3. Three

Even if I ran now, I couldn’t stop the sheriff before he got far enough to see the main house. If I looked through the trees, I could see the bloom of white smoke from where the rain smothered the charred remains of the structure.

My mom gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh no. He’s going to have so many questions. Your father was barely able to smooth things over the last time he was here.”

She mumbled into her hand, but I couldn’t understand her.

“There is no stopping him from seeing the house now. I’ll go head him off now before he gets any farther and runs into someone who shouldn’t be answering his questions.”

My mom sniffled and rubbed ferociously under her bloodshot eyes like she could hide the fact she’d been crying all morning.

Her hand trembled as she shoved her sopping wet hair behind her ear. “We should go and speak with him together. He’s not going to know about your father yet, and I know your father’s been speaking with him about Darrin’s death. With the fire and your dad…”

Her voice broke, and she choked on a sob.

I grasped her hand and clutched it between both of mine. “Lincoln and I will take care of it. Stay here. You deserve a chance to pay your respects to Dad. I know how hard this is for you.”

Her shoulders rose and fell as she began to cry again. “Sloane, my love, no.”

I stood taller and patted her hand. “It’s okay. I got this.”

My eyes burned, and my heart constricted painfully. I had to be strong now. It wasn’t a choice.

Mark and Brandon both reached out for Mom at the same time, pulling her between them and into a hug.

Mark placed his hand on the side of her head so she rested it on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Mom. Let Sloane take care of this.”

I gave my mom’s hand what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze and then let it go. “I’ve got this. You stay here for as long as you need.”

Brandon rubbed Mom’s back. “We’ll stay with her.”

I cast one final glance at the casket. I’d seen my dad push his emotions aside on more than one occasion. It seemed I would be doing that a lot for the foreseeable future. Later I would come back here to pay my respects.

I could almost feel my father’s warm embrace, telling me it would be okay and that this was my duty. But at the same time, this felt so final. His coffin would be buried by then. I couldn’t hold his hand or kiss his forehead one last time.

My heart sank like a stone in my stomach. This was the price of being alpha. The good of the pack must come first.

The sheriff drew closer.

I took a step back and bumped into Lincoln. My foot slid in the mud, but he caught me before I could fall.

His hands rested on my hips, his fingers digging into my sides. “Are you all right?”

I bobbed my head up and down, not entirely sure that I could speak. But someone had to do this, and it was going to be me. Later tonight, when I was safe in my room with Lincoln and maybe Sawyer, I could fall apart in their arms, but right now, everyone needed me to be strong, and that’s what I would do.

I marched forward with Lincoln on my heels. I stiffened my spine and swallowed hard. “I don’t want him to run into anyone else. He’s going to see the house, and he’s going to have questions. I already know that. Let me do the talking. He and my dad are…”

I growled as I put my fisted hand in my mouth and bit down on my knuckles at what I’d just said. Fresh tears welled in my eyes. I blinked rapidly.

Pull yourself together.

I blew out a breath and screwed my eyes shut as I continued to sludge through the mud. “My dad and the sheriff were good friends. I’ll need to do most of the talking.”

Lincoln’s shoes squelched in the mud as he hurried to catch up so we walked side by side. “Do you know what you’re going to say to him?”

“Anything I can come up with that is at least semi believable,” I said with a breathy laugh.

I guess I’d have to wing this.

Lincoln curled his fingers around mine. “You should at least come up with something for the house fire. That’s going to be the obvious question first.”

I looked up at the dark skies, so gray that it could almost pass for nighttime. The sun wouldn’t be coming out at all today. “I’d blame it on the storm, but it’s only raining, not lightning.”

I continued to look up, letting the rain pelt my face. It stung as it splatted against my cheeks, but it felt good at the same time.

I let out a frustrated groan. “I guess we could say that there was a kitchen fire or that a candle got knocked over.”

I smacked my hand against my forehead like that would help me come up with something reasonable for why the entire house had burned to the ground and no one had called the fire department.

Lincoln exhaled loudly. “Kitchen fires are pretty common, all things considered.”

I chuckled and shook my head. We were so screwed.

“Except the sheriff knows my mom,” I said. “She’s a fantastic cook and knows her way around the kitchen. There’s no way she would let it burn down. And what’s worse, he’s going to want to know why we didn’t call the fire department. I mean, who willingly lets their house burn to the ground? Any sane person would have called 911.”

I sniffled and then clamped down on my lower lip to keep it from trembling. Lincoln tugged me to a stop and turned me so that I faced him.

He brushed wet strands of hair out of my face and off my shoulders. “Breathe, Sloane.”

I closed my eyes and took a few steadying breaths.

Lincoln touched his forehead against mine. “That’s it, sweetheart. Breathe.”

