1. Willow
ONE
Willow
The room was quiet. Too quiet. It was the kind of silence that settled so deep into your bones you were sure that something bad was going to happen. That something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
Hadn’t it?
Lying, staring at the ceiling, I felt the weight of emotion threaten to overwhelm me once more. If it wasn’t bad enough that my entire body ached, that the slow throbbing pain in my abdomen was in rhythm with the sluggish thudding of my heart, there was something else too. Something warm, humming under my skin, vibrating in my veins softly.
Irritating me.
I wanted to scratch my body, and I envisioned grizzlies rubbing up against a tree to satisfy that itch, but I didn’t have the luxury of tree rubbing. I had chicken pox when I was six, and the itch was similar. This itch felt “off.” I wasn’t entirely sure it felt natural.
Trying to move made the bed creak beneath me. The bed was soft, not as comfy as mine at home, but I couldn’t complain. The bunker walls were a pale yellow, and the window across from me let in sharp, clean air with the faint scent of pine and earth—so typically a smell I would always associate with packlands.
But not Caleb’s.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of him, but I shoved it down.
I wasn’t ready for that.
Not yet.
Caleb would have to wait until I was allowed out of this bed, had left this room, and got off this mountain.
I didn’t want to wait, though.
I wanted answers. My groan of frustration was low, but it was loaded with pent-up emotion. All I had wanted since I met that freaking man was answers. Another few days wouldn’t hurt.
Slowly, I tried to push myself up into a sitting position. The wounds in my abdomen protested loudly, and the rest of my body echoed its agreement as my yelp of pain echoed in the empty room. Wincing when I heard the sound of feet approaching, I braced myself for the reprimand.
“Willow!” Lily entered the room, her face already frowning as her eyes met mine. “I told you to call for me if you needed help!”
“I should be able to sit up,” I grumbled as she hooked her arms under mine and heaved. I tried not to take it personally that she sounded like she was trying to shift an elephant and barely moved me an inch.
“You can’t sit up by yourself because of your accident, you know this.”
Because even though she was here, on Blackridge Peak, she was still absolutely clueless about shifters. So, instead of telling her that my friend-slash-lover-slash-headache, Caleb, had gouged four big holes in my stomach, she thought I had been in a car accident. Because she never knew about the first car accident, Doc thought it made sense to cover the lie with the truth.
Or something.
Either way, she was here, for which I was eternally grateful. She was just in the dark about some of the finer things of the town of Blackridge. She had whispered more than once that they were some weird cult, and I hadn’t had a counterargument. So, while I was sure Lily was convinced the residents of Blackridge Peak were waiting for the spaceship to come and ascend them to a higher plane, I was just happy she was here.
I still remembered the look on her face when I woke up. I had never seen Lily scared before, not really, but I wouldn’t ever forget the look she wore.
“You know you’re supposed to be taking it easy,” she scolded, her eyes wide with concern, her frown deepening. “And you haven’t had enough sleep.”
“I’m bedridden,” I reminded her. “I literally cannot take it any easier.”
“Don’t be cranky.”
“How long was I asleep this time?”
“Not long enough,” Lily grumbled. She must have seen the look on my face, because her frown softened as she took hold of my hand. “You were hurt really badly, remember. You’re so lucky you’ll be okay.” Lily took in the “private hospital” I was in. “Such a weird place to have a hospital,” she murmured more to herself than me.
I was fuzzy on the details, but I t hink they had told her it was a local hospital for the town, and it was the nearest one to my “accident.” Lily was fully expecting me to be transferred to a bigger hospital. I didn’t know who was going to tell her that that wasn’t happening, but I knew it wouldn’t be me.
“I saw the doctor on my way in,” she told me with a smile. “He’s so refreshing.”
“He is?”
“Most doctors are kind of superior, and I get it, they can be—they literally hold your life in their hands—but your doctor is so down to earth. It’s so nice.”
I needed to get Lily off this mountain. I knew it the day I woke up. I knew it every day she said something like this.
“Yeah, Doc’s the best,” I mumbled weakly.
“Glad to hear the cheerleading there, Willow,” Doc said as he entered the room. His warm smile made Lily flush, while I scowled at him. “You’re sleeping less,” he told me matter-of-factly as he approached.
“Even I can’t sleep forever,” I grumbled. “Can you sit me up?”
