Page 7

Chapter 7

A dler walked back into his apartment and to the kitchen where Gordon, his blue hair a mess, was watching Mil nibble on the sandwich with the crusts cut off. Adler beckoned him over. Mil noticed, and her inquisitive eyes found Adler.

Shit, poor thing. First her parents, and now her gran is in the hospital. At least she only has to move across the hall. The alpha’s decision made a little more sense now, obviously it did. Adler liked that he didn’t have to make decisions, had only to follow them. Knowing the alpha was always just one step behind him in case he messed up, that just never failed to calm Adler.

“We’ll be just a moment, Mil.” Adler made sure to sound calm, and she nodded.

Out in the hallway, Adler took Gordon’s hand and led him to their bedroom. There, Gordon ran a hand through his hair.

“So she’s staying here.”

Adler lowered his head “Well. The alpha made a decision. You heard, right, that she’ll be staying here. And I’ll be taking care of her because she’s pack, and because she needs someone to take care of her who knows her. I mean, I understand that you didn’t sign up for this and that we never talked about anything like this, but Willa says this is best for Mil.” Adler paused, watching for impact craters on Gordon’s face. “And I agree. I—I mean, it’s only for a short while. Only until her grandma gets back.”

Gordon nodded. “Yeah.” He ran his hands through his hair, rubbed at his eyes with the balls of his hands. “ Yeah. ”

Adler couldn’t quite tell what his mate was thinking. It was during the full moon that this was possible. It might change, might become the mind reading true werewolf mates had with each other, but it wasn’t yet.

In this moment, Adler would have liked to have access to his mate’s thoughts.

Adler reached for Gordon’s hands to steady himself, but in truth, it was just to hold Gordon here. They’d just had a few weeks of bliss together, begun during the hunt for a serial killer. Taking care of someone else—even if only temporary—it would be an adjustment for both of them, but Adler wasn’t going to force it on Gordon.

“I understand this isn’t what you expected,” Adler said, voice cracking. “You don’t need to do anything, really. I mean, you’re always going to be my first priority, and this is just temporary, and—”

Gordon covered Adler’s mouth with a hand. “Detective, you shouldn’t be talking this much without being aware of your rights.”

“Huh?”

Gordon shrugged, his fingers brushing across Adler’s lips. “Of course I’ll help. I mean…” He looked away, face darkening. “You know. About Paula. I do what I do because I want to help people. I don’t know how to handle miniature wolves, but I do want to help.” He shrugged. “I mean, I know everything about miniature werewolf anatomy, but not the first thing about caring for them, and just in the name of full disclosure, my cleaning lady tells me I am, and this is a quote, a malevolent, plant-killing villain. Then again, you don’t have to water kids, so Mil should be fine.”

Adler couldn’t stop his snort from escaping. It was the relief, the warmth of the knowledge his mate had his back in this. “I think you’ll manage. I think she likes you. Ready to tell her?”

Gordon nodded, and the two of them walked into the kitchen, holding hands.

Mil looked up at Adler. “So?” she said in almost exactly Gordon’s tone of voice. She was still clutching her stuffed bunny, Adler noticed, and all of them were still in their pajamas or sweatpants, respectively.

“Mil, Willa wants you to stay here, with us, with Gordon and me, just while your gran is in the hospital,” Adler said. “What do you think?”

Mil looked around the kitchen. “Do I have to sleep here? My bed isn’t here.”

Adler pulled up a kitchen chair next to Mil and sat. “We can figure that out. I have a guest room. I think we can go over to your granny’s place and pack a bag. It’ll be like a little vacation almost. It might be fun.”

Gordon rocked back and forth on his feet with sudden elation. “Hey, you could totally build a blanket fort in there. Those’re good for reading in.”

Mil looked at him with open-mouthed interest. “I can?”

Gordon nodded eagerly. “Totally.” He glanced at Adler. “Right?”

Adler chuckled. He loved his mate. “Totally.”

Mil seemed excited, but several emotions passed over her face in rapid succession. Fear maybe, or anxiety, among them.

“But what if you have guests?” the little wolf finally asked.

“Don’t you know, no one wants to stay over with Adler since a vampire is spending so much time with him. They think I’ll bite them!” Gordon winked at Mil. It actually got Mil to pull up one side of her mouth into an almost smile.

“You’re not so bad. I like you,” Mil told him, her eyes on the sandwich she’d stopped eating at some point while they had been talking. She picked it up again and took a sizeable bite out of it, demonstrating to Gordon her appreciation of the crust-less bread in a very wolfish way.

“Well, I like you too,” Gordon told her. Adler was left to wonder how on earth his vampire managed to talk to the kid this easily.

Before he could say anything else, Adler’s phone rang in his pocket.

“Oh, fuck,” Adler said when he saw Maxim’s name flash over the screen.

Mil perked up. “You’re not supposed to overuse that word, Grandma says.”

“Uh, right. Sorry.” He answered the phone and walked out of the kitchen. “Terrible timing, Maxim.”

The vampire hunter should have been busy with whatever it was he did when not actively hunting. Crocheting for all Adler knew, or maybe he liked model trains. He wouldn’t put anything past Maxim.

“Oh, Detective Adler, don’t think you were the only one pulled from something you’d rather be doing. In my case, I was explaining to Heath why I dislike, intensely, when he lectures me about taxes and such. But in your case, you can bring the lover along, seeing as how he is presumably awake and caffeinated at this time of day and thus a tolerable medical opinion machine. I have a need of that, you see. There is death, and he knows it best.”

Adler tried to take a calming breath. He failed. “Look, Maxim, there’s a bit of a situation here.”

Which clearly got the hunter’s interest piqued. I keep forgetting there’s a reason Maxim and Willa are friends, those damn gossips , Adler thought.

“Oh, situations are like your only child’s opinions and tax forms. They pop up in the most unexpected circumstances and are normally uncalled for. Elaborate, Detective.”

“Well, see, there is this young, orphaned wolf living in my building with her grandmother. Who had a stroke this morning. And Willa decided it would be best for Milea to stay with me and Gordon while her gran recovers at the hospital.”

“Ah! You had a visit from the stork! Congratulations, Adler, that is one lucky wolf girl. It will give you two the opportunity to make up your minds about lengthier, dare I say permanent, parenthood. It’s not a small responsibility. My baby boy has often talked about moving out and such, and each time I had to discourage such childish thoughts. Obviously, you cannot bring the poor darling pup to a murder scene. However, I do need you and my favorite corpse whisperer. Drop the kid with Clement,” Maxim said. “I’ll tell him to expect you at the house.”

Adler sighed. “Look, she’s still in shock I think. Can you make do with Gordon or myself so one of us can stay with her at least?”

Maxim sighed. “Wish that it were so, but no. Leave the young wolf with the old barkeep, and with any luck, the latter’s languishing lot will distract the former from the situation.”

Adler rubbed his temple. “Fine. Just—text me the crime scene address, and we’ll get there asap. This better be good, Maxim.”

“It’s bad, Adler. Why else would I call you when you are clearly needed there?” For once, there was no humor in the vampire’s voice.