“There was a lot of anger involved,” Carter finally said, sitting back on the couch with a sigh. “Not to mention mindless rage, along with some bitterness, resentment, and maybe a little madness too.”
Hadley waited, letting Carter gather his thoughts. She’d learned early on in her career that silence was better at getting people to talk than questions ever were.
“My father was a Marine,” Carter said quietly. “And in an example of life being full of little ironies, I ended up in the Marines as well. Mom hated the idea and tried to talk me out of it for months, but I wouldn’t listen, sure that I was doing what my father would have wanted. I even ended up assigned to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, just like my father.”
From their earliest sessions, Hadley had noticed the way Carter always referred to his father in the past tense. She wanted to ask about that, but bit her tongue for the moment, realizing there was probably a reason he was avoiding anything related to his father’s absence in his life. He’d talk about it when he was ready.
“I loved being in the Marines,” Carter said. “My unit deployed a lot, which terrified my mom, but as a young, single guy, every day was a thrill. In 2014, my platoon was sent to Uganda as part of a crisis support deployment to deal with fallout from the South Sudan conflict. It was supposed to be an easy gig, mostly helping to evacuate the staff from the U.S. embassy along with a few American contractors.”
“But it wasn’t as easy as you thought it’d be?” Hadley asked, amazed once again at the casual way people who did dangerous jobs for a living could talk about life and death situations. Then again, perhaps that was the only way they could do those jobs.
He glanced her way with a brief smile. “Not really. One minute I’m in the back of a Land Rover with my four closest friends in the world, and the next, the entire world turned upside down. I found out later that we’d hit a large buried IED, but in that moment, all I knew was chaos and confusion.”
“And that’s what turned you into an omega werewolf?” she prompted, not really understanding where the anger, bitterness, guilt, and all the other stuff he’d mentioned earlier came into the picture.
He shook his head. “Strangely enough, no. Everyone in the vehicle died, except for me. I came out of that explosion with little more than a twisted knee and two ruptured ear drums. But I also ended up with a whole gut full of those negative emotions I told you about.”
Hadley considered pointing out that what he was describing was survivor’s guilt but decided now wasn’t the time. Instead, she reached out and took his hand, squeezing gently as everything started to make sense.
“Regardless, while I was home on medical leave recovering from my injuries, pissed at the entire world and not really understanding why, I ended up running into a burning building to help save some people,” Carter said. “I’d like to say I did it for the best of reasons but considering that I came out of it as an omega werewolf, I guess that’d be a lie. I went in there hoping I wouldn’t come out. But I did. Of course, the Marines had no way of knowing about my newfound healing abilities, so when they heard I’d been badly burned, they gave me a medical discharge. Two years later, Gage tracked me down and convinced me to join his pack. He didn’t even care that I was an omega. He was only interested in helping me get my head screwed back on straight—where it stayed until recently.”
Sure that he wouldn’t welcome questions about his father, Hadley instead focused on the family member he had mentioned.
“How’s your mother these days?” she asked casually. “You said that she hated you going in the Marines. She must have been thrilled when you got out.”
He snorted. “She wasn’t too happy about why I got out, but yeah, she was happy. Then I became a SWAT cop, which freaked her out all over again. She still lives in North Carolina near the friends she made when my father was alive. We talk sometimes, but it seems like there’s always this elephant in the room that we both ignore. Probably because I lie about how dangerous my job is while she acts like she believes me. Truthfully, it’s kind of awkward.”
“Does she know that you’re a werewolf?” Hadley asked, feeling like she already knew the answer but knowing it would be rude to assume.
Carter gave her a look. “Did you or Gideon ever tell your adoptive parents that he was a werewolf?”
Hadley grimaced. “Touché. But wouldn’t your mom worry less about you being hurt on the job if she knew you were a werewolf?”
“No. She’s my mother. Not only would she still worry about me getting hurt on the job, but she’d also have to worry that I’m in danger because someone out there might start hunting werewolves. By not telling her, I reduce her worry by half.”
She supposed that was logical. Still, maybe someday, Carter would be able to tell his mom the truth.
Carter stood to take the dishes into the kitchen when Hadley’s phone rang, interrupting her thoughts about how different life could have been if Gideon had met Gage. Could it have turned her brother’s life around? Would he still be alive? Would he be on the Dallas SWAT Team?
“Hey, I just heard from Hale about what happened at Coffield Prison and that this guy Strickland might be after you?” Karissa said the moment Hadley thumbed the green button on her phone. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay and see if you need anything. Our place is tiny, but there’s always space on the couch if you need it.”
“I appreciate the offer more than I can put into words, but I’m staying at Carter’s apartment,” Hadley said. “He’s going to be my bodyguard until Strickland is back in prison.”
“Oh! Okay then,” Karissa said, and Hadley swore she could hear her friend smiling on the other end of the line. “In that case, why don’t you and Carter come over for dinner tomorrow night? And before you say something silly about not wanting to put me at risk, remember that I don’t have a problem with dangerous killers. They’re sort of my thing.”
Hadley leaned over and looked into the kitchen to see Carter nodding in her direction, having obviously heard the dinner invite. Grinning, she let her friend know that they’d love to have dinner with her and Hale.
“We’re looking forward to it, too,” Karissa said. “I’ll text you tomorrow with an exact time. And before you ask, you don’t need to bring anything.”
Hanging up, Hadley set her phone on the table and picked up the take-out bags, then went into the kitchen to throw them away. She leaned against the counter watching as Carter finished loading the dishwasher, yawning several times while he worked. It’d been a long day and she was still tired from getting up so early that morning.
Still, going to bed before eight o’clock seemed kind of weird, so when Carter asked if she wanted to watch some TV, she agreed. She even managed not to fall asleep, but after binging two episodes of Star Trek, Carter must have figured out she was exhausted because he suggested they call it a night.
“I know you were shook up last night, but I’m fine with sleeping on the couch if you’d rather have the bed to yourself,” he said.
Honestly, she hadn’t thought about it one way or another. But now that he brought it up, Hadley realized she’d rather have him beside her.
“I think I’d sleep better if you’re in the bed with me,” she said, then quickly added, “But only if you’re okay with it.”
