A Mate for the Sheriff (Shifter-Match.com Book 4) Read online

  “It’s because you are seriously fucking hot and sexy. I mean, come on, Novak, you’re incredible. And when you sweat, Jesus.” She bit her lower lip and looked up at him through her eyelashes. “And when you growl. Fucking hell, it makes me practically orgasm right then and there. You are potent, Novak.”

  “Good to know.” Stretching his arm out along the sofa back, he rested his cheek to her hair when she leaned into his side. “But you really should stop thinking along that track. It’s only going to get you more worked up and frustrated than you already are.”

  “I know, I know, but I can’t help it.” She curled closer to him. “Oh well. Life. At least we’re able to shower together today, right? If you tell me no again, we will fight. At least shower with me before we go to bed? The stitches have come out, so I can handle you touching me a little, you know.”

  “You say that to get me worked up so I do touch you. Then you’ll try for more, which will lead to yet another lecture from your doctor. Do you see where I’m going with this? I find it adorable how you are trying to work me into getting what you want, but you’ll be bathing alone. No hanky-panky until the doctor says otherwise.”

  The sound of his cell ringing saved him from whatever her answer might have been. With a kiss to her cheek, Novak settled her back on the sofa and went to grab it off the counter. She couldn’t make out much from his side of the conversation. The only words she did catch were, “that’s interesting”, “where”, and “send me what you’ve got”. Although she had to guess the last couple words in that one, since he’d turned slightly to peer into the pot on the stove at the same time.

  “Okay, now you have me seriously curious. Are you going to tell me anything about that phone call, or are you going to make me continue to pester you?” She shifted slightly so that she could get up from the couch and approach him. “Come on, you know I’m going to ask you a hundred times until you tell me.” He protected her, a great deal. He was always doing what he could in order to keep her safe, even if it was from herself.

  “That was Nella. She thinks they’ve found the guy that took the shot. Or rather where he was most recently. Best they can tell, he was there within the last four hours. No clue if he ran out for something and will return or has bolted and is in the wind. They’re poking around for some clues and will call us back as soon as they know anything.”

  “Where did they find the trail? I thought since he was picked up on a helicopter that we wouldn’t have a chance in hell at your people picking up a trail. I’m impressed that they did.”

  “Dire wolves are nothing if not tenacious. One big reason why the witches attempted to kill us all centuries past. They knew if one of us was assigned to track a witch down, we wouldn’t stop except for their capture or our own death. Best the cousins can figure is that this location, which happens to be remote, is likely a safe house. Somewhere he or his employers own that he’s using as a stop gap. Most likely while figuring out how to remove the shooter from the state and the country.”

  “So they are there and waiting for backup?” Ha! Yeah right. If they were anything like Novak, they wouldn’t wait. “Do you need to call in deputies to go and arrest whoever it is?”

  “They are way outside my jurisdiction, sweetheart. The cousins are searching the residence, and then two will lie in wait. Two will follow the new trail in case he did run and will try to discover where he’s gone off to. If they can make up some more time, we might know who it is and why they did it.” Hugging to her to his side, Novak watched her closely. “We will find this guy and he will pay for what he did.”

  “I know. But you need to also keep yourself together and not do anything that will get you in trouble.” She looked up at him with a slight smirk. “I know you, Novak, and I know that you would kill the person if you had a chance to. I’m not saying that is bad. I’m just asking you to please try not to kill them.”

  “I make no promises, but I’ll make sure it never comes back to either of us. For now, why don’t you grab some plates and we can start dishing up. We might as well eat. We won’t hear anything more for a while from the cousins. Even if they do find the shooter in the next few hours, those are still hours we need to fill with other activities.” He rolled his eyes, obviously catching something in her expression. “Activities not including me in the shower with you or us having sex. Behave yourself.”

  “Damn,” she grumbled, but she did grab a couple of plates. “Just don’t get upset with me if I gain fifty pounds from all that I’ve been eating and not working off.” Especially since her favorite activity was taken off the table for now.

  “You have been working out. Maybe not in the manner you prefer, but that physical therapist has been subtly working you, Jess. Each exercise burns calories.” He dished up each plate, then turned everything off before following her to the table. He made a quick trip to the fridge before he settled down next to her and passed her a glass of tea.

  “I’m hoping Nella or Reg will call with some more information on the shooter before we get to bed tonight.”

  “I hope so, too.” She took a deep breath and nodded. It was going to be okay. She knew it. Everything would work out. It just was going to take some time.

  Epilogue

  The past three weeks had been hectic and stressful. Novak’s cousins had finally caught up with the shooter, who claimed he hadn’t shot anyone but had been hired to play a part. He’d been given instructions via text on a burner he’d been supplied with. Unfortunately, all the texts had come in from yet another burner phone. Not exactly helpful for the investigation, but it had led to reasonable doubt that the man they’d found was the actual shooter.

  To make matters worse, the man had never seen who’d hired him. Cash, a lot of it, had been left with the burner at a prearranged location. Their only communication had been through texts on the phones at set times, and everything was kept short and to the point.

