Page 72 of Wolf Heart

CHAPTER20

JUNIPER

Dex holds out his hand to me. "Come with me." He leads me off the trail and back into the woods where I can barely see.

"Where are we going?" I ask, but Dex doesn't answer.

He stops at a fallen tree and pulls me down to the ground with him. He lifts my chin, entwines our fingers, and pulls me into a kiss.

Aspen makes a noise that sounds like a growl and Dex pulls away. "Sorry, I couldn't wait," he tells Aspen.

"I'm not," Aspen says. He moves into Dex's place, his face so close to mine. "I want you to know how much we want to help you; but dealing with witches is dangerous.”

“You can’t ask me not to look for my mom.” I fold my arms over my chest and shake my head. She holds the answer to so many questions in my life, I can’t give that up.

Dex blows out a breath and Aspen cringes.

“What are you two not telling me?”

They both shake their heads, which only makes me more suspicious. I know they aren’t going to let this go, so I stand up.

“Fine, I’ll just go look by myself.”

I walk past them and they don’t stop me. In fact, I hear them talking as I walk away.

“You were never going to let it go, were you?” Aspen asks.

I whirl around, facing them with my arms locked at my sides, and lift my chin. “No. And I will go by myself if I have to.”

Not something I wanted to do after seeing the lost ones up close and having Casey and the others hunting me. But I was tired of feeling like everyone knew something I didn't. My dad, my stepmom, hell, my whole damn pack.

“Wasn’t planning on abandoning you." Aspen growls. "Neither of us."

“We can’t let you go, Juniper.” Dex’s voice is hard.

I get the feeling that he's talking more than escorting me to find my mom. But I push the notion away. He and Aspen don't care about me, not in any way other than a good lay and the reward I promised them.

"You can't stop me."

“You want the truth?” Aspen asks.

I nod, too afraid of what they'll say. How all my life I've had disappointments.

"This is a bad idea." Dex shakes his head.

“I’m going.” I take a step forward and Aspen grabs my elbow.

“You need to know what you’re getting into,” Aspen warns.

"Then tell me." I jerk away from Aspen's grasp and stare at both of them.

“Shit. You really would take off on your own, wouldn't you,” Dex says, but the way he says it makes me feel like he doesn’t want me to go.

"Just tell me the truth." I brush my hair out of my eyes.

Aspen runs one hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. “You need to know that the witches are… different than we are. Before the war, witches had a lot of power in this world. People feared them and some even worshipped them.”

He pauses and I know it’s because he’s trying to find the right words.

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