Page 87 of Wolf's Chance

“Better for who?” When he didn’t answer, I wanted to scream, but instead, I tried to remain calm. “Caleb? Better for who? How is leaving me here, with these strangers, how is it better?”

Caleb stood slowly, brushing off the back of his legs. He wouldn’t meet my eyes when he spoke. “You’ll be safer here,” he told me flatly. “Cannon will protect you from whoever is out there hunting you.”

“Look at me.”

Slowly he raised his head. His eyes were dark, almost black, and they were unreadable. What had I hoped to see? Pain? Regret? Had I forgotten who I was dealing with?

“Who says those shifters are only hunting me?” Myquestion was met with his silence. And more silence stretched between us when he said nothing at all.

Caleb ran both his hands over his hair, the sudden movement causing me to jump, it was so unexpected. If he noticed, he didn’t comment. “You should really be resting.”

“You should really be staying.”

His flat, unimpressed look was the final straw. With a grunt, I turned my back on him and slammed the door to the room closed.

Sinking onto the bed, I dropped my head into my hands. He was right, and I hated that, but I was exhausted. My ME had really done me a huge favor and stayed at a manageable level, almost cooperating, considering the miles I’d walked and the adrenaline that I’d experienced, but now that my brain had accepted that I was safe, my body was catching up to the fact that I’d pushed it too far.

The four vials of blood that the doctor had taken hadn’t drained me, but that last encounter with Caleb had.

I knew nothing about shifters. But I remembered that wolf packs were a topic we’d covered in middle school. They were seldom alone, preferring to hunt and live in packs. Clever, majestic animals, I was always sympathetic to them.

Movies made them the villain so often, or they were the dog-like pets that were domestically trained and their wildness tamed. Both scenarios had always bothered me.

Now here I was in a bunker with people who changed into wolves and who were analyzing my blood.

Knowing I was giving in to his suggestion, and knowing I would never admit it if he asked, I lay down.

From what I’d seen of these shifters, they seemed to huntand stay in packs, very much like the predator I was taught about. There had been three at the inn. I now suspected that the man who tackled Caleb was one of them. I think there had been two in the forest as we journeyed here, and Cannon and his companions were there in numbers to greet us.

Yet Caleb was always alone. Why? What had happened in his past to make him choose a solitary life? He said he was a hiker. A drifter. What had driven him to never stay in one place? He’d told me he had connections, but I hadn’t seen them yet.

He hadn’t wanted to come here, but he had for me, and I sensed that was a huge deal for him. Cannon welcomed himback; was this his home?

It would make sense that it was. He was reluctant to be here. Maybe his family was nearby? I didn’t need to know, and he didn’t want to tell me, but that didn’t stop me from getting off the bed and opening the door, intent on finding him and asking him.

He was blunt all the time. It was time to do the same to him. I wasn’t expecting him to still be sitting on the floor. “Caleb?”

He didn’t look up. “The one and only.”

“Why are you still on the floor?”

“Why aren’t you lying down like you need to be?”

Inhaling deeply, I tried a different approach. “Can we talk?” He looked up, and I saw the familiar mask of indifference. Familiar and so infuriating. “Why are you doing this?” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them. “Why do you try so hard to push me away?”

I thought I saw a chink in his armor when I spoke, but itwas gone so fast I knew it was more likely wishful thinking on my part.

“I’m not pushing,” he said, the finality in his tone making my heart sink. “You’d have to be close to be pushed away.”

Bastard. That stung, he knew it did, but his hard face gave nothing away. “Fine.” I hated that my voice cracked. “Then go. Don’t sit outside my door to make sure I’m safe. I know that’s why you’re here. Don’t lie to me, not again.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “So now youwantme to go?”

I shrugged. “If you want to go, then go. I can figure this out. I have people here who are willing to help me.”

Caleb held my stare, his dark eyes black and fathomless, and my heart started to race when I thought I’d finally gotten through to him. His head jerked in a nod, and any glimmer of hope that I had that he would stay was snuffed out with his next words.

“Take care of yourself.” His gaze swept over me once. “Doc will be on hand to help manage your ME, but you know your body best. Rest as much as you can.”

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