Page 57 of Wolf's Providence

But our bond wassomething.

It was and I could feel it becomingmoreevery day.

All of which satisfied my wolf, because it confirmed that the woman across from me belonged with me. I may never be able to call her mate, but I could call her mine.

Willow looked back at me, clearing her throat. “I had a few texts from Lily earlier,” she began carefully. “They noticed we never made it to the studio today.” Her slight frown as she spokedid nothing to quell my sense of self-satisfaction at how she spent her day instead. “They are expecting me tomorrow. I told her I would be in.”

I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t stop her. This was her business after all. “Sounds good,” I told her as I ate a fry. Why I needed to eat fries with a steak was alien. I wanted meat, and for a side, more meat would do. Instead, I had thin strips of a vegetable my wolf didn’t want or need. “What time do we leave in the morning?”

“We?” Willow was looking at me in surprise, her fork half-raised to her mouth. “You’re still coming?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Was she serious? After today? After laying claim to her tight body over and over again, she thought I wouldn’t be as protective. Aspossessive?

“Oh, I thought, you know…”

“I don’t know,” I answered smoothly. “The threat to you is still out there.Myenemies are still out there.”

“I know.” She dropped her eyes, and I wanted to tell her to lift them again and challenge me as she so obviously wanted to do.

Challenge me?What kind of shit was I talking about? That wasn’t me. A shiver of fear danced down my spine as I realized how I sounded to myself.

Unhinged.

Wild.

Feral.

Fuck, I was slipping. Again. Taking her this afternoon had loosened my control. I needed to be better.

Stronger.

For her. She could never be near me if I lost control again. And I knew I could never be without her being near. I needed to rein it in. My teeth ground against each other as I tried to pull control back from my inner darkness.

Iclaimed Willow.Onlyme. The beast that lived within me, that clung to the shadowy edges of my consciousness, it could fuck off.

Willow cleared her throat again. Either she had something stuck in her throat or I was making her nervous. I didn’t want it to be the latter, so I forced myself to eat another fried stick of potato.

“If you come with me, I’ll introduce you to Lorna and maybe her husband, Noel.”

“Sounds good,” I lied easily. “It would be nice to meet the people who took such good care of you when I wasn’t here for you.” That wasn’t a lie. Iwasappreciative of the people who had cared for her.

“We could go for dinner,” she suggested tentatively. “It will maybe help them understand…us a bit better?” She took a hasty sip of water. “And Lily too.”

The suggestion seemed to hang in the air between us. I couldn’t think of anything worse. “Dinner, huh?” I cut my steak with more savagery than was perhaps warranted.

She nodded eagerly. “It could be good, Caleb. I need them to know you.”

“You need them tolikeme, you mean.” I saw her disappointed frown and felt like a dick. “Alright, dinner it is.”

She gave me a look that lingered too long. It looked a lot like doubt, but then after a moment, I saw her smile, warm and soft, like her. She held my gaze for a second or two longer before returning to her meal.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “It’ll be good,” she said again, and I wasn’t sure which one of us she was trying to convince. Maybe both?

Her words settled around me as I watched her eat. I wasn’t sure why she thought meeting her friends was a good idea, but the hope in her eyes was hard to ignore.

“You don’t need to thank me, Willow,” I chided her gently. “This is what people do.” I saw her smile again, but I was wound tight beneath my own calm tone.

People.Not shifters.

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