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Noah
As soon as we get back to camp, Hetty and I are separated.
Rill drags me off to “strategize,” as he put it, and Stella immediately grabs Hetty to visit with Camilla, who delivered her baby earlier in the day.
Unhappily, I watch her being pulled in the opposite direction. My nerves simmering with quiet aggravation, I can’t help but jump in annoyance when I turn to find Rill’s ugly face staring after them.
“Send Wyatt and Pike out!” he calls after them before pulling on my arm. “C’mon.”
With an inward groan, I follow him past clusters of alphas shooting us anxious looks, and omegas murmuring behind their hands. They can likely sense the looming cloud of danger. Rill’s so edgy and excited—it’s like he’s about to jump out of his skin.
But they give us a wide berth, at least, as we make our way toward the clearing. The charred remains from last night’s fire still sit in the center of the open, circular space as we each fall on adjacent logs.
Rill doesn’t say anything right away, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, his eyes sharp and his hands clasped tight as he focuses on the ashes and burnt splinters of wood.
Watching him, I’m once again overwhelmed with irritation.
I shouldn’t be here. I still hate Rill, after all, no matter how he feels.
No, I should be with Hetty in her nest. Enjoying her body. Bonding with her. But once again, I have to sacrifice. Give up something that I want so that others can get something out of me.
“What are you pouting about over there?”
I jump at Rill’s question, trying and failing to relax my scowl. “I’m sick of this,” I grumble. “I barely got to be with Hetty.”
“Yeah, that’s bad luck, brother,” he breathes, shaking his head. “But you do what you gotta do, you know? You don’t wanna be like your sulky-ass brother, right? You want to actually make your mate proud?”
I glance up to find him watching me curiously, sizing me up. “No, I don’t want to be anything like Jason.”
To say that attempting to communicate with my brother was difficult would be an understatement.
Over and over, he declined to accompany us to camp or talk about his experience. But after much hemming and hawing, we did finally get him to tell us a bit more information about what he learned during his time in Mercy City.
“I’ll tell you, if only you’ll just go away,” he moaned miserably as Rosie rubbed his back soothingly.
And true enough, when I agreed to leave him alone forever, he filled in some details. “Before I left, I heard one of the men say that they’d have a special delivery for Goldenrod when the sun came up on September 22. They said they’d finally wipe Goldenrod from the map and put an end to the experiment.”
“You didn’t think to tell anyone when it would be? Stella or Wyatt? It sounds like you’ve seen each other a lot lately,” I demanded, swallowing my resentment.
“I honestly forgot all about it. I barely know what day it is anymore,” he grumbled. “Rosie was the one who told them the other stuff. I just remembered that date. September 22.”
“What made you feel the need to travel to Goldenrod then?” I pressed, anxious to get something out of him. Some feeling or emotion. Just something.
“Wyatt and Stella were visiting last week and said something about it being Wyatt’s birthday—September 13.” He paused and frowned. “For days, I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I went to Goldenrod in the dead of night to warn you.” He shrugged. “It felt right.”
I growled in frustration, ready to give up on him completely.
“Come with us,” Rill urged him. “Help us fight them. Get vengeance for what they’ve done to you.”
“No,” he said morosely. “I’ve done my duty; now I want to die in peace.”
“You’re not going to die, Jason,” I grit out, overwhelmingly annoyed with his pitiful attitude. “You have a mate and…” I trailed off, unable to think of anything else he had left. “You can live.”
“No,” he replied blankly. “I can’t.”
In the end, I was happy to leave him. Trying to convince him of anything outside his own wretchedness was futile.
“Hey-o!”
