Chapter Ten
Toby wanted to cry. His hands shook even when he gripped the steering wheel.
He hyper-focused on the road. Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.
It was a mild night. No weather to speak of to make the roads bad.
He didn’t have to be so vigilant, but he was afraid he’d shake so badly he’d make the car veer off the road.
He’d exposed himself when he shouldn’t have, and now the dickwads knew about Griffin.
It was all his fault. He knew they were following him.
Stalking was the right term for it. They might have seen Griffin enter his apartment last night.
Or leave in the early hours. They would put two and two together and realize that Griffin was important to him.
It didn’t matter whether they thought their connection was romantic or just friendly.
Toby’s presence in Griffin’s life was dangerous for him. Hell, he was dangerous to Riley, too.
Toby pulled up behind the sheriff’s vehicle and shut off the engine.
He kept the doors locked and sat there for a full two minutes, watching everything around him, making sure he didn’t see anyone.
It didn’t take long before he felt someone’s eyes on him.
His back itched with the need to run as far away as possible.
He gazed at the bakery. He saw Griffin and the sheriff looking out at him from the front windows.
The feeling he had didn’t come from them. It felt menacing, as though a pack of wolves were stalking him in the forest, blending into the underbrush.
And then he suddenly realized. That was exactly what it was. Maybe it wasn’t a pack. Just one wolf was enough of a threat.
He rolled down his window just a crack, ignoring the fear gathering in his chest. He sniffed the air flowing through the opening.
It smelled of the mountains surrounding them.
Pine and the decay of fallen leaves floated in the air.
And so much magic swirling together, creating a woodsy, campfire scent.
Toby contributed to the magical element.
But underneath was the scent of wolves. The Fortune Falls pack.
Their scent was baked into the fabric of the town.
They were part of it all, welcome in their familiarity.
Toby closed his eyes and tried to pinpoint the source of the foreignness.
The scent held malice. It wasn’t as strong, smelling less of fallen leaves and pine and more of chemicals.
He let the scent coat the inside of his nostrils and slide down his throat. He wanted to experience it, memorize it so he’d know the threat when he scented it again. But more importantly, he wanted to pinpoint the source of the scent.
It floated to him in the crisp night air from up above.
Above.
Toby opened his eyes. The bakery was on Main Street, right in the thick of downtown with all the pretty storefronts and empty flower boxes.
The buildings were three stories or fewer.
They had flat roofs with drainage that went into alleyways, and then all that water and whatever else went into an underground system.
He could smell the slight decay, natural with leaves and dirt getting blown around and then trapped during storms and bad weather.
Mixed in was the scent of manmade drugs.
It was to the left of foreign in a small mountain town like Fortune Falls.
No one talked about it because it was seedy and was a signal for a damaged person.
How did they help? Since they didn’t know, they ignored it, brushing it under the rug until it didn’t exist in their small town.
It floated through the opening of his car window, which told him they, the drugged-out stalker, had been there a while.
It told him that Griffin had been in danger for at least several hours.
Toby was never aware of when his eyes shifted until he focused on how he saw the world. Most of the time, he knew it because his fangs also dropped.
The threat was obvious, as far as he was concerned. The dickwads went a step too far by stalking Griffin. Blackmail was one thing, but threatening his mate went beyond anything he could handle with his logical brain, so he let his wolf take over.
He sucked in a breath and stepped out of his car.
He felt the growl vibrating in his throat.
That was the only reason he knew he even did it.
His hands were the first things to shift.
They itched when the hairs grew on them.
The tips of his fingers ached when his nails popped out.
Then his whole body sprouted hair, and he shifted into his third form.
His clothing stopped fitting properly, becoming tight and restrictive.
His shirt tore at the seams. But Toby didn’t bother with his clothing, other than his shoes.
His feet were too big for them in his third form, so he kicked them off.
He started to cross the street, but a black dome fell into place around him. For a second, he thought he was the one who had conjured it, but then he saw Griffin and the sheriff come out of the bakery.
Griffin was too exposed to the wolves on the roof. What-ifs entered Toby’s mind, and he pictured Mark Sibly’s and his friends’ assault rifles in his mind’s eye. What happened to his dad couldn’t happen to Griffin, too.
Toby threw up a dome of his own, surrounding Griffin and the sheriff.
Griffin sucked in a breath. The sheriff cursed.
His gaze met Griffin’s, and he growled. “Take it down.”
Griffin folded his arms over his chest and scowled. “You first.”
It seemed they were in a standoff.
Toby turned and pointed to the roof of the Fortune Falls Treasures Gift Shop. He didn’t say a word but kept his arms raised and his finger at the roof, knowing the dickwads couldn’t see him. All they saw was a dark half-circle.
