The marks had all healed with sleep, but Aaron knew what he meant.
“Ugh.” Aaron rolled his eyes, and Harry laughed. “I hope you’re sitting comfortably.”
Grinning, Harry made a show of settling back in his chair. “I’m all ears.”
Aaron started with Sam. He told Harry all about how their alpha had cautioned that getting involved with a member of the SCTF might be problematic for him.
“Did he forbid you from taking it further?” Harry asked.
“No.” Aaron didn’t believe Sam would ever do that. “But he wanted me to take a few days and think hard about Detective Archer’smotivesand whether it was worth all the possible risks.”
“Seems fair enough. I mean, the two of you were sort of forced into it.”
Aaron scoffed. “We weren’t forced into it. Smith’s idiots were waiting outside; we could have faked it. But—”
“But you were caught up in the moment and didn’t want to?”
“No. And neither did he.” Aaron smiled, remembering, and Harry kicked him gently under the table.
“Knock it off.” But he smiled back. “You really do like him, huh?”
“Yeah.” Aaron glanced up at the ceiling, restlessness making him fidget. With the full moon late tomorrow night, the pull was already affecting him. He wanted to run, let his wolf free and feel the wind through his fur, rough ground under his paws. Maybe then he could get some perspective on this thing with Michael. Fuck knew he needed some.
“Did Isaac say anything?”
“Yep.” Aaron smirked. “He was pissed off that Michael put me at risk by coming back to find me after the fight when you’d told him not to.”
Harry nodded like that was what he’d expected. “It’s good to have a beta again, right?”
“Yeah. It is.”
Having Isaac get angry on his behalf had left him with that warm feeling of belonging, one he’d never experienced until he’d been bitten and changed. He’d loved his family, hishumanfamily, but this was different in a way Aaron struggled to describe with words. He felt it on a primal level, and his wolf responded, calmed.
“So…” Harry tapped his fingers on the table. “How did it end with you and the detective?” Before Aaron could answer, he added, “I saw him hanging around when I left, and I heard him talking to his partner. I know he waited for you.”
The memory of that last kiss, bittersweet as it was, stirred something inside him that Aaron was doing his hardest to ignore. Of all the shifter traits, the possessive streak was what he struggled with at the moment. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, it was like he could still smell Michael’s scent. Still feel the warmth of his body as they kissed. He wanted Michael to be his so badly. It would pass if they kept their distance, he knew that. But for now, it hurt.
Meeting Harry’s gaze, he sighed. A sad smile was all he could manage. “There won’t be a repeat performance.”
“Now or ever?”
Aaron shrugged. “I don’t know.” And that was the part that unsettled him. “Definitely nothing happening while we’re helping the SCTF, but afterwards… Yeah, I’ve no idea.”
“Do you want it to? Do you want to get involved with a human?” Harry scowled, and Aaron marvelled how quickly he forgot that they used to be human not so many years ago. Harry pointed a finger at him. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not that. I’m not saying that because I think you’re better than him. But we are different. And you know what I’m referring to.”
Aaron did, but he didn’t have to acknowledge it.
“You’ll fall harder, get more attached, and no matter how much you want him to, he’ll never experience the same depth of feeling that you will for him. And if things don’t work out, it’s going to hurt you way more.”
“I know all that, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a try.” He scraped a claw along the edge of the table, andfuck, when had that happened. Bloody full moon. Aaron cracked his neck from side to side, suddenly aware of the tension in his shoulders. “Look at that guy from the Regent’s Park pack. He got involved with a human, worked out all right for him.”
Harry scrunched up his nose—his thinking face. “You mean Nathan Kohl?”
“I think so?” The name sounded familiar.
Scoffing, Harry leaned on the table. “Rumour has it that Kohl bit his human first and then they fucked.”
“Where did you hear that?”
