Page 94 of Wolf's Fate

Doc turned to me. “I believe that’s where you come in.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Caleb

The cold,crisp air felt almost sharp in my lungs as I crouched in the bushes, senses heightened, trying to push everything from my mind as I hunted. I had left her behind, alone, in an abandoned cabin that I hoped would heat up for her. That generator hadn’t been on for so long I wondered if it would last. Knowing that I hadn’t waited to see bothered me, but I needed to get away from her.

The truth was, I was hunting as much for clarity as I was for dinner.

The ground felt uneven here. Despite all my years away, this place was still familiar. The feeling that something was wrong, which I had been feeling for so long, was stronger now, gnawing at my gut for days. I thought it would be better here on the Peak. This was my mountain. My home—the one constant in my life, the one thing I thought I could control—but the control felt like it was slipping through my fingers.

Why did nothing feel rightanymore?

The sounds of Shadowridge Peak, the taste of the air, the energy that surrounded me,nothingfelt right.

And Willow? I wanted to bury myself inside of her, taste her, take my time fucking her, not the quick fumble at the side of the road, in a cramped car, but stretch her out on a bed and really spend the time learning every single inch of her. I’d had a brief taste…but, fuck, I wanted more. I wanted all of her.

But I couldn’t.

I saw the way she looked at me here. I saw the mistrust in her eyes. I thought her being here would make it better, but what did I expect? I told her about the many that I killed, and she judged me for it. She would never let me near her again.

I knew that now. I knew it the moment she stepped away from me.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs again with the fresh air, trying to ignore that it tasted tainted. Snapping my eyes open, I growled low in my throat. I felt restless, irritated by everything that was around me. The hunt wasn’t going well either. No matter how hard I pushed forward, I couldn’t shake the distraction of Willow’s presence on the mountain.

I kept hearing her words echoing in my head.

“The darkness that follows you, you’re not yourself, Caleb.”

As if she knew me well enough to be able to judge that. As if she hadn’t burst into my life, ripped everything apart, and had no idea what she was doing. I let out another low growl as I recalled the sight of her after I told her what I did, looking at me with those wide eyes of hers, staring at me like she was seeing somethingbroken. Seeing a side of me she never thought existed.

Maybe the worst part of it all was the feeling that she wasn’t entirely wrong.

A flash of movement caught my eye, pulling me back to the hunt. A deer, walking carefully through the underbrush, the snow and cold not bothering it too much. This mountain had been abandoned for too long. Prey forgot what it was to be hunted. To be prey. My body tensed, muscles coiling as I prepared to give chase, but I didn’t move.

Something held me back.

I watched the deer disappear into the thick trees, my instincts gone, my drive lost.

What was happening to me?

Everything just felt…wrong.

This was Willow’s fault.

Those words she said, the accusation in her tone, they cut deeper than I wanted to admit. I resented the way she made me feel.

Unstable.

Off-balance.

A constant reminder that the ground beneath my feet was unsteady.

I hated her for it. I knew I shouldn’t, but…I did.

Willow was not my enemy, but who the fuck did she think she was to accuse me of losing myself? I couldn’t control the feeling of rage at her words. How could she understand the weight of what I had been through? No one could. Not her. Not any pack. No one.

Not even me.

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