I didn’t know how he was doing it, but somehow he pushed calming relaxation into my body, and the tight muscles in my neck and back began to release.

I flicked my eyes open and gave him a small smile. “Thanks. I needed that.”

He kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for just a moment before he pulled away. “Come on. We should go meet the sheriff.”

We sludged through the mud. With all the tracks from the funeral procession, any wolf prints were gone. If anything, the rain helped wash away all evidence of the attack except for the fire, of course.

The sheriff’s car rounded the bend on the drive, and I raced forward, waving my hand. He could see the house, but we were far enough out that no one else from the pack could intervene.

The tires squealed as he slammed on the brakes. The car jolted, and the driver’s side door opened.

Sheriff Adam got out and ran toward me. Sheriff Adam was about my dad’s age, with a rounded belly and big brown eyes that were full of kindness and worry.

He grasped my arms and shook me. “Sloane, my goodness, what happened? I saw the house. What are you doing out here? What happened here? Have you been outside in the rain all night?”

He surveyed Lincoln, and his brows creased together, no doubt wondering who Lincoln was.

I could make introductions later. Doing so now might just draw more questions, especially since the house was destroyed and all that.

I reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. I could only imagine what I must look like. Probably a drowned cat. Or worse. My hair and clothes were plastered to my body, and I was soaked through.

“There was a fire.” I mashed my lips together as my mind raced to come up with something semi believable. “We, uh, we forgot to turn off the air fryer before we left last night, and when we came back, the house was…”

I motioned with my arm, rotating it in small circles, knowing my lie sounded dumb.

I shrugged. “The house was already unsalvageable.”

Sheriff Adam’s brow dipped into a scowl, and he shook his head. Water flung from his hat as he moved it back and forth. “You didn’t even call the fire department? Why wouldn’t you guys do that?”

Fantastic question.

I licked my lips and forced my gaze to anywhere but Sheriff Adam. “We thought we could put it out by ourselves. The fire department is so far away anyway. It wouldn’t have mattered. They couldn’t have done anything. And by the time we realized that the house was a lost cause, the rain had started, and…well, there was no point in calling anyone then.”

Sheriff Adam’s eyes widened as he rubbed at his jaw and then stared at the charred remains of the house. Then he ducked his head down as he shook it like he didn’t believe me. To be fair, I couldn’t blame him. The story was ridiculous.

He put a hand on my shoulder. “Sloane, I’m concerned.”

Yeah, him and everyone else. There was a lot of that going around lately.

Sheriff Adam glared at Lincoln and then returned his gaze to me. “Do you feel safe here? Is there something going on that you might need to tell me?”

His hand drifted to his hip, where his gun sat in its holster.

Oh Luna. The last thing we needed was for someone to get shot.

“Sherriff, everything is fine. It was a simple accident and poor judgment on our part. My parents are away, and my brothers, Erica, and I thought that we could take care of it. Huge mistake on our part. Mom and Dad are going to be furious when they get back.”

My excuse sounded lame even to my own ears. A five-year-old could probably come up with a better story at this point.

Sheriff Adam unbuckled his holster and curled his fingers around the handle of his gun. “We had two calls last night of unusual activity down this way, Sloane. They said that there were lots of cars zooming up the road. They stopped for about an hour and then sped back in the direction they originally came from. Way more traffic and reckless driving than normal, and they seemed to be heading here.”

My heart sank. Great, even the neighbors were involved in this. Maybe my mom’s idea of leaving wasn’t such a bad idea after all. It didn’t change the fact that we still had nowhere to go, but it would fix the problem of Sheriff Adam and our nosy neighbors.

But finding land away from other people that we could afford right now…plus staying away from where Alpha Dane could find us… Not likely.

Those were problems for later. I had to deal with the sheriff.

I shrugged. “We’ve noticed it too. It’s happened a couple of times now. We just thought it was some kids racing. The roads are nice and straight for the most part. A good place to have drag races.”

Sheriff Adam let go of my shoulder and pointed at Lincoln. “Who is this? I thought I knew everyone who worked here. I’ve never met him.”

Lincoln forced a smile and reached his hand out. “I’m Lincoln. Sloane’s boyfriend.”

Sheriff Adam glared at Lincoln’s hand and didn’t make any attempt to shake it. His fingers twitched on his gun like he was seriously considering pulling it out and shooting Lincoln.

Lincoln let his hand fall back to his side. “Is there anything else we can help you with, Sheriff?”

Sheriff Adam glanced between the two of us and shook his head again. “Sloane, I’m still concerned. First, there’s the business with your brother, and second, this house fire. Where are your parents? I tried checking in with your father last night, but got no answer on his cell. Same thing this morning. I must’ve called half a dozen times. If he doesn’t answer, he always calls back.”