Doc nodded, and with more care and strength than Lily, he lifted me further up the bed into a semi-sitting position. “I need to check them,” he told me quietly. Turning to Lily, he gave her his charismatic smile once more. “Do you mind stepping out while I check Willow?”
Lily nodded, and we waited until the door was closed behind her.
“You don’t worry she’ll go wandering?” I asked for what felt like the millionth time.
“Nope, all the doors are closed, except hers, and she hasn’t tried to go outside yet.” He grinned at me. “Having a faithful friend who wants to be so near to you shouldn’t have you glaring at me like that.”
“The whole backstory is insane,” I hissed at him. “You should have told her the truth.”
“Not my call.” Doc pulled my cover off me. “You ready for your inspection?”
The death glare I gave him only made him grin wider. While he unwrapped my bandages, and I pretended my abdomen didn’t hurt like a bitch, I tried not to think of the night that put me here.
It was so hard to escape it, though. After I woke up the first time, it had come hurtling into my memory like floodwaters from a burst river. Every time I saw the horror on Caleb’s face as he realized what he’d done, it felt like a punch to the gut, knocking the air from my lungs each and every time. I remembered my blood spilling over his hands, so much blood, and his feeble attempts to stop it from pouring out of me as he whispered his pleas for me not to die.
“I thought I was going to die,” I whispered, more to myself than to Doc.
Doc looked up at me, nodding once, before he averted his gaze, his attention back on my wounds. “I thought you were, too.”
Studying him, I took in his calm and steady presence. He was in his late thirties, and I appreciated the no-nonsense look in his eyes when he spoke. The fact that he was part shifter, who only had some of the benefits, must suck for him. Not human. Not a shifter. I wondered if he was a hybrid? Would that be a thing? Was it rude to ask? He had some speeded-up healing, slower to show signs of his age, but not like shifters who were his age but looked ten to fifteen years younger, but otherwise, he was pretty much like me.
Human.
“How are you going to transfer me to another hospital?” I asked him seriously. “She’ll never understand if I stay here.”
Doc was studying my wounds, only half listening. I kept my head averted. The first time I looked, I almost threw up, so I learned to stare at the window, which was too high for me to see much, and hope that the examination was quick.
“How are you feeling?”
“It hurts.”
“Still?” His look was assessing.
“ Yes , still,” I snapped at him. “I had four claws sticking into me like I was meat on a kebab.” Scratching my arm, I avoided looking at him. “And this itchy skin is making me insane! Are you sure I can’t get an antihistamine or something?”
Doc was frowning at me as he watched me scratch. “I need to talk to Cannon.” He didn’t blink as he spoke. “I also need for Lily to leave this mountain. Suggestions?”
“You just said I was lucky to have her here.”
“You are.” His smile was tight. “But now I need her to leave.”
Narrowing my eyes, I watched him suspiciously. “Why?”
“I need to speak to my alpha.” Doc stepped back. I hadn’t noticed him re-covering my wounds. “Try to rest, I won’t be long. Oh, and think of a reason for her to leave, yeah?”
I had a very good reason for Lily to leave. It was one word, which started with shift and ended with er . But I couldn’t tell her. They definitely weren’t going to tell her, so instead, I had to lie.
And I was a shit liar.
Doc changing his mind about Lily being here was odd. He’d been pleased she was here, and now he sounded as if he wanted her off Blackridge Peak as soon as possible. I was more amazed she’d stayed in the bunker. Lily was adventurous and bold. It was so out of character for her to remain in the place where she was told.
Or maybe…she was faking it as much as I was? Maybe she knew there was something more here and was staying close because I was someone she trusted. I mean, the whole bunker hospital was insane. If that was the case, then getting Lily to go home may be easier than they thought.
While I loved that she was here when I woke up, the fact that she was here was also terrifying. My absence had been too long for Lily’s liking, especially not hearing from me, so in true Nancy Drew style, she’d decided to track me down.
There was no cell service on Shadowridge Peak, but there was on Blackridge Peak, and when I’d been taken here, they’d taken my backpack. My cell was on, and that meant I was traceable.
Cannon had switched it off as soon as they found out a woman and a ranger were heading up their mountain.
Thankfully, I was still out cold when that encounter took place. I didn’t think Doc was popular with his alpha for bringing that kind of attention to them. But, as Doc said, it was either that or I died.
