“Until I decide otherwise, you’re both on a 10.00 p.m. curfew, unless you’re working. And I’ll know if you don’t stick to it.” Aaron didn’t doubt it. “You’re also both on probation for the next six months. Should you do anything that I consider detrimental to this pack—and that includes missing curfew—then I will have no choice but to contact the alpha council and let them deal with you however they see fit.”
Aaron swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. That would almost certainly mean banishment from their pack.
“Is that understood?” Sam asked.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Sam nodded, then faced Harry. “When do you have to pay your debt?”
“Thursday.”
“I’ll go with you,” Isaac offered. “Both of you. Harry, you’ll pay what you owe and close any accounts you have, and Aaron can inform them he’ll no longer be fighting. I’ll bring a couple of members of my unit so they know we mean business.”
“But—” Aaron faltered under Isaac’s glare.
“But what?”
“They don’t know I’m a shifter or that I know Harry. If we turn up with three more in tow, then they’ll realise and things could get nasty.”
Isaac scoffed. “I can handle myself.”
“They have guns,” Aaron whispered. “I’ve seen them.”
Sam let out a harsh breath, frustration pouring off him. He probably wanted to strangle both of them for being so fucking stupid. “Isaac, take two of your unit. Hang back enough to stay out of sight but close enough that you can hear what’s going on.”
Isaac nodded.
Turning back to Aaron and Harry, Sam said, “Unless there’s anything else you two need to tell me, I think we’re done for today.”
They both stood quickly. “Thank you.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
They wouldn’t.
The urge to please his alpha flowed through him like a physical thing, and Aaron knew Harry would feel the same. No way would they step foot inside one of Smith’s fighting venues again. And a 10.00 p.m. curfew was generous, considering they could’ve ended up behind bars.
“Come see me first thing tomorrow, and I’ll introduce you to my unit, formally,” Isaac said, expression warm.
“Okay.” Aaron smiled at his new beta, then grabbed Harry and headed towards the door, more than ready to get out of there.
Once out in the hallway, with the door firmly shut behind them, Harry blew out a breath and his shoulders relaxed. “That went better than I was expecting.”
“Yeah.” Aaron bumped Harry’s shoulder. “Let’s go back to your place, though. I could do with a few shots after that.”
“Good idea.”
Maybe if they drank them quick enough, they could forget about this mess for a little while.
THEY MET Isaac at his flat at nine thirty Monday morning. But before they’d even gone inside, Aaron caught his alpha’s scent and glanced down the hallway to see Sam striding towards them.
His resigned voice stopped them in their tracks. “Change of plan,” he ground out, phone in hand, face pale. “I just spoke to Detective Sergeant Archer of the SCTF.”
Oh no.
“It seems they’ve identified the victim from Friday night and have forensic evidence connecting him to Aaron, possibly on the night he was killed.”
