Willow
“Can I ask you something?”
The question she’d been wanting to bring up had been on her mind since the very first day the tall brown-haired werewolf had walked up to her desk and blown away all the stereotypes she’d been building of him in her head. It was unlike her father to be so mistaken about somebody, but it was clear to Willow that he’d misjudged the newcomer.
She didn’t expect her dad to admit it, of course. Getting Stephen to own up to a mistake was such a novelty Willow wasn’t sure she’d react if she heard it happen. Probably throw a party or something, just to draw it out and make him more irritated about it. Which of course meant he’d never do it again. But still, it would probably be worth it.
“Um, what’s that?” Aiden replied, glancing over at her from where he lounged as comfortably as possible in the seat. He somehow made the worn chair look far more relaxing than it had any right to be.
“Why are you here?”
Aiden blinked. “Your father told me to come along with you. I’m manual labor, apparently.” He shrugged and continued quickly before she could speak. “I was as surprised as you, trust me. After the way he ordered me away from you the other day, to stick us into a truck together for…well, I have no idea how long the ride is, but even just pairing us up caught me off guard completely.”
“True,” she agreed. “But that isn’t what I meant…”
The werewolf was silent for several long moments as he considered her question.
“I mean, you’re smart, I can’t argue that. You have some drive, you aren’t incompetent at life. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Aiden nodded. “Well, thank you for that. But it wasn’t for any of those reasons. Well, not for a lack of them, at least.”
Willow considered that. “He thought you were a threat?”
She could practically imagine the way his big brown eyes danced as he laughed next to her. “Mack considers everyone a threat. That’s what makes a good Alpha, is analyzing threats and dealing with them. But no, he knew I had no designs on his position.”
“So what’s the problem then?”
The mood turned somber even before he replied. She could tell that admitting the truth behind it wasn’t easy for him, and it likely opened up some hurt that Aiden hadn’t known was there. But it was important to her to know the answer, so she didn’t back down or tell him that he didn’t have to answer.
“I couldn’t keep it together,” Aiden said at last, his voice heavy with regret. “Someone could blink at me wrong, or make even the slightest joke, and we had to fight. Had to. I didn’t see any other option. Nor did I care. I was good at fighting, and I wanted to do it. To prove to everyone how much of a badass I was.”
He laughed softly at himself while she drove in silence. “You’d think I’d have grown out of that after puberty, right?”
Willow considered her answer carefully, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “Sometimes it’s not just hormones, but a part of our personality. If you never had to learn to control your anger as a child, to let it out in healthy ways, then it’s only natural that you would want to fight often. That doesn’t make it right, but it is understandable, in a way.”
Aiden stared at her for a long, long time before responding. Long enough that Willow began to blush from the attention.
“You are a very perceptive young woman,” he said at last. “Very perceptive.”
Willow smiled. “I’ve lived around you werewolves my entire life, Aiden. I know you run hotter and tend to align with some of the more primitive and feral aspects of humanity. It’s in your nature.” She shrugged, keeping her hands on the wheel. “But I’m glad you’ve become aware of these issues. I hope that means you’re working to fix them.”
She clamped down on her mouth, not willing to say just yet why she hoped he was working on them. Telling Aiden she wanted him to stick around so she could get to know him better was not something he needed to hear just now. She wanted him to fix himself for him, not because he thought it would grant him a better shot at getting closer to her.
“You know, at first, I wasn’t. Mack exiled me, said coming here was my last chance and that Stephen would put me down in a heartbeat if I didn’t behave. Do you know the first thought that ran through my head after he said that?”
“No.”
“Bring it. I’ll take him on, I’m not afraid.” Aiden’s head banged off the headrest. “I thought that for quite a while. I was ready to come in the other day and just fight everyone until I was either dead, or Alpha of the pack.”
Willow sensed her cue as he stopped speaking. “What changed?”
“I slept on it. Figured that if I did that, Mack would just send one of the regional response teams after me, with orders to terminate with extreme prejudice.” He laughed weakly. “I’m good in a fight, but against a dozen of those guys? Not a chance. Individually, I’d be willing to test my luck, sure. I was a member of one for a decade. I know the tricks, the training. But they work as a team, Willow. Twelve wolves, hunting as one. I’d be dead before I knew it.” He ran a hand through the hair on top of his head. “No, I want to live. I figured out that was the most important thing to me. Living, to see what tomorrow brings, next week, next month. I want to experience the fullness of my lifespan, Willow. To see what other changes will occur in the world.”
The last thing Willow had expected was an inner monologue of his thoughts, and what was important to him. But now she had it.
“Is that all you want to live for? Is to see what tomorrow brings?”
No! Bad Willow. Stop flirting with him. He’s going to pick up on it instantly and then you’ll really be in trouble with Father. And yourself. He’s a werewolf. Remember how we swore those off after the last one? Hmmm? Or did you forget how he nearly killed you before Father could rescue you?
She cursed herself silently, thinking of ways she could deflect any tension, so that Aiden wouldn’t pick up on her ulterior motives in asking the question.
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” he said, his head swiveling to stare at her.
She glanced over at him, letting her eyes get trapped for mere moments before returning them to the road. It was tough, but like Aiden, Willow wanted to live, and focusing on the road would aid that cause big time.
They rode the next ten minutes in silence, both of them lost deep in their thoughts, and Willow relieved that Aiden hadn’t pressed her on her question. Though of course, his response had been vague enough to make her wonder.
He could easily have been insinuating that he was still trying to figure out whether or not she was something he was living for. His response, if that were the case, was his way of saying he was confused, and unsure of how everything was playing out. Which was also true of her. Willow had no idea how everything was going to go. In fact, she’d never expected it to head down this road in the first place, so all of this was new territory for her.
“We’re here,” she announced, pulling the truck off the road and into the parking lot for a warehouse.
The building was huge. It dwarfed her father’s place, and that was just a section of it. The loading bays could easily hold twenty plus trucks at a time. It was better suited for use as a distribution center for a national or multinational company. Instead, it sat mostly empty, unused. Willow pulled around to the rear, where another quartet of loading bays were located, shielded from the road and others by the building.
Waiting for them were two cargo vans, their rear doors open and filled with boxes.
“What’s the deal with them?” Aiden asked, casually pointing to the two human guards standing nearby, automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.
Willow noted how he didn’t seem worried or concerned. Just curious. Threat Assessment. That’s what he’s doing right now.
“As long as you keep your mouth shut and do as I say, nothing to worry about.” She wheeled the truck around and started backing it up to the vans.
One of the guards used a hand to wave her in until she was close.
“I see. This doesn’t seem like it has much to do with shipping,” he remarked, sitting up straighter as she put the vehicle into park. He didn’t comment when she left the engine running.
“Sure it does,” she said. “But sometimes we have to do things a bit more clandestinely.”
“Is this stuff illegal?”
“No. Just highly private. We do a lot of government work as well. Some of their agencies aren’t comfortable delivering to us in private.”
Aiden shook his head. “The stuff is already loaded. Why not just deliver it in those vans?”
Willow rolled her eyes. “You don’t know everything, so of course it doesn’t make sense. But they aren’t all going to the same destination. Hopefully that helps you figure it out.”
He considered her response, and then shrugged. “Sure, whatever you say. I’m to load it all up into our truck then?”
“Yes.”
Before she could say any more Aiden had slipped out. Willow cursed and went after him. The humans didn’t know who he was, and she didn’t want any trouble.
God I hate dealing with the government sometimes.