Page 11 of Wolf’s Providence (The Shadowridge Peak #3)

TEN

Caleb

I sat in the chair, in the corner of the room, saying nothing as Willow made her case to leave Blackridge Peak to Doc.

“I want to go back home,” she told him, her voice calm but firm. She stood a few feet away from me, arms crossed, her gaze steady on Doc, purposely not looking my way. Her whole stance was daring him to argue with her, and I hid my smile behind my hand as I knew that he would.

“No.”

Willow’s eyebrows shot up, glancing at me once, but I said nothing, and she looked back at Doc. “What do you mean no?” She took a deep breath. “You can’t just say no.” Her tone was getting sharper. “This is my life, it’s my decision.”

Doc shot me a look, but I remained silent. Did he think I was going to go against her wishes? Had he learned nothing? This was Basic Female 101. I wasn’t going to say a word.

I watched him try to temper his words. “You’re not ready, Willow.” He tried so hard to sound patient. I wondered if he knew he was failing? “You’re still learning how to deal with all…” He waved his hand towards me. “This.”

I was a this ? Interesting.

“I feel fine.”

My stubborn, determined girl. My lips twitched and I knew Doc saw it.

“Is this your idea?” he accused me, his frown of disapproval clear.

“This is my choice,” Willow ground out, refusing to back down. “It has nothing to do with Caleb.”

It had everything to do with me, and we all knew it.

Doc pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath. “You don’t know what’s out there. You don’t know if the shifters after you are still after you. You don’t know who was targeting you.” He inhaled deeply, calming himself. “You don’t even know why . Until we figure that out, you can’t just go running back there. It’s not safe.”

“I’m not running,” Willow snapped. “I’m trying to get my life back on track. I can’t stay in your bunker forever, hiding away like some, like some, damsel . This is my life, Doc.”

“You’re being naive,” Doc snapped back, equally as frustrated as she seemed to be.

I saw her reaction to his words, and damn, I wished I had popcorn. Shit was about to go down.

“I’m being naive ?”

Yup, she was going to lose it.

“You think I don’t know that the danger is still out there?” Her voice was getting higher, her eyes narrowed in anger. “You think I’m running away? You think I’m being reckless?” She didn’t give him the chance to respond, her hands on her hips. “Think what you like, but I can’t go on like this. I have a business. A life. Responsibilities. I appreciate everything you have done for me, but, Doc? Me and this room, it can’t go on forever.”

Doc’s teeth ground together, and I watched as he struggled to find the words. “I’ve known you a few months, and of that few, you have been in the hospital twice .”

I wondered how much control it took for him not to look at me as he spoke.

“You are not safe, Willow,” he added.

I couldn’t call him a liar, every word was true, and the unspoken allegation that this was my fault was probably a correct one. Doc’s words didn’t bother me, but they bothered my girl.

“Is anyone ever safe?” she demanded. “I’m not helpless,” she added, finally looking at me. “This isn’t his fault,” she said emphatically, glancing at me before turning back to Doc and playing her trump card. “And Caleb is coming with me.”

She looked at me with such faith that my smile broke free.

“Well then, that’s alright, then,” Doc spat. “Are we forgetting that Caleb is the reason you were in that bed this time?”

He went there. Interesting. I may need to look into his relationship with Willow after all.

“I know you want to protect me,” Willow said, her voice soft now. “And you have, Doc, and you have done so much for me, and I thank you for that.” She inhaled deeply. “But I can’t live in this world of yours. I can’t constantly look over my shoulder, waiting for the next attack. I need normal. I need to go home.”

“And Caleb brings you normal?”

I’d had enough. “You sound jealous,” I mused, speaking for the first time. “Is there more to this than you being a healthcare provider?”

“A healthcare provider?” he snapped angrily. “I’m her doctor .”

“And she’s no longer sick,” I reminded him plainly. “Willow is healed, she’s not a shifter, she is not pack, and she wants to go home. She told you as a courtesy, but you can’t stop her.”

“And you think you can protect her?”

“She wants to go back, and I’m going with her,” I told him.

His eyes flicked between the two of us, the tension between us thickening as he processed what she wanted.

“I need to talk to the alpha,” he said, heading for the door.

“You’re talking to him,” I reminded him with a slow drawl. “Willow wants to leave. End of conversation.”

He stood there, fuming silently, and then he marched out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

“He’s just protective,” Willow murmured. “It’s nice that he cares.” She glanced at me, her cheeks reddening.

“You like that he cares…so much?” It was the best way to word it. Did Willow want his attention? Did she relish it?

“It’s nice to have friends .” She emphasized the word friends , and I felt the knot inside me loosen. “It reminds me that I’m normal.”

