Chapter 5
FIVE
Nori
“Morning!” Comes a cheery male voice behind me, and I groan.
“Oh my god,” I grumble, burying my face in my pillow.
It’s too early to be awake. What time even is it? I think as I peek one eye open, looking for my alarm clock.
Wait.
Male voice?
I shoot up in bed and whip around to face the guy. It takes me a moment to place him and the cell I’m in, and then I remember everything that happened yesterday, and I glare at Sheriff Tucker.
“Go away.”
“I thought you might be hungry so I grabbed us some breakfast sandwiches from the diner down the street,” he says, ignoring my dark looks.
“I’d rather have a phone call,” I snap back, and he smiles.
“Who would you call?”
“A lawyer,” I say right away. “Or maybe my uncle.”
“Are you two close?” He asks and I frown, looking away.
“No, I’ve never met him before,” I admit.
“And he would be your first call?” Tucker asks in surprise.
I glare at him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I don’t have any other family and no friends nearby.”
“I’m sorry,” he says softly, and I nod curtly.
He passes me a sandwich and we’re silent for a few moments as we both eat. I finish off my breakfast in record time, and he takes the trash and passes me a cup of coffee.
“Since we’re getting to know each other,” he starts, and I snort.
“Terrible segue.”
He ignores me.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Is it about letting me go?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“I need to tell you something.”
He’s got that whole nauseous look that he had yesterday after he put me in this cell on his face again, and I sit back and sip my coffee, deciding to hear him out.
“Alright.”
He seems relieved that I’m willing to give him a chance, but I can tell that he’s still anxious. He keeps wiping his hands off on his pants and tapping his foot nervously.
“What-er-I…” he starts, trailing off, and I bite back a smile at how adorable he is when he’s flustered.
He takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders, and I straighten on my cot too.
“Have you ever heard of shifters?” He asks, and I frown.
Okay, that’s not what I thought he was going to say. Not even close.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” I say slowly.
“Really?” He asks excitedly, shooting to his feet and I stare up at him in confusion.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t really know that much about them.”
“That’s okay, I can answer any questions that you have,” he rushes to assure me.
He looks so happy, like a kid on Christmas morning, but I don’t get it. Why are car shifters having this effect on him? Was there something wrong with my car?
“Is my car okay?” I ask him worriedly, and he cocks his head and stares at me for a beat.
“Yeah, it was brought to the lot yesterday. Why? Oh, do you want a change of clothes or something? Shit, I’m sorry. I should have thought about that. Hang tight. I’ll be right back.”
With that, he grabs my keys off his desk and jogs out the front door. I blink as I stare after him and then bolt to my feet.
He left my cell open.
I rush out of the cell and look around.
What the heck do I do now? He took my keys with him, and I would really be in trouble if I stole a police car.
Could I walk? Maybe go out and find someone in town who would help me? Maybe if I told them that he was holding me without cause, I could get out of here.
“Here you are!” Tucker says as he comes back into the station with my suitcases in hand.
“Thanks,” I say, and he just smiles.
He doesn’t seem worried about me being out of the cell, so I try not to draw attention to it, either. I’ll just wait, and then I can grab my keys and my bags and get out of here.
He sets my bags down at my feet, and I unzip the one with my clothes in it and find some clean ones.
“You can change in there,” he tells me, pointing me over to the restrooms, and I cradle the clothes to my chest and head over to the women’s room and inside.
I rush to get changed and come up with a plan. I throw on my clean clothes, go to the bathroom, wash my hands, and then stand on the sink to try to see out of the tiny bathroom window. It’s too small for me to fit through, but maybe I can spot my car or get an idea of the layout of town and which way I should run if I get the chance.
Unfortunately for me, the window seems to face the park across the street and all I can see is trees and some bushes.
“Dammit.”
“Everything okay?” Tucker calls, startling me.
I almost fall off of the sink, but I catch myself just in time.
“Yep! Be right out!” I yell back.
I climb off the counter as quietly as I can and gather up my dirty clothes before I head back out and dump them in my suitcase.
“What were you saying about shifters?” I ask, trying to distract him as I zip up my suitcase and edge towards the front door.
“Just that I am one,” he says, and I blink.
I must have heard him wrong.
“You mean you have one?” I ask.
I try to remember his car, but the ride here was just filled with me pleading with him to let me go and then screaming at him to stop the car and uncuff me. I wasn’t exactly admiring his police cruiser.
“What?” He asks and now we’re both frowning at the other.
