Page 8 of Jacob

Taylor grinned.“You should come over to the house.”

Tony knew what house he meant.Taylor wasn’t the alpha of the pride, though, and Tony didn’t know if his deputy had the ability to invite humans into the house.He wanted to think that Taylor was being serious rather than joking, but he didn’t know his deputy that well yet.“What would your alpha say if I was to come?”

“He’d be pleased.He’s been talking about meeting you.”

Tony blinked.“He has?”

“Well, you’re an important man in town.Of course Gal wants to meet you.If you disliked the pride, you could create real problems for us.”

“I don’t have anything against the pride.”

“We’re lucky with you.The old sheriff really didn’t like me only because I’m a pride member and a tiger shifter.I think that my working for him was one of the reasons he decided to retire.He didn’t have a choice because no one else wanted to work for him, but he really didn’t want to work with me.”

Tony didn’t like that.He’d met his predecessor a few times, and the man had struck him as the kind of sheriff who stayed in the office and drank coffee all day, as Taylor had mentioned.Maybe Tony would do the same after decades of taking care of trash cans, but he liked to think that wouldn’t be the case.He’d applied for this job for a reason.He wanted to help people, and not only when something bad happened to them.He wanted to be there all the time.He wanted to show these people that they could count on him.He wanted a peaceful life, and maybe he would change his mind in a few years, but for now, investigating raccoons sounded like heaven.

“Sorry you had to deal with that,” he told Taylor.

Taylor shrugged.“Nothing to be sorry about.I was a bit scared when you became the sheriff because I didn’t know what to expect, and you’re so much younger than the old sheriff that I thought for sure you’d change things, but so far, you’ve been doing a good job.”

Tony looked around the room.It was way too big for a department with only one sheriff and one deputy, but he’d looked into the town.When the station had been built, more people had lived there, which meant there’d been a need for more deputies.There might not be now, but considering how big the town was, Tony wanted at least one more deputy.“Do you know of anyone who wants a job?”he asked.

“As a receptionist?Because we need one.”

“That, too, but I want another deputy.”

Taylor frowned.“You don’t like the work I do?”

“That’s not what I meant.I’ve seen you work, and you’re perfectly fine.”People actually tended to prefer Taylor, probably because he’d lived in town all of his life.Even though Tony was the sheriff, he was a newcomer.He didn’t blame anyone for feeling more comfortable with Taylor.He wouldn’t have expected it any other way.The people in town trusted Taylor in a way they didn’t trust Tony—yet.

“I can ask around,” Taylor offered.“Would you be opposed to another shifter?”

“I don’t see why I should be.”

“The old sheriff, remember?He would’ve made sure that I knew that he only wanted humans working for him.”

“Well, I’m not him, and I don’t care what you or whoever you talk to about the job can turn into.As long as they’re serious about the job, I’ll give them a chance.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”Taylor hesitated.“I like you, Sheriff.You’re much better than the man who was in charge before you.”

“That’s a low bar, but thank you.”Tony raised his cup of coffee.“And thank you for this, but please, we have a coffee machine.Use that next time.”

“I used my own money.”

“Which is more reason to use the station’s coffee machine.”Tony hoped that whoever Taylor talked to about the job would be like him.He really liked the man, and he thought they worked well together.Hopefully, the same would go for the next deputy.

Chapter Two

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THERE WAS NO NEED FORJacob to patrol the property, but he couldn’t stop himself.Technically, it was his job.He still worked for pride security, and he would until he found another job.

These days, working for pride security meant sitting in the security room and watching video feeds.It was what most of the few other guards did, but after smelling that strange shifter, Jacob couldn’t just sit back and relax.

That shifter was probably a tourist or someone new in town who’d been curious about the pride.There was no reason for Jacob to be so anxious about them, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more to the situation.Why had the shifter come all the way to the pride house?Even if they’d been curious, they had to know that if someone noticed they’d been there, they’d be alarmed.The pride was much more open than it had been in the past, but still.Having a shifter they didn’t know hanging around the forest where they lived was an uncomfortable feeling.

Gal had agreed that it was strange when Jacob had brought it up, but he didn’t seem overly worried.He’d humored Jacob when he’d mentioned that he would be patrolling the area around the property.He probably knew that Jacob felt like he didn’t have anything better to do.Jacob really needed to talk to him about finding another job, but he still didn’t know where to start.

He walked around the tree and thought about what else he could do.He supposed that, in a way, he was afraid.He’d been a guard for the pride his entire adult life.He’d started training for it when he was seventeen, and it was the only job he’d ever had.If he found something outside the pride, he’d have to learn to work with new people and to do things he had no idea how to do.What if he failed?What if he didn’t know how to do anything but this?What if being a guard for the pride was the only thing he was capable of doing?

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