Sharon’s Wolves(100)

Sheriff Richards shook his head. “No. No one can make up for that. But I can’t arrest a woman for coming into the station and informing us she’s worried about a future crime, even if the crime already took place. She didn’t know that.”

Jackson set his forehead in his hands and stared at the table. “Great. Nice lady.”

“In addition,” Richards added, “you’ll be glad to know that the majority of the citizens of both towns have been working together all day to make sure no lives were lost and keep property damage at a minimum. If it weren’t for your family…” he glanced at Trace and then looked back at Sharon, “…I don’t believe this would have been possible.”

He turned his gaze toward Cooper next. “And the Bartel-Hamiltons have been right here also. Your extended families brought everyone together at the high school, warned them, and organized them to rally together. With the exception of a few people who aren’t capable of seeing reason, most have gathered in Cambridge to help. Hundreds of people from Sojourn have been here for hours helping too. Even though the volcano is closer to Cambridge than Sojourn, they didn’t ignore the human call for help.”

Cooper stretched his neck in both directions and lifted his brows. “One small favor in the midst of a shitstorm.”

“How did you guys find me?” she asked.

Cooper touched his lips to hers and then spoke again. “We had a lot of help. Two spirits guided us. And we had Wyatt and Isaiah.”

“The bears.”

“Yeah.”

“I still can’t wrap my head around that. Bears? How did we not know about them?”

Cooper shrugged. “Guess we weren’t meant to until now. One thing is for sure, they’re more evolved than us. Their instincts are sharper. They can take their clothes with them when they shift. They have way more knowledge about us than we do them. Which isn’t saying much. Oh,” Cooper’s eyes widened, “and they communicate with each other in both human and bear form at will.”

“Will we see them again?”

“Doubt it. My gut tells me they’re already gone. They’re from a town north of here, closer to the Canadian border, and it would seem they won’t be staying much longer in Montana. Grizzly bears are few and far between in this area now. Rare. They need to move farther north where it won’t shock anyone to see them shifted.”

“So they came down here just to help us?”

“It seems that way. Their instincts were spot on. And they have the same mission as we do—protect all species. I suspect they knew about the seismic activity and came to ensure we were doing all we could to save humanity in the area.”

Sharon shook her head. “Even when half the town is acting like imbeciles, they came anyway.”

Cooper nodded. “Hey, both towns are filled with imbeciles, and they run the gamut across species and races. No one group is more outspoken than another.”

Someone tapped at the door, making Sharon lift her gaze to find Melinda stepping inside without waiting for an invite. Her face was red and swollen.

Sharon jumped to her feet at the same time as Cooper. “What happened?”

She forced a smile. “Mimi’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

Cooper lowered himself back into the chair slowly, his breath running out of him on a rush. “I barely even got to know her.”

Sharon’s heart started pounding. “Gone? You mean dead?”

Melinda nodded, a fresh tear running down her face.

Jackson jumped up to shut the door so they would have some privacy. “I’m so sorry. The stroke?”

Sharon wrapped her arms around Melinda and hauled her in close to hug her.

After several moments of silence, Melinda pried herself free and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. “I should have known. She was acting so strange after you left. Mom and Laurie went home to their families. It was just me and Mimi. She was so serious. And she insisted I come after you. She knew.”

“She knew I was in trouble?”

Melinda nodded. “Among other things. She also knew she was about to die. When I look back on our conversation…”

Sharon cupped Melinda’s face. “You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known.” She shrugged. “In a way I guess I did know. But this is what I was meant to do today. Not stay with her and hold her hand while she passed into the next life.”

“I’m so sorry. How did you find out?”

Melinda smiled through the tears. “To be honest, I knew she was gone while we were digging you out of the cave. I didn’t stop to acknowledge it, but I knew.” She tucked her lips under her teeth and met Sharon’s gaze head on. “She was in the cave with you, wasn’t she?”