Page 43 of Wolf's Providence

I winced at the coldness in Caleb’s voice. Just moments ago, he was warm and approachable, and now he was his same standoffish self. Doc looked between us again, and I knew he wanted to say something, but he turned back to his screen.

“You’re going back today?” he asked as he scrolled down a chart of some kind. Nosiness had me moving closer, but Caleb tugged on my hand, slightly preventing me from going into the room and peering over Doc’s shoulder.

“I’ll speak to Cannon first,” Caleb told him, “but yes, we’ll be off the mountain by afternoon.”

Doc nodded. “Before you leave, Willow, I’d like to take a few more samples, if that’s okay with you?”

“Why?” Caleb’s tone was firm, and I saw his eyes narrow.

“It’s okay,” I spoke quickly, trying not to roll my eyes at the man beside me and his Neanderthal behavior. “Since Doc’s been my doctor,” I said with a warm smile at Doc, “I’ve been better. Healthier.”

Doc loosened up a little, and I was pleased the tension lessened slightly. “You are an obedient patient,” he praised me.“Keep it up and keep your stress levels down, and hopefully we will keep the ME flares down.”

Caleb looked at me in question, and I saw him thinking about it. “It’s not all stress related,” I murmured, but I knew Doc heard me. “I’ll be back before we leave,” I promised. “And you can get what you need, okay?”

We said our goodbyes—well, I did, Caleb merely grunted and walked away. Outside, I was amazed at how much snow had fallen. Everywhere was covered in a blanket of white.

It felt like we could be safe here, but this was not where either of us belonged. The reality for Caleb and me right now was that we weren’t safe. Not here, maybe not anywhere.

Pushing my hair behind my ear, I tried not to look at Caleb as we headed towards the town that was Blackridge Peak. I’d been here once before, the day that Caleb left me, and just like my encounter with Doc, I was hoping this visit went a little smoothly than the last.

“I have questions,” I told Caleb as we walked over the snow, and I knew he was being patient by going at my pace.

“When do you not have questions?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes.

“Har har.” I tried to contain myself to just a few. “What do you think is waiting for us when we leave here? Do you think Whispering Pines will be okay for us? How do we start looking into the people who did the break-ins and followed me? And…”

“And?” His lips twitched with amusement.

“And do you intend to return to Shadowridge Peak?”

He lost the hint of a smile, but he considered the question carefully. “There is a lot of my past on that mountain that I don’t want reminded of,” he said quietly, slowing us down as we walked. “You saw firsthand what can happen there.” He looked away from me, his gaze fixed north. “You paid a price that you should never have had to pay because of…” Caleb rolled hisshoulders, his uncomfortableness evident. “Because of what lies in wait for me on that peak.”

“Then we need to make a plan,” I said with a confidence I wasn’t feeling. I felt his eyes on me as I continued. “We can’t keep guessing about what’s waiting for us, so we need to start making lists or inquiries as to who in the world I could possibly be of interest to. You said before, you had connections; can we use them?”

He was watching me, a calculated look in his eye, one I was familiar with, and it usually meant I wasn’t going to like what he said next. “I can, and I have.”

“You have?” We had stopped walking to Cannon’s house and stood in the middle of a snowy path. Only a few people walked the streets, and I was trying to pretend I wasn’t noticing them notice us. “When?”

“When I came to get you.”

“Which time?”

His huff of laughter at my cheekiness made me grin. “Thistime. I’ve reached out to an old…friend. I’m waiting to hear back.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t expected that, and I wanted to ask more, but he was obviously uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to push it. We had enough time to discuss it later when he was ready. This conversation was the first time we’d spoken about Shadowridge Peak since last night, and I selfishly didn’t want to ruin the morning completely.

Caleb was looking past me, and I turned to see what held his attention. There was nothing that stood out to me, just a few of Cannon’s pack looking our way as they went about their morning. When I looked back at Caleb, I saw his jaw was tight and his brow was furrowed in a frown. The hard look in his eye sent a chill down my spine.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him quietly.

“We’re exposed here. Come on, let’s go see Cannon and get off this mountain.”

“What are you seeing that I’m not?” I asked him as we resumed walking, trying to be quiet because I knew how well shifters could hear.

“It’s nothing,” he assured me, his fingers tightening around mine. “Do you still have the drawings of the shifter that followed you?” he asked me suddenly.

“Probably, well, I wouldn’t,” I corrected quickly, “Cannon or Ned should though. Why?”

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