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“Oh yeah? Who else, then?”
“Gunner,” she murmured.
Lucas huffed a sigh and cracked his neck to one side, then the other. “Gunner’s problems aren’t my concern.”
“She did it to him,” Ma said. “What happened to you? It happened to him. Cadence did it.”
He stared at the woods, immersed in a hundred flashbacks he hated. Why? Because most of them were good, and fought with the bad he remembered.
“Good,” he growled. “He fuckin’ deserved it.”
“Can’t hate him forever,” Ma said, still resting her head against his shoulder.
“Watch me.”
“Hate is a poison. It’ll take everything from you, and for no reason. You know what is empowering?”
“Ma,” he growled.
“No, seriously. Do you know what is empowering?”
“Forgiveness,” he guessed.
“Forgiveness,” she repeated softly.
“I have a life,” he murmured. “One you should be proud of.”
“And I am. Can you blame me for wanting you to be closer to home though? This is what a mother does. She raises a child, she watches him grow and obsesses with his progress. Her entire life revolves around him and then one day, he is eighteen and he leaves. He finds his independence and builds a life, and the mother is left to remember, and to hope that one day her child will make his way home to her. You were supposed to find a family group, Lucas.”
He made a clicking sound behind his teeth and shook his head. “That wasn’t a life that made sense to me. I’m not Kong. I’m not my father. I didn’t find a good mate. I found Cadence and it all fell apart and now I’m just…I’m just different.”
“Cadence wasn’t for you,” his mother said. “How many times did I tell you that?” She bumped his shoulder and lowered her voice. “How many times, my Lucas?”
He cracked his knuckles again and shook his head. “She felt big.”
“Everything feels big when you are so young. Do you know what feels bigger?”
“Forgiveness or some shit?”
Ma chuckled. “When you are old enough to understand what love truly means. When you have your life together and you aren’t looking for a mate, and she falls into your lap and you know how to take care of her because you have life experience now. Because you have experienced heartache, so your animal will be more careful next time. He will choose wisely.”
“Being around her is confusing.”
“Fair. I can’t imagine.”
“You found Dad young.”
“Not that young, my Lucas. I knew who I was. I had my career. When I accepted your father, I knew what I was getting into.”
He rolled his head back and looked at the sun, shaded by dark clouds. “I can’t be an Alpha to Cadence’s Crew.”
“It won’t be her Crew.”
“What do you mean?”
“Talk to her, Lucas. That trailer park isn’t what you think it is.”
“It looks like a rip-off of Asheland Mobile Park.”