“Shifter. Like car shifter,” I say slowly, and understanding dawns in his eyes.
Some of the happiness from earlier fades, and he looks sad all of a sudden. I take a step towards him to comfort him before I can process what I’m doing and freeze.
“Right? Car shifter? Or… what were you talking about?” I ask, and he clears his throat.
“I meant a shifter. Someone who can change between being a human and an animal.”
He says it so easy, so nonchalant.
It’s freaking weird.
He’s freaking weird.
“Oh.”
That’s all I can think to say because clearly, I’m dealing with a crazy person.
I try to think about how the people in my true crime podcasts dealt with the insane person who kidnapped them. I’m starting to realize that I might be in the exact same situation as them, and I hate it.
What do I do? I need a plan.
I take a deep breath and try to come up with a way out of this.
Okay, step one. Remain calm.
Two, I need my keys or any car keys so I can get the hell out of this place.
Three, drive like hell to my uncle’s place and tell him what happened.
Maybe this whole town is crazy. Maybe that’s why my uncle hates it so much.
“I’m a wolf shifter,” he says, and I nod.
“Well, sure. It’s obvious.”
He cocks his head in confusion, and I paste a smile on my face.
“Shifters can be anything, though. We have bears and coyotes, even rabbits and hawks here in town,” he explains.
“How neat!” I say, my voice coming out way too high-pitched and excited.
I decide to abandon my bags and start to inch backward towards the front door.
His eyes lock on the movement, and I freeze, pretending to lean against the nearest desk.
“And all shifters have a fated mate, someone who fate picks to be yours.”
“Oh no,” I whisper, and he nods.
“And you’re mine.”
“Am I?” I ask, and he nods.
“Yes.”
“Listen, maybe you, or fate,” I rush to add, “Maybe they made a mistake.”
“They didn’t. Fate doesn’t make mistakes. I knew that you were meant to be mine the moment that I smelled you.”
“Smelled?!”
He nods, smiling at my outburst.
“Oh, well, I use this body wash that’s super common. You can get it literally anywhere. So, see? It’s just a mix up.”
“It’s not your body wash or any other shampoo or perfume. It’s you,” he insists.
“Could it not be?”
“No.”
We stare at each other for a minute, and I take a deep breath.
“This is going to suck,” I mumble, and he frowns, opening his mouth to, I’m sure, ask me what is going to suck, but I don’t give him the chance.
I tip over the chair behind the desk I was leaning on and take off. I run as fast as my little legs will carry me and I make it all of the way to the front door before I collide with a strong chest.
“Stop her!” Tucker yells behind me as the guy grabs me.
“I don’t want to be part of this,” the new guy yells back, and I stomp on his toes.
“I don’t want to be part of this either,” I add, but they both ignore me.
Tucker grabs me and carries me back over to the cell. I glare daggers at the guy who stopped me, and he rubs his foot, staring back at me.
“You have to let me go!” I scream at Tucker, but he shakes his head.
“I can’t do that. You belong with me, and I can’t risk you leaving. I can’t lose you. Not now that I finally found you.”
“So, what’s the plan then? Just keep me as your prisoner forever?” I spit at him, and he turns around and doesn’t answer me.
He heads over to his desk, and I look toward the front door, but his friend is long gone.
“You can’t keep me here forever,” I tell him, and he nods, but doesn’t answer me.
The crackle of his radio interrupts me before I can say anything else, and he gives me an apologetic look before he grabs his things and takes off.
“Dammit!” I shout once I’m alone.
I’m not sure how long I’m alone before the man from earlier comes back in. He’s got a bottle of water and some chips in hand, and he gives me a worried smile as he heads my way and passes me the food through the cell.
“Thanks,” I grumble.
“Sure.”
“Can you let me out?” I ask him, knowing that it’s a long shot.
“No.”
I sigh and sit down on my cot.
“Who are you?” I ask after a bit.
“Crew. I’m the deputy around here.”
I nod and pop a chip in my mouth.
“You know that your sheriff is crazy, right?” I ask, and he smiles slightly.
“So, you two talked then?”
“He thinks that he’s an animal. A wolf,” I add, and he nods.
“He is.”
“Oh my god, you’re just as crazy.”
He laughs slightly and then nods.
“It is true though. You should ask him to show you.”
I stare at him in bewilderment, and he nods once before he starts to do some work at his desk. I can only watch him and wonder if maybe what Tucker said really is true, or if this whole town is batshit crazy.