Land of Wolves

Chapter 25

Feeling the warm chest beneath my cheek when I wake up has me immediately in good spirits.

Caleb runs his fingers through my hair, his touch so soft I barely feel it. It's only a matter of time until he realizes I'm awake, and I force my body to be still so he doesn't notice. I want to enjoy this for as long as possible.

My hands itch to move, to slide over his chest and press against the skin covering his heart, but I fight the urge.

I'm shocked Caleb chose to stay in bed with me. I thought he'd up and leave in the middle of the night once he settled and began to think about what he was doing. His chest rises and falls with each of his breaths, and I copy the action as his fingertips graze the skin of my shoulder. He's still naked from last night, and I can feel his soft length pressing against the inside of my thigh.

I must have thrown my leg over him in my sleep, holding him captive.

This is the first time he's woken in the morning and not been at least a little hard.

"I know you're awake." Caleb breaks the silence.

I don't respond.

For a long moment, neither of us moves. It's nice, but then Caleb sits up and I frantically try to wrap my arms around his waist to hold him still. His chest vibrates, his wolf pleased with my desperation to keep him near, but it seems Caleb has better control over that part of himself this morning as he clears his throat and slides out of bed.

"Where are you going?" I ask, standing. "We need to talk."

Caleb avoids eye contact as he runs a hand through his hair. He looks stressed, not that I blame him. Yesterday didn't go as planned for either of us.

"I didn't know," I blurt out, needing him to hear me. To believe me. "I had no idea what HPAW was doing to the wolves."

My chest aches just thinking about it. It's not only HPAW, but humans as a whole. We are raised to be afraid of the wolves. We're told they're vile, disgusting creatures who will do whatever it takes to control us. Children are told horror stories of innocent people being torn apart by wolves, and we're punished if we show any hint of softness toward them.

We've been brainwashed.

I doubt it was even the wolves who killed my parents. HPAW said they were torn to shreds after venturing too far into the woods looking for me, but after seeing and learning how the wolves live, I doubt it. I bet HPAW sent men to my childhood home and killed my parents themselves.

HPAW was probably pissed my parents kept me hidden from them.

"I was raised to believe you were bad. I've been with HPAW since I was seven. It's all I've ever known," I say.

I hate saying it, hate admitting I was fooled, but I'm willing to tuck my pride aside if it means earning Caleb's forgiveness. He may have known I was a part of HPAW, but he has no idea what I went through while I was there. It was never a choice for me.

Caleb furrows his brow, looking slightly confused.

He probably assumes I worked for HPAW as a volunteer spy, that I decided to seek HPAW out and ask how I could help take down the wolves. He has no idea they owned me. I had no choice, no options.

"They found me when I was seven. I ran away from home and into the woods. I was looking for you, but HPAW border control caught me before I made it far." If Caleb decides to leave me, I want him to do so having all the facts.

He forced me to watch those videos, to hear his truth, and now he will listen to mine.

"They brought me to their headquarters, and a few hours later, they informed me wolves mauled my parents. They said I was an orphan, but they were willing to take me in."