Page 35 of Wolf's Chance

I huffed out a laugh. “You assume it was me?”

“Your scent is guilty,” Royce confirmed. “Plus, I get the impression she may like you.”

“Trust me, she doesn’t.” Tipping my head back, I looked atthe darkening sky as I tried to sort my jumbled thoughts. “I bit her.”

Cannon’s cough of surprise made me look at him. He was fighting a grin. “What the hell would you bite her for?”

“She was abandoned as a child,” I explained. “I wondered if she was a shifter and just didn’t know it.”

Royce and Cannon exchanged a look before the alpha spoke. “That’s stupid.”

I tended to agree. This wasn’t the first time I hadn’t been thinking straight when it came to Willow Harper. “So we agreed if I leave, she is unlikely to have any desire to draw me.”

“But it’s not just you she’s drawing,” Royce reminded me, exchanging a look with his alpha. “As long as you’re here, you can watch her.”

“I can’t.” I avoided looking at either of them. “She has an illness, it’s?—”

“ME.” Royce’s voice was gruff. “Explains the scent of her, but that’s not your fault.”

Blowing out my cheeks, I rocked back on my heels, shoving my hands into my back pockets. “Well…”

“Caleb.” Cannon’s low commanding voice made me raise my head. “Explain.”

“When I’m with her, her energy depletes. She gets sicker when I’m near.”

“You drain her?” Cannon was watching me thoughtfully. “I’ve never heard of our kind having that effect on humans.”

I said nothing.

“Has she noticed?” Royce asked me. When I nodded, he scratched his jaw. “Bonded?” he asked Cannon, who was watching me steadily. “What affects one may affect theother.”

“Bonded to a human?” Cannon mused. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“They’re linked in some way,” Royce spoke, looking me over curiously. “Do you feel anything when you’re near her?”

“Agitation.” They both grinned, and I cursed my loose tongue. “But physically, nothing like that.”

“I’m curious as to why you bit her.” Cannon tilted his head to the side. “Scenting her skin would have been enough.” He looked to Royce. “You smell anything other than human on her?” His beta shook his head.

“I figured if she was even part shifter, with her age, it could have been suppressed, and I needed to make sure.”

“Fair point,” Cannon conceded. “Next time, I recommend asking.” His lips twitched and I flipped him the finger. “Well, you can’t leave,” he declared. “We can’t take her. Too many people would notice.”

A stab of alarm twisted my gut. “Take her?”

Cannon nodded. “Doc wants to run tests on her, but we can’t exactly do that here. We need her back on Blackridge Peak.”

My wolf prowled too close to my skin. “She isn’t going anywhere near your Peak,” I burst out angrily. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

Cannon’s eyes shifted to turquoise. “You seem to forget your place,rogue. If she’s a threat to me or mine, she gets dealt with.”

“She can barely function!” I snarled back. “She’s no threat to anyone!”

Cannon gestured to his beta who turned and picked up paintings that had been lying behind him. He handed them tohis alpha, who took them easily despite them being different sizes. Cannon picked up the first one and showed it to me.

“This is the clearing above my packlands,” he told me. “This is the view from the top of the peak that shadows the next highest mountain.” His gaze pierced mine. “You’re familiar with that mountain.” He showed me the next painting. “This is the place of the Luna Ball last year.” He tossed it to the ground. “This is the abandoned mine at the base of the mountain.” He held up the final piece. “And that is where your parents were murdered. Am I right?”

When I said nothing, Royce took a step towards me. “You haven’t seen these in her art store?” I shook my head. “She was wrapping a package up when we were there—the post office ‘lost’ it.” He turned and showed me the piece, and my heart stuttered. “It’s not justyoushe paints,” he told me softly. “It’s places where you lived when you were pack.”

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