Willow in the Woods: Guarding the Willow

Chapter 24

Willow

"Is he still mad about the truck?" Willow asked as Marcus crept back through the bedroom door. With no lights on in the bedroom, and barely any pre morning light seeping in through the window, Willow could barely make out Marcus's outline.

Other than Max, Marcus had been the only one that came to visit Willow since she had returned two mornings ago from the Great Manure Run. Willow had figured at this hour, it had to be Marcus.

Heath hadn't spoken two words to her. Any time she had left her cabin to talk to him, his face would match the color of his hair and he would hold his breath like a child and storm off.

Everyone had seemed to chide her for what she had done and the danger Willow and Drew had gotten into, which Willow still had not had fully  explained to her, but soon after they started in on lecturing her, they would all end up cracking a smile and giving up.

Even Marcus had simply shook his head and face palmed. Then promptly began working on healing her, which was taking a little more time than either of them would like.

And here he was, back again, for another session, after his pre morning chores.

"Oh, hey Darlin." He sounded so tired. Healing Willow and working on the ranch was beginning to take a toll on him. "I didn't realize you were up." He threw his coat onto the side of the armoire and kicked off his boots sliding them with his foot over to the corner of the room. "Want me to start some coffee or make you some breakfast?" He asked sitting on the edge of the bed as he took off his socks.

Willow crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Nope. And I don't think I need anymore of your inner wolf healing either." She smiled kissing his shoulders then slid her hands back and began giving him a massage.

He groaned a bit and dropped his head down to his chest as she began working out some of the knots and kinks in his shoulders and neck. She knew Wolfborn generally healed on their own, but it appeared Marcus healed much slower when he was having to put that energy towards her. "You didn't answer my question by the way." She said deepening the rub around his neck. Or what he had started calling his Willow Hump, as that was where all his stress was kept.

"Hmm? What question?" He yawned out.

"Is Heath still mad about the truck?" Willow asked again.

Marcus lazily nodded his head, still allowing her to continue working on his Willow Hump. "Oh yeah." He snorted. "He's having it hauled off for scrap this morning. Tried to talk all of us into standing out there with him and having a memorial over it. He even hung those red truck balls on his cabin door."

Willow felt horrible. She hadn't thought his truck was going to get that messed up. She had been told that everyone was locking their car doors at night now.

Willow's phone chimed behind her on the night stand.

"Whoever it is, Darlin, tell them to take a hike. My shoulders need your attention more than they do."

Willow continued to rub his shoulders and ignore it. At least for the next two minutes, until it chimed again. "I really better take that." Willow patted his back and Marcus fell back on the bed with an audible groan of annoyance.