Page 32 of Wolf’s Providence (The Shadowridge Peak #3)

THIRTY-ONE

Willow

The good thing about being a human and knowing about shifters and part shifters was that you could call in a favor.

Ned and Doc drove to Whispering Pines, I sat through numerous tests by Doc, and then after many tears, hugging, and more tears, I packed my stuff into Ned’s truck and left Whispering Pines, but not my friends, behind me. My friends would not be able to visit me on the Peak, but I wasn’t stuck to it. I knew I would be able to come and go as I pleased.

I just needed to learn how to drive first. And hike. My ME wouldn’t thank me, but I was no longer going to be held back by it either.

We were in my house, and I was making sure it was locked up and ready to be left over the winter. Ned asked me why I didn’t just sell it, but I wanted a place for Caleb and me to come to when we left Shadowridge Peak.

“How much is the animosity about shifters and humans?” I asked Ned suddenly, causing him to jerk in surprise at the question.

“Some get a bit heated about it, most accept it as one of those things.”

“How many are some ?”

He looked at me and sighed. “You have to understand, you’re taking an alpha out of circulation. Some won’t like it, and they’ll be loud about it.”

“Do you? Like it?”

His eyebrows shot into his hairline. “You seriously asking me that?”

I felt myself blush with shame. “No. Sorry. It messes with my head.”

“Doesn’t mean you need to be stupid.”

“Sorry.”

Ned grunted and started to lift a box of my art supplies. “You paint anything worth sharing?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Taking my sketch pad out of my tote, I flipped to the latest sketch. It was of a wooden cabin, two stories, nice wraparound porch. “You like?”

Ned grunted as he nodded. “I do.”

“But?”

“He’s an alpha, not an architect.”

I grinned as I swiped at him for his nerve, but he just sauntered out the door, whistling casually.

Doc came in, his head turning to follow Ned. When he looked at me, his eyebrow rose curiously. “Why’s he so happy?”

“Because he’s cheeky,” I told him with a grin.

“I already hate this drive, and you two are like siblings. It’s going to be hell, I’m just telling you now.”

“We’ll behave.” I hesitated. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

I’d told them both what Caleb had told me and hadn’t been in the least surprised when they both knew. Just pissed off they kept it to themselves.

But neither of them felt that the bond influenced my decision, and that had made me feel better. Ned had reminded me, as I had reminded myself, that I was already in love with Caleb before the night on the mountain. The blood magic hadn’t changed that. It just strengthened our connection.

He watched me. “No. I think this was always your choice.”

“I do too.”

“You have concerns?” he asked me carefully.

“Fresh food?” I admitted. “Hospitals?” I sighed. “So much to figure out…” I looked away as I muttered one of my more pressing concerns. “Babies?”

“Crops will be planted,” he told me easily. “It’s shifters’ way of life. There are fields and greenhouses you haven’t seen, lower down Shadowridge Peak. Now that he’s back, it’s likely some of his old pack will come home. Or new ones will want to join. Shifters work their land. You’ll have food soon. Until then, I suggest you bulk buy lots of frozen vegetables.”

“I didn’t know that. About crops and things.”

“You have a lot to learn.” He wasn’t being condescending, he was being himself. And then he looked unsure. “I will speak with Caleb. I’ve already addressed it with Cannon. If your alpha allows, I will split my time between both packs.” He gave me a rueful smile. “You’re actually someone who needs a doctor, your children too.”

Hope surged within me. “Really? You’d do that?”

“Willow, you’re human, with an illness that needs managing. If you are agreeable to it, I would very much like to continue being your physician.”

“He’ll say yes.” I was grinning like an idiot. “I’ll make him say yes.”

“Let’s wait and ask him,” he told me wryly. He grunted when I launched myself at him, giving him a hug.

“Thank you, Doc. I mean it, this makes me so happy.”

He hugged me back. “Yeah, well, remember this when you know I’m only a door or two away to make sure you’re looking after yourself.”

“And then you ruined it,” I mocked playfully.

“I’m ready,” Ned announced. “Let’s go.”

And just as quick as that, I was once more locking up my house not knowing when I’d be back.

We broke the journey up by staying at a motel for one night. Doc really was a worrier. I think I loved that about him, and I felt safe for whatever the future held in store for me, or anyone else who came along.

The next day, when I tried to tell Ned the way Eamon had taken me, he gave me a look, and we ended up parking where he believed was best. He started hauling some of the important stuff out of the truck, and then the three of us began the hike.

Shadowridge Peak was not a nice mountain to climb. In fact, it’s a bit of a dick. But at the top of it was the love of my life, so I was climbing this godforsaken mountain if it killed me. And I’d keep on climbing it, until I could travel up it as easily as the others.

Eamon met us halfway down, wary of my two friends, but he looked pleased to see me. He took stuff off Ned, and Ned went back down to collect more.

Eamon ended up putting all that he carried down and carried me the rest of the way. Doc was adamant he didn’t need help. Eamon looked at me, took me to the edge of the packlands, and then promptly went back to rescue Doc….possibly from his own stubbornness.

Caleb was hammering nails into a frame that looked like the side of a house. He tensed as I approached, lifting his head, and his expression shifted from wary to something softer.

“You’re back,” he said, a touch of wonder in his voice, as though he’d still doubted I would return. “I felt it, but I wasn’t sure I believed it.”

