Chapter Nineteen - Willow

Chase’s warm body put me to sleep instantly. I hadn’t realized how sleepy I was until I laid down and he lay with me. My bare legs tangled with his, and my eyes drifted closed. I was pulled into a nightmare almost immediately. The sound of my mother’s heavy breathing and then her pleading with someone to spare her life. Tears coated my eyes, and I wrapped my palm around my mouth to keep quiet. This dream was the most common one. It tore me up the most. Hearing her plead for her life while someone took it mercilessly. I awoke quickly, sitting up in the bed, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. My breathing was labored and it rocked through me like lightning. “Are you okay?” Chase asked quietly. I wiped the tears, and sweat from my face, and laid back down beside him. Normally, I would lay there for hours attempting to fall back to sleep. But this time, Chase wrapped his arm around me and pulled me flush with him. “I’m fine,” I lied. “Are you really? It doesn’t seem like it to me. Nightmares are normally occasionally, but not all of the time.” “I live through them.” “What do you dream of? That night?” My bottom lip trembled, and I was thankful for the darkness in the room. “Yes,” I whispered, drawing circles on his arms. “About hiding in the closet while she was killed. I can hear her. Smell the spaghetti she was cooking. I’d been playing on the kitchen floor moments before.” Chase barricaded me to his chest and rubbed his palm up and down my spine. He didn’t ask me about therapy, or tell me I needed to go speak to someone. I was thankful for it. I fell asleep in his arms within minutes. The next morning, I woke to a note on Chase’s pillow that said that breakfast was in his office. I’d slept through my normal training time. Maybe my body needed a break. I unfolded myself from the covers, smelling his scent so strongly in the room that it almost knocked me over. I tiptoed across the hallway to grab a shower and my clothes. I slid into a pair of leggings, and one of my dad’s old t-shirts. My tennis shoes squeaked while walking toward Chase’s office. The floor had been freshly mopped, and the pack house smelled like Heaven. Chase’s door was cracked for me, but he wasn’t in it. I assumed he was at warrior training. I pushed back my jealousy and found a plate of eggs, pancakes, and sausages on his desk with a note. I had a smoothie made for you this morning. It’s in the fridge. My stomach growled, and I almost felt giddy at the realization that he thought about me. I grabbed the smoothie from the fridge and walked over to the couch. My papers were still stacked up where I’d left them. I was in the middle of spreading them out when the office door opened. Jason, one of the older wolves poked his head inside. “Oh, Willow?” “Hey, Jason. Chase is down at the warrior’s cabin.” “Okay. I’ll come back later—,” Something dawned on me. “Oh, hey, Jason. I have a quick question. Are you still on guard duty?” He stepped in. He was built for an older wolf, and had spent many years on the warrior’s team. “Yes, ma’am. Why?” I shifted a few papers around to seem uninterested. “Have you noticed anyone leaving the pack house lately?” Jason looked shocked at the accusation for a few moments, but then he scratched the back of his neck. It was a huge indication of a lie. “No, ma’am. Not while I’m on duty. Anyone in particular?” “Nope,” I said. “Just curious. I thought I saw someone the other night, that’s all.” Jacob dismissed himself. Dad and Jason had been best friends in their youth. He’d given Jason any job his heart desired. He wouldn’t rat out my dad. It made me want to stake out and see for myself. Or watch my dad from afar, and see where he was going. Maybe Chase would agree to it. I was nibbling on the corner of my thumbnail when vibrations came from Chase’s desk. His phone lit up underneath a few papers, while I evened mine out on the coffee table. Several minutes passed and it began to vibrate again. Curiosity got the best of me, and I walked over toward his desk, noticing Rex’s name across the screen. The eager part of me wanted to answer it because I knew he was calling about my mother’s case. Though, I didn’t want to be the nosey girlfriend either. I watched the screen, hoping he left a text I could see pop up on the screen when Chase cleared his throat from the doorway. He had an amused smile on his face, holding a few sacks in his hands, he pulled the door closed behind him. “Already sneaking through my phone?” he asked, a playful smile on his face. A deep blush brushed my skin. “It kept ringing. I was just checking. It’s Rex by the way,” I said. Chase dropped the bags on his desk and stepped over toward me. “You could have answered it, I wouldn’t have chewed your arm off for it.” I shrugged and pinched the hem of my T-shirt between my fingertips. “Yeah? Why don’t you call him back and put me out of my misery?” He chuckled, pushing me back against the desk, trapping me against him. “I think I’d rather put out your misery a different way.” I swam in his hazel eyes for far too long, sliding my palms up his chest to his deltoids, I grinned. “What’s got you all worked up this early in the morning?” He sat me on the desk and inhaled my scent. “Spending an entire night with you. Then I see you in these leggings this morning. It’s driving my wolf crazy.” “Yeah? Maybe we can work out a way to take them off later … “ Chase’s phone vibrated again. His gaze shifted over, he shook his head and his eyes shifted from honey to hazel. “I better get that.” He grabbed the phone and answered, “Hey Rex. What do you have for me?” I strained to listen to the other end, but could only make out muffled words. Chase pulled back quickly, shoving one hand into his pocket, he began to pace the room. I slipped from his desk and watched his entire body morph into an alpha. He seemed determined, angry and it rolled off him like lava. “Yeah. Bring him here.” My heart hammered in my throat. I felt like jumping into the phone and demanding to know what was going on. “I’ll make sure we have a place to put him. How long before you’re here? Okay, good. Good. See you then.” I was nearly panting when Chase shoved his phone into his pocket. When he turned, the playful Chase was completely gone. “Did he find my mother’s killer?” That was quicker than I ever imagined. “No,” he said. “He found someone with the same tattoo. He won’t talk. So, Rex is going to bring him here so that we can … handle it.” Handle it? “Handle what?’ I asked, folding my arms. Chase stared at me. “We’re going to get some information out of him. Rex found him drunk at a bar. He’s so sloshed that nothing is making sense. He’s bringing him here so we can sober him up.” My heart raced with possibilities. Maybe we could find out who the people were and where to find them. “When will he be here?” Chase stalked around to his desk and began to take out all of the snacks from his bag. “I got you some things to snack on while in my office.” “You’re ignoring my question.” He looked up at me. “I don’t want you near him. He’s a rogue and dangerous. Rex and I have ways of pulling information from people and I don’t want you around it.” “So, once again, I’m shoved on the back burner?” “No,” he said, reaching around to pinch my chin. “Once again, you’re being protected by your protector. I will tell you absolutely everything that happens, and everything he says. I care about you too much to let him near you.” My bottom lip trembled in frustration. Mad tears threatened my eyes. “This isn’t your mother’s killer,” he said matter-of-factly. “Or, at least, we don’t know anything at this moment. I meant what I said to you, Willow. I will find him and let you end him.” I trusted Chase. I wanted to believe him. I nodded against my will to shove him out of my face. “Promise.” “I swear to you, Willow. If this man is your mother’s killer. You’ll be the first one to know.”