Normal. I almost laughed at her. There was no normal for Willow anymore, not after everything that had happened. And definitely not with her tied to me. But I understood what she was striving to return to. The feeling of normalcy was the reason she wanted her old life back, why she wanted to go back to her store. She wanted something that didn’t feel like it was controlled by shifters or packs or, dare I say, me.

“It may have actually made him worse to tell him I was accompanying you.” I stood from the chair, stretching languidly. I could feel her eyes traveling over my body, thinking I wasn’t aware of her appraisal. “You’re drooling,” I teased lightly, watching her eyes snap to mine, her cheeks flaming at being caught.

“Ass.” Turning away from me, she pretended to busy herself straightening her bed. “You know, you coming with me,” she began, “it’s not really giving me space.”

“Mm-hmm, space means nothing to our connection. I may as well be close at hand.” I watched her hands still as she listened. “Doc was right, you’re still being hunted, Willow. I know you want to go home, but going back without me? Not an option.”

“I’ll be careful?—”

“I know. I’ll make sure of it.”

“So, you’re going to hover over me all the time?”

I swallowed the words I wanted to say, the ones that would have told her I wasn’t hovering, I was protecting her. But they sounded hypocritical when I was the one who’d brought the most danger to her. Instead, I gave her a wicked smile, my gaze trailing slowly down her body. “I could hover over you all night long,” I told her suggestively.

“Hound,” she muttered, looking away from my heated gaze.

“Wolf,” I corrected. She wet her bottom lip, refusing to meet my eyes. “I’m not taking away your choice,” I reminded her. “But leaving you alone, it’s not an option. Not until I know who’s behind your break-ins and for putting you in the hospital.” I saw her arch her brow. “The first time,” I clarified. “Until you’re safe, I stay.”

“And if you figure it out, what happens then? What happens when I’m safe .” Her fingers clipped out the air quotes, and I hid my smile at her sass.

“I don’t have an answer for that,” I told her honestly. There was no after in my head anymore when it came to Willow. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time, okay?”

She let out a slow breath, her shoulders sagging a little. “One thing at a time,” Willow repeated. “And dare I ask…but…us? I can’t keep feeling like I’m trapped in something I don’t understand.”

“Trapped?” Her words hurt more than they were meant, I was sure. “I would never want that,” I said slowly. “I’ll give you your space, but I will not leave you.”

Her small weary smile didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s the best I’m going to get, isn’t it?”

“I’m not a miracle worker,” I said, sitting back down, trying to give her the distance she wanted.

“You miraculously healed me,” she murmured, her lips twitching, and I wondered if she knew how amazing she was. Here she was, making jokes with me, defending me in front of Doc, when I was the reason she’d almost died.

“After being the reason you needed healing to start with.”

Her frown marred her features, a reminder that things were not clear between us.

Willow leaned against the bed, her hip resting against the rail as she tried to appear casual. Her attempt failed miserably, and it accentuated how badly she failed when she crossed her arms in that stubborn way that made me want to tear my hair out and also pull her closer.

“Should we address the elephant in the room?” The challenge was clear in her eyes. She was definitely feeling feisty this evening.

“There’s an elephant?”

She shot me a look and I stopped myself from grinning at provoking her. “I need to know something.”

I suddenly didn’t like where this was going. “And what’s that?”

Her gaze flicked over me, trying to read me. “The connection between us…” She hesitated, her tongue flicking out to wet her lips. “It’s getting stronger, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “Doesn’t help when you keep distracting me with that tongue.” I didn’t hide the roughness of my voice. She needed to know how she affected me.

Willow immediately clamped her mouth shut, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Sorry.” She had nothing to apologize for. “With you so close, it’s even stronger. It’s like I can reach out and touch it.”

I nodded because I felt the same. The pull to be near her, to protect her, to just…be with her. The physical need to touch her, claim her, consume her. It was getting deeper, burrowing inside me, taking root.

“It’s the bond,” I explained after a moment, the words heavy. “We both know when I gave you my blood, it strengthened the connection, and I guess…being so close to you only makes it”—it was my turn to wet my lips as my mouth ran dry—“harder.”

Heat pooled in her eyes, and I fought back the groan as her scent permeated the room.

“I don’t think it’s just the blood,” I carried on, focusing on anything but the signals her body was giving me. “We were already attracted to each other.” I motioned between us. “This pull was there before it got more complicated.”

“You’re saying it was always going to happen?”

“I know you were in that car with me,” I murmured, seeing her flush again. “I think the blood just accelerated what we already felt.”

She didn’t say anything, but I could see the questions swirling behind her eyes. I wanted to explain more, to tell her how a bond like this worked and how it would affect us, but the truth was, I had no idea how to explain it. Because I didn’t understand it myself. Not when she was human. The things we were feeling shouldn’t be like this when she wasn’t a shifter. This was more like a mate bond, and I knew we could never be mates.

