Page 81 of Wolf's Providence

“Yeah, I see that.”

I didn’t say anything further, merely focusing on the streets as we passed. I was eager to be with Caleb and make sure he was okay.

“You’re worried about some mutts taking out your alpha?” Eamon asked, and I could hear the underlying curiosity in his question. “You’re sighing a lot and fidgeting,” he explained.

Honestly? I wasn’t worried about them at all. I worried about Caleb on that mountain without someone by his side adding some reasoning in his ear.

Right now, he was alone with only the darkness to listen to, and I had no way of knowing how bad it was.

The humof the engine was the only sound between us as Eamon drove, his attention fixed on the road ahead. Outside, the last light of day began to fade, casting a deep purple over the sky. I fidgeted, unable to ignore the knot of nerves that had grown since we’d left town.

“Have you done this kind of thing before?” I asked, glancing over at Eamon.

“Depends on what you mean by ‘this,’” he replied, his hands steady on the wheel, eyes still trained on the darkening road.

“Finding Caleb?” It felt wrong when I said it, and my body hummed with a low awareness of the link between Caleb and me. “Not finding,” I mused. “Watching him…watching over him?”

Eamon’s lips twitched with a faint, almost hidden smile. “Caleb’s very good at keeping people at arm’s length. Watching over him? You’d need to be good.”

“But you do,” I murmured. Twisting in my seat to face him, I studied him. He was shifter bulky. I’d now come to expect all shifters to have toned physiques. Even the old shaman, while clearly not lifting weights at the gym, was still toned and lithe. Eamon had dirty blond hair, hidden beneath a backward cap, and blue eyes that seemed to hold a hint of amusement. Scruff covered his jaw—not like Caleb’s, which was carefully maintained—Eamon’s just looked like he couldn’t be bothered to shave today. I saw why Lily would call him a hunk. “Does he know?”

Eamon’s huff could have been amusement, it could have been irritation, I wasn’t sure. “Caleb’s who he is. It takes a certain kind of patience to deal with him sometimes.”

Even though it was a non-answer, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Eamon’s expression softened as he glanced over, reading something in my face. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?” When I nodded, he thought for a moment before speaking. “About the rogues? Or something else?”

I didn’t know how honest to be with this man whom I didn’t know. But I knew Caleb had trusted him enough to get him to watch me while he went after the shifters threatening me. Threatening him.

“Something else.” I hesitated, staring out of the window. “There’s a darkness on that mountain, and it calls to him.” Turning back, I saw Eamon’s frown. “Have you been to Shadowridge Peak?”

His face was carefully smooth as he answered. “Been there? It was my home.”

I knew I was gaping at him in surprise. “Your home? You were Shadowridge Peak Pack?” I asked him incredulously. “How?”

The amusement was back. “How? Mom and Dad lived there, Mom popped out a few kids, I was one of the kids.”

“But how did you survive what happened?” My hand flew over my mouth. “Sorry, that was insensitive.”

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s been ten years. Grief never leaves, but it fades.” He cleared his throat before he continued. “My mom, dad, and two sisters were home the night it happened. We found them in their beds, so chances are they never even woke.” I saw his fingers clench on the steering wheel. “That’s what I hope anyway.” He glanced at me, his eyes shielded. “I wasn’t there. I never knew until I came back.”

“I’m so sorry.” I hadn’t thought about how many there would have been who may not have been on the mountain the night ofthe massacre, how many people had to return home to find their whole lives ruined. “No one should have to return to that.”

Eamon didn’t say anything, and we were quiet for a while, both lost to our thoughts.

“What’s this darkness you mentioned?” he asked suddenly, making me jump a little. “You said there was a darkness that calls to him. Expand.”

“Expand?” I asked him, smiling at the order. “Don’t tell me, you did military training too?”

Eamon looked at me curiously. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh…” I struggled for something to say. “Well, I thought not all male shifters went to the services.”

“They don’t. I did.”

“You don’t strike me as someone who follows orders,” I said teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.

He was staring right ahead, his eyes on the road, so I couldn’t read his expression well, and in turn, he couldn’t see mine, which may have been a good thing because what he said next stunned me. “I went where my alpha went.”

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