14. Caleb

FOURTEEN

Caleb

Willow sat on the tailgate, her legs dangling over the end, and I thought she was enjoying the freedom of moving her legs after being cramped in the back seat. She was still pale. The black circles under her eyes were faded but still there. I wondered if they ever truly cleared.

She ate her BLT in silence, looking around, her eyes curious as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. I handed her an open bag of chips, and she ate them slowly along with her lunch.

“Have you always camped alone?” she asked me suddenly.

“Mostly.”

Her attention was on the trees. “I wouldn’t be able to settle,” she told me, offering me the open bag of chips, and I shook my head. “I would hear every unknown sound and be sure I was going to get murdered.”

Balling up my trash, I could see it as clear as day. “Yeah, I don’t say this often, but I think you should forget camping and stick to hotels. ”

“Agreed.”

She lapsed into silence, content to sit on the tailgate while I checked the truck over. I hadn’t had much chance to check it out. It was fairly modern, so there was not much wrong with it. Guzzled gas, but all these vehicles did.

“You like the solitude, don’t you?”

Looking up, I realized she’d been watching me. “I’m comfortable in my own company, yes.”

Willow’s lips curved into a smile. “Loner, it’s the same answer.”

“I guess it is.” I went back to checking the condition of the truck. I heard her dismount from the back, and by the time I’d circled the vehicle, she was tidying up. “You ready or do you need the ladies again?” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, and she swatted me away.

“I’ll hold it if need be.”

“Suit yourself, I’m going now.” I stepped into the thicket and quickly took care of business. I hadn’t lied before; she had been half asleep the other times, but I hadn’t touched her or seen anything I shouldn’t. I hadn’t told her she fell over once, because there was nothing that I couldn’t brush off her clothes and she didn’t need to know. Fortunately, she’d toppled over after she was dressed, which had helped.

Walking back to the truck, I reached in and took out the sanitizer. Willow was frowning at the trees.

“Seal’s broken,” I told her. “You’re better off just going now.”

She didn’t look my way, but she grabbed some paper napkins from the lunch bag and headed to the trees. Knowing she couldn’t see me, I smiled at her back. She was funny with her silliness. My smile faded as I also thought about how frustrating she was at times.

We had a few hours left before I would need to leave the truck and call Alpha Cannon. He’d texted a couple of times, not at all happy when I told him there were wolves in the woods at Willow’s house. He, like me, suspected that we would be followed.

Why were we being followed? Neither of us had that answer.

I heard her cursing and fought back the laughter. Willow in the woods was like watching a newborn deer trying to walk on ice. She was so far from her comfortable life it was amusing. I could sympathize in a way. I felt uncomfortable when I was in towns and cities.

Willow emerged from the trees, twisting and turning to check out her ass, and I guessed she’d fallen again.

“Stumbled over a tree root,” she explained. When she saw my lips twitch, she glared at me. “Shut it.”

Pressing my lips tighter together, I averted my head. “Wouldn’t dream of saying anything. You ready?”

“Yeah.” To my surprise, she opened the passenger door and climbed in.

“The back?”

“Nah,” she said, looking at the back seat. “I spend so much time lying down. It’s good to sit.”

I could understand. “Okay, but if you need to rest, take the time to do it.” She saw I was serious and rolled her eyes at me. “Willow?”

“Yes! I will, okay? Happy?”

“Are we ever truly happy?” I countered. She ignored me and looked out the window. We drove in silence for a while, and I decided I’d waited long enough. “Any urges?”

Willow had been watching the road but turned to look at me. “Urges?”

“To draw, or paint?”

“Ohh.” As she drew her knees to her chest, I almost scolded her to keep her feet off the seats when I remembered this wasn’t my truck and Willow probably had a better idea of what Lily allowed in her truck than I did. “No urges.” She thought about it. “Nope, all clear.”

Was that good? “Good.”

Willow bent her head, her chin resting on her knees. “Maybe you were right?”

“Don’t sound too surprised.” My dry tone caused her to chuckle.

“I actually thought it would be worse, being beside you and in your natural habitat.”

My breath hitched at her terminology. “Natural habitat?” I tried to make my voice sound light.

“Yeah, I reckon you hike a lot.”

