I’d thought I’d have the time to worm my way under her skin before she found out about Mom, but now I realized that didn’t matter. There was nothing I could do to make her like me enough that she wouldn’t care who I really was. That was something I should have already known and needed to come to terms with now.
“Everything okay?” Callie asked from next to me, and I almost jumped. Somehow, I’d gotten so lost in my thoughts I’d forgotten I wasn’t alone.
“Wyatt?”
The way she said my name made the hair on my arms stand on end, but I worked to ignore that. I didn’t have time for the way Callie made me feel. I needed to get to my mom and make sure she was okay.
“Um. Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
“Is your brother okay?”
Obviously, she’d overheard our conversation, which made sense since she was right next to me and had werewolf hearing.
“Yeah, Wes is fine.” I forced a strained smile onto my face. “The guy is a bit of a drama queen. Always making a big deal out of nothing.”
Which wasn’t true at all and I didn’t like lying to Callie, but I had no choice. I couldn’t tell her my mom was at Doc Monroe’s because she’d ask why, and if I told her she was sick, she’d know there was something wrong. Werewolves didn’t get sick. The only reason a doctor was of any use in a pack was for the injuries we sustained. Especially during full moons when our inhibitions are lowered and our beasts ran wild.
I finally pulled onto the drive that led to the pack lands and did my best to not make ruts in the gravel as I raced toward the lodge. When I got there, I threw the truck in park and climbed out. My feet itched to run toward Doc’s house, but I stood there as Callie rounded the vehicle to stand before me.
“Let’s get your samples in the garage,” I said through gritted teeth, my eyes flitting toward the tree line that separated the pack houses from the lodge.
Callie’s soft hand landed on my strained forearm and my eyes darted to it before landing on her face. She was looking down at her hand too, almost like she couldn’t believe she’d really put it there.
It was so warm it felt like it would scald me, but I didn’t want her to ever move from that position. I wanted to live in this moment with her for a little longer before the spell was broken and we both went our separate ways. Before we both went back to where we belonged. Her in the lodge, and me on the outskirts. Like always.
When she finally pulled away, she cleared her throat and looked up at me, her eyes landing somewhere around my chin. “You go find out what’s going on with Wes. I can take care of this.”
I shook my head, even though my limbs ached to leave. “No, that’s okay. I’m sure it’s nothing,” I lied again.
She tipped her chin higher. “Wyatt. Just go. I’ve got this.”
My insides were torn as my mind warred with what to do. I wanted so badly to race to the doc’s house, but I knew the gentlemanly thing to do was help Callie with her stuff. My eyes darted back and forth between the tree line and the truck before she placed her warm hand on my arm again.
“I’m serious. Go.”
I let out a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll catch you later,” I said before turning on my heel and heading farther down the gravel drive. My body almost burned with the need to run, but I knew Callie could still see me and I didn’t want to make it any more obvious how upset I was. But when I made it down the hill and out of sight from the lodge, I broke into a sprint.
Within seconds I was racing inside Doc’s house, not even bothering to knock. Following my mom’s scent, I hurried to one of the exam rooms in the back and finally found them.
Wes was holding Mom’s hand while Doc Monroe tinkered with some equipment on the other side of the room. I crossed the distance in two long strides and scooped her other hand into mine. It was burning up.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m fine,” Mom said as Wes rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“She’s had a fever all day that I haven’t been able to bring down, so I brought her over here.”
I narrowed my eyes at Wes. “What if someone saw you?” I hissed.
She shook her head. “Leave your brother alone.”
“I didn’t have time to wait for Doc to get there. She was almost incoherent.”
“I said I’m fine,” she said, her voice so frail and breathy.
“You will be, Nora,” Doc said, interrupting our family squabble and pushing us both aside to get to Mom. “We’ll get that fever down and adjust your medication. You’ll be good as new in a few hours.”
“See?” she whispered, the spunk still in her despite how sick she was.
But I did see.
That despite the reprieve we’d gotten in the past couple of weeks, my mom was still really sick and needed me. And that meant I needed to keep my distance from Callie. I couldn’t afford to let myself get wrapped up in something or someone that would take my attention away from her again. She needed me more than
