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“Gold.” Barren purrs. “Tell me you have good news.”
“You need to come home.” I say calmly.
“No, we can’t-“ Barren snaps furiously.
“Taylor needs the pack. Leave Jet there and come back with Acton.” I speak firmly, allowing no arguments.
Barren snarls. I close my eyes. We damaged our relationships, we damaged our trust in each other. It’s going to take time to repair it.
I growl back louder. “I know what I’m asking. But I’m telling you that we are going to lose Taylor if you guys don't get back here. He’s not well.”
I wait, the tension between us rising and falling before he yields. I don’t even need to see him, knowing all his moods and fluctuations. All his sounds, all his movements. Even on the phone.
“We’ll be there in two hours.” Barren says. I can hear the trace of a tremble in his voice.
“I’ll be waiting.”
I hang up the phone and put it in my pocket.
“Taylor, you need to sleep,” I snap when he walks past me. I grab his arm. He shakes me off, but I snatch his shoulders and shove him against the wall. He’s so not himself that he doesn’t even fight me, just sags and blinks at the floor blindly.
“I can’t, I have to-“
“No. You need to sleep. To eat.” I growl.
He shakes his head. “I’m so close.”
“Rest.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I did this.”
I blink at him. Shocked “What?”
“I did this to us. I didn’t see her for what she was. I allowed it to unfold. I wasn’t the protector you all needed.”
“Who? Scarlet?” I ask, confused.
“No! I’ve always seen Scarlet for who she was, even when I first saw her years ago, I knew she was pack!” He cries out. “No, I’m talking about Merry. I didn’t see her as a threat. I failed everyone.”
“Horse shit. We all didn’t see through her fakery.”
“But I let it, I allowed it.” Taylor throws himself at me, gripping my shoulders.
“It was a pack decision!” I shout at him. “We’re all responsible.”
He growls, but it lacks the command it normally has.
I don’t know what’s happening here. But with each day of failures, Taylor has been devolving. I press against him, wrapping my arms around him and burying my nose in his throat.
“We made decisions. Do you think I didn’t blame myself for not sensing what they were doing earlier? I got hurt, but I was there. I should have fought harder, more. I should have stopped them, died rather than let-“
Taylor lifts his arms, wrapping me tight in a hug that makes my bones creak. He buries his face in my neck, shuddering.
“Not your fault.” He whispers.
“And not yours, either.” I say back. “They were bad people, and they fooled everyone.”
“I should have told you.”