He put one hand on his hip. The other stayed on his gun, and his thumb twitched. “You need to tell me if something is going on. Let the law help you.”

I forced out a breathy laugh. “Sherriff, everything is fine.”

Sheriff Adam slipped the gun out but kept it by his side. “I don’t think it is. I’ll be making some additional calls when I get back to the station. Something isn’t right here. I’ve been sheriff too long to ignore when something doesn’t sit right.”

He jabbed his finger at Lincoln, hitting him in the chest. “And if this guy is bothering you or hurting you in some way, tell me now, and I’ll make sure that he doesn’t do it again. I have a cell back at the station that can have his name on it.”

My heart melted a little at how quickly he’d offered to help us. It meant a lot, but I couldn’t let him threaten my mate, either.

I put myself between Lincoln and Sheriff Adam, reached behind me, and grasped Lincoln’s hand. He wound his other around my waist, pulling me close. I did my best to try to smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace instead.

“I promise you, Sheriff Adam, Lincoln is here because my family and I want him to be. I love him, and he is not a problem.”

The sheriff’s nostrils flared. “Something is going on. Are you guys in some sort of trouble?”

I opened my mouth, but he spoke up before I could say anything.

“I don’t mean to sound crass. But your brother’s head was decapitated. Cut clean off. I’ve seen a lot of horrific crimes but nothing like that before. We have reports of multiple men driving recklessly up and down this road last night, and I come here and find the house is burned beyond salvation. What am I supposed to think?”

My pulse quickened as I made one final attempt to sway him.

“That this is all a big misunderstanding?” I shrugged.

I didn’t think his frown could possibly deepen more, but it did.

“Sloane, this is not a misunderstanding, and I don’t know what is going on exactly, but I know something illegal took place here last night. My duty is to the law and to protect the people under my jurisdiction. If you won’t talk to me, then I’ll call in reinforcements from the FBI. They are already looking into Darrin’s death.”

My stomach cramped, and I hugged my free hand around myself. “They are?” I asked weakly.

This was bad. We didn’t need the FBI sniffing around and getting caught up in all this.

Lincoln put his mouth to my ear. “Sloane.”

Yeah, I knew I had to do something.

Sheriff Adam nodded. “I had them start looking into Darrin’s death because things didn’t add up.” He pointed toward the house. “I’m bringing this up to them, too.”

“You can’t,” I blurted, my voice breathless and shrill at the same time.

He arched a brow at me. “I can and I will. Your father has been a good friend of mine. I care about your family, Sloane. I hope you aren’t mixed up in anything illegal, but I have to do my job, and I know there is something you are not telling me.”

I mashed my lips together. There was nothing that I could say to him that would placate him. He knew us too well, and he was a family friend. He knew something fishy was going on, and he was an honest cop who wouldn’t let this go even if I threw myself at his feet and begged.

I had to do damage control, but how? Dad always said to trust my gut. I guess I’d have to do that now.

I shifted on my feet as my belly knotted. “So maybe there is something going on, Sheriff. But we don’t want to involve the law. I think it would only make it worse.”

Sheriff Adam looked at Lincoln, but when Lincoln didn’t make a move, he re-holstered his gun and crossed his arms. “Sloane, let the law help you. Where are your parents? I want to talk to David and Kathleen.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “This isn’t something the law can help us with, Sheriff. Not right now.”

Sheriff Adam opened and closed his mouth like he didn’t know how to respond. Then he threw his hands up in the air. “What in the devil is that supposed to mean?”

Dad had never told Sheriff Adam what we were, but I knew he trusted him implicitly. He was a good man, and he and dad had spent a lot of time together as friends. Maybe, just maybe, if I told him what was happening, he could help us but also stay out of danger since he would know what to look for.

That’s assuming he didn’t turn us in to the government to be experimented on.

Alpha Dane wouldn’t hesitate to kill the sheriff if he were here during an attack. He was already a murderer. If I gave the sheriff enough information to scare him off from pursuing this, hopefully that would be enough.

And if I was really lucky, there was probably a way he could help us with more wiretaps and whatnot.

I pulled away from Lincoln, giving enough space so I could trigger a shift.

I tugged at my shirt but stopped before lifting it. Stripping in front of him didn’t exactly sound like a good idea, but my clothes were limited now from the fire.

And if I shifted, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him. Oh well. I’d figure that out in a minute.

I toyed with the hem of my shirt. “Sheriff, there’s something I need to show you, and then I can explain everything. But I need you to keep an open mind.”

Exposing ourselves to humans was unheard of. The other alphas wouldn’t approve, but I couldn’t have Sheriff Adam watching us and getting in the way by involving the FBI.

Here goes nothing.