Page 68 of Wolf's Chance

He didn’t say anything to contradict me, and I didn’t push it. Not here, not in the open. I didn’t know how I knew that, but some instinct was telling me not to say anything more out here.

But I wasn’t letting it go. One wolf, rare. Two? Something was happening here, and I was going to find out what.

EIGHTEEN

Caleb

We walked backto the B&B in silence. Willow was pretending to focus on what was straight ahead, but she was really bad at being subtle, and I kept seeing her looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

“The wind will blow and freeze your face,” I joked quietly. “You’ll be squinty-eyed for the rest of your life.”

Willow huffed out a laugh, and I saw the smile that she tried to hide. “I have so many questions,” she admitted. Stopping suddenly, she reached out, took hold of my arm, and tugged me to a stop. “I know you don’t want to talk out here.” She hurried on when she saw my look. “And I’mnotgoing to talk out here,” she confirmed.

“But?”

Willow looked up at me in amusement. “There’s always a but…”

I nodded. “Yup, always a but.”

“But…” She flashed me a smile. “But when we get inside, I want you to promise to tell me everything.”

I was already shaking my head. “I can’t do that.”

Her expression morphed from hopeful to disappointed. “Why?”

“Because I don’t know everything.” It was true, I didn’t. “If I knew everything, I wouldn’t have dragged you out here.”

We resumed walking and she was silent until we reached the edge of the B&B property. “You must know something,” she argued softly. “So, you can tell me that at least?”

I was going to tell her nothing had changed since I put her in the truck, but the look she gave me was ready for that, and I simply nodded. Shelby waved at us as we passed her. She seemed to be checking in a new guest, as there was luggage beside her, and I was halfway up the stairs when I turned back and looked towards the front door.

Every sense was on alert.

“Go upstairs,” I directed Willow softly. “Now.” I knew she was about to argue, and I not so subtly pushed her ahead of me. “Move.”

She did, and I knew I’d get shit for manhandling her later. Turning, I faced the doorway, so when the big ass bruiser walked through it, I was ready for him, and he met my gaze immediately, ignoring the human who had noticed that her guests were in a stare-off.

“Do you know each other?” I heard the tremble in her voice. Her scent changed to fearful, and I knew I should appease her, but I was focused on the male in front of me.

“Not that I know of.” I kept my eyes on the shifter in front of me, who was now idling beside Shelby. “You look familiar.” He didn’t. The only familiar thing about him was that he was a shifter.

“Do I?” He had dark hair, shorter than mine, but still longer than most. He was clean-shaven, his eyes were hard and saw more than they should, and his shoulders were wide, but he wasn’t overly bulky. He looked solid, which is why I thoughtbruiserwhen he came in. Wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and brown scuffed work boots, he looked very similar to me.

A traveling man who spent a long time on the road. He looked past me up the stairs. “You got someone waiting?”

“His wife has been poorly,” Shelby helpfully told him, and I almost growled in frustration.

“That’s a pity,” the stranger said.

“Yeah.” With a nod to them both, I went up the stairs and found Willow pacing the room. “How are you feeling?”

She blinked at me. “What?”

“We need to move, and we need to move soon. How are you feeling? Can we move you? We need to be out of this town.”

“What happened downstairs?” Willow stopped pacing, her arms crossed over her chest, her face determined.

“Nothing, new guest. Looks shady.” I started packing her stuff. “You look okay,” I told her, checking her over again. “But I know nothing about your illness”—or any illness—“so you need to tell me if you need more rest.”

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