“Can we stop it?”

Fuck no . My possessiveness shocked me, and it took me a moment to control my reaction, which Willow completely misinterpreted.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she spoke quickly. “I just wondered if it was something we’re stuck with.”

Again, the words shouldn’t have hurt, but they did. The idea that she wanted to stop what was happening between us, that she didn’t want to be mine, was a blow I wasn’t prepared for. But I kept my expression neutral, not letting her see how deep her words cut.

“The bond is part of us,” I said, my voice steady. “There’s no stopping it.”

Willow frowned, her gaze moving off of mine. “So, what are you saying? We’re tied together. You and me? Like it or not?”

I knew why she would feel like that. I mean, who wanted to be tied to the man who shredded his claws into her? I couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t what she would choose, I understood. She probably felt trapped. I would too if I were in her shoes.

“I know it feels like a lot,” I said, taking a step closer to her. “But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Our connection, it’s about protection, not about controlling you. It’s something more?—”

“More how?” She looked up at me, her expression a mixture of confusion and something else, something that looked a lot like desire. “What are you saying, Caleb?”

How did I put into words the way I felt about her? The pull, the need, the want . It was more than the bond, it was her .

It had always been her .

Everything about her called to me in a way I’d never experienced before. But how did I say that? Me? The man who punctured her abdomen and almost killed her. I didn’t have the right to lay that at her feet, not now. Probably not ever. Not when she was still trying to figure out her place in her new reality.

“I’m saying…” What the fuck was I saying? “I’m saying I’ll be there no matter what. Bond or no bond, you have my protection.”

Those light green eyes of hers searched mine like she was trying to figure out what I was holding back. But I held her stare, saying nothing, because the last thing I wanted to do was make her feel like this wasn’t her choice.

“You make me sound like a burden,” she said, not bothering to hide her disappointment. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re tied to me because of some bond.”

“You’re not a burden.” Frustration flared within me. Didn’t she see how poorly I was hanging on to my control and not taking all her clothes off and sinking inside her? She wasn’t an obligation, she was a temptation. “I want to be where you are.”

Her breath hitched, and I cursed inwardly at letting that slip. Her eyes were wide with emotions she wasn’t ready to admit and I wasn’t admitting to feeling. At least, not out loud. I closed the distance between us, close enough that I could feel the heat of her body, the smell of her skin, the scent of her arousal that was going to drive me to the edge.

“Caleb?” Her voice was shaking and I felt the vibrations in my blood.

Reaching out, I cupped her face gently. My thumb brushed over her bottom lip, plump and juicy. I wanted to sink my teeth into it. I shouldn’t be touching her, but the need to make contact with her skin was stronger than the logic to step back and not overwhelm her.

“I’m here, not because of a bond, but because I wan t to be. Understand?”

Her gaze dropped to my lips, a look of hunger in her eyes that made my pulse quicken. She was letting me in, letting me see her desire, and it made me want to close the distance, pull her into me, and kiss her until there was no doubt I was here for her. Only for her.

But to do that would be the complete opposite of everything that I had just told her. Told myself.

I dropped my hands, stepping back, barely holding on to my control. “We’ll figure this out,” I told her. “Together, right?”

Willow cleared her throat, her chin dropping, avoiding my eyes. “Yeah, of course. We make a good team.”

A team? We were so much more than a team.

Willow focused on the wall. “You should get some rest,” she said quickly. “I think the snow’s finally stopped. We can talk more later, but if we want to leave in the morning, we should rest.”

I dipped my chin in acknowledgment. The tension lay between us, thick and unresolved, but that was enough for tonight. She was doing so well, so strong. I walked to the door. Glancing back at her, I saw her arms wrapping around herself like she was holding herself together.

“Where will you sleep?” she asked suddenly.

“I’m resourceful,” I said with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

Willow looked at the chair. “Um, if you wanted?” She didn’t meet my eyes. “The chair will be free.”

“If you don’t mind?” I asked, dropping my hand from the door handle.

“No, of course not. It’s not like we haven’t slept in the same place before.”

“Then I guess I’ll take the chair.”

Willow gulped but pretended this wasn’t a dangerous situation. “I’ll just wash up first,” she mumbled, practically running to the bathroom.

After she flicked the lock, I smiled as I heard her muttering to herself in the bathroom. Shirking off my jacket, I kicked off my boots, getting comfortable in the chair.

I could sleep in the same room and not touch her. I’d done it before. This would be fine. I wasn’t an animal. I could control my impulses.

Closing my eyes, I was sure I had everything under control until my eyes snapped open, my body tensing.

From across the room, originating from the bathroom, came an unmistakable scent.

Fuck.