I don’t know…favorite fuck or something. He would’ve wanted her here!”
Wait, Odine was their late father’s…mate? He was the wolf she’d talked about losing?
Asher spat in the snow. “Well, Dad’s favorite fuck outed Blaire in front of the pack in town today. You want to scoop some of these ashes up and call her over? I don’t. Fuck her. She just killed the both of you. Unless you run.”