Page 99 of Meant for Her

Luke went ballistic. He shifted into his wolf form, ready to tear out his father’s throat.

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

Ryan acted on instinct. He shifted and planted himself between Luke and their father. Luke was right to be upset, but if he killed their father, there would be hell to pay.

Malia shouted. “Stop it!”

Luke immediately shifted back and looked over at her. “I’m sorry. I just reacted.”

With that situation diffused, Ryan shifted back too.

Luke grabbed his coat. “I’m going outside to cool off.”

With that, he stalked out the door. Malia started to follow him, but Ryan stopped her. “Malia, best to leave him be. Trust me.” Then he turned to his father. “How could you steal from us? The cows you stole were the ones we bought. They weren’t the cows you left. Those had been sent to slaughter.”

“I left you the ranch. That has to be worth something.”

Wow. His father didn’t get it. “We left high paying jobs to take over the ranch. I’m not sure you did us a favor.”

That was a lie. Ryan loved the ranch. He just wished it hadn’t been in such debt. Now that they were with Malia, he wanted to renovate the ranch house if she was willing to move in with them. After seeing Luke’s violent reaction to their father’s criminal actions, he wasn’t so sure she’d want to be with both of them.

“I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you.” Their father almost sounded sincere.

“There is. Give us back our cows.”

Dad cleared his throat. “I sold six of them.”

“I know. And the other six?”

“They’re out back,” their father said.

Ryan stood. “Malia and I will return shortly. Don’t even think about running. Again.”

Their dad held up his hand. “I won’t. You have my word.”

“Whatever that is worth.”

Malia looked a little confused, but she put on her coat and followed him out. Luke was pacing in front of the truck.

“Just so you know, I called the sheriff—the one Mason gave us.”

“Good. Dad said our other six cows are in the pasture.”

Luke looked upward. “At least something is going right on this trip. We’ll have to figure out a way to transport them back to the ranch.”

“When the sheriff gets here, Dad will put up a fuss, but since we can prove they belong to us, he can’t say much. Considering the circumstances, we shouldn’t press charges for the theft.”

“What will he be charged with?” Malia asked.

Luke blew out a breath. “That one is tricky. The werewolf sheriff will understand why he didn’t want to report Fred Hogan’s death. It’s possible they could tell he was a shifter, but I can’t be sure. I’m pretty sure that faking your death has to be illegal somewhere.”

“Don’t forget he most likely bought a few faked ID’s if he was able to open a bank account and send Pete money,” Ryan said.

A sedan pulled into the drive. “The local sheriff has arrived. We can let him decide what crime Dad had committed.”

“And the cows? Do we say nothing?” Ryan asked.

“I wouldn’t. Dad had a point. He left us with twenty-five cows—all of which technically he still owned.”