Page 92 of Wolf's Fate

I refused to back down. “Please, take a moment. Come inside beforemytoes fall off just by looking at yours.” My breath was shaky. “Come inside. Nothing bad happened here, you told me yourself. Come in, think about it. Talk to me, we can brainstorm.”

“Brainstorm?”

“Caleb.” My voice held a note of rebuke to it. “We’re hereforthis. I’ve been drawing it. I never knew you werelisteningto it. I know you’ve felt it. I’ve felt it. I’m seeing it right now, the way your thoughts shift. The way you’re constantly on edge?—”

“Because someone is trying to hurt you!”

“And you’re supposed to behelpingme figure out who that is. Not whispering to the dead like a crazy person!”

I knew I lost him the moment my temper slipped out. He took another step back, the shadows forming around him, and I hated it. It was scary and it was so far out of my control all I wanted to do was weep.

“They told me that a shifter heals,” I spoke quietly, to him, to them, I no longer knew. “They told me that you shift into your wolf, and your aches and pains go away. That you heal.” Licking my bottom lip, I watched him, knowing my eyes were filled with tears. “Why aren’t you healing when you shift? Why are you not letting the shift heal your mind?”

“You know nothing,” he seethed, his voice barely more than a growl.

“Maybe,” I answered sadly. “Can you tell me you know any more than I do?” I went back to the front door. “Go and hunt, lose yourself. Let them win, Caleb. Let them beat you.”

I closed the door on him, hearing the snarl of rage and wondering for a moment if he was going to barge through the front door, but nothing happened.

I was almost disappointed.

Looking around, I wondered what the heck to do now. Carefully, I opened the door, seeing the jeans discarded on the ground, and picking them up, I took my backpack inside. Latching the door, I dropped both items and went looking for the source of heat. There was a fireplace, but it was cleared and empty. I didn’t fancy going to look for firewood, and what the hell would I light it with? Caleb had cooked us a rabbit, but thesource of the fire might as well have been magicked from his ass for all I knew.

The furniture was covered in sheets, and after removing them, I found a radiator. Testing it, I turned it on, and then bundled under the dust sheets, I sat on the couch and prayed for the generator to work and the heating to come on.

I wokeup to the smell of cooking. I was in a bed and so confused and disoriented I was sure I was dreaming. This was not my room, and this was not my home.

Carefully, I got out of bed and tiptoed to the bedroom door. Opening it, I was disappointed and relieved to see a familiar face.

“Doc?”

He turned from the stove and grinned in greeting. “You look like shit.”

“It’s so good to see you!” I almost tripped over my blankets, hurrying into the room. “You got the heating working? Why are you here? Does Caleb know? Oh my God, is that bacon?”

Doc laughed at me. “You need to eat,” he told me, plating up bacon and eggs. “This mountain is stunning, but the store options are lacking,” he said with a wink. “I brought what I could, but it’s a hard hike. Glad I had three full shifters with me.”

“Who?” Sitting down, I happily took the plate from him. “Who came with you?” I started eating, not even waiting. “Does Caleb know?”

“He knows. The shaman said he’d have felt it the momentwe stepped onto the packlands.” He answered my unspoken question, “We haven’t seen him.”

“He’s staying away?” I chewed my bacon even though I was no longer hungry.

“Seems to be.”

“What do we do?”

Doc shrugged. “Caleb’s a problem for Luna and the shaman.” He sat down across from me. “You, on the other hand, are my problem.”

“I am?”

“As your physician, I’d say so, wouldn’t you?” He poured me a cup of tea, and I took it enthusiastically. “You climbed this mountain? Are you crazy?”

“I had Caleb with me.”

“And I’ll ask again, are you crazy?”

“He wouldn’t let anything happen to me,” I argued defensively. “He carried me most of the way.”

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