Page 16

“You’re not going to tell me where?” I ask as I round the front of the car.

Ayo shrugs. “Not unless someone’s life depends on it. I won’t betray Teo’s trust.”

As irritating as that is, it’s also admirable.

So far during the investigation, Ayo has told us everything he’s aware of that we’ve needed to know whenever he can, but he hasn’t betrayed any secrets of either his coven or his many and varied friends.

It oddly makes me more inclined to trust that he’ll keep our secrets too.

The hotel looks expensive from the outside, with sweeping arches above every window and twin columns between each, and stone carvings of various big cats set into the curve of each arch. The evidence of prowl ownership is also there in the security guard at the front door, who smells like a tiger.

He narrows his brown eyes at me but relaxes when Ayo jogs up and gives him a fist bump followed by a bro hug.

“Bro, it’s been too long,” the guard says.

Was the hug really necessary? Does this guy really need to be squeezing him like that?

“Still hanging with the dogs, little man? Although this one’s new.” The guy eyes me up and down warily, likely because I’m not containing my alpha power.

Ayo grins at me. “Ethan, this is SJ. SJ, Ethan Lupo, owner of Soldati Security. We’re here to see Teo. He about yet?”

“Yeah, he arrived a few minutes ago. He’s in Conference Room One. So you’re not one of the Connor Pack?” SJ directs that last part at me.

I raise an eyebrow. “Do I smell like one of Dante’s wolves?”

Honestly, cats need to use their senses better.

A snarl builds in SJ’s throat, so I growl at him.

Until Ayo tugs my hand. “Well, we don’t want to keep Teo waiting! Later, bro. Say hi to Lia for me.”

SJ and I stop the posturing and glare at each other for another moment, but Ayo’s warm hand in mine is enough to remind me that I’m not here to get into a fight with a security guard. I keep hold of Ayo’s hand as we walk into the hotel, using his touch to ground me.

Ayo tugs me to the side when we’re far enough from the door. “I understand the whole shifter posturing thing, I do, but please try to contain it.”

I drop his hand and cross my arms while trying not to crush the folder I’m carrying, a scowl on my face. “He didn’t need to be touching you like that.”

Ayo looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. In fairness, he might be right.

“Like what? The hug? Because if that’s a problem then you need to find a way to keep a lid on it. Teo is going to hug me, and mess with me, and if you growl at him you can forget getting any answers about literally anything.”

Fortunately, Ayo doesn’t ask why I’m acting possessive, which is just as well because I don’t have an answer for him. I scratch at my beard and remind myself I’m a professional, one with plenty of experience keeping my cool in far more tense or dangerous situations than this one.

“I’m good.”

Ayo eyes me uncertainly, then takes a deep breath. “Right. Good. Great. Let’s go meet Teo.”

Ayo seems to know where he’s going as we head further into the ground floor of the hotel.

The inside is much more modern than the outside, with pale wood flooring and charcoal grey area rugs zoning several seating areas dotted throughout the reception area, under the sleek glass and metal staircase, and adjacent to a well-stocked bar.

The door to Conference Room One is propped open, and although there are at least eight cat shifters inside, no one is sitting down. They clearly hear us coming, because the conversation stops before we enter the room.

I don’t need any introductions to know which one’s Teo. There’s an energy surrounding a jaguar shifter, a man around five foot ten with lithe muscles and intense pale eyes. His scent is pure power and the others seem to orient themselves around him.

His stormy energy lightens, as does his scent, when he lays eyes on Ayo. “Li’l bro! C’mere.”

Ayo’s scent spikes with happiness when Teo hugs him tightly. I manage to restrain my growl. Just.

Teo smirks at me over Ayo’s shoulder, then lets my sorcerer go as he looks me up and down. “So this is Ethan Lupo.”

Ayo hurries to do introductions, and since Teo doesn’t offer to shake hands, I don’t bother to try.

Teo tilts his head and studies me. “I must admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect of a wolf shifter with a mixed-species pack.”

“We’re not a pack,” I correct. “They’re my team. Have been for years.”

Teo raises his eyebrows. “Interesting. Right. Let’s get this over with. I’ve already had the task force up my arse about this shit. Like I’d let anyone in my crew harm my li’l bro.”

He reaches over to mess with Ayo’s hair, but Ayo ducks away, almost bumping into a female jaguar shifter who looks at him with utter disgust.

“Hey, not the hair!” Ayo protests.

Teo laughs and takes a seat at the long cherry-wood table, so most of the rest of us do the same.

I make sure I’m opposite Teo and have Ayo next to me.

After the way that female shifter looked at Ayo, I don’t think he’s as safe with them as Teo might think.

The female and another male shifter, a lion, stand on either side of the door, which is now closed.

Now that Teo’s sitting, I take the lead. “Your people have had a lot of run-ins with the task force, especially over the last five years. How do you feel about that?”

Teo leans forward, forearms on the table.

