Isaac met them at Sam’s door. His gaze landed on Aaron, but before he could ask anything, Aaron mouthed, “Later,” at him. To his credit, Isaac’s expression barely changed, but he’d understood. Suppressing a sigh, Aaron followed as Isaac ushered them inside and through to the living room where Sam waited. The chances of him getting Michael alone later were looking slimmer by the second.
Sam’s gaze flicked between Aaron and Michael, andfor fuck’s sake,sometimes having enhanced senses was such a pain in the arse. He could have kissed Isaac when he walked over and whispered something to Sam that stopped whatever it was he was about to say. The look he levelled at Aaron told him they’d be talking about it after the meeting though.
Michael yawned, then immediately held a hand up in apology. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”
Aaron cracked his neck and rubbed at his shoulders. It’d been a long day for him too, but he still felt buzzed from the fight and what had happened after. Although meeting with Smith and Blake had set him on edge more than anything.
Sam gave a wry smile. “You’re not the only one who feels that way. Let’s try to make this as quick as possible.”
Hastily taking their seats in the living room, Frank started talking first. “Alpha Wallace called the office shortly before I left tonight.” He glanced at Sam. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of what she’s discussed with Alpha Yates?”
Shaking his head, Sam laughed. “No, the alpha council aren’t in the habit of sharing their findings between the other packs.”
“Not even when you’re involved in the case?” Frank asked.
“We’re helping the SCTF, but we’re not part of the decision making in this investigation. There’s no requirement for Alpha Wallace to discuss anything with me first. As a courtesy to Alpha Yates, I would imagine she told your chief inspector to only pass on details that were pertinent to the case. Am I right?”
Frank grinned, and Aaron didn’t remember ever seeing him smile before. It took years off him.
He glanced at Michael—which turned out to be a mistake because Michael was looking straight at him. Heat rushed through him, and he quickly looked away before he embarrassed himself in front of his alpha. Well, any more than he already had.
“As a matter of fact, I believe that’s exactly what was said,” Frank admitted. “Basically, Alpha Wallace shared the crime scene locations with Alpha Yates, and he was able to confirm they traced Wilson to the shifter clubs and near to where victim number one, the bartender, was found, but not near the other two. She also shared copies of the text messages, and according to both his alpha and sister, the message recipients, they seemed in keeping with his usual communication. Nothing struck them as out of the ordinary.”
“So they think he sent them all?” Michael asked.
“Looks that way.”
“Where’s his phone now? Can they trace it?”
Frank sighed. “No. Battery’s probably dead.”
“Or someone destroyed it.”
“Yeah, or that.” He sat back against the sofa cushions, his part over, and eyed Michael curiously. “How did your night go? And why are you wearing gloves?”
“They’re mine,” Aaron answered without thinking. Then all eyes were on him.
Fuck.
Michael peeled them off and handed them to him, revealing red, slightly swollen knuckles on his right hand. “I wore them to hide my hands after I hit him.”
“What?” Frank and Sam asked at the same time.
Aaron felt himself flush.Shit.He was going to have to tell everyone why now. Maybe he could give them a cut-down version. “Michael came to find me after the fight.”
“Which is against Smith’s rules, apparently,” Michael chipped in.
“Two of his men came looking for me, to tell me Smith wanted a word.” He shot Michael a look that he hoped conveyedlet me tell it. When Michael didn’t add anything this time, he carried on. “They’d have been suspicious if they’d found him there, so we improvised.”
“Improvised?” Isaac smirked, and Aaron knew he was putting two and two together.
“I acted like Michael was my boyfriend, and they believed us.”
Frank leaned forward to pick up one of the discarded gloves. “And how did he come to need these?”
Aaron willed himself not to outwardly react as he said, “They gave us ten minutes to…you know.” He waved a hand about and was pretty sure Harry’s sudden cough smothered a laugh. “Anyway, I lost concentration and my injuries from the fight all healed. Since I couldn’t let them see me like that, Michael had to hit me.” He met Michael’s gaze, surprised to find his expression pained. Before he could say anything, Isaac was up and walking into Sam’s kitchen.
“Let me get you some ice for that hand.”
