Millie didn’t stay, and Brody didn’t blame her. He’d been a complete bear when they’d made love, and he’d been less than affectionate afterward.

He hated that he’d let himself get so out of control with Millie. No matter how many times she told him that she’d enjoyed it, he still felt like he’d crossed a line.

Not because the sex was so rough or anything, but because he couldn’t give himself to her in the way she deserved. If it had been any other time, he would have gladly opened his complete heart to her. He would have dedicated his time to wooing her and winning her.

Millie didn’t seem reluctant to be with him. She’d given him all the space and all the opportunity to pursue her. He had messed it up with the bitter darkness that seemed to grow heavier every day in the pit of his stomach.

He grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the top shelf of his cabinet and sat on the couch to watch sports on satellite TV.

As he drank himself into a stupor, he knew that this was not the man he wanted to be. Failure to find Chris’s killer and going after a false lead for so many days while all the other leads went cold—it made him feel even worse about himself.

He woke in the morning after having passed out on the couch, alone. A living room window remained open, letting in the cold morning air. He rose, a chill in his bones, his head pounding.

Disgusted with his lack of control, he went to shower and change before he started his day. He’d had Chris’s cellphone overnighted to his tech contact, and he would be hearing back about it today.

Before that information came in, he had meetings with the department of fish and game and with the forest department. It wasn’t the best day to be hung over.

Being the lead detective on a murder investigation involving his best friend was messing with his mind. He wasn’t trained for this. He wasn’t even a real cop. He was a game warden, a profession that centered on policing hunters and fisherman. He wasn’t cut out for this kind of thing.

Shifters coming out had created a massive backlash no one had anticipated. Brody had liked the idea of not having to hide anymore, but the truth hadn’t exactly set his people free. It was more dangerous than ever to be a shifter.

He spent the rest of the day in meetings on the phone and with the forest department at their offices in town. Hunting season was in full effect and it would take a concerted effort from all of them to keep the wildlife and humans safe during this time of year.

After his last meeting of the day, he was on his way back to the sheriff’s department when he got a phone call from his tech guy.

“Hey Brody,” the tech guy said. “I’ve got those results.”

“Great. What have you got for me?”

“Well the number that last called this phone is the land line of Sheriff Winston Charles.”

“What? That has to be a mistake.”

“I’m afraid not. The other calls are from Natalie Charles’s cell phone, but from much earlier in the day.”

“Thanks. This helps a lot. Can you email me the data?”

Brody hung up the phone and slammed his palm onto the steering wheel. The sheriff was the last person to call Chris. Could he have wanted Chris dead? It just didn’t make any sense. Unless the sheriff decided he didn’t want his daughter marrying a shifter.

Brody thought back. Chris and Natalie had become engaged before Chris came out as a shifter. Natalie knew for a long time, but her dad had just learned about it in the last month.

Shit. It had been sitting in front of his face all along. Cold anger drifted over his face.

His cellphone rang, making him jump. He grabbed it and looked at the number.

Millie.

“Hey babe,” he muttered

“Hi Brody. We need to talk.”

“Can it wait? I’ve got a new lead on the case. It’s big.”

“Really? What did you find out?”

“The last caller was the sheriff. Natalie’s dad.”

“Oh my God. It all makes sense.”

“I just can’t believe my boss and old friend would do something like this. It was right in front of me all along and I didn’t see it. I have to handle this delicately.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to call in some backup from another department, get a warrant, and go out to search his place.”

“Brody. About last night…”

“Millie, can we talk about this later?”

“I know I’m your mate. That means something. I feel like you’re holding back from me.”

“It’s just a lot to deal with right now, sweetheart. I can’t give you what you need.”

“If you’d just open up to me…”

“Babe, we can talk about this later. Okay? I promise things will be better. Just give me time.”

“Go get ‘em, Brody.” She hung up and left Brody feeling just as confused as ever. He had to focus on getting Chris’s killer.

After his friend had some justice, maybe Brody could pull himself together. Maybe then he could give his heart to Millie. They could have a life full of fun and freedom, together. That’s what he wanted more than anything. After all this was over, maybe then he’d let himself have it.

Brody called the sheriff’s department one county over and requested the warrant be pulled by the sheriff over there. Investigating a law enforcement officer was tricky business, and he didn’t want to tip off the sheriff before he’d had a chance to search his place and bring him in for questioning.

Everything was set for later in the day, when the sheriff would be home. Brody had managed to keep it all under wraps until then. He arrived with the team of investigators right as the sheriff was pulling into his driveway at home.

“What’s going on?” Sheriff Charles asked.

“We have a search warrant and would like to ask you some questions about the murder of Chris Whitney,” the sheriff from the other county said.

“You can’t be serious,” Sheriff Charles said.

They flashed him the warrant, which he read over and handed back. He had no choice and had to stand out of the way. The sheriff from the other county had Charles sit on the couch and began asking him questions about calling Chris’s cell phone. The sheriff continued to deny everything.

Brody growled and went outside. There had been a faint tinge of something in the air that he couldn’t quite place. It could just be garbage or a dead squirrel. But Brody wasn’t about to let it go without investigating. He went to his truck and pulled his clothes off.

Shifting in the middle of the sheriff’s cars and crowd of officers brought a chorus of gasps. He landed heavy on his front legs and growled low. He pulled air into his nose and over his tongue as he trotted into the forest behind the house.

The smell of death became stronger the farther he went. He came to an area of loose dirt where the smell was almost overwhelming. Shifter senses were stronger than even those of their animal counterparts and Brody’s were no exception.

He began to paw at the ground, digging furiously as the smell grew stronger. It was deep. Digging it up with his paws would take longer than a few men with shovels would take. He galloped back to his car and shifted, dirt on his arms. He pulled his clothes back on and told the officers what he’d found.

They grabbed shovels from the sheriff’s tool shed and went out to the hole Brody had started. With a team of four men, they dug quickly into the loose dirt.

Soon, they had a deep hole. The tip of a shovel hit something soft but unyielding. They uncovered the white flesh of a corpse as the smell stung Brody’s nose.

The officers pulled the body from the ground and something metal fell back into the dirt.

“It’s Chris,” Brody said.

“What’s this?” one of the officers asked, pulling a key from the dirt. He handed it to Brody. The clear logo of the Quatre ATV was on the keyring.

“We’ve got everything we need, boys,” Brody said.

The officers brought the sheriff to the police car. He’d lost it and was spewing angry slurs against shifters. “You should all die. All of you. You’re an abomination. I’d never let one of them touch my daughter! You should have left that animal to rot in an unmarked grave.”

Brody shook his head. All the darkness and anger hadn’t gone anywhere, even with the sheriff being caught. The reality of his world and the loss of his family was all just as painful. Shifters were being killed right and left. How could he bring his mate into a world like this? Maybe it was better for him to let her go.