Page 10 of F Is for Honey Bee

“He rescued a kid from an overturned SUV.” Slater pulled the towel away and looked at the wound then pressed the cloth back against the wolf. “Right when he got out, the damn thing exploded. Pieces of the vehicle shot everywhere, including into him.”

Jonah’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t imagine being involved in something so dangerous and was grateful Kijani had survived. “That was the call he got when he was here.”

Slater nodded. “Multi-car accident on South Green Road. Firefighters got the woman out of the SUV, but she yelled about her baby. Kijani jumped into the vehicle without a second thought.” Slater looked at Jonah. “Stubborn son of a bitch refused to go home to heal. Said he promised his honey bee that he would come back.”

Jonah was at a loss for words. He could already tell Kijani was a good guy from the way the deputy had comforted him after the fiasco with Flint. He’d gone above and beyond his duty and didn’t owe Jonah anything.

Yet, even wounded, he’d kept his word.

“Now you mind telling me why you’re not losing your shit over this?” Slater jerked his chin toward the wolf, curiosity in his blue-green eyes. “You don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my business, but I’m curious as hell.”

Jonah had only met the deputy a few hours earlier. Though he was thankful the guy had hauled Flint out of there, that didn’t make them close friends.

“Guess we all have our secrets.” Slater pulled the towel away again, but this time, he set it aside. “The bleeding stopped. His body is already healing.” He studied Jonah thoughtfully. “Should I assume you’re okay with him staying here?”

“As opposed to you carrying a massive wolf out my front door?”

Slater chuckled as he stood. “That would make an interesting sight for your neighbors. It would be as bad as Kijani trying to explain why he crawled out of that SUV naked.”

Jonah arched a brow. “Does he normally shed his clothes during rescues?”

A snort of amusement escaped Slater before he sobered, his blue-green eyes growing pensive. “Sheriff Harper told me Kijani’s foot got stuck. The stench of gas around the SUV grew stronger, and then the engine caught fire. I’m assuming Kijani shifted to get his foot out so he could escape.”

Or barely escape.

Jonah looked at the metal resting on the floor, still coated in Kijani’s blood. Things could’ve gone horribly wrong. Fatally wrong. “I’ll look after him while he heals.”

It was the least he could do after Kijani had been there for him. He pushed to his feet and walked the deputy to the door. In that short amount of time, it had grown dark outside. Jonah extinguished the light in the living room to conceal the wolf sleeping on his floor.

His neighbors might have saved his life earlier when they’d called the cops, but they were still nosy as hell and would wonder why there was another police cruiser at his house.

They’d probably already seen a giant, powerfully built—and very naked—guy on his front porch. He didn’t want to provide them with any further ammunition for their gossiping tongues.

Despite Jonah not owning any pets, if any of his neighbors spotted the enormous wolf, they would probably assume he’d just adopted a very large dog.

Hopefully.

“Tell him to call me when he wakes up.” Slater stepped onto the porch.

Jonah stood in the doorway and noticed his neighbor from across the street, Mr. Pritchard, peering at them from his window. Jonah pulled the door closed behind him to block the guy’s view.

The neighborhood where Jonah lived in Midnight Falls was mostly middle class with decent homes and nice residents. That was why he’d chosen to purchase a home in this area.

But there were still some individuals who needed to get a life.

As Slater drove off, Jonah hurried back inside. He turned the light back on and stared at the wolf.

This bizarre situation was completely unexpected. He had hoped Kijani would come back, but he never expected the guy would show up in the buff with a thick piece of metal sticking out of his body.

Or that he would shift into a wolf.

Kijani would heal all on his own. There was nothing for Jonah to do but wait. His head snapped around when his doorbell rang. He doubted it was Slater returning, so he crept over to one of the windows and peeked through his blinds, afraid it would be Flint at his door, even though he’d been hauled off to jail.

What the hell?

Why on earth was Arlo standing on his porch? Since they’d broken up, not once had Arlo set foot near Jonah’s house. Though Arlo was the reason Jonah and Flint constantly argued, the reason they’d gotten into it tonight, he was clueless to the fact he was the fuse of nearly every argument they’d had. Still, Arlo had felt Flint’s animosity whenever Flint had shown up at Jonah’s job. So why was he here now?

If Flint had still been there right now, a murder might have taken place.

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