Page 99 of Wolf's Chance

“Did it strike me as odd that I was drawing a man into existence?” I asked him with a flat look. “Yeah, it freaked me out.” Blowing out a low breath, I tried to rein in my frustration. “You think that I don’t know how weird this is?” I considered him and thought about it. “But then you’re a descendent of someone who canshiftinto a wolf…maybe this is normal for you?”

Doc laughed at me, giving me a half shrug. “You got me, but even for someone like me, living somewhere like this”—his hand gestured to our surroundings—“you’re still weirder.”

His playful comment made me laugh, the tension easing. “Yeah,” I agreed, my smile fading. “When I drew Caleb and thensawCaleb, it…yeah.”

“It’s not something you ignore.” Doc’s voice was quiet.

“No. So I walked up to him and accused him of following me.”

Doc stared and then burst out laughing. “I don’t know him well, or even at all, but I can just see the look on his face!”

“He called me conceited and arrogant, I think it was.”

“I think you’ll find it was desperate and pathetic,” Caleb said as he walked around the corner of the bunker and joined us. He was pulling his T-shirt over his head, and I looked away before anyone could accuse me of checking out his abs. Which I didn’t atall. Not for long anyway.

“Hey,” I greeted as he came to stand beside me. “Are you okay?”

“Went for a run. Needed to clear my head.”

He didn’t look at me, but I didn’t sense any ill feelings towards me either, and I felt myself relax a little. “That’s good. Doc was asking me about me drawing you.”

Caleb looked at the doctor, his look shrewd and assessing. “Were you? Without Cannon? Or me?”

“I don’t need the alpha’s approval,” Doc said, coming to his feet.

“You sure about that?” Caleb’s voice was low, a warning in his tone, and I saw Doc flush and look away.

“It was just general questions,” I spoke up, defending the other man. There was a strange tension, so I carried on. “It’s why I’m here after all, right? To get answers.” I tugged on Caleb’s arm. “You don’t get answers without questions.”

He turned to look at me, his eyes running over me quickly, checking I was okay, but still, it gave me a small thrill that after everything from this morning, he still was making sure I was good. “Yeah, it’s been three days, and I haven’t heard any answers yet.” His voice was low and gruff, a gravelly quality that my body seemed to appreciate too, so much so that I hoped I wasn’t blushing.

Caleb’s attention flicked past me, looking over my shoulder, and I turned to see Cannon coming towards us. He took the three of us in with one look, and I noticed the look he exchanged with Caleb.

“Okay, you want answers?” Cannon asked as he came to a stop beside us. “Let’s go get them. He’s here.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Willow

I didn’t knowwhat to expect, but Caleb had become tense beside me, even though his gaze was trained on Cannon.

“Let’s go,” he spoke suddenly, startling me a little and making me jump, which he never commented on if he noticed.

Cannon had already turned away, and Doc quickly followed, both knowing I hadn’t moved yet and Caleb hadn’t either, even though he was the one who had told us to move.

“You good?” He didn’t look at me as he asked. “Ready for this?”

My heart was racing. I wouldn’t lie and say I was fine. I was far from fine, ready to lie down and hide under a blanket rather than face what was coming next. Instead of admitting that, I lied after all. “I’m good.”

Caleb smirked but didn’t call me out on my lie. Instead, his fingers circled my wrist, and he tugged me forward. “Come on, this is why we’re here.”

We followed the others and soon I was distracted by the small town that was uncovered as we descended the shortdistance. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw the bunker was hidden.

“Clever, isn’t it,” Caleb commented. “They used the mountain’s natural elevations to conceal what’s in plain sight from hikers who will stick to the trail that naturally leads them away from here.”

“They built this?” I asked, taking in the range of houses.

“Nah, old mining town. When it was abandoned, the pack just moved in and expanded a little.”

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