Page 9 of Wolf's Fate
“Some are quite obvious,” Ned grumbled.
“Obvious to who? You? Your pack?”
Again they shared that look. “It’s not our packlands,” Royce grudgingly told me. “They’re Caleb’s.”
I hadn’t known that, and I thought about it. About him. “I know I may be speaking out of turn,” I said hedgingly, “but I can’t think his home is well known.”
Royce smiled briefly. “I don’t know him, you’re right,” he started, “but I knew of his pack. His old pack, they were…friendly. Welcoming.”
Two words I would never have associated with the man I’d come to know over these last few months.
“It’s possible that the scenes you paint are known to others who knew the old pack.”
“Old pack,” I mused. “Where’s the new pack?”
“Only Caleb is left.” Royce’s emotions were closed off, but I didn’t need him to draw me a picture. This is why they thought he’d gone off the rails. He had no one to rein him in.
Which wasn’t true. He had me. Kind of. And them, if he wanted it, I guess.
“What do we do with this?” Ned changed the subject, which I was relieved about.
“You go and tell Cannon. Maybe ask the shaman if he can speak to your Luna and tell her to ease up a little on me?” Pushing my hair back, I let out a sigh. “And I’ll clean up.”
“That’s it?” Ned asked me dubiously.
“I’m tougher than I look,” I told him with another smallsigh. “I’ve handled worse. I just need you to find out if I’m in danger.”
Ned circled his finger around in the air as he gave me a look of skepticism. “Did you miss this?”
“I was here all day.” I thought about it. “This could have happened at any time, but they waited until I was gone.” Turning in a small circle, I considered my line of thinking. “Yeah, this is to scare me, but I don’t think the message is for me.”
Royce was frowning as he considered my argument. “We’ll look into it,” he told me. “I’m not so sure about you being left alone.”
I made the decision. “I won’t be, I’m telling my friend Lily everything.”
“Willow, you?—”
“I didn’t ask for this,” I cut Ned off. “This is my life, my livelihood. I am not part of your world. I left your…home on the promise we’d figure out how to fix this. Once we did, I would return to the reality where people who become wolves aren’t part of that.” I looked between them. “That’s what the plan was before this, right? Sever the tie I have and go back to my life. Lily is part of my life.”
“You can’t tell her we’re shifters,” Royce said firmly. “I agree, bring her in, but I would ask that you keep that part to yourself.” He held my stare. “Please.”
It was thepleasethat did it. I nodded once and I felt the tension ease. “You should go,” I told them both. “Thank you for coming back.” I suddenly had a thought. “Where are the ones you took this morning?”
“We burned them already,” Ned said nonchalantly as hewalked the store one more time. Not realizing his casualness was as hurtful as their actions.
“Then I’ll do that going forward,” I offered bravely. “You don’t need to come and get them. Until this is over, anything that isn’t like that”—I pointed to the destroyed picture Royce had admired earlier—“I’ll destroy.” I saw Ned’s doubt. “Trust me, okay. You think I want more of this?” I pointed at my broken store.
“Anything that you doubt…” Royce began.
“I’ll email.” I held my phone out. “I need an email to send it to.” It didn’t surprise me that it was Ned who took my phone. “Who knows, maybe with fewer shifters visiting me, I’ll become as uninteresting as I was before.” Ned’s lips twitched, but he didn’t laugh.
They offered to stay and help, but now that I had decided my plan going forward, I wanted them gone. It wasn’t personal. I was just ready to move on with my life. I needed to fix my store and my house, and I didn’t want to do it with them, but I also didn’t want to do it alone.
When they had left, I resumed my spot on the floor, back against the wall, knees drawn up, chin on my knees. I hit dial.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lily’s cheerful voice almost made me cry.
“Hey, I haven’t been honest with you,” I told her straight. “I need you at the store if you want to hear why.”