Page 21 of Love in Excess (Beta Accepted #9)

HUNTER

I return from the shower, laughing at the scene in front of me.

Celeste is sprawled across the bed, passed out after I knotted her a second time.

Lincoln’s firmly wrapped around her on the other side, his arm slung over her waist, his blond hair a mess against the pillow.

He’s holding her like she’s the only thing keeping him grounded in this moment, my chest tightening at how gorgeous they look together.

I’m tempted to snap another picture but there will be more time for that later.

My phone’s vibration steals my attention, cutting through the peaceful moment. I grumble as I snatch it up, a text from Ruiz in all caps demanding I get my ass back to the precinct. Fuck. I can’t put this off any longer, no matter how much my Alpha needs to stay here, wrapped up with my mates.

Lincoln stirs, his hazel-green eyes catching mine, and he offers a small, tired smile. “I got her, Alpha,” he purrs, tightening his arm around her waist.

I absolutely love the way he says it, the way it comes out like he’s caressing my designation rather than fully submitting to it.

I reach over Celeste to run my hand through his hair, stopping when I get to his cheek.

He nuzzles into the touch, his nose scraping my palm.

“I’ve got my sound on if you need anything.

She’ll probably sleep for a while, and then maybe she’ll be up for explaining what happened. ”

Lincoln shifts a little more, careful not to wake her. “How long you think you’ll be?”

“An hour?” I say, shrugging. “Maybe two, tops? Take good care of her.”

I hesitate and then throw caution to the wind, leaning further in to steal a kiss. It’s soft and slow, something almost delicate that’s just ours. There’s not enough time to savor his taste as I pull back and grab my jacket, casting one last glance at them before heading into the hallway.

The drive to the precinct feels stuffy and all wrong, despite the fact that we might figure out how to get Carter behind bars.

Unfortunately, the moment I pull up, Ruiz is leaning against the wall outside, a playful scowl on his face.

“You better have a damn good reason for running out and then ignoring all my calls,” he growls.

“I told you I had information about Carter.”

I step out of the car and head up the steps. “My mates needed me and as much as I want Carter dead, I couldn’t leave them like that.” They were both a little frazzled, Celeste more so but that didn’t mean I missed the uncertainty in Lincoln’s expression or the hard edge to his scent.

Ruiz sniffs, his nose wrinkling. “Yeah, you smell like coffee and roses. The new Beta?”

I grunt, not in the mood to explain, and brush past him toward the precinct doors. “What’s going on?” I ask, abruptly changing the conversation.

Ruiz falls into step beside me. “Well, the chief says they found something that might give us a clue to the last guy we dragged in.”

“And it has to do with Carter? I’m gonna fucking kill that guy.”

Ruiz snorts. “You said that before.”

“I’m serious this time,” I push out through clenched teeth. “He chased my Omega halfway around the city, and she somehow had the intuition to show up at our Beta’s apartment. Call it luck or a miracle, I don’t fucking care, but they’re safe. He’s not, though.”

Ruiz’s grin widens as he slaps my shoulder before squeezing. “Great, glad we hate the same guy. Pretty sure you’re about to hate him a little more.”

He pushes me toward the chief’s office, and I stride in, my blood already simmering.

What could possibly be worse when it comes to Carter?

The chief looks up from his desk, his gray hair mussed in a billion different directions like he hasn’t slept in a while.

When his gaze rests on me, he just sighs.

“So glad you could join us,” he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “even though I asked for you nearly three hours ago. What’s going on? ”

I drop into a seat, my leg throbbing faintly as I stretch it out. “Carter’s going on and if he doesn’t stop harassing Celeste, I’m gonna give him something else to think about aside from the black eye I gave him yesterday.”

The chief grimaces, leaning back in his chair as he places his hands on the armrests of his chair.

“Hunter,” he starts, but I cut him off with a look.

I’m not here for a lecture. I’m here for answers, for a way to keep that bastard away from my mates.

Then he just nods as if he understands. “I’m not defending the guy.

He used to be such a great officer. I’m not sure where things went wrong.

” He runs a hand through his hair before speaking again.

