Page 8 of Wolf Sacrificed

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.

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