Page 11 of The Return
He turned, but I saw the emotions that flitted across his face—anger, annoyance, sadness.
I grabbed him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said, but I knew it wasn’t true. I could read Corey like a book. I wanted him to be in a braille edition so I could read that, but… yeah.
“We both know it’s not true, and we also know that you’re going to come clean eventually. Save us both the trouble and tell me what’s going on in your head.”
“I… had bad thoughts about you. I was pissed you up and left, and then your family did the same. I felt like I’d been thrown away by people I loved and—and—”
Now the tears came. I tugged him closer and held him.
“I’m so very sorry,” I whispered into his hair. “I think my dad handled it poorly, but he did what he felt was best. If he had known you were aware of what we were, he would have talked to you, I’m certain.”
“You can’t know that. I wasn’t part of your group, so I didn’t matter.”
Oh, fuck no. I stepped away and pulled out my phone. Dad was my first contact, and I pressed the screen, ignoring Corey’s demand to know what I was doing. “Hey, Dad.”
“How’s it going?” he asked. “Have you seen Corey?”
“I’m with him now.”
“Are you going to claim him?”
God, I wanted to. I wanted to worship his body before I took him. But I wouldn’t until everything was cleared between us.
“We have a problem,” I said, ignoring his question.
“Oh?”
“Corey knows what we are. He has known for years.”
“He what?” Dad blew out a breath. “How is that possible? We were so careful.”
“Not so much. The thing is, he kept our secret all this time, even after you took me for training. The problem is, he thought we were throwing him away, like he didn’t matter.”
“I—I never meant for him to think that. Look, put me on speaker, okay?”
I pressed another button. “Dad, you’re on speaker.”
“Corey?”
“Yes, sir?”
“I…. Look, words can’t express how badly I feel for hurting you. We never meant for you to feel like we were tossing you aside, because nothing could be further from the truth. Jonas was—is—in love with you, but his body and mind were all out of sorts, and I was afraid he’d hurt you or someone else. Please don’t be upset with Jonas for my mistake. You and your family are and always will be welcome in our pack.”
Corey swallowed hard as he rocked on his heels. “Okay.”
“No, it’s not. I messed up big-time. I didn’t know you were aware of us. It was the thought that you didn’t know that kept me from talking to you. I swear to you, I tried to do what was best for everyone, and in the end, I hurt one of the people I sought to protect.”
“Protect?” Corey’s voice rose, pitched high. “How is it protecting me by leaving me to worry for years that I’d somehow fucked up and forced my second family away from me? How in the hell do you consider that protecting me? I was inconsolable. It took me years to come to terms with thinking I wasn’t good enough for anyone. I wallowed in self-pity for the longest time, because you said not to look for Jonas and then hung up on me. And guess what? I didn’t fucking listen to you! Every goddamn day for a year, I rode my bike around town, asking people if they’d seen him or heard from him. It’s no wonder no one told me anything. You made them keep it all secret.”
My blood ran hot as Corey clenched his hands into fists. His cheeks were mottled purple.
“You fucking gutted me by taking away the most important thing in my life without doing me the courtesy of even lying about it.” He turned and rushed away, and I could hear the sob in his wake.
“Jonas, I—fuck. I’m so sorry.”
“It’ll be okay, Dad. I’ll make him understand.”