Right, of course. “I do.”

“You seem more relaxed in the woods.”

You have no idea. “I like it,” I told her simply.

“What’s your job?” she asked me suddenly. “I can’t believe I don’t even know that.”

Looking at her from the corner of my eye, I was skeptical. “Small talk? Really?”

“Well, it’s either that or I ask why we’re being hunted by wolves…but I was hoping to forget about that mind-fuckery for a while longer. ”

“Huh.” With one hand on the wheel, the other resting on my thigh, I drummed my fingers against my leg. “I have some things that I’m good at, nothing that I can say I excel in.”

“So…you’re like a jack of all trades?”

“Sure.”

“And you what? Move around a lot?”

“Yup.”

“You’re lying again, aren’t you?” She was studying me intently.

“Does it matter?”

Willow turned her head, lowering her legs to the floor, and returned to staring at the empty road instead. “I guess not.” Pushing her hair back, she didn’t look at me. “I already got in the truck with you.”

“You did.”

The truck was silent once more, because really, what else was there to say?

Willow was asleep again, her head dipping to the side at an angle that didn’t look comfortable, and I contemplated pulling over again and putting her into the back seat. Her breathing was steady, and I envied her the rest. I’d been driving for hours. I may be a shifter, but I also needed sleep.

My wolf was also restless, and I knew I would need to shift soon to rid myself of the feeling of unrest. I couldn’t shift when she was with me, though I would prefer to be in my wolfskin if those other wolves caught up with us.

I hadn’t recognized their scents, even though admittedly, few were known to me now. Not since I left that life behind me. An alpha like Cannon? You didn’t need to know one to recognize one. And Cannon, he was infamous. An alpha power like his was to be envied, and he came to his power much younger than anyone expected.

No, you didn’t need to know his scent before you knew who he was.

We passed through a small town, so small that I missed the signpost telling me where we’d just been, but a few miles down the road, I saw a motel. Glancing at Willow and feeling my tiredness pull at me, I decided to stop for the night.

I locked her in the truck while I spoke to the front desk, and when I returned, she was still sound asleep. Reluctant to wake her, I got the important stuff ready to take inside before I tightened the tarp covering the boxes in the truck bed. I could do it in two trips, Willow included, and I opened the room door to find something to prop it open, but looking in at the room, I hesitated.

A double bed took up most of the small room. Debating about asking for a room change, I heard a buzz and, turning, I saw the “no” had been illuminated over the “vacancy” sign.

“Fuck.” With no other option, I dumped our stuff and then went and retrieved Sleeping Beauty from the truck.

She didn’t stir as I lifted her and carried her inside, placing her on the bed. With the door locked, I took off her sneakers, pulled one of the blankets from the truck over her, and then used the bathroom to freshen up. After a quick shower, my teeth brushed, I climbed under the covers and went to sleep.

I heard her get up several hours later. She mumbled to herself the whole time about me having an inexplicable problem with not waking her up. She used the bathroom and then I heard her take her clothes off. When she came back out, I pretended to still be sleeping while she rummaged in her tote for her PJs. In just her shirt and panties, it took her a moment to find her nightwear. Hastily pulling them on, she kept looking over her shoulder at me in the dark to see if I was awake.

I was and she didn’t have wolf sight, and the less she knew, the better.

The blanket was tossed to the floor, and after another conversation with herself, she pulled the covers back and got into bed. She tossed and turned for a good five minutes, and I was ready to put her back in the truck when she seemed to finally settle down, curled on her side, with her back to me.

“Comfy?”

Willow’s yelp of alarm made me smile, followed by a strong curse word. “I’ll talk to you in the morning,” she muttered. Her threat, like her, was clawless. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Mm-hmm.” Closing my eyes, I settled in for a few more hours of sleep.

I woke up in the morning with Willow snuggled into my side. I had barely moved during the night, but her side looked like a tornado had wrecked it. Her head was on my chest, her arm across my lower stomach, and her thigh was hooked over mine.

Her warm body was comfortable next to mine, but I was a shifter, and we ran at higher temperatures, so adding her body heat to mine was not pleasant. Given that I knew she wouldn’t appreciate waking up in this position, I contemplated fucking with her and waking her up. As I lay there, she pressed closer into me, murmuring as she slept. Watching her, I wondered if she was having one of her dreams or if she was just in a deep sleep.

