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Chapter Twelve

ETHAN

“So you’re saying we can rule out these two?” I press close to Ayo, using looking at his computer screen as a flimsy excuse to touch him in the middle of the office.

“I’m as sure as I can be. I can’t say one hundred percent, you know? But yeah, it’s seriously unlikely.” Ayo takes a sip from the mug of tea cradled in his hands.

“Okay, walk me through it. Why not her?” I point to the cat shifter he thinks is probably innocent.

He sets his mug down and turns his chair to face me. It leaves his knees pressed against my leg and my wolf preens, delighted that he’s maintaining contact between us.

“The task force keep arresting Ella for trespassing, right? Multiple infractions over an eight-month period.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s because they keep catching her on coven land.”

Yes, that was clear from the arrest data Kit managed to get hold of. It was one of the things that tipped us off about this particular shifter.

I nod. “Go on. What do you know that we don’t?”

“Let me just find…” Ayo pulls out his phone and scrolls through a multitude of photos until he gets to one of the shifter in question, her tongue down the throat of another woman.

“She’s dating Sally from my office. That’s why she keeps sneaking onto coven land.

She’s just visiting her girlfriend. The coven don’t approve of inter-species relationships, so they keep arresting her on fake charges. ”

“Shit.” I’m not sure if I’m swearing about the loss of a potential lead or the arrest due to dating one of the coven.

As much as I want to win this contract for my team so we can make a go of things in this city and not have to start again somewhere else, I’m beginning to realise how much it would benefit the other supernatural species as well.

It also makes me wonder if the coven’s attitude could affect things between Ayo and me.

We’re still sharing a bed, but in the week since Irving died, we’ve done nothing more than cuddle and fall asleep.

I don’t want to push to go back to fooling around when he’s just lost a friend, and we never actually made it past handjobs and blowjobs before that.

Was I just a bit of fun for Ayo? Is it over before it’s really begun?

I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I shake off those thoughts, determined to focus on this case. I promised myself I wouldn’t make things weird between us no matter what, and right now we have other priorities.

“What about the wolf?”

“Ha. Jethro is?—”

“Get back here, you absolute tosser!” Raj’s shout makes us all look up a moment before Jet comes barrelling into the room, an enormous grin on his face and delight sparking in his scent.

Raj runs in after him, chasing him around the room until Jet literally crawls under Cal’s desk and uses Cal’s legs as a shield.

Raj looks like he’s about to shift and tear the office apart, so it’s definitely time to intervene.

“Hold,” I command, causing everyone in the room to freeze. Even Ayo, which is adorable. “Jet, get out from under there before you break something.”

Jet crawls three desks along, past Skye, before he comes out next to Kit. He doesn’t run though, and the mischief in his eyes is dissipating.

I turn to my best friend. “What did he do this time?”

Raj glares at Jet, still looking seconds from shifting, his scent full of righteous anger. “He tweaked my autocorrect. Every time I typed ‘murderer,’ ‘culprit,’ or ‘suspect,’ it changed it to ‘ amante .’”

The Spanish word for lover. Not ideal.

“Kit?”

“On it,” Kit says.

Raj is still fuming, though. I brace myself for how bad this actually is. “Who did you email?”

“The mayor’s office.” Raj’s brown skin flushes as his scent colours with embarrassment.

I turn a dark look on Jet, who throws his hands up. “How was I supposed to know he sends emails without reading them through first? It was a harmless prank!”

“Not so harmless if it costs us this contract though, is it?” My voice has deepened with a growl.

I swear, one of these days I’m going to lock these two in a room together until only one of them is left alive.

They were bad enough in the military, but since we’ve left, things have definitely gotten worse.

Kit pipes up from their computer. “I’ve recalled the email and deleted it from the mayor’s system. We can’t erase the fact that someone may have already read it or potentially forwarded it, but that’s the best I can do.”

“Thanks, Kit. Raj, correct the email and send it again. You.” I stand and stab a finger at Jet’s chest. “Come with me. Ayo?”

“Yes?” he squeaks.

I’d wonder if he’s nervous, but there’s definite lust in his scent. I’ll have to remember later what me being dominant and growly does for him. Perhaps we can have some fun with that tonight.

“Let’s start your training early today.”

Cal joins us and the four of us head down to the basement training area I’ve more or less block-booked for the next few weeks. There are a few outstanding bookings in there that I decided Kit shouldn’t interfere with, but for the most part we have it to ourselves whenever we want it.

