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I hated for something to happen to him. And not because of what he’d just done for me, but for Ridge and Margo, and certainly for Blackwood Creek. He was a fantastic sheriff. Keeping that town and all its citizens safe was something he took seriously. Every traffic stop, every investigation, and every time he helped at the summer flings and winter festivals, he showed that.
Straightening my shoulders and sitting taller in my seat, I gathered the courage to say what I needed to say, though I was hardly any good at it. “I owe you an apology.”
That must have surprised the hell out of him because he snapped his head and gave me his undivided attention. “What for?”
Leaning back against the headrest, I confessed, “I suspected you of Phil Hill’s murder after learning about everything that had happened between Margo and him. When she told me about your history, I had no trouble suspecting you were the killer.”
I turned my head and eyed him. His face was blank, and he didn’t seem angry or stressed. He simply watched me, waiting for me to continue.
“I should’ve known you wouldn’t hurt your deputy. You’re like the poster boy for law and order. No one I’ve ever met adheres to the law the way you do. Committing a murder might actually kill you.”
Chuckling, he rubbed his face. “No, it probably wouldn’t kill me, but…you know, it might.”
All I could do was hope that he’d accept my apology and forgive me. We sat in silence for a moment, and I wondered what thoughts were spinning around in his head.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what I would have done if I’d found Phil alive and well that morning. I was furious, and the idea of anyone cheating on Margo and hurting her made me feel pretty damn murderous. That’s no lie.” His face changed into a mask of what I could only believe was anger. His eyes narrowed as if he was seeing Phil in front of him.
His candor surprised me.
“Yeah, well, there’s a difference between feeling that way and acting it out,” I said. Even I had a conscience. “It’s what differentiates us from the true monsters.” Of course, I didn’t have to explain that to him.
“True. In the end, I probably wouldn’t have killed him, but I might have done some serious damage to him, which wouldn’t have been right, either. He was human, and I’m a shifter. There’s no contest there. I have control, but I’ve found when it comes to Margo, that control can easily be lost.”
He really cared for Margo. Good. She deserved someone who cared for her, and Clawson was a great guy. I wondered if they’d ever work out.
“Someone told me you got suspended from school for defending Margo years ago,” I declared, trying to gauge the temperature of this conversation.
He didn’t react, so I continued. “You seemed to be extra protective of her. Still are.”
Clawson leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I don’t like being away from her right now. Not when she’s so mad at me, and probably scared to death for her mother.” He sighed, and the sound seemed to come straight from his soul—or so my romantic heart thought. “I need to focus on getting everybody back, but it doesn’t stop me from wondering how she’s doing and what she’s doing.” He paused, and in a softer voice, he said, “And if she might be thinking about me.”
It was impossible to ignore how lost he sounded, and my heart went out to him. He spoke so quietly yet so emotionally about her, and I’d seen the way he always looked at her, even if I hadn’t realized it at the time. He was a goner.
And maybe I recognized that in him because his feelings for Margo mirrored mine for Ridge. And I was finding it harder to deal with Ridge’s absence than I’d ever thought possible.
“As soon as we get back to town, I’ll smooth things over with her,” Clawson said. I wasn’t even sure if he was still talking to me or if he’d started talking to himself. “Then, I’ll give her all the space in the world again if that’s what she really wants. I’d do anything for my fated mate to be happy, even if it’s not with me.”
I quirked my head in question at the words “fated mate,” but his eyes were still closed. That was new information. I was touched by how much this stoic sheriff loved my friend, but what was a fated mate?
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he leveled a dark look at me. “I’ll protect Margo from anything that’s a threat to her. Including you, if you get any more feral.” He cocked a brow, and I didn’t miss the challenge in his tone. “I’ve seen Ridge’s aunt more than enough times to know what kind of risk you pose. If you weren’t engaged to my friend and alpha, and if I didn’t need you to take me to where they are being held, I’d have you under house arrest until Ridge returned and your wolf calmed the fuck down, because your feral wolf would just cause more chaos in Blackwood Creek. God forbid you lost control of yourself and shifted in public.”
And we’d been having such a pleasant conversation. Ugh. I got where he was coming from, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. Until I’d met Ridge, I had no inkling about lone wolves and going feral. I hadn’t willingly taken this path, and I’d fought tooth and nail to keep my wolf under control. So much so that I’d only shifted a handful of times in the past four years. That had to count for something.
“You should also take the backseat once we reach the compound. There’s no way you can go charging in without losing control and popping your stitches all over again. No one needs that, and it’ll make our objective that much harder to achieve.”
Irritation crawled up my spine. I wanted to smack the sheriff upside the head, but I didn’t want to cross the line. Slapping the sheriff would probably be frowned upon.
Clawson had no clue what I was capable of, and it was best to keep it that way.
“Sheriff, youregocan take a backseat. I can handle myself, thank you very much.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “And why the hell do you think we’d be charging into a hunter compound? Are you trying to get us killed? We need to come up with a plan. We can’t afford to go in there blind or stupid.”
And in case he was wondering…
“I sure as hell didn’t get by this long on my own by being stupid,” I added.
Chapter34
Ridge
