Page 26

Chapter 26

A dler was used to early morning phone calls, and he was used to middle of the night phone calls. Those came with the job, and he’d never had a problem with it.

What he did not appreciate was someone banging on his door the morning after a full moon when his mate was still sweet and soft and drowsy from their lovemaking, possibly vulnerable.

Adler growled. Only fools would invade a mated couple’s privacy like this, and he would show them.

“Adler?” Gordon was sitting up, his eyes wide, the sheet having slipped off him all the way to the waist, revealing what no one other than Adler should be seeing.

“It’s fine, sweetheart. Lie back down.”

Adler pulled on sweatpants and made for the door.

He opened it to Maxim’s wide smile and Clement’s deep frown.

“Such a beautiful morning after the moon, isn’t it?”

“Maxim? How the fuck did you get in here?”

Maxim indicated Clement and craned his head forward so he could see into the bedroom.

Adler closed the door and positioned himself between the hunter and his mate.

“My goodness, Adler, you’re such an overprotective oven mitt. I had a feeling and bid Clement to make sure we wouldn’t interrupt you and Gordon. There was this one time when Bryan forgot to alert me to the fact that Heath had company, and my baby boy had things to say about my sudden presence during his attempted coitus. I told him it mattered not, and that he was to ignore me, but he impolitely disagreed. Are you well after the shift? We brought food.”

He pointed at the Lar. Clement standing sour-faced behind Maxim, eyeing everything, just everything very critically. However, the Lar had a large paper bag in his hand, and the contents smelled of sugar and butter, and Adler’s mouth watered despite himself.

“Maxim, what are you doing here? And why’s he—” Adler pointed at Clement. “—here?”

At the other end of the hallway, Mil poked her head out from the kitchen, some bread roll thing with raisins and nuts dangling from the corner of her mouth.

“Uncle Maxim said you wouldn’t mind if he visits. He showed me how to work the toaster oven.”

“Irresponsible, letting a child handle fire,” Clement mumbled.

Maxim sighed. “Dear Clement, perhaps you’ll oversee Milea? She is such a capable young wolf, but your presence would be a boon.”

“Only fucking adult here,” Clement added, still mumbling, as he made for the kitchen. Mil hopped into the hallway, hugged him, and took his hand to lead him into the small room.

“Are you just here to check up on Mil?” Adler asked, feeling his heart sink.

Maxim, whatever else he might be, was still alpha. In his alpha-ness, if he thought Adler incapable of doing what his own alpha had assigned him when she’d told him to take care of Mil, then Adler had failed not only the little wolf, but also pack leadership.

“Not at all, detective. But I seem to recall it’s customary to offer a wolf fresh from the moon side of the month some moon cake or cake or anything baked and sugared on the morning after. Though by the smell of it, you already devoured a sweet treat this morn.” Maxim’s eyes tracked up and down Adler’s chest.

At any other time, Adler would have felt flattered to be examined like this by an alpha, but not with Gordon here. Also, Maxim was wearing his hunter’s blacks, a fact Adler registered only now.

“Why are you dressed like that?”

Maxim winked at him.

He didn’t get a chance to answer. Gordon’s head of messy blue hair forced itself into Adler’s field of vision, and Gordon, dressed in Adler’s robe, shoved the bedroom door open wider despite Adler doing his best to stand firm and keep it closed.

His mate dressed in his very own clothes made a powerful bout of possessiveness and desire flood Adler’s blood, but he shut that down. Focus. There’s a hunter in your apartment too early after a full moon. Focus. Protect your mate .

“Maxim, what are you doing here? And why did you bring the Lar?” Gordon asked. “Also, ever heard of a doorbell?”

Maxim huffed. “I brought the Lar in lieu of having to use the doorbell. I thought you two might be bonding. With your genitals. In addition, I figured bringing Clement would be easiest, even if he was quite loath to leave the bar, seeing as how he’s a bar Lar. But I needed him to wolf-sit. Gentlemen, we need to get to work, and there isn’t even time for you to shower off that powerful scent of sex and lust before we leave.”

“The kid’s in the kitchen, Maxim, can you please lower your voice?” Gordon hissed.

Maxim clicked his tongue. “Werewolves, to everyone’s delight, don’t suffer from excessive prudishness. Besides, if I can smell it, the small wolf most assuredly can too. Now, get dressed. Time’s a-wasting. We must attend to our work.”

Gordon and Adler both rushed to get into their clothes, and Adler hated that his mate was being rushed like this.

Maxim was waiting in the kitchen, showing Mil how to play cat’s cradle.

“Look there they are,” the hunter said to Mil.

“Gordon, Uncle Maxim says I get to show Clement all of my books,” Mil said, raising her hands, the string winding around them.

“Wow, that sounds like fun.”

Adler put a hand on Gordon’s shoulder and smiled. He thinks he’s only good with corpses. He doesn’t even know how amazing he is with the living.

As Maxim stood, Clement pushed a bagel and a large cup of coffee into Adler’s hands and just a large cup of coffee into Gordon’s.

“Not even showing her the public library,” the Lar mumbled.

Adler decided it was best to ignore the acerbic Lar.

They all headed out of the apartment, Mil waving to them. Adler had devoured half his bagel by the time they were stepping out of the building.

“I think Clement probably means well,” Maxim said. “I’m parked over there. Come along.”

“What happened?” Adler asked rather than getting into Clement’s behavior.

Maxim looked back at them. “Murder, Adler. The gruesome kind with a note scrawled on the wallpaper in blood. I know that on occasion, I may jest, but not even I would walk into the den of a wolf, his mate, and their little one for anything less than that.”