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Killian
Imade it to the bottom step before a call from George had me growling. I didn’t need another interruption. Still, I fucking answered because if George was reaching out, it meant more shit had hit the fan.
“What—”
“Main Street. Now,” he snapped over me. I stopped dead in my tracks at the slight tremble in his voice. Very few things got to George, which told me we had another dead wolf.
“Who?” I asked.
“This wolf only has three legs—”
“Michael,” I whispered. “Fuck! How bad is it?”
“Just get to Main Street and keep it discreet,” George said. “I can’t officially bring you in on this one, but I can consult with you. The others… it’s too public.”
“I’ll be there in a few.” Perks of a small town: everything was only a few minutes away. Downside? There was no fucking way we could hide this from anyone.
“Need me to go with?” Declan asked when I ended the call. I faced him, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“It’s too public,” I replied. “You stay here and take care of yourselves. I’ll take care of this myself.”
“You don’t have to,” he told me. I offered half a fucking grin because it was all I had in me.
“I know, but it’s in the middle of everything. It’ll start looking real fucking suspicious if George lets the lot of you help with a mutilated animal case.” He winced as I said it. “You know I don’t fucking think of this as just that, right?”
He hesitated, which didn’t bode well for me.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Declan!” I growled, and my wolf echoed the sentiment. “I make some hard fucking choices, but I’m not heartless. Michael seemed like a good guy. All of you like him. I wouldn’t wish this shit on him.”
“Right,” Declan said. I could tell he wasn’t fully convinced. “Right. Text us what it looks like?”
“Yeah, I will,” I snapped and stormed away before I said something stupid.
Main Street was a fucking mess. Our police force was just George and two others—and honestly, sometimes it was questionable why we even had them. Only George took his role seriously. The three of them scrambled to maintain the overly-intrigued crowd and keep them away from the taped-off section.
I pressed my way through the crowd without a single fucking apology as I made my way to George. The relief on that man’s face was intense. Not that I blamed him. He was out of his comfort zone. Hell, we all were.
“Come here, kid,” George said quickly. He ushered me under the tape and shoved a badge in hand.
“What is this?” I asked.
“I’m deputizing you, Killian,” he replied. “I don’t have a clue what I’m doing with this shit, kid. I need your help. You were always better than these two shitheads at this job. We can reinstate you when all this is over.”
“I don’t want to be reinstated, George,” I told him honestly while dropping the chain over my neck.
“Well, maybe just stay a deputy and help me with all this… you know.” He leaned in closer as he whispered the words. Fuck, he had a point.
“We can talk about it later.” I crossed my arms and stared hard at the bloodied sheet tossed over the wolf’s body. Michael’s body. Just the words made my stomach turn. “Come on, George. You’re going to show me what’s going on.”
George grunted, his lips tightening. His steps were heavy and forced as he led me away from the edge of the crowd to the body. When the tarp was lifted for me to see, my chest constricted.
Fuck. He was mutilated beyond recognition. The stump of a back leg was the only damn thing to identify him by. Fur and skin were ripped off. I cocked my head to the side and dipped into my wolf’s senses, letting my vision sharpen.
Not ripped off. Grated off.
“Is his back leg dislocated? At the hip?” I asked quietly. George only nodded, swallowing hard. “He was tied up and dragged by a truck or something, wasn’t he?”
“Looks that way,” George said. Fuck, what a brutal way to go. And unnecessary. This was just fucking torture. I hoped to hell Michael had died quickly, but I doubted it.
