Page 63 of Wolf's Fate

Willow grabbed it with a happy squeal, and while I drove us out of the lot, she rummaged through her pack. “My wallet! Two notebooks!” she declared triumphantly, holding them aloft like prizes. “I’ve lost one, but it’s better than losing three, right?”

“Right.” I cleared my throat. “I also have the third one, you left it in the motel.” I jerked to the pack. “It’s in the back.”

She flicked through them, not asking me if I’d looked because she knew better than that by now.

“My phone!” She fiddled with it and then looked over at me in disappointment. “Dead.”

“It’s been a few days since you last saw it,” I reminded her. “Batteries don’t last forever.”

“So reasonable,” she grumbled, stuffing everything she’d pulled out back in. “Thank you for bringing this.”

“I stashed it the night of your crash. I was glad no one had returned for it.”

“Good thinking.”

She was chewing her lip, shooting furtive glances at me until I put her out of her misery. “Speak, Willow. Let it out.”

“Was I too obvious?” she asked with a sheepish smile.

“Bulls in a china shop had more finesse.”

It was nice to hear her laugh, though I saw her wince and hold her side when she did, and I knew she hadn’t recovered yet from the accident.

“Careful,” I said softly, looking over at her with concern. “You just got out. We don’t need you going back in.”

Willow watched me, her smile fading. “You left again.”

I nodded, knowing she’d bring it up. “I had to go. When you get the summons I got, you have no choice.”

“But youdidn’tgo.” The cuffs of her sweater hung over her knuckles, and I wondered who had gotten clothes for her. Was it Ned? I wouldn’t say I liked how I felt about him doing something so personal for her. “So why did you leave?”

“I attended to what I needed to.” It was a half answer, and she knew it, and she also knew she would get little else from me. That latter knowledge, I didn’t feel so good about.

“Where are we going now, then?” Willow asked. “I can’t believe you pulled rank on Ned.”

“Pulled rank?” I asked her with amusement. “We’re not in the military.”

“But you were?” She had turned even more in her seat to focus on me. “Doc told me that some of you join the armed forces.”

“Doc told you more than you maybe needed to know,” I murmured. Glancing over at her once more, I took a good long look at her. Willow held my stare, and for a moment, I almost forgot I was driving. “You look tired,” I said, turning away, focusing back on the road. She’d already been in one car accident, and I didn’t need to put her in another.

“I’m managing,” she told me, her head dipping down. “It’s been a lot, but I’m doing okay.”

“I’m sorry for what’s happening to you.”

“Are you?” Reaching over, Willow looked like she would touch me and then thought better of it, letting her hand drop to her lap.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked her, hating the feeling of uncertainty when she didn’t answer immediately.

The silence hung heavy between us, and I saw her fingers twist together in her lap, her knuckles whitening as she clasped them tightly, as though she was trying to physically hold back whatever she wanted to say. I heard her exhale, and with a glance, I saw her lips part like she was ready to speak, but instead, she turned her head away.

“Willow? What’s that supposed to mean?” I repeated, my voice sharper than I intended.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head, thefaintest, almost imperceptible movement before she finally turned back to meet my gaze.

“It means… I don’t know what it means, Caleb.” Fingers pushed her hair behind her ear. “Are you sorry that our lives are seemingly linked, or are you just saying it because you think youshouldbe sorry and it’s what you think Iexpectyou to say?”

“So…you think I’m lying?”

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