Chapter 5 Interrogation #2
But how do I explain that without revealing all of my truths?
I don’t know. Luckily, I have a small reprieve as the deputy opens the back door, waiting for me to scoot my way out. By the time I’m standing, Gus chittering softly in my ear, the sheriff is gone, already stalking inside the unmarked door.
I guess I should be glad that they don’t put me in cuffs.
That’s not how it’s done in shifter communities.
Silver causes too much damage, while iron and steel could barely keep a pup contained.
Besides, justice is swift. If he knew for sure that I killed Declan, as the Alpha, he’d take care of it.
As it is, with the peppermint extract removing his greatest asset—his sniffer—he has to rely on his ‘sheriff’ side to solve the crime.
And that, it seems, includes interrogating me like I thought—or, I should say, having his sidekick do the job since he’s nowhere to be found.
The big male finally introduces himself as Riordan, Max Lobo’s right-hand wolf…
which, I realize an instant later, makes him the Moonshadow Pack Beta.
He’s also the deputy, and he leads Gus and me into a closed-off room that has a small rectangular table, four chairs, and a mirrored window that I’d bet the lease to Dough You Believe in Magic is two-way, and that Sheriff Lobo is on the other side of it right now, watching me get settled in one of the seats.
I’m nervous. Shaky. I haven’t eaten yet, and I died.
My braids are mussed. I have a smear of dirt on my cheek, my face paler than usual.
The way my eyes are wide gives me a sudden stunned look.
Add my opossum scarf and… yeah. I’m not too surprised when Riordan asks me if I want anything before we start.
My initial instinct is to say no. My stomach has been flip-flopping since I woke up so close to my fated mate, and the memory of Declan’s blue lips will be haunting me for a while. I can sense Gus’s hunger, though, and I ask mildly, “Do you have any fruit?”
Riordan glances at the mirror, already proving my suspicions right because, only a few minutes later, Sheriff Lobo walks into the room, carrying a plate of apple slices and red grapes in, plus a glass of water.
He sets them both in front of me before taking the seat opposite me. Riordan moves to the corner, crossing his arms over his broad chest, leaning up against the wall so he can leave the real interrogation to the Alpha after all.
I’m already crumbling. The peppermint blew out my snout, too. Here, in his office, I’m wrapped up in his dark pine scent and his gleaming gold eyes.
And the food…
Ah, crud. My maybe mate is offering me food. I know he’s just playing good cop after Riordan got me settled down. I know he’s not propositioning me with a plate of fruit. Still, tell that to my inner opossum.
I take one of the grapes, passing it to Gus. He clicks his teeth, showing me his appreciation, then gets to work on nibbling the piece of fruit.
Leaving the rest of the plate alone for now, I take a sip from my glass of water, then give the two wolves a nervous smile.
A small notebook appears in one of Sheriff Lobo’s paws, a pen in the other.
“Okay,” he says, jaw flexing. Something is bothering him, too—and I almost want to slap my forehead. Murder investigation, Honey. Have you forgotten? “Why don’t we start from the beginning?”
The beginning? Yeah. I can do that.
Because I haven’t forgotten, and I might be new to Moonburrow, but I definitely don’t want my rep to go from baker to murderer…
So I tell him everything; well, almost everything.
From how Declan stopped by to buy enough treats for the pack meeting—and since both Riordan and the sheriff nodded, it seemed that was true—to me giving him the cupcake for Sheriff Lobo, and how Gus seemed perturbed last night before we went to bed, almost like he sensed someone lurking in the back alley.
I do take a moment to introduce Gus, passing him another apple slice to fill his mouth after he hops onto the tabletop, baring his fangs at the sheriff.
For a second, I was sure he was going to launch himself at the wolf shifter, maybe take a bite out of him.
Since that would only get me in more trouble, I bribed Gus with a snack, then continued.
I tell them both about how I went down to the bakery to start morning prep, eventually needed to toss the trash, and got my nose stuffed-up with the peppermint stink.
They exchanged a look at that, then another when I got to the part of the story when I saw the boots first, the body next, then passed out.
I don’t tell them that I was playing dead.
I don’t know how long the wolves were on the scene or how ‘dead’ I looked, but for anyone who isn’t familiar with opossum shifters, it might look like I’m a skittish witch who simply fainted.
Neither male asks me about it, though they do confirm they arrived in the alley about fifteen minutes before I came to again.
All that done, I take another sip of my water. Good thing I swallowed it before the sheriff makes his next comment or I might’ve ended up spitting it all over poor Gus.
“Let’s talk about the cupcake.”
I really don’t want to talk about the cupcake. “Um. Okay.”
“You said that you intended me to have it.” He raises his eyebrows. “Is that true?”
Shoot me now. “Yes. But not like I was trying to poison you… I wasn’t trying to poison anyone!
It wasn’t even a charmed cupcake,” I insist because it seems important that he knows this wasn’t another Can’t Resist Cupcake sitch, “but just a really yummy caramel apple cupcake. It was a peace offering. To say sorry after you had to stop at the bakery when I accidentally baked honesty cupcakes.”
He purses his lips. Damn it. A rugged wolf shifter in his early thirties should not look as gorgeous as Max Lobo does when he makes an expression like that. “I remember. And you’re sure that wasn’t another magicked cupcake?”
“Positive.”
“But you’re a witch.”
Danger alert, Honey. Danger.
“So? That doesn’t mean everything in my bakery has magic in it. I barely can’t use any at all. My best trick is knowing when the oven timer will go off ten seconds before it does and being able to measure out herbs and spices. Test the cupcake. You’ll see. No magic at all.”
Sheriff Lobo makes a note in his book. I’m sure he’s going to do exactly that, and at least that’s one way I’ll be vindicated.
“Okay. Now about you, Ms. Morgan.”
“Honey.”
This time, he just nods. “There’s something about you. I can’t quite put my claw on it. My wolf keeps telling me that you’re hiding something.” His eyes flash again, the power of his alpha wolf in their depths. “What is it, Honey?”
It’s my name. It’s in the way he rasps my name.
He’s an Alpha. Sure, he’s the sheriff, too, but one look at Max Lobo and there’s no denying how powerful his wolf is.
A born alpha—his rank and hierarchy in the pack—who worked his way up to being the Alpha, the ruler of it.
At that level, there are certain perks. Total obedience.
Shifters who will bare their throat rather than challenge him.
A separate bond with the Luna, the wolf shifters’ goddess…
and the ability to use their senses to know when a shifter under their protection is lying to them.
I can’t lie. Not outright. It would be impossible to, and no matter what happens between the sheriff and me in the future, I won’t lie. Sure, hiding things for my own safety is one thing, but the way he’s watching me, his wolf expecting an answer…
Fuck it. I have to give him one.
“I am a witch.” I sink down in my seat. “A quarter-witch, on my mom’s side. Grandma Jean was full-blooded, but my grandfather wasn’t.”
The sheriff’s brow furrows again, deeper this time. “Then what was he?”
I gulp. “A shifter.”
Poor male. He looks like he’s barely resisting the urge to climb across the table and throttle me for just admitting this now. What makes it even worse is that I’m used to getting such a look from other shifters, both predators and prey.
“Okay. What kind of shifter?”
I hesitate.
Riordan pushes up from his lean, stalking closer to the table. “You should tell him.”
I know I should. He’s the sheriff, I’m a murder suspect, but none of that compares to the reality that I’m also his mate. I should tell him, and I do.
“Opossum.”