ŷ������

�� 3.5 stars ��

I thought of a boy with eyes of ice telling me that he loved me, that he didn’t want to leave again but he had to, he had to, his Alpha was demanding it, and he would come back for me, Gordo, you have to believe I’ll come back for you. You are my mate, I love you, I love you, I love you.

the boy who smelled of dirt and leaves and rain who had magic coursing through his blood. the wolf who followed him around everywhere... until he couldn’t anymore, and it caused a rift between everything.

“This is what I want.�� Then, “It’s another secret. Just between you and me.��
His lips twitched at that, and I knew I’d won. “I like having secrets with you.��
There was a strange twist in the pit of my stomach.

this doesn’t have my heart as much as wolfsong did, but the vibes are the same. the found family between all of them has my entire heart fr. 😭 i just wanna know though, why did it have to start with the separation time between all of them :( it just increased the angstiness in the “present�� timeline and it made me less invested in mark and gordo’s romance. 😭 gordo pissed me off with his decisions so many times, okay?? mark is precious though (sometimes 😩). i loved their cute sweet lil first love story fs (the flashbacks) but then all that shit happened and yes IT SUCKED but i didn’t love them together for one reason only. i felt like they’d both wasted so much time. i wanted more of them together, not apart. and when they finally came together, well. it just wasn’t enough. and it was their bullheadedness that caused that and ugh i felt for both of them so bad. ☹️

Here. With me. My people.
Whole and healthy and strong.
Chris said, “It’s okay.��
“Tanner said, “We can feel it too.��
Jessie said, “All of us.��
Rico said, “Right here, papi. Right here with you.��
Robbie said, “We won’t stop.��
Kelly said, “No matter what.��
Carter said, “Because that’s what pack does.��
Elizabeth said, “That’s what family is supposed to do.��
Joe said, “We fight back.��
Ox said, “And we never stop.��
Mark leaned forward and kissed me sweetly. I closed my eyes, and it was dirt and leaves and rain and he said, “I love you, I love you, I love you.��
And I believed him.
I believed all of them.
Because I was feral strong and wolf proud. There was magic coursing through my veins, singing as loud as I’d ever heard it.

i actually liked the plot in this one though (more so than in wolfsong, at least 😭) but i love wolfsong more only bc i’m a romance girly. 🤣 and see, there were very emotional moments for me (like when gordo returned mark’s stone wolf?? and then in the end when mark offered it back to him?? I ALMOST SOBBED FR.) but then mainly, i felt disconnected from the romance bc i loved how mark followed gordo everywhere around in the “past�� flashbacks but in the present? i couldn’t feel either one of them reaching out for the other. :( i felt like both of them were pushing away and yes, gordo had the reason to, yes, mark got rejected one too many times by him, i know that. but it would’ve been nice to see at least one of them fight for their connection instead of mark going with dale or whatever the fuck his name is (YES I’M SALTY ABOUT THAT OKAY 😭😭) and not even fighting for their “mate�� connection like??? even joe went away!! but he didn’t fuck other people, he stayed devoted to ox the entire time and they were each other’s, always. 🥹 it’s probably not fair to compare the both of them but fuck it. (view spoiler)[also, the fact that dale turned out to be “evil��?? and was michelle's witch? well, consider me a firm hater of anything that has to do with michelle (except my bb robbie 🥺) (hide spoiler)]

i didn’t particularly like the dale part of the book either. what right did mark have to fuck dale?? i mean yes he was salty over gordo fucking someone else and rejecting him but it was well-deserved for fucking leaving him. and instead of tryna win him back, COMMUNICATING, they wasted so much time. 🥺 it was just too much for me. i couldn’t see myself loving their romance as much. the “this isn’t over�� thing. 😭😭 i usually eat up the angst in romances, but here i felt conflicted about it bc i just wanted more. it wasn’t enough.

I had wasted time. So much time.
I took a step toward him.
He never looked away.

i just wanted to bang their heads together tbh and take back all the lost moments and just get the lost time back (bc they’re literally almost 40, ffs, and they’re losing time being dumbasses?? who knows what would've happened if mark HADN’T been bitten by that omega. they prolly would’ve never gotten together, and that’s another thing that bugs me. i love how they chose each other, but did they really? i feel like circumstances forced them into choosing each other the second time, at least from gordo's side ☹️ and i didn’t like that either. without that, i felt like they would’ve never gotten their heads out of their asses and would’ve prolly been miserable without each other forever, and that thought sucks).

We were the goddamn Bennett pack.
And our song would always be heard.

special mention to rico, chris, tanner and jessie without who this book wouldn’t be what it was. 😩🥰 and ofc MY BABIES carter, kelly & robbie (and that timber wolf who followed carter everywhere, he’s already so precious to me and I WANNA KNOW MORE OKAY. 🤣 with the way he was clinging so hard to carter and tryna protect him, i love him from that alone). and elizabeth my queen. 🥺 THE BENNETT-MATHESON (MY) PACK NEVER FAILS ME THOUGH, END OF. but also... now comes my most anticipated (softest) couple and hopefully they deliver 🥺 bc robbiekelly already have my heart, i swear. <3

moments that broke me:

(view spoiler)[A small box had been left on the pillow, wrapped with a red ribbon.
Inside was a stone wolf.
I wanted to shatter it into pieces.
Instead I touched it with the tip of my finger and began to wait for my heart to finish breaking.

ISTG WHEN HE LEFT IT BROKE ME bc i knew gordo would never again be the same 😭 bc why did they always HAVE to leave.

“We chose to fight each other until we chose to fight together. You chose me a long time ago. And now I’m choosing you back.��
Conflicting emotions battled on his face: incredulity, sadness, anger, and hope. “I don’t—��
“You broke the raven you made for me.��
His face crumpled and his shoulders shook. “I know. I know, and I will never forgive myself for—��
“Do you still have it?��
“It’s broken, Gordo, it’s on the floor and it’s broken—�� Coherency dissolved, words becoming garbled snarls.
“The stone wolf. The one you gave me a long time ago. And the one I gave back. Do you still have it?��
He looked up at me, eyes wet and wild. “I�� yeah. Yes.�� His chest hitched. “I still have it. It hurts, Gordo. It hurts.��
“You’re going to give it to me, okay? When all this is done, I’m going to ask that you give it back to me. And if you think that’s all right, if you think that’s the right thing to do, I promise you I’m going to take care of it for the rest of our days.��

the moment gordo chose mark right back 🥹🫶 it shattered me fr. (hide spoiler)]

story/plot/side characters/pack-wise rating: 4 stars
romance-wise rating: 3 stars