“How do I feel? Bunch of bigoted, condescending, power-hungry knobheads. They arrest my people over nothing, making up trumped-up charges. Eighty percent of arrests don’t lead to formal charges, and half of those that do never make it to court. I’m sure you’ve seen the stats by now.”

“I have.” That’s why we’re questioning Teo first and not Dante. The wolves have their share of trouble with the task force, but nothing like the level the cats do. “Would it be fair to say your people feel discriminated against?”

Teo snorts. “Yeah, you could say that. But we have ways of getting back at the coven that don’t involve the cold-blooded murder of innocents. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“Such as?”

Teo simply smirks.

Ayo squirms in his seat at the stare-off between Teo and I, but to his credit, he keeps quiet.

I open the folder I brought and slide a map over to Teo. “The locations marked are where three bodies have been found. Do any of your people have homes or businesses in these areas?”

Teo frowns at the map of the neutral zone. “Well, sure, in the Southern Quarter, but Ayo can tell you about those. ”

Ayo did, in fact, when we were walking around the area last week. I just wanted to see whether Teo would deny all knowledge.

“Have you heard any rumours about who might be behind these murders?”

Teo’s expression darkens and the scent of his power intensifies. “If I had, I’d have paid them a visit personally. Ayo isn’t one of us, but he falls under my protection. Everyone knows that.”

The female jaguar by the door shifts on her feet, her scent carefully neutral but her eyes on Ayo.

I think I might have found someone worth investigating.

Ayo’s scent fills the car again. Unlike every other time when it simultaneously calms me and drives me crazy with the need to get closer, this time it’s contaminated by the scent of two cat shifters who don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.

I white-knuckle the wheel and try to contain my growl.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Ayo’s voice holds a hint of uncertainty, and since I don’t want him to think my dark mood has anything to do with him, I give a sharp nod.

He fidgets with the gold chain around his neck, the pendant hidden by his shirt. “I’m not an expert, but you and the team act a lot like a pack. Why did you tell Teo you’re not one?”

The steering wheel creaks under the tightness of my grip. “We aren’t a pack.”

It’s a shitty answer, and the disappointment in Ayo’s scent has me reevaluating. He opened up to me a few days ago about his living situation, after all, about what his apartment meant to him, and he’s been open whenever we’ve asked questions about how he knows certain people.

My wolf whines at me to make Ayo feel better. My beast has taken a peculiar shine to Ayo, but in this instance, I happen to agree with him.

I stop at a red light and glance at the sorcerer. “I grew up in a pack. Like most wolves do, I suppose. My mother was the pack alpha, but one day a neighbouring pack sought to take over our lands. My mother fought the rival alpha… and lost.”

Ayo’s hand finds my thigh. He rests it there, a silent comfort.

I put the car in gear and get moving now the light has changed. I hate even thinking about that night, but I don’t have to give Ayo all the details, just enough.

“After she was killed, the new alpha kicked me out of the pack. I wanted to challenge him but pack law wouldn’t allow it.”

“Why?”

“I wasn’t old enough. I thought I had friends in the pack—I definitely had family—yet no one tried to defend me or asked that I be allowed to stay. I walked out on my own and vowed that day to never be part of a pack again.”

“Shit, Ethan. That’s… shit.”

He doesn’t know the half of it. Fortunately, Kit chooses that moment to call to update me on some data analysis I asked for yesterday.

It’s dinner time when Ayo and I get back and head upstairs to my flat. I wish I could say I’ve calmed down, but my wolf is on edge from Ayo smelling like other shifters, and every part of me is clamouring for me to fucking fix it, whatever it takes.

“I’ll get dinner on. You’ve got time for a shower if you want one.”

There, that was subtle.

Ayo follows me into the kitchen, in the opposite direction to where I need him to go. “I can help. Just tell me what to do.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got this.”

“Ethan.”

“Ayo.”

He sighs and bites his full lower lip. “Please? You’re letting me stay here for free. I need to do something to help.”

I turn my back to him and count to ten, willing my wolf to keep some level of control. The beast doesn’t seem to want to listen where Ayo is concerned, though.

“Do you want some space? I can stay with one of the others.” The quiet uncertainty in Ayo’s voice is my undoing.

I spin in place and stalk forward, not stopping until he backs up against the fridge. I place my hands on either side of his head and cage him in, keeping enough distance between our bodies that he can escape if he wants to. “You smell like cat shifters. It’s been driving my wolf crazy for hours.”

“Oh.” Ayo’s eyes widen.

Apparently I’m not done. “You’re supposed to smell like me, not them. I need to cover you in my scent and make it clear to every shifter, vampire, or fae who encounters you that you’re mine. They shouldn’t get to touch you. Only me. You’re mine .”

Ayo’s eyes darken and his breath stutters as his scent spikes with arousal.

It’s possible I went a little too far. My wolf really needs to find some chill.

I force myself to step back, not wanting to cross any boundaries, only for Ayo to follow, go up on tiptoes, and press his soft lips to mine.