Page 90 of Wolf's Chance

“I like my website. It does what I need.” His non-reaction to my defensive statement was all the reaction I needed. “You looked through it all?” They both nodded. “So you know I keep photos of all my work.”

“What do you save them on? Laptop? Phone? External hard drive?”

“On the Cloud,” I bit back just as rapidly as he asked.

“Good.”

Ned looked at Doc, who waved him to the door. “It’s on my desk.” When Ned left, I knew it was to get a laptop. He was back surprisingly quickly, handing over a laptop wordlessly.

I didn’t protest. I simply found the site, logged in, and then turned my gallery towards them. They watched me with interest, and I hated that I was such a puzzle to them.

Ned turned his attention to the images, his face becoming more and more unreadable as he flicked through my portfolio. With a glance at Doc, he headed into the hall. “I’ll get Cannon.”

“That bad?” I tried to joke with Doc, but it fell flat in the silence between us. Shifting in my seat nervously, I once more wished Caleb were here. I thought I could do this without him, but these people had no clue as to how intimidating they were.

Doc wasn’t one to make small talk, and he said nothing as he just flicked back and forth between my paintings.

I heard them as they approached, and then Cannon stepped into the room, his large form making the room feel evenmore crowded. He went straight to the laptop, flicking through painting after painting.

“I need these to come off of this,” he told me without looking up. “Not all of them, but more than a few.”

“Okay.”

“No argument?” Ned asked me curiously.

“It’s not my intention to piss you off.” I heard the frustration in my voice as I spoke to him. “If I’ve painted something that you feel exposes you or your life, then tell me. It’ll come down.”

“We’re going to need you to buy back these pictures you sold too.”

Looking between them, I saw they were deadly serious. “I don’t ha?—”

“We’ll pay.” Cannon folded his arms across his chest, and it made him look impossibly bigger. “You’re part of our world now, whether you want to be or not. You need to protect it.”

Like that was a newsflash, I almost rolled my eyes. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Cannon’s look was filled with pity. “You already have.” He pointed at the gallery of art Doc was still flicking through. “You’ve already shared so much.”

“Too much,” Ned growled.

“Make a list,” Cannon ordered. “I want them off by nightfall,” he told Ned. “Then I want them here.” His attention fell on me. “This is it all?”

“I think so.”

“You forgetting all the pieces you’ve given Lily?” Caleb stepped into the doorway. When no one said anything, he walked into the room, making the cramped space feel claustrophobic.As he leaned over my shoulder, I heard the sharp inhale when he saw the drawing on my sketch pad. Reaching across, he ripped the paper from the book, without looking at me. Stepping back, he turned to Cannon.

“When does the shaman get here? I want her out of my head.”

“I’m not in your head,” I snapped. “I thought you left?”

Caleb ignored me, his attention on Cannon. “Well?”

I went to speak again, but Doc nudged me with his knee. When I turned to him, he gave a slight shake of his head. Frowning, I heeded the warning and bit my tongue, although I wanted to demand what the hell was wrong with Caleb. Why was he suddenly being so aggressive towards me? Also, who said he could comeback?

The tension in the air was thick. Ned kept glancing at me like I was some kind of intruder, and maybe I was. Cannon’s attention was solely on Caleb and vice versa, and Doc…well, he seemed to be the only one who looked at ease.

“Can you start to remove the paintings?” Cannon suddenly asked me.

“Yes.” I tapped the laptop as I spoke to Doc. “Can I use this?”

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