Page 50 of Brimstone and Broomsticks
Chapter 17
Cassandra
Ophelia showed up with an ambulance and her crew from the firehouse to haul Clinton off to what passed for a hospital in Accident. We didn’t often have need for things like surgery or long-term medical care, but even supernaturals had the occasional emergency. With the full moon tonight, Clinton would most likely be up and out harassing everyone by tomorrow morning. In fact, now that he was out of Alberta’s cave and free from whatever sedation spell she’d most likely cast on him, he was clearly doing better.
Heck, he might even be out at the bars tonight. One thing he didn’t have, though, was a memory of who or what attacked him. In fact, his memory of the events prior to his attack were still fuzzy. I wasn’t sure if he’d get those back or not.
I hoped not.
We drove up to the werewolf compound. For once, Dallas didn’t answer the door. This time it was just the werewolf I wanted to see—Shelby.
“Why don’t the three of us take a walk?” I told her. “Away from other ears.”
She glanced back, then nodded. We passed my car and were about two hundred yards from the main house when she turned to face me.
“Yes, I killed him. Alberta knows nothing about any of this. It has nothing to do with her. It was a fight, and I killed Clinton. And I’ll face pack law for it.”
Her chin came up with the last statement. Pack law would have meant no punishment if it had been a fair challenge.
But it hadn’t been a fair challenge.
“I’m not going to argue about whether you should face pack or human law for this right now,” I told her. “I just want you to know that we found Clinton. He’s not dead, he’s injured. And Sheriff Oakes will be arresting Alberta for assault if not attempted murder. We found Clinton in the place where she hides her treasures, sedated, injured, bound, and duct taped.”
Shelby paled. “No! She had nothing to do with it. It was me. I…I put Clinton there. She didn’t know anything about this.”
“But she did,” I said as gently as I could. “Alberta was there when you attacked Clinton. She cast that sleep spell on him. Then she hid him away.”
“Pack law.” Shelby’s chin came up. “Any repercussions I face over my…my challenge to Clinton falls under pack law.”
“It wasn’t a challenge. And Alberta doesn’t fall under pack law.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “And if what I think is true, then you might not want to find justice under pack law either.”
She began to cry. It was a much more subdued sorrow than what Alberta had shown, but there were quite a few tears. And I didn’t have any more tissues.
“Either way I’m in trouble,” she sniffed. “I might be dead.”
“No one is going to be dead,” I declared. “Now stop dancing around the truth here and tell me what happened so maybe I can actually help you. And help Alberta.”
She gave me a watery smile. “I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with a troll, you know. It was a couple of months ago. I’d lost out to Clinton in my bid for pack second, and Dallas had given me this horrible speech about how bitches needed to know their place and maybe if I had a pup or two I’d settle down and not be trying to run things in the pack. That shithead of a minotaur had just left Alberta. We were both at Pistol Pete’s, drinking and complaining. One thing led to another.”
“And female werewolves aren’t allowed to mate outside of their species,” I added softly.
She nodded. “If it had just been the one time, no one would have cared. I mean, I might have gotten my ass beat or confined to the compound for a moon or two, but that would have been it. But it wasn’t just once. And Alberta and I… I love her. I know you’re probably wondering how someone could love a troll, but she’s smart and kind, and wow is she amazing in the sack.”
I so didn’t need the visual that was running through my head right now. Everyone deserved love. And if it was between a werewolf and a troll…well, more power to them.
“Someone found out and told?” I asked, remembering what Dallas had said about Shelby. He hadn’t just been annoyed at her challenging Clinton, he’d been pissed at her more than that.
Shelby sighed. “Yes, someone told. I lied and said it was only the one time. Took my punishment. Swore not to do it again. And I tried. Dallas is mating me off to another wolf next moon. I knew if I got caught again, I’d never be allowed to leave the compound ever. Maybe I’d even be killed. But I couldn’t help myself. I love her. And she loves me.”
“So ditch the compound and your asshole of an alpha and move in with your troll,” Lucien suggested.
“Werewolves don’t quit the pack,” she told Lucien. “There are no lone wolves here. None. Dallas would never allow it.”
“Well, Dallas doesn’t run things in this town,” I told her. “Tell me what happened last night, and we’ll think about what we can do to fix this.”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure there’s anything anyone can do for me, but here’s the truth. Your demon hottie here got into itagainwith Clinton outside the tavern. I dusted him off. He left and I waited for Alberta to come back out. Clinton must have come back for round two because he caught the two of us making out. He grabbed me, was going to haul me back here to Dallas for punishment…”
“So you whacked him,” Lucien finished for the wolf.
