Free Clay's Instinct (BBW Paranormal Romance) (Wolf Call) by Abbey Polidori

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER ONE
    Found
     
    Sheriff Clay Adams came out of the woods above the small town of Faith, Montana warily, cautiously, sniffing the air. Even in his human form he could sense trouble.
    Gathering his clothes from beneath a tree stump where he had left them the previous  night wrapped in a plastic waterproof bag, he eyed the road below, the road that led from Faith to the town of Promise in the East.
    He dressed quickly and descended the pine covered hill to the road, sniffing the air.
    Trouble had passed this way.
    He wasn't sure of what had raised his hackles this way but he trusted his senses with his life so he made his way back to his house carefully. He had spent the night in the woods, one of his 'back to nature' times as he liked to call them. Maybe he shouldn't have left the town like that. What if they needed him?
    His deputy, Lassiter, could handle anything that Faith threw at him so Clay shouldn't feel so guilty. The worst things that ever happened here were nothing compared to the big cities. Putting rowdy drunks in the cells overnight was something Lassiter could handle easily.
    But this sense Clay had now, this harbinger of trouble, was like nothing he had felt before.
    It was five thirty in the morning, the sky a cold slate gray as Clay made his way through town and he saw no one. Everything seemed just like normal. Quiet. Sleepy.
    But when he turned off the main street toward his house, the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood on end.
    A police car sat on the road at the end of his driveway, blocking in his own vehicle. The markings on the car said, 'Promise PD'. 
    Clay had never met Sheriff Ronson, his opposite number in the neighboring town, but it looked like the man had reason to visit now, and to Clay's own house instead of the small police station on Main Street.
    How did Ronson even know where he lived and why was he here at this hour, before the town of Faith was awake?
    A saying crept into Clay's mind: evil loves the darkness.
    He had no conscious reason to fear Ronson -  after all, the man was a law enforcement colleague - but Clay's subconscious, the part of him that was mostly wild and intuitive, howled into his mind that this visit brought danger. He wished he had his gun with him but he had gone to the woods in his civilian clothes. 
    As he approached the house, a dark figure on the porch stepped down onto the driveway. The man wore a tan sheriff's uniform and he looked wiry and tough. He had a black moustache and dark eyes that watched Clay as he approached. 
    'Are you Clay Adams?' The voice was gravelly, and the tobacco smell coming from the man confirmed that he was a heavy smoker.
    'Sheriff Clay Adams,' Clay corrected.
    The man stepped forward but didn't offer his hand. 'I'm Sheriff Ronson from Promise. I've come to ask a few questions about some strange sightings in these parts.'
    'At this early hour? And at my house?'
    'I wanted to be sure I found you. I asked around some and it seems you aren't always home.'
    'I take walks sometimes when I'm off duty and the woods around here are as good a place as any to exercise.'
    'The woods.' Ronson said it as if contemplating the meaning of the word. 'I thought it was dangerous in the woods around here. Especially for an unarmed man.' He nodded to Clay's belt, indicating the absence of a sidearm.
    'You don't believe in those old legends, do you?'
    'They're hardly old, Adams. There have been sightings reported recently. It seems to me your office has been keeping them quiet. A family passing through here ended up in my office in Promise and told me what they saw a week ago.'
    'Really? And what did they see?'
    'A wolf-like creature moving fast between the trees.'
    Clay cursed inwardly. He was careful not to be seen when he shifted and went back to nature. This area was too popular with campers and hikers. He would have to go deeper into the woods from now on, further from town. 'And