“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “About the truck.”
Oscar’s brow knots. “Kenny—,”
But I’m gone.
Oscar
By the time we manage to do more than suck in a breath, she’s already halfway up the street, heading for the trees.
I bellow her name, fully aware that she’ll only ignore it anyway as my chest thumps in agitation. “Kennedy!”
Max and Jake take off immediately, racing after her.
Theo moves to follow, but I grab his shoulder. “Absolutely fucking not. Go home, Theo.”
He only twists, staring after her. “What the fuck did I do?”
She refused an alpha bark. I didn’t even know it was possible. And it made her nose bleed from the strain of it.
We made our mate bleed.
And her knees. Her hands.
My growl ripples. “Do not go after her.”
Theo flinches. “Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
It settles, that knowing between us. That uncomfortable back-and-forth we’ve been tossing around for more than six months, since Brett died and left our hierarchy in a mess.
I take a breath. “I claim it. And as your pack leader, I am telling you to go home. We’ll find her.”
He swallows. And then his eyes drop, lowering. “I didn’t mean to hurt her, Oz.”
If my suspicions are right, it’s going to kill him.
If I’m right.
My instincts push me to follow, to hunt her down, but I stay where I am for a few moments longer.
“You should go,” he says hoarsely. “She needs you.”
“Max and Jake are looking. They’ll be fine for a few minutes. You need me too.” And I have to fix this. Try to grab the broken, snapped threads of this fucked up family and draw them together. “I don’t think she’s the one you’re angry at. Not really.”
He draws in a breath. “God. I wanted to blame someone. And thatvoicemail.”
His voice shakes. “She held it in rather than tell me. She’d rather bleed out than tell me the truth. What did hedo, Oz?”
“We’ll find out.” He looks… shattered. I glance over at his ruined truck. “We can fix this, you know. We just need time.”
He laughs brokenly. “You really think so?”
I nod. “But I don’t think we can cut her off. She’s our mate, Theo. Be honest. Do you think you can?”
Kennedy Traylor was made for us. And I refuse to believe that fate would give us a match that was destined to fail.
“No,” he says finally. Heavily. “But I’m scared I’m going to tear her apart searching for an answer.”
