Page 7 of Wolf Sacrificed

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.

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