Werewolves and Wranglers

by Kristen Banet

  “This town never quits, does it?” Remy asked softly. It was a rhetorical question, something Easton knew.

  A smile broke over the Nephilim’s face. “Doesn’t seem like it. I wonder who the guy was. If he was necking on a vampire and it pissed his lady off, he was probably a shifter.”

  “We’ll hear gossip about it tonight.” Remy honestly enjoyed it. There was something so mundane and wonderful about the extraordinary Redstone. He never wanted to leave it.

  “We will.” Easton went back to his food, that smile never leaving. Remy had a suspicion that his closed-off friend was happy with the town as well. It had been Remy’s decision for them to settle when they did, unable to consider leaving Adalyn here by herself. He wanted more of the witch, and Easton had agreed to it only because they could secure paying work.

  Even after their time in town, they were still strange outsiders, but they couldn’t deny how right it felt to be in Redstone with other supernaturals.

  Even if it means marital drama involving vampires. Remy nearly laughed.

  3

  Adalyn

  “Remy and I are going to eat here at the saloon to give you a moment with your friend without us bothering you. We’ll bring you food soon.”

  Oh. Perfect. I have to do this completely alone.

  Adalyn was unexpectedly nervous standing in front of her jail, wringing her hands. Tobias was back, and the only thing she could think about now was what William had said that first night they talked.

  My best friend is supposedly in love with me.

  She wasn’t so sure, but now, she knew she was going to be watchful. She didn’t know what she would do if Tobias admitted those feelings for her. She knew she wasn’t ready for them— of that, she was positive. She liked her deputies because they were casual and hot. They had no expectations of her and she had none of them. It was a good time, and one she knew would never end with a ring without her being ready for it.

  And I’ll probably never be ready for another ring. No, my left ring finger was claimed and I’m pretty certain nothing else will ever go on it.

  She liked that, too. She was in charge of her life now. Another husband would be another person she had to report to. William had been an amazing one, but she wasn’t sure there was anyone else who would be as perfect as he was in the role.

  Okay, lady. Time to face it. Standing out here only makes you look like a coward, and you aren’t one of those. You’re the furthest thing from it.

  She took one daring step and then another, her nerves fading as she got closer to the door. Once she had her hand on the doorknob, her confidence was back. I can handle it. If he really does have feelings for me, I can handle it. I can handle demons. I can handle werewolves, hellhounds, and Nephilim. I can handle Tobias without hurting him.

  Because that was the worst part. If what William said was true, she could hurt him so bad, and she never wanted to do that to her best friend.

  “Hey, Tobias,” she said, smiling brightly. He was sitting behind the reception desk, looking over papers. He used to do the same for William when he visited and her husband had run off to do something. They would sit and make fun of whatever they read about in recent cases.

  “Was everything okay? Anyone hurt?” Tobias looked up sharply. She always felt like he had an eagle’s eyes, or a hawk’s, when something was wrong.

  “At the Ranch? No. Everything was fine. Chased the humans out of town and Lawrence told me everything I didn’t know about that.” She sighed. “You’ll never believe it. They’ve been having an issue with free grazers and when I took over, they didn’t think to give me a heads up.”

  “I knew, so did Valen. We didn’t know what to do to help them. William’s way of doing things had always been peaceful, and it had worked. I figured they would stick with it, but that’s obviously changed.”

  “Oh, it changed because Lawrence decided they were going to give the humans a werewolf spook on a full moon.” She was still snappy about that. She knew she would be until the whole thing was resolved. While she could hope this was the last of it, she wasn’t stupid enough to believe it was.

  “Really?” Tobias stood up slowly, tapping the desk in front of him. “Is he daft?”

  “Apparently.” She threw her hands up. She was glad none of this was awkward yet. “So, you’ve been away for a little while. Valen finally told me what your trip was about. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Tobias shrugged this time. “It was his time. I just went to say goodbye, as all the shamans close enough did. He helped train me, an old mentor. It stung because of that, but all is well, and if it isn’t, it will be. I see you have new friends…”

  “Remy and Easton? Yeah…” She couldn’t resist a smile. “They’re nice. A couple of bounty hunters who had gotten tangled up in something that was my fault about a month ago. They decided to stick around and become my deputies when I got this job.”