Listening to her breathing and hearing her heart rate was slow and steady, I relaxed slightly. Moving her off me, I got up and out of the bed. She snuggled deeper into the pillow, a soft sigh escaping her. I watched her for a moment longer, trying to figure her out. She looked like she was resting, properly resting. Not the slumber of before where her body was replacing what it missed when she’d been starved of energy. No, this looked like she was enjoying a good sleep.

I went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Coming out of the shower and back into the room, I saw she was still asleep, and I used the opportunity to change my shirt.

“You have a strong back,” Willow murmured from the bed. “So clean and defined. I’d love to draw it.”

As I looked over my shoulder, she saw my surprise at the compliment, and she shrugged before stretching. “I’m an artist; I can appreciate the human body and not be a pervert, you know.”

Pulling on a clean navy T-shirt, I turned to face her. “Sleep well?”

Willow nodded, a yawn stealing her reply. “So good.” Pushing the covers off, she got out of bed. “I need ten minutes and then we can go.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Happy, rested Willow was so much easier to deal with. I made a note to keep her rested for the remainder of the journey. By the time she was ready to leave, wearing a fresh change of clothes, I’d repacked the truck .

Willow stopped in the walkway, her head turned, her nose sniffing the air. She looked at me with expectancy. “Bacon!”

“Already got us a table. You go ahead if you want.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Her eagerness for her breakfast made me smile. When I joined her, she was already prepping a teapot, and there was a steaming cup of coffee waiting for me.

“I got us drinks, but the menu’s there.” She indicated to the menu on the side of the booth.

“Thanks.”

We both ordered breakfast with all the works, and while she ate slower than I did, she still cleared her plate.

Sitting back, Willow patted her flat belly. “I feel good,” she declared. “I always know, when I wake up hungry and the smell of food doesn’t make me nauseous, that I’m going to have a good day.”

“That’s good.” Was it? I had no idea, but she seemed happy, and who was I to ruin that for her when I’d already caused such upset to her normal routine?

“How much longer before we get to your friend of a friend’s place?”

“A few hours.” I finished my coffee, sitting back and waiting for her next questions. There were bound to be some.

“I know you said he’s a friend of a friend, but have you met him before?”

“No.”

Willow glanced away and I saw her uncertainty. “How do you know he’s going to be any help?”

“I don’t,” I admitted. “But it’s worth a shot.” I looked at my empty coffee cup and back up at her. “What do you have to lose?” When she went to speak, I cut her off. “Do not say your life; you’re better than that.”

She blushed but her eyes crinkled with humor. “Didn’t know I was so predictable…”

Saying nothing, I put some money on the table. “You done?”

“Yeah.” Willow got up out of her seat. “You don’t need to pay for everything, you know. I have money.”

“Okay.” We held each other’s stare for a moment longer until I saw her slight nod.

Leaving the small diner to the side of the motel, Willow stopped and went back inside. The diner had a couple of shelves beside the cashier, offering snacks and magazines for sale. She came back out with a small bag and two magazines. Holding them up like they were the spoils of victory, she declared, “For the awkward silences.” She smiled at me impishly as she sauntered past. “There’ll still be silences but hopefully comfortable.”

I said nothing as I followed her to the truck, but I had to admit it was a good idea.

She got in the front with me again, and after I’d been handed a bottle of water and she was comfortable with her own water and a fashion magazine, I drove us out of the parking lot.

Willow looked up at me and then at the radio. “Do you mind?”

“As long as it isn’t country, pop, or shit.”

“What’s shit?”

“Everything else.”

She frowned at me. “That leaves what? Nothing.” She looked at me speculatively. “Let me guess, rock? ”

“Sounds good to me.”

She muttered figures under her breath but, in the end, found a classic rock station, and with the music on low, she reopened her magazine, and we fell into a comfortable silence.

Maybe the next few hours wouldn’t be so bad after all. The shaman would hopefully have answers, and then Willow and I could go our separate ways. I could go back to my life and forget this ever happened.

Wishful thinking on my part that it would be so easy? Probably.