Page 44 of Found by the Pack

I glance at him. “You guys from around here?”

Shepard shakes his head. “No. Originally from Vermont. Moved here about nine years ago. Needed a change. These guys are from here, though.”

We’re quiet for a beat. The only sound is the rain and Gus’s occasional sigh.

“You’ve been calling out for someone,” Gabe says suddenly, eyes still on me. “Max. Is he your brother?”

My fork pauses in midair. It shakes slightly in my hand before I lower it. The weight of the name is like a rock pressed against my chest.

“No,” I say. My voice is barely there. “Max was my husband.”

The words feel foreign and heavy. I haven’t said them out loud in over a year. Not since the funeral. Not since I burned every bridge in that town.

A thick silence falls over the room.

Shepard is the one to speak first. “I’m sorry, Sadie,” he says softly. “I… I know what that’s like.”

There’s something raw in his voice. Something broken.

I glance at him again, and the air between us shifts. Different kind of grief, same kind of ache.

“I don’t really talk about him,” I say. “He died. House fire. I wasn’t home.”

“You don’t have to say more,” Boone says quickly.

But I do. Because if I don’t now, I never will.

“He was a firefighter. In Memphis. Just like…” I glance toward Gabe, then look away. “Just like you.”

I’m not sure what I expect. Anger? Disgust?

But none of them say a word.

“I stayed with the pack for a while after,” I continue. “Tried to heal. Tried to be useful. But it got…” I shake my head. “It wasn’t safe for me anymore.”

“I’m guessing the rest of the pack didn’t take it well when you left,” Gabe says.

How? How did he know that?

“Something like that,” I whisper.

“Is Scott part of said pack?” Boone asks.

My eyes snap to his. I forget they’ve seen my phone. They probably pieced things together when Shepard pulled me from the truck.

I nod slowly.

“He’s been calling?” Shepard asks.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have to deal with that alone,” Gabe says, voice low but firm. “People in this town look out for each other. If he shows up, you know where to find any one of us.”

I blink hard. My hands are trembling. Boone notices and silently hands me the Gatorade again. I take a long sip.

This is the first time I’ve spoken about Max out loud. The first time I’ve told someone about Scott since I left. And here I am, in an apartment with three men I barely know, finally breathing like the air might be safe again.

I lean back against the couch and close my eyes.