Page 24

Pember rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be difficult, I just… I had a lot of things going on last year. I just thought it was better all around if my heats weren’t a factor at all.”

The doctor sighed. “Sweetheart, you shouldn’t numb your heats like that.

I can’t tell you how many omegas come to me asking to suppress their cycle, only to regret it later in life.

It’s not just your heats, but your wolf too.

If you’re not careful you’ll end up with lupine fever before you’re sixty. Do you have a mate?”

Lupine fever was what some elderly shifters experienced close to death. A hormonal imbalance that confused their wolf and made them wander the woods alone at night. Without a pack to look after them, it could prove deadly.

He cringed and turned down the volume on the phone. “No.”

“Do you intend to find a mate in the near future?”

“What? No! I don’t… I don’t need a mate. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.” He bit the inside of his cheek to stop any unnecessary words tumbling out.

Then the doctor started laughing, which made heat flare up Pember’s throat.

“Oh, honey, you’re preaching to the choir.

Forty-five years single with a daughter through IVF, but I still don’t mess with my hormones.

Early onset menopause? No, thanks. Destruction of my scent glands?

Nooo way. It’s your body. Never forget that. ”

Pember’s mouth opened and closed several times before he finally replied, “So what do you recommend?”

“Half your current dose, then down to a quarter by the end of the year. Yes, your next few cycles might be hard going, but it’s your body’s way of regulating again.”

Pember jumped to his feet, tightly clutching the phone. “ Halving ? You can’t be serious. Can’t we do three quarters?”

“Sure, but I’d really like to see you down to a normal dosage by the new year.”

His boots thudded on the tiled carpet floor as he paced back and forth. “But I don’t—I haven’t ever been on a normal dose. What if it completely messes me up?”

“The only thing messing you up is your current course of action. Let yourself be an omega, Mr McArthur. It’s really not as scary as you think.”

“R-right.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair as he looked out the window. “Dr Phillips?”

“Yes, sweetie.”

“What should I…? What do I put in my nest? I’ve tried the usual things—blankets, pillows and all that, but it doesn’t feel right.”

The doctor gave a sympathetic hum. “Hard to say. It’s very personal. But I’d recommend that next time you’re feeling anxious, imagine what might take that feeling away. Just do what feels right. You don’t need a mate to complete your nest—it’s meant to be a space for you . But it wouldn’t hurt.”

Pember grimaced. The thought of sharing his space with another person, another body , did not fill him with excitement.

He’d had a secret boyfriend at university.

A beta called Toby. In fact, he’d lost his virginity to Toby at the tender age of twenty, and after the relationship fizzled out he decided that sex and all the things that went with it were fine .

Absolutely, perfectly fine . But, maybe not for him.

“R-right.” He nibbled his bottom lip. “Thanks.”

The conversation ended shortly after, with Dr Phillips writing him a new prescription to be delivered to his house that afternoon. Just as he was working up the nerve to go back into the briefing room, the door behind him flew open, and people began filtering in.

“CCTV trawl, again ,” one of the younger detectives groaned. “Always fucking CCTV.”

“Statements for me,” said another. “I swear to God, does DS Smith hate us or what ?”

Pember pressed his fingertips to his mouth, hiding a burgeoning smile.

He moved to a window on the other side of the room, cracking it open to let a little air in.

His head was swimming, but counting the cars in the car park below helped refocus his mind.

Taking a long breath, he was about to head back when a feather-light touch caressed the nape of his neck.

“Jesus!” he yelped, nearly jumping out of his skin as he spun around to find Blake standing over him. “You’re surprisingly quiet.”

Blake chuckled, letting his hand drift back to his side. “Sorry, you looked lost in thought. Everything alright?”

Pember tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. “Yeah,” he replied. The top of his arse hit the windowsill as he stepped back. “Just… omega things.”

Blake nodded, tapping the toe of his tan brogue against the carpet.

“Smithy!” a voice boomed from the corridor.

Blake sighed and pushed his glasses into his hair, revealing the deep frown creasing his brow. He dropped his head next to Pember’s ear and whispered, “Keep quiet and hopefully he’ll go away.”

Pember snorted, quickly covering his nose.

“Ah! There you are,” the sergeant with the dirty tie said as he barrelled into the kitchen.

Pember flinched as the other alpha’s intense gaze snapped straight to him, holding him in place like a startled rabbit. Blake’s frown deepened and he stepped between them, partially breaking Pember’s line of sight.

“Yes, Mark?”

The other alpha coughed and straightened his tie. “Sorry, Blake. Didn’t realise you were… busy .”

Blake bristled at his suggestive tone, and Pember had the urge to run his hand up his back.

“I can… come back?—”

“Or you can just spit it out,” Blake snapped, voice taking on a hard edge.

Mark held up a hand. “Alright, alright. Could you do me a favour? Cover tonight?”

Blake’s fingers twitched. “Why?”

“The lads have set up the game on the big screen. Last one of the season and all that.”

Pember huffed, wrapping his fingers around Blake’s wrist and squeezing. “No, sorry. He can’t,” he said, stepping out from behind him. Mark’s eyebrows shot into his hairline, and Pember used his surprise to start leading Blake towards the door.

Mark grabbed his other arm and pulled him back. “So can you cover, or not? Double pay, like last time.”

