Page 32 of Wolf's Providence

I was athis? Interesting.

“I feel fine.”

My stubborn, determined girl. My lips twitched and I knew Doc saw it.

“Is this your idea?” he accused me, his frown of disapproval clear.

“This ismychoice,” Willow ground out, refusing to back down. “It has nothing to do with Caleb.”

It had everything to do with me, and we all knew it.

Doc pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath. “You don’t know what’s out there. You don’t know if the shifters after you are still after you. You don’t know who was targeting you.” He inhaled deeply, calming himself. “You don’t even knowwhy. Until we figure that out, you can’t just go running back there. It’s not safe.”

“I’m not running,” Willow snapped. “I’m trying to get my life back on track. I can’t stay in your bunker forever, hiding away like some, like some,damsel. This is my life, Doc.”

“You’re being naive,” Doc snapped back, equally as frustrated as she seemed to be.

I saw her reaction to his words, and damn, I wished I had popcorn. Shit was about to go down.

“I’m beingnaive?”

Yup, she was going to lose it.

“You think I don’t know that the danger is still out there?” Her voice was getting higher, her eyes narrowed in anger. “You think I’m running away? You think I’m being reckless?” She didn’t give him the chance to respond, her hands on her hips. “Think what you like, but Ican’tgo on like this. I have a business. A life. Responsibilities. I appreciate everything you have done for me, but, Doc? Me and this room, it can’t go on forever.”

Doc’s teeth ground together, and I watched as he struggled to find the words. “I’ve known you a few months, and of that few, you have been in the hospitaltwice.”

I wondered how much control it took for him not to look at me as he spoke.

“You are not safe, Willow,” he added.

I couldn’t call him a liar, every word was true, and the unspoken allegation that this was my fault was probably a correct one. Doc’s words didn’t bother me, but they bothered my girl.

“Is anyone ever safe?” she demanded. “I’m not helpless,” she added, finally looking at me. “This isn’t his fault,” she said emphatically, glancing at me before turning back to Doc and playing her trump card. “And Caleb is coming with me.”

She looked at me with such faith that my smile broke free.

“Well then, that’s alright, then,” Doc spat. “Are we forgetting that Caleb is the reason you were in that bed this time?”

He went there. Interesting. I may need to look into his relationship with Willow after all.

“I know you want to protect me,” Willow said, her voice soft now. “And you have, Doc, and you have done so much for me, and I thank you for that.” She inhaled deeply. “But I can’t live in this world of yours. I can’t constantly look over my shoulder, waiting for the next attack. I need normal. Ineedto go home.”

“And Caleb brings you normal?”

I’d had enough. “You sound jealous,” I mused, speaking for the first time. “Is there more to this than you being a healthcare provider?”

“A healthcare provider?” he snapped angrily. “I’m herdoctor.”

“And she’s no longer sick,” I reminded him plainly. “Willow is healed, she’s not a shifter, she is not pack, and she wants to go home. She told you as a courtesy, but you can’t stop her.”

“And you think you can protect her?”

“She wants to go back, and I’m going with her,” I told him.

His eyes flicked between the two of us, the tension between us thickening as he processed what she wanted.

“I need to talk to the alpha,” he said, heading for the door.

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