Page 37 of Wolf's Fate

“When did you meet him?” He was twisted around in his seat, looking at me, his sunglasses in his hand, maybe so I could see how pissed he was in case his tone of voice hadn’t been a huge indicator.

“It’s a bit weird?—”

“Explain weird.”

I gave him a look as irritated as his own. “If you let me speak, I’d be happy to.”

Ned held my look for a moment longer before he gestured for me to continue. I caught Doc’s look in the rearview and bit back my snappy retort. Quickly, I ran through the events at the bus station, noting that Ned became stiller and stiller until it was quite unnerving, and I couldn’t help but think of Caleb confronting the wolf in the middle of the road.

Doc pulled over, the engine idling as I finished. They exchanged a look, and with a low curse, Ned was out of the truck, striding away from it, a phone pressed to his ear.

“What just happened?”

“Tell me again,” Doc instructed gently.

I fidgeted with the seat belt, looking over my shoulder to see if I could see where Ned had gone. “There was a guy on the platform at the bus station. He was huge, like them.” I jerked my head to the way that Ned had gone. “He was standing off to one side, and he was just…staring at me. I thought I was being paranoid, but then I thought about everything I know now, and I don’t know. I didn’t like it.”

“Staring at you?” Doc’s voice was low, but there was an edge to it, and I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at me or not, but regardless, it made me sit up straighter. “Did he follow you? Say anything?”

“No, he didn’t speak. He wasn’t close to me. It’s why I was able to get the other bus.” I thought about him standing there, scratching his head when I tricked him. “I think I surprised both of us when I jumped onto the other bus.” Glancing over my shoulder one more time, I looked for Ned. “I felt it was weird, I take it you agree?”

“I think it’s not normal,” he told me with a grim smile, “but then, nothing rarely is.” Doc leaned back in his seat. “You sure he didn’t follow you?”

“I don’t think so,” I told him uneasily, “but I don’t know. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who caught a bus, know what I mean?”

Doc was nodding. “So, he could be in a car behind the bus?”

“I don’t know.”

His fingers drummed off the steering wheelas we waited for Ned to return. “If someone’s watching you, we need to find out who and why. A shifter rarely stalks human prey.”

“Humanprey?” I asked. The high pitch of my voice could have broken glass.

Doc winced. “Poor word choice,” he said with a sheepish shrug.

“Is this something I need to be worried about now?” I demanded.

“Probably not.”Probably?“We’ll see,” he added with another apologetic smile.

Silence fell between us as we waited for Ned to return, but the silence and the previous conversation were making the truck feel claustrophobic. “Is he connected to Caleb? To the pack?”

“I don’t know.”

I watched the clock as the time passed slowly. I had so many questions, but it was unlikely that Doc knew the answers. Between my racing heart, gulps of air, and already overcrowded mind, I was sure I was going to snap under the mounting tension.

Looking out the back window again, I was relieved to see Ned coming back. He looked grim and serious, and I already hated whatever he was going to say.

Reaching the truck, he stooped to look through the open window at us. “We’ve got more to do here,” he told Doc. I was pretty certain he wouldn’t tell me anything.

“Like what?” I asked him, my voice tight.

“Cannon isn’t sure who it was,” he said with barely a glance at me. “He’ll look into it.” He swept his gaze over me. “Thebreak-ins and now this,” he said, turning back to Doc. “Someone’s interested in her.”

“Who?” I asked, jumping in before Doc spoke.

Ned shook his head, stepping back, and then with a sigh, opened the door and got in. “We’ll figure it out.”

“We going to the Peak?” Doc asked him casually, almost indifferently, ignoring my silent back seat meltdown.