Fierce (Wolf Ranch 5)

The sun had set, and the lights from the fair cast a colorful glow over everything. The heat from the hot sun was gone, and it was a perfect Montana summer night. I probably wouldn’t have noticed any of that if I hadn’t been with Charlie. I was turning sappy with her around, which so wasn’t me. Hell, I’d never won a stuffed animal prize for a woman before in my life. Human or she-wolf.

I slung my arm around her shoulder as we stood in line for the fried treat, to order and pay. I was… content. Sure, I wanted to get her back in bed and take my time kissing and licking every inch of her, but this wasn’t just about sex. Well, not now. Maybe it had been before, but somehow, it had grown into something more. Hell, I was enjoying my time with a woman, with a human, and we had all our clothes on.

I got a few nods, a few hellos since people from town knew me, but I was left to my own devices. Everyone was enjoying themselves, as I was.

Charlie pulled money from her purse which she had slung cross shoulder. I stilled her hand and paid for the treat. “A date, remember?” I asked.

She gave me a smile, then a kiss on the cheek as she was handed the funnel cake on a grease-stained paper plate. She grabbed a metal shaker and sprinkled confectioners sugar all over it.

She couldn’t walk and eat, so we found an eating area with a bunch of picnic tables. We sat across from each other as she attacked the dessert. One thing about her, she wasn’t a prissy eater. She liked her food.

“Want some?” she asked as she held up a piece. I reached out, took hold of her wrist and ate the bite from her fingers, ensuring to lick some of the sweet sugar off the tips as I did so.

“Not as sweet as you,” I said.

My cell rang, and I pulled it from my pocket. “Barnes, what’s going on?”

Charlie looked to me as I listened to Barnes, the deputy on shift.

“I’ve got Tanner Wagner behind the stands at the fair,” he said. “Caught him buying E. Has a stash of pills that would set half the high school rolling.”

“I’m actually here but in the food area. I’ll be right over,” I told him.

“Oh, great. I know you’re not on shift, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks.” I hung up then met Charlie’s gaze. “I’ve got to deal with something over by the rodeo area. A kid with drugs—intent to sell.”

Her face lost all the amusement it held just a minute ago. I knew how she felt. Being sheriff was a pain in the ass sometimes, but having a shifter in the ranks would pay off for the pack in the long run. Having someone who knew about our kind without giving up the secret of who we were was important. We never knew when we needed help with the law. Selena Jenkins was a lawyer, but also a shifter, who’d come through for Clint’s mate, Becky, last fall. Having someone in the department was even better. I owed it to the pack. Everyone thought I was good enough for the role since I’d been voted into the position from the town council. Still, it seemed I was the only one who still held doubts.

“Do you want me to stay here?” she asked.

I stood, picked up her trash, tossed it in a nearby can. “Nah, this won’t take long.”

When she came around the table to join me, I took her hand. “Besides, when I’m done scaring the shit out of this kid, I want to take you home. Get you naked again.”

Yeah, this wouldn’t take long. Not if the look on Charlie’s face was any indication of how much she liked my idea of getting her naked.

We headed around to Barnes’ squad car at the west end of the fairgrounds. Tanner Wagner, who I pegged around fifteen, stood in handcuffs, slouched against the car, his head hanging. Charlie hung back as I approached.

“What’s going on?” I said in my deepest, most intimidating voice.

The kid’s head jerked up, and he stared at me with wide eyes. Yeah, he knew who I was.

Barnes held up a ziplock bag containing tiny plastic bags, each with a pressed white pill inside. “Found him with this. There’s twenty pills in there.”

“Twenty pills.” I looked at Barnes, as if I were making conversation with him, and not for the benefit of the kid. “That could get him, what? Five years and up to a hundred-fifty thousand in fines?”

“It would if he were eighteen,” Barnes agreed, picking up the conversation smoothly. He was a good deputy and in a few years would make a great sheriff himself. “Still could, if the judge thinks he deserves it.”