Griffin’s scowl remained, but he was curious enough to follow the direction Toby was pointing in. He didn’t comment, but he did nod.
“You know what’s going on, don’t you?” It was the sheriff who spoke.
Toby nodded. He knew exactly what was happening.
No one had been dumb enough to blackmail him before, but he’d been the target of hate his whole life.
Wolves didn’t like it when one of their own had magic, but they especially didn’t like Toby’s magic.
They didn’t like what he could do, and they didn’t like how strong his wolf was.
He didn’t know if he could trust the sheriff, so he didn’t elaborate.
“What’s in this envelope?” The sheriff asked next.
Toby lost just a little of the tension in his muscles when the sheriff didn’t demand more information.
“I honestly don’t know. We need to be careful when opening it. Griffin can’t be close to it.” Toby feared there might be more than just a note with threatening words. Or the dickwads spilling Toby’s secret about his ability.
The sheriff nodded. His gaze went to the roof. “Who’s up there?”
“I don’t know that either.” That was the truth. “I smell them. A wolf. Just one. From Fortune Falls. But they’re on drugs. Meth maybe. Or heroine. One of those two.”
The muscle in the sheriff’s jaw ticked as he met Griffin’s gaze. “Shit. It’s the pack. Again.”
“You recognize the scent?” That made Toby realize he might have just put himself in the middle of pack politics.
It meant there wasn’t an easy slide out from under the problem.
Not for a wolf like Toby, whom they could just keep on blackmailing.
He’d get drawn in, one dirty deed at a time. That was how wolf shifter packs were.
Toby met Griffin’s gaze. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“Ditto, baby.” Griffin finally smiled, which made Toby feel a little better about their mating situation. And it very much was a situation. Toby had no idea how to protect Griffin. His instinct was to back off. People died because of him.
“I can protect you, but I need to know what’s really going on here.” Was it a war within the Fortune Falls pack or between them and another one? And who was Kinnison Ransome?
Did Griffin have the answers? The sheriff? Or by asking them, was he dragging them into the middle of what was still only his problem?
Until he had the answers to that question, he wasn’t willing to put Griffin at risk.
Griffin raised his eyebrows. “Ditto, baby.”
Was that all he knew how to say?
But it meant Griffin could defend himself. Or he thought he could.
“If you take down your dome, then I’ll take down mine,” Toby said.
“We bring the domes down at the same time, and then you get inside the bakery, lock the door, while my dad and I investigate the roof.” Griffin smirked, probably because he knew Toby wouldn’t do it.
Toby growled. “Stubborn warlock.”
Griffin chuckled as if he weren’t the target of a threat. Like their argument was normal.
Toby got as close to the dome wall as he could without touching it and then bared his teeth. “I’ve been through this type of thing before. They’ll use you to get to me. That can not happen. Not this time. Not with you. So please. Please. I’m begging you. Stay out of this.”
Maybe it was the emotion laced through Toby’s words. Toby was on the verge of tears. But Griffin took down the dome, so Toby took down his.
The sheriff handed Griffin the envelope, saying, “Keep that safe”, before ushering them onto the sidewalk and then inside the bakery.
The sheriff then spoke into his mic, reciting a couple of codes Toby didn’t understand, then said, “Requesting backup.”
Griffin protested immediately. “I can help, Dad. I’m deputized. Remember.”
“Toby’s right. If you’re a target and there really is someone on the rooftops, then things could go south for both of us. It’s best to stay inside. You and Toby need to protect each other. Not go off half-cocked.” The sheriff met Toby’s gaze. Clearly, that last part was meant for him. “Got it?”
Toby nodded and shifted into his human form. “Got it.”
Griffin sighed and went down the hall. He heard a door click, and then Griffin came back carrying a duffel bag. He rummaged through it and handed Toby a pair of sweatpants.
“They’ll be big on you, but they’ll be warmer than your torn pants.”
Toby didn’t know what Griffin was talking about at first, but he felt a breeze on his thighs and realized his pants had ripped at the seams along with his shirt.
Toby felt heat climb from his chest to his cheeks, but he took the sweats from Griffin. “Thank you.”
Griffin smirked and shook his head. “You were bold enough to call me a stubborn warlock and make a ton of demands a second ago. But now you’re all shy.”
Toby didn’t want to find Griffin’s assessment of him endearing.
He didn’t even know why he did. It made little sense except for that smirk, which created a dimple in his right cheek.
“You were stubborn. And you might want to get used to the demands. I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. ”
The sheriff walked out the front door when he saw police lights flashing. And then Riley’s mate came into view. The sheriff and Cass headed across the street.
All they could do was wait and lean into a silent, but probably temporary, truce.