Page 15

Chapter 15

T he three of them had finally made it back to Adler’s car. Gordon was mildly buzzed in the passenger seat, Adler was back to sober on account of his werewolf metabolism and because he was driving, and Mil was in the back seat, mostly quiet.

Willa had called Adler only to demand Gordon speak with Emma’s attending physician. Mil’s granny was still in the stroke unit, and after, it was going to be rehab. She wasn’t going to bounce back as fast as Gordon had hoped. All in all, it had been a day of bad news.

Mil had taken this better than Gordon had expected. I guess that’s the great part about being a werewolf. When the alpha’s beta tells you not to worry and that everything will be fine, you trust him.

Gordon looked at his mate. “I trust you too.”

Adler glanced over. “I’m glad to hear it, sweetheart. Mil, please take note. This is what a drunk vampire looks like.”

“Is that bad?” the little wolf asked.

Adler changed lanes, but managed to chuckle. “Nah. He’ll sober up fast enough. But if you really want to be a bartender, you’ll have to deal with this kind of thing a lot.”

“But you’re his mate. You deal with him.”

Gordon grinned. “Yes, detective. You deal with me.”

And just like that, Adler gifted Gordon the most loving smile before taking his hand and kissing the knuckles.

“Always.”

That left Gordon speechless. He was really only being silly because the idea of a cover-up—a conspiracy as Maxim and Heath were calling it—seemed too preposterous. The way they had described it, it was far-reaching too, and that was scarier than it had any right to be. Gordon wasn’t sure if he could really believe what he’d been told.

No, I can believe this is real. I just don’t want to have to deal with a conspiracy. All I ever wanted were my corpses and their quiet demeanor. And then maybe Adler.

Barely forgotten guilt about biting Adler and changing him to more than just a regular wolf reared its head, and Gordon looked out his window as shame reached out with cold fingers, trying to seize his heart. He didn’t really see New Amsterdam as it passed by.

I wonder if what we have could make anyone hate us enough to… Gordon remembered the crime scene, the Williamsons torn apart, and this time, he had trouble keeping his distance from it. Fae and werewolf. They hated that those two made it work. We’re vampire and werewolf, and what is that thing they say? An impossible union? Fuck this, I love him. I won’t let anyone do that to him.

“Hey, you okay over there, sweetheart?”

“Hmm?”

“You were miles away, staring out that window. You okay? You didn’t have that much to drink.”

Gordon nodded, aware of Adler’s warm brown eyes on him. “Just work. Sometimes it’s not easy.”

Adler nodded, reaching for Gordon’s hand and holding it as traffic allowed.

It wasn’t the time to talk about the morgue, not with the little wolf in the back seat, her stuffed bunny and book in her lap, eyes at half-mast.

Instead, Gordon fidgeted, twirling his hair around his fingers, a nervous habit that rarely caught up with him.

“Am I staying at your place tonight?” Mil asked from the back seat.

“You are,” Adler confirmed. “You know, the alpha said she put some of your things in a bag and left that at my place, and she also mentioned she left lasagna in my oven.”

Gordon glanced at Adler, who winked at him.

Should I be learning to make lasagna? I never really learned how to cook, not really, but it can’t be that hard. Maybe just a few dishes for when he has a long day or wants to sleep over at mine. He offers me a vein all the time, some mashed potatoes or something is the least I can do.

“It’s good to have a pack, isn’t it?” Gordon asked. It was a thought that popped into his mind suddenly, a realization, really. “Vampires don’t have packs, but maybe we should. Maybe we should know to take care of the people around us instinctively.”

Adler gave him a quizzical look. “Is that the cocktails talking? Mil, I think you should put less rum into Gordon’s cocktails from now on. Mate or not, I think he might be a lightweight like Heath.”

Mil shook her head. “Clement said I did it just right. He said I have a gift and not to let anyone say I don’t. But don’t you have a pack, Gordon? Adler, Gordon is your mate.”

Adler hummed. “He is, and yes, he does. He’s just not as good at knowing that instinctively, because he’s a vampire, that’s all. They’re a little silly like that sometimes.”

“Ah,” Mil said as if all this made perfect sense.

Adler underlined that with one of his smiles, his eyes going all dark and hungry, not the kind of hungry physical love could ever sate. Gordon felt something, a tingling where his mate bite was, silvery tooth marks to remind him he was not alone anymore.

He looked back over his shoulder at Mil, who smiled a shy little smile, then at Adler.

“Are you guys saying…”

Adler chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Y-you’re my pack?”

“Yeah.”

Gordon, for whatever reason, teared up a little bit. Okay, maybe more than a little bit, he thought as he began full-on crying.

“Gordon?” Mil asked from the back seat, voice uncertain and trembling.

“Fine, I’m fine.”

I’m more than fine. Why the hell am I crying? And why the fuck would anyone ever think that werewolves shouldn’t be with vampires? We might have been made for one another. I’m going to fuck those conspirators up. Well, I’ll send Maxim to fuck them up. They have no right to judge us or anyone else.

Gordon sniffled, then hurriedly wiped his eyes when he heard Mil cry from the back seat, just a small cry much like his own.

Adler growled and frowned. “Oh, what the hell? Why are the two of you… Never mind, just let it out.”

Calm as only a second in command could be, Adler parked in the lot of his building and killed the engine. Then, he opened his glove box and pulled out some tissues, handing them to Gordon.

“There you go, sweetheart. Share with the rest of the pack, okay?”

Gordon laughed through his tears. “Okay. Thanks.”

He handed Mil a few tissues. Adler waited for them to finish, and Gordon realized that made him love the werewolf even more.