  Tobias eyed her now. She felt like he was measuring her against something. “The job looks good on you. William would probably laugh seeing you with his badge on and say you’re the only replacement he could think of.”

  Funnily enough, that’s exactly what he did. She tried not to say anything, keeping her mouth firmly shut, even as a grin broke out. She couldn’t expose William. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want all of their friends knowing he was still around, sitting on his gravestone and watching them. When she was certain she had control of herself, she tried to speak. “And Maxwell even helped me get the job. Can you believe that? Especially after the trouble I had just caused for everyone.”

  “You’re always causing trouble. What did you do this time?” Tobias sat on the desk now, and she felt so at ease. It felt normal to talk to her best friend.

  “Well, I might have dabbled in some black magic.” At the way his eyes widened, she realized she phrased that wrong. In a hurry, she added more. “A banishing spell for demons. You know, so outlaws can’t cause us much of a problem anymore. I can just send them away. Mind you, I wasn’t very careful and the gang found out who I was. Then the bounty hunters trying to capture them found out who I was. That’s Remy and Easton. Maxwell was also on the gang’s trail, so he showed up…” She stopped, realizing there was really no way to explain the events without making it seem much worse than it really was.

  Tobias, miraculously, just stayed where he was, silent and wide-eyed for a long time. When he did open his mouth, something strangled left it. He left the desk and began to pace for a minute. Finally, that ended and he tried to speak again. “So you…used black magic to banish demons. Met two bounty hunters who now…live with you…” She noted there was a pause where Tobias implied more. He saw through the roommates act and must have noticed Easton’s kiss. He probably immediately jumped to the realization she was sleeping with one or both of them. “Maxwell showed up and is gone again. Then you became the sheriff at the end of all of it.”

  “I was also kidnapped somewhere in there, but it’s fine. I escaped on my own and they helped me finish off the gang.” She tried to make it sound nonchalant, and looking back, it really was. Nothing too bad had happened. It wasn’t like they had unleashed a terrible beast of hell on the mortal plane or anything. Just almost did.

  I probably shouldn’t tell Tobias about that part.

  Tobias studied her in that best friend way, trying to work something out. She had given him a lot to process. “You’re lucky I know you. Why did you go out and learn black magic, and when? How?”

  She considered how she could avoid answering that question and realized there was no way. “No one was preparing to protect the town in case Beelzebub came back, so I decided to. No one wanted to be sheriff, so Valen came up with the idea that because I was already sort of starting to do the work, I should be the new one.” She watched Tobias throw his hands up, but a smile was beginning to appear on his face. “You know how it is. I was alone in my house for a year, grieving, and needed something to do.”

  He bega
n to laugh softly. “Adalyn, you amaze me. Well, I’m back in Redstone for who knows how long. I have no travel coming up. I’m guessing you’re too busy for the old potions business, eh?”

  And just like that, he was over her mess and caught up on everything in Redstone. Tobias was always one to roll with the punches. He never tried to get in her hair over anything. Like William, he knew the best way to handle her was to not handle her.

  “Oh. You need to talk to Forrest about that. He tried to raise his cut and business devolved from there.”

  “We can sell from the saloon, if you’re interested in it still. It was always an option, but if I remember right, you didn’t want to take advantage of our friendship with Valen.” Her shaman was a non-confrontational man. He wasn’t going to get into it with Forrest. “And I can take over the majority of the work, even though you haven’t answered my question. Do you want to start back up?”

  She thought on it for a few minutes, mulling over the idea. She had been planning to start back up, just not sure when or how. She had never really considered using Valen’s when she got pissed off with Forrest at the General Store. It was a good idea. The saloon was a hot meet-up spot. They could make a section behind the bar, if their Russian was okay with it.

  He’ll be fine. It would mean we’re in there even more to see him.

