Page 29 of Aaron (Dresden Pride #1)

Benjamin was going to die, and he just knew it. And there was going to be nothing he could do about it. Looking at his sister when she was about at his level, he asked her what she wanted right now because he was busy.

“Yes, I can see that. How often do you get to see a big tiger this close to you?” She actually pet him like he was some stuffed bear or something.

Then he purred. The fucking bastard fucking purred at Mac like having her pet him was good or something.

“Anyway, I’m supposed to tell you what he’s saying.

I can understand him. First of all, you’re going to jail.

I like that part of this. Having you in jail will be great for my peace of mind. ”

“What about my money?” She smacked him on the nose and told him not to be so obtuse; there was no money for him. “I came here to get some money, and I’m damned well going to be getting someone’s money.”

“I’ll give you a quarter if you just shut up and listen to what Aaron is saying.

” He asked who Aaron was. “You called him Steroid Man. His name is Aaron. Anyway, you’re going to jail for threatening a Federal officer.

Well, both of us are so you’re going to get twice the sentencing.

There will be no money from either one of us, and you might well take that to the bank.

Get it? That’s where we are, and you can—never mind.

Aaron is going to let you go, and if you reach for that gun, you’ll be dead before you can free it from the back of your pants.

What a stupid place to put your gun. Are you trying to shoot your ass off?

There are ten itchy cops in here now, and if you make a sudden move, they’re going to kill you.

Unless Aaron tears your throat out first. I would bet on Aaron since he’s already got you down on the floor. ”

“All right. I’ll let him let me go for only two grand. You have that much surely?” The paw at his chest dug deeper until he was sure it was coming out the other side of him. “All right. I’m ready to get up from here. Christ, it was just money, there was no reason for you to get all shitty with me.”

Once he was let up, Benjamin was arrested.

They didn’t say anything about his wounds, so he had to point them out several times before they took him to the hospital.

Christ, he thought, he wasn’t going to mess with Mac anymore.

She was just too dangerous to be around.

Even though he was arrested, he decided that it was better than having his throat cut out and dead.

He decided that he wasn’t going to tell his family what happened with Mac either. He could see his brother Shawn getting all cut up, demanding money from her. But then he had been arrested, so maybe they’d find out sooner about him being a cat, too. Let them try to deal with her and Steroid Man.

~*~

Aaron didn’t much care for being called Steroid Man, but the other officers were getting a kick out of it, so he didn’t say anything more about it.

He watched as Benjamin was being carted away and decided that he was glad that he had good brothers who didn’t piss you off all the time.

Benjamin was stupid, too. Even as his cat was tearing him up, he still demanded money from him like he deserved it. Moron.

“Do you have extra clothing? I mean, will you need something before you get back to the house.” He told Joey, one of the officers, that Mac had gone out to the car to get them for him. “When wolves find their mates, we can shift and have our clothing back on. Have you tried that?”

“I should be able to do it. I just thought that less people would be freaked out if I just went into the bathroom and changed.” Joey told him that it didn’t matter; people were still laughing at him being called steroid man.

He was really glad that they’d formed a connection a long time ago so that they’d be able to talk while he was his tiger.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. You know that it’s not true, don’t you?

I’ve never taken anything like that in my life. ”

“Probably wouldn’t work anyway. That’s the way it works for us.

” They walked to the bathroom together, and he thought he was going inside with him.

“I have to stick with you until they get that man out of here. The officers on site took his gun, but they would feel better if you didn’t get killed today, along with having to shift. ”

“Thanks.” He didn’t follow him into the bathroom, but when he came out, Joey was standing right there waiting for him. “Do you need me to come down and fill out some paperwork for the arrest? He did threaten both Mac and myself.”

“When you have time. I didn’t know you were a Fed too.

I just thought that Mac was. Good to know, I guess.

” He told Joey that he was retired, but his boss would call him up on occasion to get him to do something with the Feds.

