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Rico shook his head but didn’t speak.
It felt like enough.
That night I started back down toward the basement when Mark stopped me, his hand on my arm.
“It’s not punishment,” he said, “being down there.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“You can’t trust me. Not yet.”
He shook his head. “It’s not—come with me.”
I followed him down the stairs.
The silver was gone. Granted, no one had closed the line the night before, but still.
He knelt next to the cot and pulled my backpack out from underneath. I barely kept from grabbing it away from him. But he didn’t look inside. Instead, he handed it over.
“Let’s go.”
And then he left the basement.
The stairs creaked under him as he climbed. He paused at the top. “Robbie.”
I sighed as I followed him.
He didn’t speak as he led me through the house. Kelly and Carter were clearing the table in the kitchen. Elizabeth sat on the back porch, watching the stars come out. Ox and Joe were near, their heartbeats in sync. The others were at their own houses, and I knew Mark should have been on his way home to Gordo, but here he was, with me.
He led me to the second floor, down the hall. He stopped in front of a closed door near the end.
He said, “It’
s your old room from before you and Kelly moved to the blue house.”
I nodded, suddenly unsure. I didn’t know what to expect. The basement felt safer. For me. For them. “Are you sure it’s all right?”
“It is. I spent the day cleaning it out. After you and Kelly moved, we used it for any Omegas who came to us, the ones who needed to be close to Ox.” He grimaced. “It was a little musty, but I aired it out as best I could.”
“Maybe I should just go back down,” I said, tugging on the strap to the backpack. “Full moon is coming at the end of the week. We don’t know if anything will happen.”
“It won’t,” he said simply.
“How do you know?”
“Because I know you.” And he opened the door.
It was plain. Generic. A bed stood against one wall with a small rug at the end. There was a chest of drawers and a painting on the wall. It looked like one of Elizabeth’s. It made me ache.
Mark nodded for me to go inside.
I couldn’t move.
He said, “First steps, Robbie. It’s all about the first steps. It was Ox’s idea. Joe agreed. So did the rest of the pack.”
“Rico—”