  She smirked. “Let’s do it. I get two days off here and those can be my days to work on potions. You can run it out of my workshop, like always.”

  “Amazing. I’m looking forward to getting back to work, really. Valen was getting tired of me being poor, since I never wanted to bother you after William died.” Tobias gave her a soft smile and waved at the door. “Have you eaten? I haven’t.”

  “Easton and Remy are supposed to bring us a bite to eat soon. We can meet them at the saloon, though. Everyone knows where to find me if they need me.” She led him back out of the sheriff’s office and into the street, which was strangely empty. She guessed it was because an entire section of the Redstone population wasn’t in town. The werewolves were all back on the Ranch. The shifters were still out and about; so were the werecats, though the Pride wasn’t very big. Werecats were generally rarer than werewolves.

  More powerful, though. Maybe I should be thankful the cats are rarer.

  Tobias walked beside her, at ease and quiet in that good-natured way he always had. She didn’t know what was on his mind, and she figured she was just being paranoid, noticing how close he was to her. Was that a sign of his feelings?

  She was deep in thought when a screech from the brothel next to the saloon echoed through the town.

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”

  Adalyn began to walk faster. This didn’t sound good. “I never catch a break,” she muttered. Tobias chuckled behind her, following but not quickly.

  “Love, it’s not like that. She and I were just—”

  Adalyn knew that voice. Mr. Martinez, bull shifter. A high-ranking male of the shifter Pack. He and Forrest were good friends, along with William’s family.

  “You were kissing her hand! And her cheek! And HER NECK! She’s a vamp!” the woman continued to screech. “IN THE BROTHEL!”

  And that voice is not his wife. What has he gotten himself into? And why is my sister-in-law screeching?

  “Looks like everyone’s favorite bull really is everyone’s favorite bull,” Tobias commented lightly. She glared over her shoulder as they continued walking to the brothel where Mr. Martinez was stumbling out of the door and into the street, his pants down. Following him was a pretty wolf shifter with her teeth bared. Adalyn shook her head at the sight.

  “I’m going to kill you!” the woman continued to yell. The bull got to his feet, not even bothering to correct his pants, and started to run down the wooden porch that connected the brothel and the saloon. “Yeah! Run off! I’m always going to find you! Go on!” The wolf shifter pulled a gun and took aim.

  Adalyn had seen enough, raising a hand and flicking her wrist to pull the gun from the young woman’s hand. The wolf shifter gasped, seeing her revolver fly away and into Adalyn’s hand.

  “None of that, Clarice,” she said patiently. “What’s going on?”

  “That piece of shit was cheating on me!” the wolf cried out. “He deserves it!” The rage quickly disappeared, replaced by tears. “He was with a blood sucker!”

  “Um…” Tobias sounded as confused as Adalyn felt. “Isn’t he married to Forrest’s sister Sage?”

  Clarice sobbed harder. “Esteban doesn’t love her like me! He said he would leave her for me, and then I caught him here!”

  Adalyn really had no words for her once sister-in-law, but she tried anyway. “Well, hun, you can’t shoot a cheating man for cheating. You really can’t shoot anyone for personal differences. A broken heart ain’t fatal.” If it weren’t a married man, I might have even let her take a shot. She’s already the second woman. Her claim on him was based on infidelity from the beginning.

  Clarice just sobbed, leaning on the wall of the brothel. Adalyn wished to the gods that one of the vampires would walk out and force the wolf shifter to move on, but it wasn’t going to happen while the sun was up. She reached to grab the young woman’s elbow and pulled her along. With a roll of her eyes to Tobias, she directed Clarice towards the saloon. The girl needed a drink, and probably a place to hide, because Mrs. Martinez was going to find out about this soon enough.

  “Valen! I need a whiskey,” she called out, dragging Clarice into the saloon. “And a room to hide someone in.”

  “Take her upstairs. You’ll know which room. A drink will be in there.” Valen looked highly amused. “Tobias, come sit with me. We can catch up until our little witch gets back down here.”

