Page 103 of Wolf's Chance

“Why?” Caleb’s voice was hard.

“Well, I have my suspicions,” the shaman confessed, talkingover Caleb’s demand to know what they were, “but first, I need something from you, Willow.”

“No.”

Looking up, I saw Caleb glaring straight ahead, having spoken for me. “What is it?”

The shaman ignored him. “I need your blood.”

It threw me, but it wasn’tthatstrange a request, but I pointed at Doc. “He has it.”

The shaman gave me a smile that was borderline patronizing. “I need it fresher.”

Fresher? Did he mean… My stomach rolled in understanding. “You want to bleed me?” I looked around the room. “Leeches?”

Cannon looked surprised at the question but said nothing. Doc, however, had leaned forward. “You’ve had that before?”

“One of the care homes I was in, she was a little more…natural with her medicines.” She’d been a proud Wicca and knew that the kids, including me, called her a crazy witch.

“Not leeches,” the shaman confirmed. “Alpha?”

No one moved and then Cannon held out a knife. I didn’t know where it came from, and that made it even more unnerving when a knife suddenly appeared in his hand.

I was even more confused when the shaman ignored it. Could he not see it? Cannon’s hand dropped and still the shaman waited.

No one spoke.

Why was no one telling him that Cannon had the knife in his hand?

“Alpha.” The shaman was looking at Caleb. The reprimand in the shaman’s voice was strong but also disappointed.

“I don’t answer to that.” Caleb’s jaw was clenched so tightly that I was surprised he could talk at all.

Alpha?Calebwas analpha? What had he called them? Leaders? I knew my mouth was hanging open.

“It matters not what youanswerto,” Cannon growled. “Youarewhat you are.”

“A murderer?”

The two words had my eyes widening even more. Murderer? What? “What the hell is going on?” Every pair of eyes fell on me, and I didn’t care that I had their attention, but I was sick of being looked down on, so I stood. “Caleb? Explain?”

“Later.”

Later?No. “I think when you call yourself amurderer, the time forlateris now,” I hissed at him.

“Your blood, child?”

Turning, I looked at the shaman in disbelief. “Oh my God, can you waitoneminute?”

“Caleb.” The shaman’s tone was non-negotiable.

With a sigh, Caleb grabbed my wrist, deaf to my cry of protest. In his other hand was a small knife, and it was only when the swell of blood appeared on my skin that I realized he’d cut my wrist.

“What the fuck!” I tried to jerk my arm back, but his grip held me tight. When the shaman appeared beside me, I bit back my scream of outrage as the old man dipped his head and licked my blood like it was completelynormal.

When he stepped back, Caleb let me go.

A wad of gauze was handed to me wordlessly by Doc, and I had it pressed against the wound as I looked around at them all,not understanding what was happening and, for the first time, feeling scared.

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