  A huge break had come when his cousin Nella had caught a scent that she recognized. One that had been coating the decoy and slowly faded away. Novak had never been so glad that his cousin had a scent memory like no other as he’d been in that moment when she’d brought it up. It had led to her running around Shifter Falls in an attempt to pin down the scent and who it belonged to.

  Three days prior they’d hit the jackpot. One Deputy O’Shea was located by Nella, who was one hundred percent positive his scent was the one she’d been hunting for. O’Shea had naturally denied everything. How could he possibly be the shooter when he’d been on duty? A question Novak had quickly discovered was nothing more than a bluff. At the time Jessica had been shot, O’Shea was supposed to be responding to a domestic disturbance call. Only he’d shown up late to the call, claiming a flat tire.

  While the tire had been flat according to maintenance logs, the reason for it being out of commission had raised more red flags. Yet again they’d gotten lucky with the maintenance department being backlogged. They hadn’t been able to take the tires requiring repair over to the shop to be fixed or have the rubber replaced. A quick search had yielded the tire O’Shea had changed, and they’d discovered it had been slashed with a blade in the side wall. Not a spot a puncture or piece of glass or metal could have easily breached.

  O’Shea had feigned shock at the news, but Novak had smelled the deception easily. After throwing O’Shea into a cell, all while he proclaimed his innocence and claimed he was being set up, Novak had gotten serious. The first place he’d gone was to talk with the SWAT commander. Karson had been extremely helpful with filling in the blanks.

  O’Shea had signed out a rifle for some training. No ammunition, only the weapon. From what Karson could tell from the sign-out sheet, it was for close-quarters maneuvers and runs up into buildings. According to one of the training drills, the snipers had to run up flights of stairs, carrying all the gear—the rifle, along with two packs containing a set amount of weight. There was a time limit that O’Shea had been working toward, from what others on SW
AT had been able to share. He’d received several pointers from the team in regards to weight distribution and how to secure everything for the smoothest journey.

  Slowly all the pieces had started to fall into place. O’Shea’s dislike and disregard toward Jessica, his barely controlled contempt when dealing with Novak, and his interest in SWAT. The final nail in the man’s coffin had been the fact that not once had O’Shea followed proper channels when he’d been looking to get involved with SWAT. Instead he had purposefully gone around Novak, a snub and grounds for suspicion all on its own. Held up with everything else he’d uncovered, Novak held no doubt that O’Shea was the one who had shot Jess and hired the drifter to play the part.

  Now all he had to do was get O’Shea to admit it on camera and before the witnesses he had in the observation room off interrogation. O’Shea appeared calm except for the occasional impatient tap from his index finger to the table. Turning to look at Jessica, Novak blew out a breath. “This is a bad idea, but it’s our only shot, I think. He’s human, but that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous. Even a cornered human can react like an animal when he’s trying to save his own hide. Are you sure you’re still okay with going in there?”

  The plan was for Jess to taunt O’Shea, mocking him and basically belittling him until he confessed. Since O’Shea was still feeling so superior to everyone, he hadn’t asked for representation of any kind. His mistake, and one Novak didn’t mind exploiting. Especially since he’d asked him twice already that morning if he wanted a lawyer and been told it wasn’t necessary.

  “I’m sure. We both know that he views me as less than an equal. To him, I’m nothing. The fact that I’m with you, however, pisses him off to a nuclear level. Yes, he hates me, but he hates you far more, and if I am not mistaken he hates shifters and humans together even more, which is stupid crazy. He views me as human, as does everyone else—most of them anyway.” Her fingers lightly moved down Novak’s arm until she could clasp his hand in hers. “We have this. We just need to make him admit it, and he will.” Novak knew how dangerous it was for Jessica. If only she would understand the danger that O’Shea represented. “And you’re close, so I know I’m protected,” she added, as if reading his mind.

  She then walked away from him and into the adjoining room so that she could confront O’Shea. “You’ve really fucked up this time,” Jessica said after sitting down. “They’re searching your home now. What do you suppose they’ll find? Why don’t you just tell me now and get it over with? You are a complete douchebag, and we know that you’re sloppy. So, talk to me, O’Shea. Tell me so that I can hopefully help keep you alive and able to stand trial.”

  Novak rocked back on his heels while he watched Jessica with O’Shea. He knew she needed to bait the man, but she needed to be careful as well.

  Jessica leaned back in her chair and watched O’Shea while smirking. “Novak’s team will find something. They even brought in men from the State’s Internal Affairs because Novak wants to ensure that every T is crossed and I is dotted, so why don’t you save all of us some time and admit what you did.” She even played up the injury to her arm, wincing when she crossed her arms.

  That’s when Novak saw it, the flash of satisfaction in O’Shea’s eyes. He growled, and the clearing of the throat from his friend at his side was all that kept him from shifting and going after the bastard. He had to remind himself that she was playing it up to get the fucker to talk. He had to keep that on the forefront of his mind so he didn’t tear O’Shea’s head from his shoulders.

  O’Shea snorted and Novak could see him watching Jessica carefully. “Hurting there, pet?”

