Page 107 of Tracking Wolfe

Jude didn’t bother smacking him again, just let go of his hand and crossed his arms.

“He said to meet him at home, so I thought San Francisco. But now…” I smiled slightly as the conversation from my hike with Wolfe came back to me. His favorite place on Earth. The place he could breathe, the place that had always felt like home to him, wasn’t California. “He’s in Legacy.”

“You’re sure?” Jude asked.

Derek’s eyes bugged out. “If he’s missing again, Trace⁠—”

I shook my head, suddenly feeling the loosening of my muscles as my body relaxed into the seat. “He’s not missing. He’s exactly where he wants to be.”

The two of them stared at me for a few moments before turning to look at each other and exchanging some of that mysterious couple-speak that happened without actual words being spoken.

I imagined that would be me and Wolfe, and I couldn’t fucking wait.

This time, when Derek spoke, his voice was soft, and I could hear the vulnerability in it. “Is he happy?”

I thought back to the note he’d left. The way he’d claimed me fully, while leaving to manage his business unapologetically.

“I think he’s going to be.” I glanced out the window to the vast sea of white clouds before looking back at both of them. “And I plan to make sure of it.”

The edge of Derek’s mouth turned up. “Well. I guess that’s that, then.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

Jude’s face broke out in a knowing grin, his eyes still on me. “He means, we’re very, very happy our son chose you, Trace. Also, hurt him and die.”

I snorted, the sound coming out like a half sob. “You’re… you’re okay with this? I waited to tell you on an airplane so you weren’t carrying.”

It was a joke. Derek was allowed to bring a weapon on his own plane. But Jude’s laughter broke the remaining ice between us, and Derek even chuckled.

“Were you really that worried?” Derek asked, standing so he could pull me up into a hug. “You looked like you were going to shit your pants. I thought I was your best friend. Surely I deserve more credit than that.”

It wasn’t until he put his big arms around me that I realized how relieved I was. My entire body shook with the adrenaline crash, and tears spilled from my eyes. “Fuck,” I said into the side of his head.

“I love you,” he said gruffly. “You’re my fucking brother.”

He pulled back but kept his hands on my shoulders. “Though maybe I should find another way to say that if you’re gonna be fucking my son.”

Jude groaned, and I shoved Derek back into his seat with my own noise of disgust.

Derek only laughed. “What? I can’t make jokes? Too soon?”

“Fuck off,” I said.

“Gross,” Jude added.

I met Derek’s eye. “I love you, too. I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Never,” he said fiercely. “I trust you with my life. That includes my family.”

His words healed something in me I hadn’t even known was broken. It took me a few minutes to regain my composure, and it didn’t help when Jude leaned forward to pull me into his own hug.

“You’re a good man, Trace. You are everything I want for my son.”

I muttered my thanks and tried to keep from blubbering the rest of the way to Montana.

When the plane landed, I wanted to head straight to my cabin to see if Wolfe was there.

Unfortunately, Derek and Jude had other plans for me first.