Land of Wolves

Chapter 69

I get no less than ten scans done, all at my request, to confirm that there are no other hidden chips inside me.

Caleb remains by my side the entire time, his patience unwavering as I spend hours scouring the x-rays, searching and scanning for anything that could potentially be a chip. The only breaks I take are to place drops in his barely healing eye, and even those are brief.

"Ev," Caleb sighs, running his hand down my back.

I lean closer to the scan of my ribcage.

My fracture healed nicely, and thankfully I don't see anything besides bone and flesh. Just the way it should be.

"I think it's time for us to call it a day and head home," Caleb suggests. "We can come back and look at your scans tomorrow."

My heart thumps, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as I mull over his words. The question of where I'm meant to live has been lingering in the back of my mind, and I'm a bit scared to hear the answer. Does Caleb intend for me to return to my apartment or the home we once shared?

He asked me to move back in with him the day of the party, and I happily said yes, but a lot has happened since then. I'll just plan to follow his lead.

I organize my scans and set them aside. Greg already looked at them and determined there was no other chip in me, but there's nothing wrong with double-checking.

Caleb places a hand on the small of my back, his fingers touching the bare skin exposed between the gray sweatpants and white t-shirt I'm wearing. Adam took it upon himself to raid Caleb's closet and bring us two changes of clothes, probably because he was tired of seeing my exposed asshole.

Caleb hardly seemed surprised or upset that the other man went into his home, and it took everything in me not to pry. Who is Adam to Caleb?

He brought Caleb a change of clothes, too, a pair of matching gray sweatpants and a black shirt.

I wonder if Caleb knows the human stereotype of men wearing gray sweatpants, but now doesn't feel like the appropriate time to enlighten him. I'm sure he does. He went to a human college, after all.

That feat within itself is still a mystery.

"I didn't exactly do a lot of cleaning while you were gone," Caleb admits, sliding his fingers over my skin. "So our place might be a little messy."

Our place.

I work my jaw side to side, doing my best not to have a physical reaction to those words. I suppose that answers my question about whether he expects me to return to my apartment.

"I don't mind," I say.

Caleb's generally a pretty clean person, minus the wet bath towels he almost always leaves thrown over the bathroom sink, and I'm sure it's not that bad.

"I hope you keep that energy when we get home," Caleb laughs.

I smile before pulling the eye dropper out of my pocket. Caleb grimaces, but he doesn't put up a fight as he crouches and tilts his head back. I'm pretty sure the drops burn his eye, not that he'd ever admit that, and I feel horrible guilt as I put a few in.

There's no blood or pink tears this time, which I'm taking as a good sign, and I ensure his eye gets thoroughly covered before I cap the small bottle and shove it into my pocket.

Caleb stares at me as I pull away, his gaze unnervingly intense, and my heart races as he curls his hand around mine and guides me to the door. We're locked away in the imaging room, Greg having abandoned us here the minute he realized I was being irrational in my concerns.