  “I’m not your pet, you psycho son of a bitch.”

  “No, you’re Novak’s pet. Or is he yours?” he sneered.

  “Awe, what’s wrong, O’Shea? Are you upset because the shifters in this town get more action in a day than you’ve gotten your whole life? Are you still a virgin? Is that why you’re so pissed off?”

  “Look, you rank little bitch.” O’Shea stood and leaned forward, his hands on the table as he flashed his anger.

  The hand on Novak’s shoulder told him that he was about to shift. Again he reminded himself that he needed to let Jessica do this, that she would be able to take care of herself if she needed to. He had sent her in with a stun gun after all. He wasn’t fully stupid.

  “Oh God, you really are a virgin, aren’t you? Jesus, O’Shea, you are what, forty-seven?” Novak hoped she was pushing the right buttons and not just making it all worse.

  “Fuck you, you little fucking cunt. I should have tried that fucking rifle before shooting you. If only it hadn’t pulled to the left and down,” he shouted at her. “I was aiming for your fucking head, you cunt. It would have went straight through your melon and into that fucking shifter’s heart. The hand-crafted silver bullet would have killed any shifter no matter what the hell he is.”

  Jessica smiled. Looking at the mirror, she asked, “Did you get that?” Novak was fucking proud of her, but now he needed her out of that room before O’Shea got another inch closer.

  “Got it,” Novak’s friend said into the intercom. Thank fucking God for friends with State Internal Affairs, he thought to himself. His dire wolf was scraping at his mind to kill the bastard that had tried to kill his mate.

  “Thank you, O’Shea.” Jessica stood and backed closer to the mirror. It was clear that she wasn’t going to try to walk around the table to the door with O’Shea not being in cuffs and shackles.

  “Novak, I’m ready to get out of here,” she said calmly, her face turning up to the cameras. Brave mate, his wolf gruffed in his mind while he and his friend both headed to the room to arrest O’Shea.

  Novak nearly tore the interrogation room’s door off the hinges. He stepped in far enough to be the only threat in the room and waited while Jessica made her way to the door, keeping his body between her and O’Shea. “You should be facing shifter justice for your crimes against my mate, O’Shea. You’re damn fucking lucky that the human authorities want their piece of you first. But I’m sure we’ll meet again.” Novak knew the cameras were still rolling, so he’d chosen his words carefully. While some might be able to claim there was a veiled threat to his words, in fact they were nothing but truth. O’Shea was getting off light being put through the human system of law. If he got out, which might happen, Novak would be waiting for him and it wouldn’t be a happy reunion.

  Once they were in the hall, Novak readily wrapped his arms around Jessica when she all but attacked him. He could smell her fear and nervousness, but when she spoke he had to grin. “We got him. He’s so freaking lucky that you called the humans from State IA to help out, or the man would be dead and then I would have to deal with the paperwork. Thank you for that.” She pulled back and touched her fingers to his lips. “I’m so ready to start our lives the right way. No more fear, no more distrust.” Fortunately. “We have a mountain of paperwork we need to do, but I want to go home as soon as we can. Tomorrow we will come back and our day will be normal. I’m determined to put this to rest and us to finally get to live our lives happily forevermore.”

  Stroking a hand down her back to the upper curve of her ass, he hugged her in closer. “I don’t know about normal, but it should be free from psychopaths out to murder us both. That’s a definite plus in my book. But you’re right, tomorrow is soon enough to deal with the mountain of paper that will need to be filled out, signed, and filed to ensure that that piece of scum spends the next many years locked away from society. If I could, I’d have him shipped out of state, preferably to Alaska, but I doubt that will happen. Maybe I could call in a couple favors and he could spend a few years in a lovely Soviet gulag.” Not that it would happen, but it was nice to dream.

  “As long as he’s far from us that’s all that matters. We need to get him out of our town so he doesn’t taint anyone else. There are enough people that are on the fence about shifters and humans together. We don’t need to have anyone else get any idea
s.” She rested her head against his chest, and he wanted to rush them both out of there then. “Take us home?” she asked, looking up at him. “We can lock the doors, turn off the lights, and laze about on the sofa or in the sunroom or something.”

  Novak looped his arm around her shoulders, and together they left behind the craziness that had been their lives for so many weeks. The further they got, the quieter it became, until they were outside under the quarter moon casting a faint glow over the streets of their town. Pausing to look around, Novak inhaled deeply the scents of baked goods, pine, and oak, and his own personal slice of heaven tucked against his side. Not willing to wait another moment, he tipped up her chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. When she melted into his body, he couldn’t stop the smile from curving his lips.

  “Get a fucking room, you two!” someone shouted at them, which had Jessica giggling and him growling.

  “I think they’re right. Let’s go home,” his little mate whispered to him. Novak knew that the witches could still be a threat, but he was hopeful that she was right and her family would protect her. If not, he was keeping his cousins close. It was time that the dire wolves formed a formal pack once again. He’d invited them all to move to Shifter Falls and all agreed. He would tell his mate later, much later, that she had a full pack looking out for her. Life was damn good.

  The End

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