Page 82 of Wolf's Chance

My body was refusing to accept that Caleb was mysafeoption as he drew himself up to his full height, and I wanted to put as much distance between us as humanly possible.

Human.

He heard my startled gasp and turned to face me, quickly checking to make sure I was okay. Our eyes met, and I saw him flinch.

“Later.”

It was a one-word command and held no promise, but I knew better than to ask questions right now. But by God, hewouldgive me answers if we escaped whatever was watching us right now.

Caleb rolled his shoulders, and I had the brief thought of a boxer loosening their shoulders before getting ready to fight.

It’s what he was doing, I realized. Caleb was getting ready to fight. Almost as if my understanding was the go-ahead to our foe, something lunged from the shadows, and my scream was drowned by its roar as it launched itself toward us.

Everything happened in a blur. Caleb pushed me backward, and then he moved faster than I thought possibletowardsthe thing that had attacked us as he rushed to meet its attack.

I heard a snarl, and I saw Caleb tackle the assailant to the ground. I saw fur and claws, and in my haste to get away, I fell backward. My wail as I lost my balance was cut short when I hit the ground with a thump, my head banging off the log I’d used for a seat earlier.

The painful thud of my head meeting solid wood jarred me, and my teeth sank into my tongue, causing me to yelp as I bit it. Looking up, I saw a wolf, its hackles raised, its teeth bared in a snarl, ready to launch, and I didn’t see Caleb.

My head swam as dizziness from the collision made everything spin.

I heard an answering growl, low and threatening and so primal it caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand, and I tried to turn to look, but my head decided that was the exact point that I was out of this fight, and I passed out.

TWENTY-TWO

Caleb

The woodsaround us were silent, broken only by my harsh breathing as I crouched over Willow, who lay unconscious below me. I hadn’t seen her fall, a fact I was furious with myself for. I was supposed to protect her, and Ihadn’t seen her fall.

I could guess what happened though from the way her body lay on the blanket she’d been sleeping on when I woke her earlier. I’d investigated the cause of her fall and felt the egg-sized lump on the back of her head. She wasn’t bleeding, but given the proximity of the log behind her, I could guess she fell over her own feet and landed via the log on the way down.

Exhaling long and low, I tried to shake off the remaining tendrils of adrenaline that still pulsed through my veins from the fight. Willow lay so still, her normal pallid complexion looking ghostly in the pale moonlight.

I was grateful she was okay, but I was selfishly relieved she hadn’t been awake to see my shift. I felt an unfamiliar twist of guilt in my belly as I studied her prone form.

A part of me wished she had seen, and then I wouldn’t have this sickening apprehension every time I thought she’d figure my secret out. But for now, I praised Luna that she had intervened one more time to keep the truth from my companion.

Standing, I searched the trees for any more unwelcomeguests. From my backpack, I pulled out a pair of jeans, a crumpled tee that I’d relegated to laundry, and another flannel shirt. I’d ditched my jacket as I got ready to shift and kicked off my boots, but the rest of my clothes had been shredded in the shift.

I could feel the tension in my bones as my wolf still lingered beneath my skin, eager to be loose once more. I wanted to run, I wanted to finish this journey in my wolf form, but I couldn’t do that to Willow. She would never understand, and I shuddered as I thought of her finding out by seeing me shift in front of her.

Tonight had been close, too close. If she hadn’t fallen, well, there would be a lot of explaining to do. She would have seen what I was, what I really was. A shifter betraying her trust by not being honest with her. Not telling her that I was the same as the very monster that made her scream with fear.

Looking around, I took note of the signs of the violence that had happened here. Blood stained the ground, and more than turf had been in danger of being unearthed as we fought. I didn’t know the shifters that had attacked. There had only been two of them, but two was too many when I had Willow with me.

Both had run from the fight when they knew they were bested, and I didn’t chase. I didn’t believe in the slaughter of our kind. Hopefully, the lesson had been taught to these two not to cross me again.

I wouldn’t be as lenient the second time.

For now, I had to get out of here before she woke up and saw the evidence of a fight no man could survive. We needed to get to Cannon’s pack. Stooping, I lifted her, careful of her sleeping form, cradling her close as I once more checked the lump on the back of her head. The fact she weighed practically nothing set my teeth on edge. She was so incredibly fragile and so completely out of her depth that the urge to return her to Whispering Pines and walk away was stronger than ever.

I knew she wouldn’t be safe there. Willow had caught more than my interest with her drawings, and I had no way to know yethowthat was possible.

A howl in the night made me hold her closer. The two shifters had run, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be back, even though I hoped they knew better. That didn’t mean there wouldn’t be others who thought they could fight me, and I knew we couldn’t be here when they arrived.

Holding Willow close, I picked up the paintings, juggling them both until I got a balance that suited me. With swift feet, I made my way through the forest, my steps sure and steady as I moved faster carrying her than I had when she walked beside me. My wolf sight allowed me to check on her as I moved, and she looked to be sound asleep.

Pausing, I lowered the paintings, not caring that they were on the forest floor. I checked her pulse. She’d taken a blow to the head, but I suspected it was exhaustion that kept her in its clutches more than anything to do with her being knocked out. She’d pushed her body today. Exertion like that was foreign to her, and I had admired her determination to keep up.

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