  She hauled Clarice up the stairs, fuming by the time she was at the top. Fucking a married man? What was her former sister-in-law thinking? She found the open door that Valen must have prepared and sure enough, there was whiskey ready on the bedside table. She dumped Clarice on the bed and shoved the whiskey at her while the wolf cried and cried.

  “Shut up and drink,” she ordered. Clarice hiccupped as she took the glass, trying to take a swallow. “Now, you are going to hide here until I deal with Mrs. Martinez when she finds out. And she will. Then I need to deal with Forrest. What the fuck were you thinking, Clarice?”

  “I loved him like you loved William!” she cried out, falling back, nearly spilling good alcohol.

  Adalyn grabbed the glass. No one wastes good alcohol on my watch.

  “I highly doubt that, but we’ll go with it. You don’t consort with married men like that. Your father is the Alpha of the shifter pack. Your living brother is a good man with a family. Your dead brother is a hero of Redstone. You don’t behave this way, Clarice.” She was on her last ounce of patience, which meant she had none. “You are going to risk your father’s position in the pack by fucking one of his most trusted advisors, who is married to the family of another important shifter! ARE YOU MAD?” She was yelling at the top of her lungs by the time she was done.

  “Go away,” Clarice muttered. “You’re the one sleeping with two outsiders. You wouldn’t understand.”

  Adalyn finished the whiskey herself, shaking her head. “I’m also the sheriff. You’re lucky you’re here and not in a cell for threatening to shoot a man.”

  “He was cheating on me!” she screeched again.

  “He was already a cheater,” Adalyn reminded her, rubbing her temple while holding the now-empty glass. By the time she put it back down, it was refilling. Clarice grabbed it again and downed it. “This is no longer my problem,” Adalyn muttered. “Stay here. You can go home tomorrow.”

  “You can’t hold me like a prisoner!”

  “Oh, but I can. Here or a cell, your pick.”

  Clarice quieted down after that. Adalyn stomped out of the room.

  What a fucking day this has been, and I haven’t even had lunch. I swear, if one more thing happens…

  Adalyn stomped downstairs
and looked over the saloon. Everyone was watching her now. Remy and Easton were sitting calmly at a table in the corner, their regular place. Tobias was at the bar, chatting quietly with Valen.

  She found herself with a strange choice to make and decided quickly. Her deputies needed to know that next time, they needed to step in on that sort of thing. Clarice was a decent shot. She would have put two in the bull’s back before anyone could stop her.

  “Remy, Easton. Did you hear her screaming?” she asked, not bothering to sit down.

  “We did, but didn’t think it was too serious.” Remy smiled up at her. “What happened?”

  “She nearly shot him. Next time, go investigate. You’re lucky I was walking over when I was. Redstone is…well, we’re a bit violent in ways other towns might not be. You aren’t in trouble, just keep an eye out.” She wasn’t angry with them. In other towns, there would have been a couple of slaps, maybe some tears—a fight between the ladies while the man ran for it. But in Redstone, marital problems were ramped up by Supernatural powers, politics of the packs and the pride, and an overuse of guns.

  Thank the gods William and I had a good marriage. She sighed and left them there after they quickly apologized and agreed with her. Valen made a plate of food appear before she even made it to the bar.

  “Well, how’s Clarice?” he asked innocently. “She’s been getting wilder since William passed away. Seems it finally caught up with her.”

  “I should have paid more attention to her.” Adalyn was more than her own fair share of crazy, but to sleep with a married man? There was a line. “Keep her up there. Don’t let anyone find her. This isn’t over yet, and I’m still stuck on what the fuck to do about the werewolves.”

  “Busy day,” Tobias said gently. “Sit down with me. Let those two work for the rest of the evening.”

  It was an innocent request and she conceded to it. Sliding onto the seat next to him, she almost missed how he helped her, grazing a hand over her lower back as she tried to get up to the height of the bar stool. His palm was warm, and she felt a flutter in her lower abdomen. Just a little one. He could be such a gentleman, and he was one of the only men she really enjoyed it from.