Blake seemed to hang in limbo for the briefest of moments, before simultaneously wrenching his arm free from Mark and wrapping his hand around Pember’s. “I’m busy tonight,” he growled, pulling Pember out of the kitchen and down the corridor.

They said nothing and spoke to no one as they headed down the stairs, fingers still locked together.

Pember’s face was burning as they reached the car park, and Blake took a sharp left, leading them down a narrow path towards some kind of long building.

Metal bars ran along its entire length and there was a distinct smell of wet dog.

“Where’re we going?” Pember said, puffing slightly as he half jogged to keep up with Blake’s long strides.

Blake needn’t have answered, because a moment later there came a ruckus of barks and high-pitched whines.

“George!” Pember called, letting go of Blake’s hand and running towards the corgi. He stood up on his hind legs and tried to push his face between the bars.

“Careful,” Blake said, pulling Pember back by the shoulder. He pointed towards a German shepherd loitering menacingly in the corner. “They aren’t called land sharks for nothing.”

“O-oh, right, yeah. I’d like to keep my fingers, thanks.”

Canines and shifters had long worked together.

They had different skills and different temperaments, and both were no more similar than giraffes and elephants.

Canines lacked the advanced sentience of shifters, and shifters lacked the reflexes of canines.

However, it did make for a terrifying sight when a shifter was flanked by five or six German Shepherds in the middle of a riot.

Blake unwound a leather lead from around one of the bars before sliding open the cage and ushering George out. The corgi immediately jumped up at Pember, and Blake handed him the lead.

“I think it’s high time you got some exercise,” Blake said, patting George’s bum.

George led Pember, and Pember led Blake as they walked around the periphery of the police station. It wasn’t particularly scenic, nor was it quiet, so Pember was grateful when Blake pointed towards a gap in the hedge.

“There’s a field through there; it’s got a shifter run and the dog handlers use it to exercise the K9s.”

Pember nodded, following George as he rounded the corner of his own accord.

When his paws touched the grass, he began panting and whining, so Blake let him off the lead.

Within half a second he became a brown streak in the distance, and Pember squinted as he watched him disappear into a small patch of woodland.

“Wow. He sure can shift it,” Pember chuckled.

Blake nodded. “This is nothing. You should see him when they bring the puppies over from headquarters. Flies up this field like shit off a shovel.”

Pember’s eyes widened. “There’s puppies?”

Blake’s stoic expression cracked for a fraction of a second, giving way to something softer. “Yeah. The breeders bring them over every summer. You can… I can… take you… if you want.”

Pember squealed and clapped. “Oh, yes please! Maybe I should bring Bailey; she loves puppies.”

“Sure. The breeders like to socialise them with all different types of dogs. Hanging out with the land sharks tends to make them too boisterous.”

Pember’s gaze drifted up to Blake’s face. The alpha looked more relaxed now they were out of the station.

“I… um… I’d love that, actually. And I…”

Blake looked down, his eyes flitting over Pember’s chin and ears.

“I wanted— want to say thank you for holding up your end of the deal. For refusing the overtime, and agreeing to spend time with Val and… me.”

Blake ran a hand through his hair. “About that, I… About what Samantha said?—”

“Oh God, don’t feel like you need to explain. It’s really none of my business.”

Blake held up a hand. “It’s fine, I… I do work a lot.

As you already know. It’s partially what landed me with divorce papers.

” He let out a breath. “Up until last year, I was married to a beta called Rebecca. She… Well to be totally frank, she had an affair with another officer and fell pregnant with his baby. She let me believe I was the father, right up until the due date.”

Pember’s mouth opened and closed several times, the back of his throat going dry. “I… Oh God, Blake. I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine what?—”

“It’s fine.” He cut him off. “What’s done is done. It’s why I have to wear the bloody heart rate monitor for another six months. Turns out, breaking a ten-year bond does not lend itself well with a pre-existing heart condition.”

Pember sucked in a breath. “Because of the medication? I heard it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but?—”

“No. I’ve had arrhythmia since I was a kid, but breaking the bite made my blood pressure skyrocket.

Before I knew it I was having severe heart palpitations multiple times a day.

I remember being out at a job, talking to a little old lady about her deceased son, when all of a sudden I was doubled over her kitchen table in absolute agony. ”

Blake let out a sharp laugh, and Pember stared up at him in disbelief.

“And you… you do all this— ” he waved an arm towards the police station.

“—despite everything? You work ridiculously long days, get barely any sleep and totally neglect your own well-being in the process?” He grabbed Blake’s arms and shook him back and forth, as though doing so might knock some sense into his head.

“It’s not good, Blake. Not good at all. You can act as blasé as you like, but it must hurt, and I can tell it isn’t just the beta blockers keeping you up at night.”

The alpha’s nostrils flared, and before Pember could react he was being backed towards the hedgeline. His spine hit the fence, sending a rush of air straight out of his mouth. His hand flew out to brace against Blake’s chest, the shape of the monitor pressing into his palm.

Blake bore down on him, eyes ablaze as he gripped Pember’s face between his massive hands. “And what about you?” he growled, pressing their faces together. “What keeps you up at night, Pember?”

Pember suddenly felt giddy, the alpha’s scent making his toes curl in his boots. Reaching up, he gripped Blake’s wrists, realising that the alpha’s hands were no longer cold, but so very, very warm.

Pember smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “A dead sister. And the crippling guilt that it was all my fault.”