“Have a seat, Ruiz. This isn’t gonna be pretty. ”

My gaze narrows at the chief, the one who promptly had me retired from the force for being too reckless and then hired on as a consultant. “You always call me in for my expertise and then partner me with Ruiz. What’s not pretty and what does this have to supposedly do with Carter?”

I glance over at Ruiz but he just shrugs.

“Hunter, I need both of you on high alert. The suspect from yesterday finally gave up a name. He said he was working for an organization but that ultimately, the one that’s giving the orders is Hex.”

My frown deepens, my mind flashing to reports I’ve read over the years, cases from other cities that have stuck with me.

Hex . One dangerous motherfucker. No pattern to his kills, each one a new kind of brutal, but always with that calling card—a tarot card, not the real kind, but sick, hand-drawn sketches of filthy scenes or gruesome deaths.

“Are you telling me we’ve got a serial killer in our city? ”

The chief shakes his head. “Not anymore. Hex never kills more than once in the same city. The feds have been on the case for about a year now, trying to pin down who Hex is. If he’s just a person or a group or an entire corporation, we have no idea.

The thing is, there was a murder last night at the edge of the city near the docks.

We had absolutely no leads until I received a letter this afternoon.

” He opens a file on his desk and slides it across the surface.

Staring back at me is a picture of a tarot card covered in blood. The second picture is a crudely handwritten letter.

Sorry. Meant to leave this at the scene of the crime but I think I’m losing my touch. Happy Hunting. XOXO.

“The fuck?” As much crime is in our little city, we don’t have serial killers. “Chief, what the fuck is going on?”

“It was only a need to know basis which meant that there were only a few officers part of this investigation. Seeing as we now have more information pointing to the fact that Hex was here, we have a bit of a better direction. While we can no longer be proactive, both of you are great profilers and I could use your expertise to run through the evidence the feds have put together for Hex’s file. ”

This is all a bit… much.

“So, we’re trying to help track down Hex, now?” I still have no idea what this has to do with Carter.

He shakes his head. Ruiz is completely silent beside me, both of us waiting for our official orders. “No, you won’t get involved in the actual investigation but whatever we can do to make their job easier and hopefully provide them more insight on Hex is our job.”

I narrow my eyes at him again, the pieces not quite fitting. “Again, what does this have to do with Carter?”

Ruiz shifts forward, drawing my attention to him.

“They already questioned Carter about his whereabouts. He’s been a little…

off, lately and with him showing up at the precinct over the last few weeks out of the blue…

” Ruiz clears his throat and sighs. “I was supposed to meet up with him. I wanted to know why the fuck he kept messing with Celeste but he gave some bullshit excuse and then his phone pinged by the dock where the girl was found. There’s no reason for any of us to be on that side of the city, not that close to the docks. ”

Damn, this precinct works fast. It usually takes weeks to get the clearance for cell phone data let alone data from a cell tower. I guess with the feds involved, they have a little more reach. “So, we think he might be involved?”

The chief nods. “I’m hoping you’ll prove he’s not. Because if he is, there might unfortunately be a reason why he’s after Celeste.”

Carter’s never been a completely upstanding citizen but no one’s perfect. Him turning on Celeste to get to me doesn’t make much sense but him being part of this trail of running drugs and serial killers makes even less sense.

We’ve been at this for a few hours now, very little information revealing itself to be helpful.

The chief outfitted us in one of the larger conference rooms, two feds going through the several boxes of data they’ve pulled over the last year.

I have absolutely no idea how we’re supposed to help when they’ve got top of the line agents but it gives me something to do.

Officer Roberts is across the table, scribbling something in a notebook as Ruiz sits on my left, the Alpha staring at the coffee that’s gone cold in his mug.

And then there’s me, staring at a mild description of someone who could possibly be Hex.

To me, it just looks like a young man who could be in a boy band.

Ruiz cuts through my concentration as he jostles my shoulder. “How’s Celeste?”

I lean back, rubbing a hand through my dreads. “She’ll be alright but I have no idea what Carter was doing anywhere near her. She’s with our Beta, but…” I trail off, my fingers tapping the table, my chest tight with the memory of her fear shooting through the bond.

“Ah yes, your Beta. I’m jealous. God, he’s yours too, like really yours? You work fast.”