Ayo sets a ward as Jet sheds his clothes. Cal has a quiet conversation with Ayo, talking him through a strategy for today’s practice session, and Jet hops from foot to foot.

“Boss?”

I raise my eyebrow at my most troublesome employee, my arms folded. “Yes?”

“I really didn’t mean any harm.”

“You never do. Maybe a few fireballs to the fur will teach you to think things through next time.”

“Pfft, as if he’ll get me. I’m like lightning.”

“Yeah, yeah. They’re waiting for you. Shift.”

The moment Jet shifts into his jaguar form and bounds towards Ayo, my sorcerer’s scent changes from anticipation to outright fear.

“Jet! Hold!” I rush forward. Ayo has never had that reaction before.

Fortunately, Jet stops, or tries to, although he does skid a few feet before actually coming to a halt. Cal puts himself between Ayo and Jet.

A moment later I have my sorcerer in my arms, his small body trembling. “Hey, shh, it’s okay. It’s just Jet. He’s a friend. He won’t hurt you.”

Ayo grips me tightly, rumpling my T-shirt, his eyes locked on Jet. “They looked like that.”

My heart stops. “The shifter who attacked you?”

Ayo nods. “Black fur, yellow eyes. Those little round ears. I’d forgotten the ears before. And the shape of the eyes. And the smooth tail. It was him.”

Jet shifts back immediately, eyes wide. “I swear, boss, it wasn’t me. Ayo, it wasn’t me.”

Ayo shakes himself, his grip on me tightening. “Sorry, no, I didn’t mean you. I know it wasn’t. I meant they looked exactly like you.”

If I remember rightly, Jet was in the middle of a hookup when it happened. Even if he hadn’t been, I’ve known him for years. He’d never do something like that.

Jet looks crestfallen, so I gesture him forward. Cal steps aside but hovers close. As soon as Jet is within reach, I grip the back of his neck, keeping Ayo pressed against me.

“We know it wasn’t you, compa. You’d never do that.”

It takes a few minutes for everyone to calm down.

When Ayo finally unclenches his fingers from my T-shirt, he squares his shoulders and approaches Jet, who has put his trousers back on and stayed mostly on the far side of the room.

I don’t think I’ll be needed, but I stay close anyway and I’m not surprised when Cal does the same.

Ayo’s scent is full of determination. “Will you do something for me? Will you shift?”

Jet glances at me, then back to Ayo, eyes full of an unusual level of caution. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t want to scare you again.”

Ayo nods sharply. “I’m sure. I don’t want to be scared of you. I refuse to be like the rest of my people, judging every member of a species negatively—especially based on the actions of one person.”

Jet’s scent fills with fondness before he shoves down his trousers and shifts. I pull Ayo back quickly to avoid him getting accidentally hit, because Jet didn’t account for how much bigger his animal is, the muppet.

Jet sits on his hindquarters and waits patiently, his tail flicking back and forth.

Cal and I stay close while Ayo takes a step forward. He stops. There’s still a hint of fear in his scent.

Jet lowers his head to the floor and looks up at Ayo. I’ll say this for the man; he knows how to look adorable in both his forms.

Ayo obviously agrees, because the fear dissipates and he crouches down in front of Jet. “Can I stroke you?”

Jet licks his hand, making Ayo grin and his scent fill with happiness and affection. If I didn’t like Jet so much I might be jealous of the effect his animal form has on Ayo. Jet chuffs happily as Ayo rubs his head first, then scratches behind his ears.

Okay, fine. My wolf is a little jealous.

“I really don’t think it’s Xana,” Ayo says as he and I close the door to my flat and head for the kitchen. We’re both starving and it’s been a long day. Dinner is definitely top priority.

“Based on what? She’s the only one on the suspect list with black fur.” It doesn’t rule out it being someone we’ve not identified as a suspect yet, but right now she’s the one we’re looking at. She’s also the woman from the meeting with Teo who was glaring at Ayo.

Ayo opens the fridge and considers the options. “Teo vouched for his people. He wouldn’t have someone in his inner circle who would do something as cold-blooded as murder.”

I toss my keys and phone onto the island before tugging Ayo into my arms. He comes willingly, something that never fails to please me.

“Sweet thing, Teo and his prowl are not the angels you think they are. I’m not saying they’re all in on this, because I don’t think that’s true, but we’ve done enough digging to uncover hints of his prowl being a criminal organisation.”

Nothing provable, of course, but I think that might be why they have so many arrests. The task force just haven’t been able to make any charges stick.