Chapter Seventeen - Willow

I spent the entire morning training in my room. Until it was time to go in for kitchen duty after lunch. The buzz in the pack house was obvious when I finally came down from my safe haven. Every turn I made, someone whispered about me. I kept my head up high, avoiding the whispers and stares. I’d been talked about for much worse. The lunch duty wasn’t as bad as I imagined. I kept my head down, washed the dishes and found my way to Chase’s office. Things had taken a turn over the last couple of days. I felt like a completely different person. Derrick caught me on the staircase and grinned ear-to-ear. “Why are you smiling like that?” I asked. “You’re the talk of the pack today, Ms. Alpha’s Mate.” “It’s not the first time,” I laughed. Derrick smiled. “You’re right about that.” His smile lessened and he leaned against the railing. “I wanted to talk to you about Regis. I know we’re not allowed to train anymore, but he’s been trying to get it out of me if you’re still training. He’s adamant on keeping you from it.” “What is his deal on keeping me from training? I don’t get it?” Derrick shrugged. “I’m not sure, Willow. Maybe he hates she-wolves. Or thinks they are below him? That wouldn’t be too far off.” He was a smug bastard. “Anyway,” Derrick said. “Where are you going?” “To Chase’s office. I’m helping him do some digging on my mother’s case. Rex, his tracker, found some stuff. I’m hoping we’ll make more leeway than Dad did.” Derrick touched my cheek. “I hope your mother gets the justice that she deserves, Willow. And you finally give Chase a break and let him mark you." He dodged my shove and laughed. "But I have to go.” “Training?” I asked. Derrick frowned. “You don’t have to look sad. You’re not the one that made the rules, ya know.” He smiled. “I’ll see you soon.” He jogged off toward the front doors, and I turned my attention back to the stairs. There were tons of names I needed to go through. I opened Chase’s office door, and stopped in the doorway. Keith stood in the office with the brightest smile, and his daughter, Heather stood next to him. Chase was holding her new baby in his arms. As if I needed another reason to be completely head over heels for this man, my ovaries exploded. The lovely look on his face warmed my stomach. “Willow,” Keith said. “Do you want to see Baby Kate?” “Sure,” I said, shutting the door. I walked over and Chase leaned down to put the baby in my arms. She cooed and stirred in her swaddle, and my heart flipped and flopped in my chest. “How precious, Heather. She’s beautiful.” “Thank you,” Heather beamed. Kate stirred and began to nuzzle her mouth against my breast. “Oh,” I laughed. Heather chuckled. “It’s time to eat. We were just introducing Baby Kate to Alpha Chase. We’ll get out of your hair.” Heather winked at me. Even the new mother cooped up in her house all day knew my business. They left swiftly, and I turned to Chase. “You like babies?’ I asked. “I do,” he said, sitting down at his desk. “You’re a natural.” I didn’t respond. Having pups had never been on my agenda for life. I’d wanted to do nothing more than fight, and avenge my mother. Speaking of. “Have you heard from Rex today?” Chase made a note on his calendar. “Yeah. He said he’d made it two towns over and found an artist that knew more about the tattoo than the others.” I leaned forward. “And?” I asked. Chase’s gaze lifted toward mine. “He knows a few places the rogue pack hangs out. Rex is going to go check them out this weekend.” “That’s promising,” I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck. “You don’t think he needs any help?” Chase gave me a heated look. “Don’t even think about it. We have dinner with your father tonight, and things to do. I can’t leave my pack when I just got them, Willow.” “I wasn’t talking about you,” I said, leaning forward. “Are you crazy? You think I’m going to send you, alone, to a bar that has a pack of rogue wolves ready to devour a she-wolf? They’d rip you apart if they found out you were there spying on them. No, absolutely not.” His alpha tone hit me in the chest. He hadn’t used it on me yet, but it meant a definite no. It meant to do as he said. I nodded. “Fine.” “Fine,” he mumbled. I eyed him as I walked over to my stack of papers. “I’ll just go over here and look through these stacks of papers.” I felt Chase’s gaze on me as I slid my legs underneath the table and started going through them. “Perhaps, I’ll be too tired for company tonight.” Chase laughed, and it made me smile. “That won’t work, Bunny. As much as I would hate to miss out on a night with you, I can’t allow you to go into the wolves’ den alone.” “Fine.” “Fine,” he answered. We spent the rest of the day working until it was time to meet my father. He called Chase a few hours before to confirm, but hadn’t said anything to me. Chase cleared his throat. “We only have a few minutes to get to your dad’s house.” I shuffled my papers together. “Are we still going to speak to him about the Rogue file?” Chase grabbed his keys, and shoved his cell phone into his pocket. “Yes, but I think we need to tread lightly. I don’t want to put too much on him. It was his wife’s death, and he just recently began to relax.” “You’re right,” I sighed. “Maybe I’ll let you do the talking. We seem to butt heads lately.” Chase lifted his brows. “I never thought I would see the day that Willow would say that to me.” I stalked toward the door. “Better write it down. It may never happen again.” Chase walked with me toward my father’s house on the opposite side of the pack lands. It was nestled amongst the other mated wolves' houses. Though my father was technically not mated anymore, no one had the heart to tell him that he couldn’t live there. We walked past my old house that was still vacant. Part of me wanted them to tear it down, and the other part of me wanted to see it. To make sure it still existed. Not that I would forget it. I’d never forget those memories. “You want to talk about it?” he asked. I looked up at him. “Talk about what?” His gaze shifted toward the vacant house. “That.” I shook my head. “I don’t need to talk about it, Chase. There isn’t anything to talk about. I’ve told you everything.” We stopped at my father’s driveway, and Chase lifted my chin toward him. “You need to talk about it. There could be things you’re suppressing—,” I pulled my chin away from him. I could feel tears threatening my eyes. I didn’t want to cry tonight. I wanted to attempt to make amends with my father, strengthen our relationship and find out if he was hiding anything. “Don’t,” I said. Chase nodded, and though I saw the resistance in his eyes, he guided me toward my father’s porch. There was a pair of muddy boots on the porch that caught my attention. Chase knocked, and I listened to him nearing to answer it. “I’m so glad you both made it,” he said, wiping his hands on a towel tucked into his apron. “Come on inside.” “Thank you for inviting us,” Chase said, holding the door for me. I stepped in, seeing the pictures of me in picture frames along the wall. He wasn’t the best decorator, but he did try. “Where have you been lately?” I asked. “Your boots are pretty muddy out there.” “Oh, just out at the pond fishing. You know the one I used to take you to.” He passed by me, and I stalled in the hallway. Chase palmed my lower back and looked down at me. “What?” he mouthed. “That pond has been dried up for years,” I whispered. Chase’s brows pulled down as Dad called us toward the table. “Come on and eat. I’m starving.” I broke our stare and walked toward the dining room table. I nibbled on my lower lip to keep from saying anything. Chase was taking the lead tonight, but I felt like bursting at the seams. Dad was lying to me, and from what I knew, he never had before.