I was smiling and nodding, and I knew I was getting too emotional. “I am. For good, if you’ll have me.” Stepping closer, I reached for his hand. “I needed to be sure of where I belonged.”

Caleb’s eyes searched mine, and there was a depth of emotion there that he’d always kept locked away, a tenderness he was no longer holding back when he looked at me. “You belong with me, Willow. Do you see that now? I don’t want you anywhere else.” He paused, the faintest hesitation lingering in his gaze. “I love you.”

It was such a simple statement, but it held the weight of everything he’d fought through, the sacrifices, and the fears he’d harbored about letting someone in. That he was being so honest and open was a testament to how far he’d come.

Warmth and a sense of purpose filled me, knowing I was exactly where I was meant to be. I was going to start blubbering like a fool, so I did what I did best. I changed the subject.

“What are you building?” I asked him, trying to think of something to say rather than just drowning in his chocolate-colored eyes.

Caleb blushed and I knew my mouth dropped at the sight. “I was thinking we’d need a home…” He didn’t look at me as he spoke.

“We do,” I agreed, my fingers itching to take out my sketch pad and show him our house. “How many bedrooms?”

“I was planning two?”

“Three. We might have visitors,” I told him and then added confidently, “or children.” His eyes widened, his gaze dropping to my stomach. “No, not yet,” I corrected him. “But…Doc says it’s inevitable. Apparently, shifter sperm is stubborn”—I gave him a look—“like their alpha.”

He beamed back at me, not in the slightest fazed at the accusation. “I’m afraid that’s probably true.”

I nodded, apprehension filling me. “You would be okay, with us…having children? Not shifter children?”

“My children will be our children.”

I felt my eyes fill with tears. “Some shifters will hate me. For being human.”

“Some shifters need to go fuck themselves.”

“Is it that easy? To ignore them?”

Caleb grunted. “It will be for me. You?”

He smiled when I nodded. “Haters gonna hate,” I murmured.

A noise made him look behind me. “Who’s with you?”

“Ned and Doc.”

“Let’s go meet them,” he said, holding his hand out to me, which I took eagerly, and we began to walk. “Actually, wait.” Caleb pulled me to a stop. “I need this first.”

He kissed me softly, his mouth moving over mine gently, his tongue tasting my bottom lip. “Welcome home,” he said before kissing me again.

A silent promise pulsed between us, unspoken yet powerful, as though all the broken pieces had fallen into place without either of us needing to say a word.

We walked through the trees side by side to the clearing where Eamon and Ned were already bonding. Doc was panting and looking a little wild-eyed.

“Eamon’s scared the crap out of Doc,” Caleb said with a groan. “I bet he took him too close to the ridge.”

I hid my smile as he mumbled; it was so refreshing to see him like this. Unburdened.

“They always told me that your beta’s supposed to be the diplomatic one,” he grumbled at me, walking faster to meet them, with me hurrying beside him.

As the sun began to dip, our breaths were visible in the cool mountain air. Each step felt like it carried a weight—not a burden—but the kind of weight that reminded me of how far we’d come.

As Caleb greeted the others and scolded Eamon, who quite clearly didn’t care what his alpha said to him, I wrapped my arms around my midriff as I watched them all. Watched Caleb be the leader I always knew he could be as he explained his vision for the future to Ned, who was looking at the decimated hall with interest and was already asking him questions about rebuilding.

I was so proud of Caleb.

He must have felt my stare on him, because he turned his head towards me as Ned asked questions, and I saw the smile that Caleb had for me. Holding out his hand, he wordlessly beckoned me to his side, and I joined them.

Our journey to get here hadn’t erased the challenges, hadn’t wiped away the memories that haunted both of us. It hadn’t given us the illusion that everything would be simple or easy. But it had shown me, shown both of us, that we could face those things together.

We were stronger together.

Caleb stood beside me, tall and steady, with a calmness in his gaze that I hadn’t seen there before. There was no more wrestling with himself, no more push-and-pull between who he was and who he wanted to be. I could feel that certainty from him, a strength I knew wasn’t just his own but something we’d built together.

Eamon pulled Ned and Doc away from us as he explained the rebuilding, and I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard Ned and Doc volunteer to help.

Without a word, Caleb slipped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. I leaned into him, fitting perfectly against his side, and let out a sigh of contentment. For the first time in so long, I felt fully home.

“This is our life,” he said softly, speaking low, his voice carrying a warmth that matched the setting sun. He looked down at me, his eyes steady and sure. “Whatever it brings, we’ll face it together.”

I turned to meet his gaze, a smile tugging at my lips as I felt that promise settle, firm and deep. “Together,” I whispered back. “I love you so much.”

His breath caught, and he stared at me wide-eyed for a moment, before the most beautiful smile spread across his face, highlighting the dimple in his left cheek.

“Well now you’re never getting off this mountain,” he teased as he leaned down to kiss me.

That kiss—it was everything. It held our fears, our hopes, all the brokenness and beauty that had brought us here. It sealed the future we both wanted, the life we’d carved out that didn’t force us to choose one world over another. A life that held the wild freedom of his world and the quiet intimacy of mine.

A life that was, finally, ours.

As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, wrapping us in the cool twilight, the world felt utterly peaceful, a silence filled with possibility. We stood together, watching the stars begin to pierce the darkening sky, knowing that whatever came next, we would face it as one.