Page 55 of Wolf's Chance

“Don’t sound too surprised.” My dry tone caused her to chuckle.

“I actually thought it would be worse, being beside you and in your natural habitat.”

My breath hitched at her terminology. “Natural habitat?” I tried to make my voice sound light.

“Yeah, I reckon you hike a lot.”

Right, of course. “I do.”

“You seem more relaxed in the woods.”

You have no idea.“I like it,” I told her simply.

“What’s your job?” she asked me suddenly. “I can’t believe I don’t even know that.”

Looking at her from the corner of my eye, I was skeptical. “Small talk? Really?”

“Well, it’s either that or I ask why we’re being hunted by wolves…but I was hoping to forget about that mind-fuckery for a while longer.”

“Huh.” With one hand on the wheel, the other resting on my thigh, I drummed my fingers against my leg. “I have some things that I’m good at, nothing that I can say I excel in.”

“So…you’re like a jack of all trades?”

“Sure.”

“And you what? Move around a lot?”

“Yup.”

“You’re lying again, aren’t you?” She was studying me intently.

“Does it matter?”

Willow turned her head, lowering her legs to the floor, and returned to staring at the empty road instead. “I guess not.” Pushing her hair back, she didn’t look at me. “I already got in the truck with you.”

“You did.”

The truck was silent once more, because really, what else was there to say?

Willow was asleep again,her head dipping to the side at an angle that didn’t look comfortable, and I contemplated pulling over again and putting her into the back seat. Her breathing was steady, and I envied her the rest. I’d been driving for hours. I may be a shifter, but I also needed sleep.

My wolf was also restless, and I knew I would need to shift soon to rid myself of the feeling of unrest. I couldn’t shift when she was with me, though I would prefer to be in my wolfskin if those other wolves caught up with us.

I hadn’t recognized their scents, even though admittedly,few were known to me now. Not since I left that life behind me. An alpha like Cannon? You didn’t need to know one to recognize one. And Cannon, he was infamous. An alpha power like his was to be envied, and he came to his power much younger than anyone expected.

No, you didn’t need to know his scent before you knew who he was.

We passed through a small town, so small that I missed the signpost telling me where we’d just been, but a few miles down the road, I saw a motel. Glancing at Willow and feeling my tiredness pull at me, I decided to stop for the night.

I locked her in the truck while I spoke to the front desk, and when I returned, she was still sound asleep. Reluctant to wake her, I got the important stuff ready to take inside before I tightened the tarp covering the boxes in the truck bed. I could do it in two trips, Willow included, and I opened the room door to find something to prop it open, but looking in at the room, I hesitated.

A double bed took up most of the small room. Debating about asking for a room change, I heard a buzz and, turning, I saw the “no” had been illuminated over the “vacancy” sign.

“Fuck.” With no other option, I dumped our stuff and then went and retrieved Sleeping Beauty from the truck.

She didn’t stir as I lifted her and carried her inside, placing her on the bed. With the door locked, I took off her sneakers, pulled one of the blankets from the truck over her, and then used the bathroom to freshen up. After a quick shower, my teeth brushed, I climbed under the covers and went to sleep.

I heard her get up several hours later. She mumbled to herself the whole time about me having an inexplicableproblem with not waking her up. She used the bathroom and then I heard her take her clothes off. When she came back out, I pretended to still be sleeping while she rummaged in her tote for her PJs. In just her shirt and panties, it took her a moment to find her nightwear. Hastily pulling them on, she kept looking over her shoulder at me in the dark to see if I was awake.

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