Page 94 of Wolf's Providence

Home.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Caleb

“Do you want to come inside?”Willow asked, her fingers running over my arm. “There was some stuff left over from the last time I was here. I can make you breakfast?”

She opened the door to Nell’s cabin, and I saw a throw from a sofa or somewhere, lying on the floor, poorly covering the crimson stain of Willow’s blood. “You slept in here with that reminder of what I did to you on the ground?”

Willow turned to look. “It’s just blood. I got more”—she squeezed my hand—“thanks to you.”

“Why do you accept me so readily?” I asked her in wonder.

“Everyone has faults, Caleb. Some people’s just make you sit up and take notice more than others.”

“I gutted you like a hook knife through a fish’s belly,” I blurted, wincing at my crass wording. “How can you tell me that’s a fault?”

“I told you before, I knew it wasn’t your choice to do so.” Her eyes were clouded as she looked up at me. “That night, I could almost hear the shadows whispering to you too. I know how strong the influence was over you.” She smoothed a hand over her belly where her scars lay hidden from my sight. “You may have scarred me, but you also saved me.”

“I think we both know you saved me.”

Willow rolled her eyes and mock vomited. “If you’re going to make it cheesy, you can leave,” she said with a light laugh.

“Okay.” I stepped back. “We need to get you out of Nell’s place. You may be mature enough to be okay with it, but I can’t sit and eat breakfast with your blood staining the floor.” Looking over my shoulder, I scanned the cabins. “Eamon in one of them?”

“No, he took care of those bodies and then said he would be warmer as his wolf.” She peered past me. “I haven’t seen him this morning.”

My conscience nudged me. “I need to go speak to him,” I told her. “See if he’s been in another cabin, found one you can move to.”

“Okay.” Willow headed to the stove and the beat-up old kettle of Nell’s. “I’m making a pot of tea. Don’t be long you need to sleep.”

“Keep the door closed, you need to be warm,” I reminded her.

The early morning light filtered through the trees as I made my way to find Eamon. I didn’t know where he was, but I suspected, and as I made my way to the edge of the clearing, I saw Eamon sitting, staring at the community hall.

He didn’t look up as I approached, probably knowing I’d seek him out when I was ready. I hadn’t been ready, not until now. Willow’s calm presence this morning and her unflinching strength had eased something in me.

Enough to face my past—and Eamon.

He didn’t glance at me as I sat down beside him, ignoring the wet snow seeping through my pants. Looking over at him, I saw the tension in his jaw, the way his gaze sharpened as he waited for me to speak. I had known I was an alpha from as young as I’d been able to understand what an alpha was. Eamon had been marked to be my beta for as long as I could remember. He’d beenbeside me every step of the way. Right up to the morning I had left our post and raced back to a pack I was too late to defend.

We’d both suffered, and those losses bound us tighter than I had credited. Grief had created gaps in our relationship that I wasn’t sure we could bridge.

“It looks gloomy as fuck,” he drawled, his tone light, but his gaze remained fixed on the hall. “Was it always so fucking depressing looking?”

I snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, it was.”

“Huh.” We sat in silence for a few moments. “So, you finally decided there’s something worth living for?” I saw his signature smirk as he spoke.

“Guess you could say that.” I leaned back, my hands protesting at the sharp sting of snow, and he turned to face me, and I met his gaze head-on. “You followed me?” I didn’t need his nod to know he had. “You’ve been keeping close watch over the years, haven’t you?”

His smirk faltered, and for a brief second, something raw flickered across his face. “Somebody had to.” He paused, gaze steady but edged with challenge. “I wasn’t about to let you disappear from here. Not again.”

Sitting up, I nodded, his words settling heavier than I’d like to admit. “You’ve never been one to pull punches.”

“You’ve never needed me to hold your hand,” he shot back, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t think you deserve her,” he told me bluntly. “But that woman loves you too much to be dissuaded. Goddess knows I tried.”

“I appreciate you failing,” I quipped.

---