Willow Road

By Holly Day

Jeremiah Pace hasn't left his house in thirteen years. He doesn't trust anyone, least of all shifters. School was a nightmare, and despite never interacting with anyone in the village, the bullying continues in his adult life. Someone is putting ads in the paper, encouraging people to drop by his house for one service or other, but Jeremiah never opens his door.

Zeeb Hemming is a lone wolf and the new chief of police. He's only been in Stoneshade for six weeks when he learns about the ads and goes to knock on Jeremiah's door. Not because of what today's ad said, but to get to the bottom of what's going on. Human or not, Jeremiah deserves to live life in peace. The moment Zeeb nears Jeremiah's house, he knows he's his mate. But he can't have a human mate.

Jeremiah pleads with Zeeb not to stir anything up. Yes, the ads are bad, but things can always get worse. Zeeb is furious someone is mistreating his mate and is willing to skin anyone who has any connection to the ads alive. But how is he to convince Jeremiah to trust him when he talks to Zeeb through a gap in the window instead of opening the door to his house?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Dec 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685503314

Holly Day

Holly Day and Sherman Wick are the authors of several books about the Twin Cities. Sherman Wick received his BA in history from the University of Minnesota and has been a member of the Minnesota Historical Society for several decades. Holly Day has worked as a freelance writer for local and national publications for over twenty-five years and teaches writing classes at the Loft Literary Center.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Zeeb Hemming tucked his shirt into his jeans and adjusted the belt as he crossed the threshold to Stoneshade’s police station. Dolph Tala, his second in command, cackled. The sounds bounced off the walls and made Zeeb slow his steps. Boris Tala’s laugh was more controlled, but something was going on.

Zeeb had only been in Stoneshade for seven weeks. He’d needed a change of scenery, and when the position as chief of police had come up, he’d called in a few favors. Why Stoneshade had a chief of police was a mystery. The department consisted of him, the Tala cousins, and Rica Rudolph, a no-nonsense female in her early forties.

Rica had the day off today.

What’s going on? Zeeb looked at Boris and Dolph, who were both hunched over a newspaper.

Boris grinned at him and turned the paper around so he could see. A crossword puzzle took up half the page. You’re solving crosswords? There weren’t many crimes to solve in a small village like Stoneshade, but if they had time on their hands, there was always admin work or cold cases.

No, the personal ads below. Dolph reached across the table and tapped on one of the ads.

Zeeb leaned closer to read. Drop-in full-service massage. Willow Road 1. No need to call ahead. He frowned at Dolph. It’s the red house next to the cemetery, right?

Both Boris and Dolph laughed hard enough for tears to form in their eyes. Zeeb didn’t get it. Selling sex was a crime, not a laughing matter.

Has this happened before?

Boris took a deep breath, as if to try to control his laughter. Yes. It happens regularly. He laughed again, and Zeeb growled. He didn’t mind laughter in the station, but they were here to solve crimes, not laugh at them.

Dolph schooled his face, most likely sensing Zeeb’s mood. It’s eh…it’s a joke.

A joke?

Yes. A grin tugged at the corner of Dolph’s mouth. Jeremiah Pace lives on Willow Road 1. He looked at Zeeb expectantly, but Zeeb shook his head. He’d never heard the name before.

Who’s he?

The village idiot.

The faces of some of the odder people Zeeb had met since moving here flashed before his eyes, but he didn’t associate any of them with the name Jeremiah.

I don’t know who he is. But maybe he should drive over there and have a chat. Offering sexual services as a joke or otherwise shouldn’t be encouraged.

Both Dolph and Boris looked at him for a few seconds, then Boris took a deep breath. Right. Sometimes I forget you’re not from around here.

Zeeb doubted it. Once an outsider, always an outsider, and the families living here had been here for many, many generations. Half the village ignored him; the other half informed him how they’d assumed Dolph would be the next chief of police when old Mr. Farkas had stepped down.

Who is he?

Human. Dolph wrinkled his nose. He…I don’t know what strings his father pulled, but he went to school with us.

Zeeb did his best to hide his wince. He mustn’t have done a good job because both Boris and Dolph nodded.

Smart kid. It was Boris continuing. He’s a few years younger than me, so I never had any classes with him, but everyone knew he was something of a genius. Not after, though.

After what? Boris was in his mid-thirties, which would leave Jeremiah in his late twenties to early thirties. Zeeb tried to produce a face of someone of that age living in the village but failed. If he was that smart, it explains why his father wanted him in your school.

Human schools had lower fundings, lower results, fewer opportunities. There were also fewer schools which meant the distance the human children had to travel was often greater than shifters had. Zeeb wasn’t sure he believed it was right to divide people, but it was what happened when one race got to make all the decisions. Shifters held all the top positions in society, and they worked hard on maintaining the segregation between humans and non-humans.

Dolph grunted in agreement, but there was no understanding or empathy in his gaze. Anyway, something happened.

It didn’t take more than a fraction of a second for a knot to form in Zeeb’s gut. Something happened?

Yeah. Someone lured him into the basement one day, and…When they found him, he was out of his mind.

Zeeb swallowed hard. Out of his mind?

Hysterical. Screaming. Hyperventilating. He never came back to school after that.

How long ago was this? If he was in his early thirties now, it must have been some time ago.

Dolph sighed. We were eighteen.

We? You were there?

Dolph flashed teeth but instantly looked away from Zeeb’s gaze. Zeeb had a higher position at work, and he was far more dominant than both Boris and Dolph, far more dominant than most people he met. It was part of why he’d left his last job. He was sick of people looking at him as if he was their leader. He didn’t have a pack, and he didn’t want to have one. He’d gone lone wolf when he was seventeen and had realized he was more dominant than the alpha of his pack. He didn’t want to fight him, and he didn’t want the responsibility, so he’d left.

We were in the same year.

Zeeb stared at him. There was no way Dolph didn’t know what had happened. And?

And?

And what happened? Dolph was thirty-one, if Zeeb remembered correctly. He’d read both Boris and Dolph’s birth dates several times, but it wasn’t information he’d memorized. It was hard enough remembering he’d turned forty-two.

I don’t know. Dolph looked at Boris instead of Zeeb. One day he was in school, the next he was gone. It was for the better.

For the better? Zeeb tried to keep his voice neutral, but some steeliness crept into it.

I can’t imagine he had a good time.

He was bullied? Of course, he was.