Page 17 of Wolf's Providence

Trying to find him.

Strangely, the reality that I was inexplicably linked to him didn’t scare me as much as the fact he had healed me.

Standing under the warm water for several minutes, with my head tipped back, I savored the quiet. I could learn to ignore the thrum under my skin. Couldn’t I? I was pretty stubborn when I wanted to be. I could ignore him.

Eventually.

Hearing the door into the main room open brought me back to the here and now. Reluctantly, I turned off the shower and took my time drying myself. I hadn’t brought in clean jammies since this had never been my plan, so I pulled on my old ones and opened the door.

Doc was on the seat by my bed. His hair was mussed like he’d just woken up. His face was its usual calm mask, but I saw the flicker of concern in his eyes as he watched me walk slowly across the room.

“What woke you?” he asked me as I lingered by the bed, hoping my clutching of the rail went unnoticed. “You okay there?” He gestured to my firm grip, and I knew he had missed nothing.

“Yeah, a little bit unsteady, but doing okay.”

“Dream? Nightmare? Weather?” he asked, pulling me back to his first question.

I shrugged, turning to look at the snow-laden window. “Does it matter?”

When I turned back to him as he sat in silence, I noticed his gaze had sharpened. “I know it’s a lot to process, Willow. Physically, you’re healing well, but emotionally…”

The unfinished sentence hung in the air between us. I didn’t need him to complete it. I knew exactly what he meant. I hadn’t had the chance to process everything… Sure, I’d been laid up in bed recovering, with nothingelseto think about, but my mind was still stuck on that night. My attention was still fixed on the fact that I could feel the bond between us growing stronger every day.

“My ME is what I’ve been feeling,” I told him, changing the subject. “I think I was so focused on the injury I forgot that I have a chronic illness.” I gave a self-deprecating shrug. “Maybe wishful thinking on my part that when Caleb healed me, he healedallof me.”

Doc sat back, his frown marring his smooth complexion. “It’s possible that his blood could only heal his injury,” he mused. He met my confused look with a look of excitement. “Which is what we knew; shifterscan’theal humans, and if you are feeling you’re ME, then it’s proof he hasn’t healed you. But the injury that Caleb caused you, he fixed that. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“Honestly? No.” My unenthusiasm didn’t stop Doc’s.

“When Caleb gave you his blood, he gave you a part of himself, something powerful.Bloodis powerful, it’s whatkeeps us alive after all. His blood in your system created a connection?—”

“We were already connected.” I ignored his look of surprise. “Have you forgotten that I’ve been drawing Caleb since before I met him?”

Doc was nodding before I finished speaking. “Yes, I know, and I maybe overlooked that when I’ve been thinking about this. But you’re right, the connection was there, and his blood makes it…”

“Makes it?”

“Tenable?”

“What do you mean?” I asked him carefully.

“You’re already linked, but the blood makes the connection you two had before more binding. Maybe?” His look was appraising. “Well, I’m way out of my depth, but I think…I think it would be fair to say that what’s between you now, the bond, it won’t be easily broken.”

I swallowed hard, my throat too tight to speak. Bound to him. Doc’s words echoed in my head, making my heart race again. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be relieved or terrified.

“So…I’m stuck? Like this? Forever?” From the sound of my voice, I had failed to keep the panic from it. “That’s what the shaman said, but I was hoping science would prove him wrong.”

“I don’t think it will.” He gave me a sad smile. “Maybe I’m wrong. I mean, I have no research to base my theory on. Maybe it’s not forever; maybe it only lingers as long as it exists between the two of you. Maybe it’s up to both of you to decide what this means.”

“Maybe Caleb doesn’t care that this has happened.” There was more bitterness in my voice than there should have been.

“Do you have feelings for him?”

It was such a non-doctorly question I gaped at him longer than I should. Trying to hide my reaction to the question, I got back into bed, choosing to sit rather than lie.

“Willow, stop stalling.”

Busted. I rubbed my temple to ease the tension building there and closed my eyes. “I’m not stalling. Headache.” Peeking at him from under my lashes, I saw his unimpressed look. “I don’t know why he would leave.”

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