Page 10 of Wolf Sacrificed

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.

Four

Lincoln

Sloane had lost her mind. What was she doing?

She was going to shift in front of the sheriff and expose us all.

I understood what she was thinking and why she was going to do it. It might be the only way to stop him from involving the FBI, but he’d already had his finger on his gun once. I didn’t want him to get trigger-happy when exposed to the supernatural world. Who knew how he would react?

I put my hand out in front of Sloane. “Let me show him. You can explain it. It will be better coming from you anyway.”

He didn’t know me, and I didn’t want her to have to shift back and be naked in front of the sheriff. That would make for an awkward conversation.

I dragged my waterlogged sweater up over my body and let it fall to the ground with a smack. Then I kicked my shoes off and tugged the socks off my wrinkly toes. My jeans were a lot harder to push down. They stuck to my legs because they were so drenched.

The sheriff held up his hand and took a step back. “Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? Put that back on, son. Sloane, what’s going on?”

Sloane let out a high-pitched laugh. “Sheriff, I think it’s easiest if we show you. You’re more likely to believe us that way. I don’t want you involved, but we can’t have any more people here asking questions, either.”

Sheriff put his hand out farther like that would stop me. I hopped on one foot as I tried to get my leg out of my jeans. The mud squished between my toes, and I nearly slipped. It took all my willpower to make sure that I didn’t fall on my butt in the mud.

Sheriff opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “I don’t know what he’s doing, Sloane, but please make him stop.”

I finally wiggled free of my jeans and let them fall to the ground. Then I put my hand on the band of my boxers but decided against taking them off.

Sloane gave me a small nod as her brows creased together.

She moved to stand right in front of the Sheriff. “We have to show you something. Please, just watch and promise me you won’t shoot Lincoln.”

The sheriff scowled. “Shoot him? Why would I do that?”

I didn’t give him a chance to ask more questions. I leaped forward, triggering my shift. My bones cracked as they realigned. I landed on all four paws as my wolf.

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