“I don’t know what she is, but we have to find out. You can’t let her leave…”
He had zero intention of letting her leave and not for Luc or some damn fool quest. “She’s not a prize at the end of a journey, Luc. She’s…”
“She’s amazing,” Luc’s knuckles whitened on the bottle. “And just like I know I need to be here, and it’s time for me to return to the pack, if you’ll have me. I know she needs to be here, too.”
Tapping his fingers against the back of the chair, he shook his head slowly. “Coming home means rejoining the pack, swearing to me—obeying me. Are you really ready for that?”
“Dude, I was ready ten years ago, but you didn’t need me then and I…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but the tips of his ears went red.
Brett raised his eyebrows. “And you…?”
After draining the water bottle, Luc crushed it. “I needed to be needed. You’ve always had it together, Brett. You’ve always been that guy. The one everyone went to—the one who took every challenge like it was going to the grocery store to grab a jug of milk. Nothing ever made you sweat. When your grandfather said he wanted to step down, you didn’t want to be Alpha then—but you did what had to be done. And you were…more. You still are.” Meeting his gaze, his best friend exhaled. “I wanted my buddy back—the dude who’d go drinking with me, but you didn’t have time for that because you had to be Big Kahuna. I didn’t fit. Not anymore.”
Shaking his head slowly, Brett scowled at him. “When you’re healed, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Does that mean I can stay?”
“Can you follow orders?”
“Not really.”
“Will you always protect the pack?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Are you going to be a pain in my ass?”
“Every chance I get.” The earnest honesty in every answer made Brett grin. He’d missed Luc.
“This means you’re my wolf, Luc. No more wandering off. No more disappearing, and I reserve the right to knock some sense into you whenever the occasion calls for it.”
Luc extended his hand. “And on my lifeblood, I will die for you and this pack. Hudson River is yours, but it’s my home.”
Clasping the hand, the world seemed to stop swinging so hard on the uncertain axis it had ridden for the last year. Finally, something had gone right. “Welcome home.”
The silence stretched between them, and he had the sense of Luc. His wolf rose, snapping and snarling, but ready to welcome home their lost packmate. Like Brett, his wolf wanted to discipline the idiot for ever leaving in the first place. But they had to get him well first.
“So…about Colby.” And the moment was over.
The day spent at SUNY involved a lot of talking to other students, and a handful of teachers. Though a Sunday in summertime, the campus had been hopping. Somehow, Colby ended the trip with a list of potential classes, a catalog, an application and the phone numbers of a half-dozen helpful individuals, including the head of the nursing program.
Gillian, it seemed, made friends wherever she went. Though her husband tended to be on the quiet side, he remained a rock steady presence throughout the whole escapade. By the time they returned to the sleepy little town, the rain had finally stopped and she got a better look at the hollow around Brett’s place. It reminded her of farm country—though the interstate didn’t seem as far away as it had when she drove through the rain, it seemed to drop them from a city feel to a country feel in minutes.
“You’re worried about something,” Gillian said, twisting in the front seat to glance back at her. Owen drove a large truck, and despite the interior comfort it seemed built for utility rather than looks.
Rubbing her thumb over the catalog, Colby shrugged. “Day before yesterday? I finished months of community service in a job, I’d actually come to enjoy. It was supposed to be the start of a new chapter.”
“You are starting one…” Gillian’s smile gentled with compassion as she motioned to the catalogs.
“Am I? Or am I just trying to recapture an old one? I blew my chance the first time because of impulsive decisions.” Chewing the inside of her lip, she glanced at the photo on the cover. Why did catalogs always feature grinning idiots on the cover? Didn’t they have assignments due? A job to juggle? Romantic woes?
“So you blew your first chance,” Owen said in a slow and deliberate tone. “Does that mean you should deny yourself the second when the opportunity presents itself?”