The sirens swelled, their wails rising and falling. My wolf paced anxiously. I let it roar to the surface, its authority radiating from me in a hot wave.
“Yes, you are,” I said, and a crack formed on the wall next to us. “Get your duffel bag and do what I say.”
Caleb jerked his head down. A thin line of blood trickled from his nose. He swiped at it, then stared at the red smear on his hand, a choked, surprised sound emerging from his throat.
I stepped toward him. “Caleb?—”
“Don’t touch me.” Movements jerky, he turned and obeyed, grabbing his duffel from the bed and shrugging it over his shoulder. Then he waited, head down, his fingers tight on the strap. He was back to the hard, defensive Caleb he’d been when I’d found him, all his sharp, irreverent cockiness buried under a protective shell.
I’d done that. I’d forced him to retreat.
Something tore in my chest. “You’re my mate,” I rasped, aching to go to him. Desperate to fall at his feet and beg forgiveness I didn’t deserve. “I love?—”
“Don’t,” he snarled. He stared at the carpet with enough anger and resentment to set the fibers ablaze. “I can’t stop you from bossing me around. But don’t make it worse by saying shit like that.”
The sirens were close now. We had minutes.
I turned and rushed into the closet, where I pulled a rucksack from the top shelf. Black and worn, it held everything I needed for a hasty relocation. I checked the false bottom, confirming the papers, money, and burner phones were where I’d left them. I grabbed two canvas jackets, a wool hat, and gloves from the shelf and a pair of hiking boots from the floor. Then I hoisted the rucksack and returned to the bedroom.
Caleb still stood beside the bed with his head down and his fingers locked on the strap of his bag.
I dropped one jacket, the boots, and the hat and gloves in front of him. “Put these on. Fast.” I shrugged into the other jacket as he reached for the boots.
“I’ll explain everything when we’re safe,” I said.
He didn’t look up. Didn’t even acknowledge me.
I’d fix everything later. Because if I couldn’t?—
I shoved that thought away. I’d fix things. I’d fix everything.
“We’ll go on foot,” I told Caleb. “Stay close.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
CALEB
Jesse led me to the forest behind his house. Once we entered, he set a pace that made conversation impossible.
Which was perfect because I would rather have chewed my arm off than spoken to him.
The trees were denser than the woods behind the college. Branches scraped my arms, and undergrowth tangled around my ankles. Within five minutes, I’d lost my bearings entirely.
Jesse, on the other hand, moved through the trees as if he’d done it a thousand times. Which he probably had. I followed, my gaze burning a hole in the center of his back.
The coat he’d loaned me smelled like him. Every step sent bursts of forest and high-end body wash up my nose. As soon as possible, I was going to buy my own fucking jacket.
But shopping was going to be difficult. For one thing, I had no idea where we were going. For another, I wasn’t exactly rolling in cash. I had a little under ten grand from Nana at the bottom of my duffel, but that wouldn’t go far.
Most pressing, however, was the apparent bounty on my head. According to Jesse, I’d been a walking dead man since the jogging trail. For months, I’d gone to class and endured my parents’ personality defects blissfully unaware that some councilof werewolves would love nothing more than to kill me on sight. And for the past week, Jesse had fed me apple slices and pounded me into his mattress without saying a goddamn thing.
Anger burned like acid in my stomach. Fear simmered alongside it. A third emotion slopped around in there, too, but I wasn’t going to think about it.
So I kept walking.
The sun slid behind the trees. Then it dipped out of sight. An hour passed. Maybe two. After that, I stopped counting. The temperature dropped, and the stars came out. My breath formed little clouds in front of my face. I plodded after Jesse, the strap of my duffel cutting into my shoulder. Dozens of questions buzzed in my head, but two stood out.