I was hopeful that Cannon was team “keep Willow alive.”
Weariness settled on me like a blanket. I might’ve been sleeping less, but I was still exhausted. I was just drifting off to sleep when the door creaked open.
Opening my eyes, I saw Cannon and Doc come in. Cannon’s face was unreadable as always. Doc’s smile was weaker.
Oh boy, here we go.
“Hi.” Cannon was really nice, but he was so intimidating sometimes that it made me wish for Caleb. Because while Caleb was a contrary son-of-a-swear word, he was still Caleb . I could read him, I knew him. Cannon was just…big. And intimidating.
Doc exchanged a glance with Cannon before they both focused on me. The look on their faces didn’t change, and I just knew I was going to hate whatever they said next.
“How are you feeling?” Cannon asked, lifting the seat Lily used, turning it, and sitting on it back to front. His huge forearms rested on the back of the seat as he watched me.
“Sore,” I answered him quickly. “Which I know is to be expected. My head hurts,” I added, seeing Doc note it down. “I’m tired, but I know my body is trying to heal.”
“Doc says you’re itchy.”
“I am, everywhere, it’s really irritating.”
I had managed to push it down to an irksome throb, but with him mentioning it, I felt it flare up again.
Doc moved forward. “Willow,” he started, sitting down on the edge of the bed, “there’s something we need to talk about.”
“Tell her I’m infectious,” I burst out. “I know, you need Lily gone, I get it. Thank you for letting her stay,” I said with a look at Cannon. “Tell her I caught something and need to be, I dunno, quarantined. Encourage her to go back home. Then we can move me to another hospital, an actual hospital, and it’ll be fine.”
Doc sighed, rubbing his hand over his jaw. “The infection thing may work,” he said to Cannon before his attention slipped back to me. “The transfer to another hospital won’t though.”
“Why?” I asked warily, looking between the two of them suspiciously. “What’s happened now?”
Cannon cleared his throat. “You were dying. Caleb wounded you badly,” he hesitated. “Fatally.”
Letting out a little huff of displeasure, I looked at the too-high window and the white covering of cloud beyond. “Obviously not fatally,” I mumbled grumpily. “I’m still here.”
“Exactly.” Cannon’s snappy answer held too much coldness to his tone, causing me to turn my attention back to him. “You were dying,” he said again. “And Caleb…well, Caleb made a choice.”
My heart rate picked up, and I felt my hands turn clammy. “What kind of choice?”
“He gave you his blood,” Doc spoke quietly, his eyes holding mine.
That made no sense. How was that possible? I’d been in that cabin for days; there was no blood transfusion equipment in it.
“His blood?” I asked them cautiously. “How? There were no needles or tubes or anything there.”
Doc nodded slowly. “I know, but he forced his blood into your system.”
“Forced it? How?”
“You were dying,” Cannon spoke gruffly. “He bit his wrist.” He looked to Doc, who nodded in confirmation. “And…” Cannon sat back. He looked as perplexed as I felt. “I don’t know what the fuck he was thinking.”
“Excuse me?”
Doc leaned forward. “I got there. I had turned back because I had a bad feeling about leaving you both on that mountain. I’m not a full shifter, as you know, so it took me longer than it would someone like Cannon or one of the others, but I wanted to try to talk to you, convince you to leave.” Rubbing his forehead, he looked at me, and I saw how weary he was. “But I was too late. Caleb had already hurt you?—”
“It was an accident.” They both gave me the same look they’d given me the first time I said it. “It was an accident,” I repeated firmly. “He didn’t mean it. It wasn’t him.”
“We can argue about that another time,” Cannon murmured.
“When I got there,” Doc carried on as if neither of us had interrupted him, “his wrist was at your mouth. I told him to stop.”
That made sense. I was human, he was not, he didn’t have healing properties, and this wasn’t make-believe. I held back my snort at my own musings. The fact that this was my reality, well…another day for that as well, I guessed.
“You told me shifters heal when they shift,” I said quickly. “I’m human, I can’t, so where is this going?”
“I know, and you’re right,” Doc spoke carefully. “And that’s why this is so complicated. Shifter blood in a human’s body—especially in the way Caleb was trying—it shouldn’t work.”
“Shouldn’t?” I asked dubiously.
“But…I think it’s what saved you,” Doc added quietly.