“I’m thinking that you have a contact with your boss, and he’s the president.

I don’t know that for sure, but I’m thinking, because this day has just been weird, that you talk to him a great deal. ”

He just stared at Joey, and that was when the younger man laughed.

“You’re a good man, Aaron. You were raised by good people, too.

I hope you tell your parents that a great deal.

” He said that he does daily and that he loves them.

“I have to tell my own mom that I love her more often. Mrs. Drake passed away this morning. Her kids all live around here, and none of them could remember when they saw her last. I don’t want to go a day now without telling my mom how much she means to me and that I love her. ”

“That’s good. I might have to tell my grandparents more that I love them too.

They’re getting up there some.” Joey said that he’d seen his grandda just this morning.

He showed up when it was announced that Mrs. Drake had passed.

“He’s a good old man, your grandda. And your grannie. She’s a hoot, too.”

“They’re good for one another. The two of them have been married for fifty years, coming this spring.” Joey told him that they didn’t see marriages last that long anymore. “Just in shifters, I think. We mate for life.”

After Benjamin was put on the gurney and taken away, locked to the bed while one of the officers went with him to the hospital, Joey seemed to realize that he didn’t need to be so close to Aaron anymore.

As he went to find Mac, she was sitting with the bank manager again, and he realized how much different things might have gone with what happened today.

He was happy that he’d come with her today.

Benjamin might have gotten it in his head to pull his gun on her, and that would have been bad.

He was going to change her before the next month, if he could, to make sure that she could heal as fast as he could.

When the two of them were on their way home, he decided that, since things had turned out better than he would have thought, he and Mac should go out to dinner tonight.

He’d already spoken to his dad about what had happened and was glad for that.

It would keep them from worrying about them while they were still not home yet.

Mom would no doubt know as well. Then the rest of his family would know.

He met up with his brother Zeno on his way to the stationhouse to fill out paperwork for pressing charges against Benjamin.

As he was sitting down at his desk to start, his brother sat in the chair next to his desk.

Before he could type out the first line of his charges, Zeno asked him if he could ask him a question.

“Anytime, but if it’s about today, I’m not supposed to give out any details until I turn in the paperwork today.” He said it had nothing to do with the bank incident. “All right. Then ask away. I want to get home so that Mac and I can have a date tonight.”

“It’s about Mac, actually. How did you know that she was your mate?

I mean, was there something about her that clued you in?

” He said it was her scent that first drew him in.

“What did she smell like? Tiger or woman. I’m not asking just for myself but for all of us.

We might well have learned this from our parents, but I don’t remember it now. What sort of scent did she have?”

“Home. She did smell like a cat, too, but not mine, just in general. As for her smelling like home, she did that, too. Not just home but comfort and sunshine. She kind of sparkled, too.” Zeno pulled out his notebook and started writing things down.

“You might want to add that she smelled like that to me. Your mate might smell like something different. Whatever gives you comfort, I guess. You know who you should ask is Mom and Dad. I’m betting that they’d be happy to tell you how to look out for her. ”

“I don’t want to look out for her but to avoid her.” He looked at his brother, shocked. “I don’t ever want a mate to come to me. I have my life just the way that I want it to be, without some woman coming along and messing it up. No thanks.”

“Mac didn’t mess my life up, but made it better. Come on, you have to be kidding.” He shook his head and said he was far from kidding. “I don’t understand. Don’t you like Mac? She certainly loves all you guys a great deal.”

“I love her for being your mate but not mine. I kid you not, Aaron, the thought of having myself a mate makes me kind of sick to my belly. I don’t want to give up on the things that I like just because some woman thinks I’m going to pamper to her every need.

” He told him that it wasn’t like that. That you wanted to do those things for your mate.

“Not me. I don’t want anything to do with them.

And I’m not going to be nice to her either if she catches me off guard.

I’d rather go insane than to have someone who is going to depend on me to get them out of trouble, too. ”