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“I’ve been brushing up on your family and the town’s history,” she said. “I gathered from the town name that your family had a hand in establishing it, but I didn’t realize how big your family name actually is. Not only is it prominent in this town but in the whole shifter community. You’re like royalty.” She smirked at me. “Do I need to bow and call you Your Majesty?”
Shaking my head, I smiled and leaned against the door frame. I loved her silly side, but something was a little off with her. Everything felt forced. She seemed more closed-off compared to her demeanor last night.
The trauma she’d endured, and living her life always running, was bound to make her a bit rocky. I had to take her ease as it came and went. She was worth the patience on my end. She was worth everything to me. Did that confirm we were fated mates?
“How did your family get so wealthy?” she asked.
My shoulders tensed, even though her tone was still playful. I hated this aspect most about my ancestors and my family legacy, but to earn her trust, I had to give her mine. And discussing topics that pained and shamed me was what I needed to do.
I put my hands in my pockets and stepped into the room. “My family comes from old money. When the hunters started coming about at the end of the 1800s, the Blackwood family showed their true colors and how cutthroat in business and self-preservation they were by selling out shifter families and other paranormal creatures in exchange for protection and money.”
Shame blackened my soul, and I avoided Tori’s eyes.
“Entire packs and many bloodlines ended because of the Blackwoods’ betrayal, and yet we’re still a big name in the shifter world because my family lorded their money and status over the others and were shown mercy by the shifter families by paying them off with whatever and whenever they could. They repurchased their position in the shifter world, and most ignored it and swept it under the rug. The other alphas hold reticence with the Blackwoods, but not the elite. Not the influential families, since they believe they can gain notoriety and profitable business deals.”
Every word I spoke made me feel more disgusted with my ancestors. I worried that Tori would feel the same toward me. I wouldn’t blame her if she did. If I couldn’t get over it, how did I expect a shifter to, one whose family line could have been snuffed out because of my ancestors? How could the shifter world hold any esteem for the Blackwood name?
Tori stepped closer to me. “It seems like you blame yourself for bad things your ancestors did.” She cocked her head and connected our eyes, and she wouldn’t let me look away. “It’s not up to you to fix everything. You need to give yourself a break.”
I met her eyes and caught Tori’s compassionate gaze. “I might not have done the damage, but I come from a long line of alphas who were supposed to protect and defend their kind. Instead, they failed them badly. My ancestors willingly sold out their own kind, and not because they were tortured and imprisoned and couldn’t fight any longer. No, they did it for money and not having to worry about defending themselves. They were greedy cowards.”
Tori grabbed my hand as she stepped closer to me. “What they did is not your fault. You must stop overworking yourself to pay for someone else’s sins. The burdens of your past kin are not yours. Despite them, you’re a good man, a great alpha, and a strong leader. You’re repairing the Blackwood name and restoring the family’s honor by doing the right thing now. You don’t need to bury yourself with it, though.”
As we gazed into each other’s eyes, I couldn’t help but be touched by her stubborn insistence. I laughed. “Maybe I do have a hero complex, after all.”
“You have an alpha complex.”
Only Tori could get me to smile during a conversation of this magnitude.
“What emergency took you out of my bed this morning?” She inspected my hands. Dirt was caked under my nails and bits of dried blood were smudged on my from when I’d fought with Aunt Lucille’s feral wolf.
If I had noticed earlier, I’d have cleaned up at the office. But I’d become distracted by Clawson’s news and healed quickly from the minor injuries I’d sustained. I was relieved I wouldn’t have to explain them to Tori. If I’d been seriously hurt, there would have been no getting out of that conversation.
Not wanting to share anything more about my aunt’s failing mental health, suspecting it would frighten her, I redirected her with the case. At the very least, it should make her happy that the case was even closer to being solved and reassure her that she was not the murderer.
“It was mostly business, but I talked with Clawson. We have a major lead in the case. Lola Kipling is the prime suspect in the deputy’s murder.”
Tori instantly dropped my hands and stepped back, frowning. “I don’t believe it’s Lola. That poor girl fainted the second she saw all the blood.”
Surprising me with her reaction, I responded calmly. “It’s easy to fake a faint if it adds to her believability. Add in that the murder weapon was discovered behind her office…it’s a distinctive claw knife, made from an alpha wolf’s claw. And she does have a possible motive, and she was apparently awake when the crime was committed. Let’s also add that she came to town weeks ago, claiming to be looking at the area’s rich history, and hasn’t connected or befriended anyone besides working with the Greenthornes. That all makes her the strongest possible suspect. It makes sense to Clawson and me, and I trust his judgment on this.”
Tori started huffing and posturing as her eyes flared in outrage. “Lola is shy. Anyone can see that if they actually took the time to talk to her. You’re just taking Clawson at his word that he found a weapon behind the psychiatrist’s place when maybe he’s trying to cover his own fucking tracks.”
I stiffened at her accusation. Where did that come from? “What the hell are you talking about? There’s no way you’re accusing the sheriff—my friend—of killing his own deputy.”
I couldn’t believe she had gone there. I was flabbergasted and didn’t know where to begin on how to wrap my head around the accusation.
“You’re biased. You’ve known the guy for so long that you can’t see what’s right in front of you. Did you know that Clawson was obsessed with Margo and prone to jealousy?”
I dropped my jaw in shock.
“Did you know Clawson found out that Phil Hill was cheating on Margo right before the deputy was murdered?”
Closing my jaw, I grit my teeth.
“Getting attached to someone and falling in love can make people do wild, insane things even the people closest to them don’t understand. I’m less surprised because he’s a shifter, and shifters still seem pretty volatile to me.”
Shaking my head at this outlandish theory, I worked hard to keep my anger and annoyance out of my voice. “Your theory is ridiculous. I trust Clawson with my life. I trust him with the life of every person in this town, including yours.”
