Page 24 of Wolf's Fate

“They smell bad?” I asked, confused.

“No, Willow, I can sense they’re shifters,” he explained patiently.

Right, because that was normal. I thought about it. Itwouldbe normal for him. “Have they left? Are they coming back? Why would they be here? Did Caleb send them?”

“You’re getting excited,” Doc warned me, coming to stand beside me and getting his pack of tricks back out.

“You didn’t see this guy. He would break me like a twig,” I snapped.

“They could be here for any reason,” Royce reminded me. “Caleb’s been here, we’re here, Cannon’s been here too. Whispering Pines has seen a lot of shifter traffic recently.”

“And you’re not here for the hiking,” I bit out in agitation. “Are you suggesting they are?”

“Calm down,” Doc said as he stuck the thermometer in my ear again. “Don’t undo all of Lorna’s hard work.”

Chastised, I sat still and willed myself not to overreact. “I thought I could go home tonight,” I told them both dejectedly.

“Willow’s been staying with friends,” Doc explained. He noted my temperature in his book, and tapping it against his hand, he looked me over carefully. “One more night taking advantage of someone who wants you there wouldn’t hurt, would it?”

I wanted to argue, but what was the point?Taking advantagewas harsh, but there was no denying it. We knew I was going back, and even if I did protest, I was pretty sure Royce would carry me there himself.

“It beats the bunker,” Royce joked gently, again confirming my belief that shifters were mind readers.

“You could confront them?” I suggested. “Caleb would.”

Royce raised an eyebrow. “Caleb may be why they are here. Let’s not pin the hero badge on him just yet.”

“Royce.” It was Doc’s turn to reprimand. “We don’t know what the circumstances are for him leaving.”

“Cannon knows,” I blurted, causing both of them to turn their attention to me. “Can’t we ask him?”

“It’s not for us to know,” Royce told me smoothly.

“Which means you know and won’t tell.” My shrewd look didn’t even warrant a flush in his cheeks for his obvious fib.

“We should go,” Doc said, repacking his things. “We bring attention to Willow if they really are here for no other reason than passing through.”

Royce didn’t need to voice his thoughts. They were the same ones that I was having. Passing through for what? They were shifters, they didn’t need to come to town. They couldpassright on by runningthroughthe woods in their wolf form.

Royce was in my sketchbook. “I’m going to take this with me,” he told me, taking it without me saying yay or nay. “I think Cannon will need to see this one.”

“Fine.” I heard truck doors opening from the street. Voices I recognized. “That’s my friend who’s working on the repairs.”

“We’ll use the back door,” Doc told me. “Go to your friend’s tonight. We’ll take a look into the others who are here, and we’ll let you know. Okay?”

I nodded, because if I spoke, I may have begged them not to leave. As they left, I caught Royce’s arm, halting his progress. “Can you reach out to Caleb?” I pointed at the sketch rolled in his hand. “Ask him if they’re friends of his?”

The look was so full of pity that I almost cried. “He’s lost, Willow. He’s not the man you want him to be.”

I wanted to protest. Fight for Caleb, like Caleb may have fought for me. Instead, I let Royce go, and while the back door closed, I hurried to open the front to Noel and his colleague.

After Noel told me what they had planned for today’swork, I made the excuse of going to get them a treat from the bakery for thanks. I needed a reason to leave and mull over what Doc and Royce were saying about Caleb bynotsaying.

I sorted out the facts as I knew them.

He came here as he was drawn to the town, to me, and to my weird ability to see him when I had no business knowing about him or his kind. Caleb may not have known who I was, but heknewme when he got here.

How?

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