Page 53 of Wolf's Fate

My home and my store had been broken into. I’d been followed. I’d run from a motel in the middle of the night as we got chased. I’d been run off the road. Caleb had killed two shifters who tried to get me.

Now, I was alone in a hospital room, while the people whowere after me were out there somewhere, probably waiting for their next opportunity. The one person I trusted most to keep them away had just walked out the door. I don’t even knowwhyI trusted him either.

The room was suffocatingly quiet. I could hear activity outside, nurses and doctors going about their business and other patients, but no one was coming to me. Had Caleb pissed the nurse off so much? I smiled despite myself at the thought. He probably did. He was abrasive at the best of times.

Pushing the sheet down, I inspected my body. Huge bruises on my legs, bandages, and gauze everywhere, I looked like a patchwork quilt. Pulling the gown away from my chest, I winced at the color of the bruising across my chest and abdomen. My back felt equally battered and bruised.

Maybe I looked worse than I was. The doctor hadn’t come, so I guessed that was a good thing. My quick check over had revealed the catheter, and I resigned myself to waiting for someone to come check on me.

My head was thumping, and I tried to scoot down on the bed to get more comfortable. As I lay in the silence, I tried not to think of how vulnerable I was. But I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease, and I wanted Caleb to come back.

You mean something to me.

I knew that would come back when I had nothing else to distract me. Did I mean something to him? The kiss would suggest I did, or I was fooling myself. Because if Imeantsomething, surely he would stay when I needed him?

He left to keep you safe.

That freaking word was mocking me now.

Looking down at my bruised body, the thumping in my head intensifying, I had the rogue thought, if this was their idea of safety…I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle.

SEVENTEEN

Caleb

I feltlike crap leaving her alone. She looked like…well, she looked like she’d been bounced around a truck that rolled. Seeing her open her eyes hadn’t quelled the rage in my heart. Knowing she could breathe on her own hadn’t soothed my anger. Tasting her lips hadn’t tampered my fury.

She was in a fucking hospital bed.

Theyput her in a hospital, and they would know what retribution felt like before they took their final breath.

My pace was quick and sure as I exited the hospital, heading to the parking lot, but movement to the right caught my eye, and I stopped suddenly, my attention on the man who approached me.

My eyes narrowed as I recognized the dark hair and build. Cannon moved with a confidence that came from someone who knew his power—and wasn’t afraid to use it. His every step was deliberate. Calculated. The predator surveying his territory. I sensed no hesitation from him, dominance radiated fromhim, and I saw more than just me watch him as he crossed the lot.

It was hard not to admire his strong build, the kind that came from years of fighting. Surviving. The hard line of his jaw, the gleam in his eyes, he was an alpha through and through.

“Cannon?” My eyes darted around the parking lot. “Where’s Doc, and the other one?”

“Doc’s on his way back to the pack,” he told me, stopping as he reached me. “Pretty banged up, but he’ll heal.Nedis around.” He then jerked his head towards the hospital doors. “Willow?”

“Will be fine.” I looked past his shoulder. “Around where?”

“Hunting.”

We held each other’s stare. “He has their scent?” I asked eventually.

“You left a pretty bloody trail.”

I squinted at him as I considered his words. “You’re judging me?”

“Two bodies with their throats ripped out?” Cannon’s voice had been low, I thought so he wouldn’t be overheard. Now I realized it was anger that he was keeping a tight hold of. “Yes, I’m fucking judging you. Do you want the humans to take them to their morgues? Twoshifters?”

I felt myself straighten under his judgmental gaze. “I don’t give a fuck where they take them.”

“You…are a liability,” he seethed at me.

I stepped closer to him, ignoring the interested stares of passersby. “She’s in a hospital.” My jaw clenched. “She had a tube down her throat, tohelp her breathe. Atube, Cannon. Idon’t care what happens to the ones I killed. I would quite happily kill them again.”

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