“You’re having a son? Congratulations.”
“Yeah,” Carl’s voice was gruff with clear pride. “Yeah, we found out a month ago. Tonya’s pregnant, too, and Alan’s so deep into father mode that I hardly get to see him anymore.”
Tonya and Alan? God, what else had he missed?
“Congratulate them for me.” He looked at the clock on the printer and used the time as an excuse. “We’ve got to get to the police station.”
“Right.” Carl’s voice was all back to business, but before he signed off, he had one more suggestion to make, though it came out more as an order. “And Simon? Get yourself a girl.”
“What?”
“You’re on the edge. We both know it. The right woman grounds people like us. She’ll keep your head in the right space.”
Simon’s jaw tightened, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking up at Alyssa. Her gaze was fixed on the phone, very carefully avoiding his. So rather than acknowledge any of the sudden tension that was thickening the air, he chose to deflect. “I don’t need dating advice from you,” he growled.
“It’s not dating advice!” Carl snapped. “It’s a warning. Find a girl or I’ll have to break quarantine to run you down. I don’t want to do that, but I will. You can’t go feral in a place like Detroit.”
No, he couldn’t. It would be too dangerous for everyone.
“Carl—” Simon began, but Alyssa cut him off.
“He’s got me,” she snapped. “And I’ll keep him human.”
Simon looked at her, seeing the determined jut to her chin. If anyone could keep him human, it would be her. And he couldn’t deny the wave of raw pleasure that came from her words. She was his, and that thought flushed him with testosterone-filled pride. But it also wasn’t true.
He was so strong a shifter, it was dangerous for him to have a human relationship. He could get too violent, too animal, or too damned focused. Regular humans could get hurt so easily. He didn’t want to risk Alyssa like that. Though God only knew if he could give her up. He already thought of her as his alpha female.
But Carl didn’t need to know that. And he wasn’t ready to explain things to Alyssa yet. He needed her too much right then to push her away. But he had to tell her soon. She had to understand what she was risking.
“Send me that serum information,” Simon said. “And a list of any shifter-friendly lawyers. And judges. And medical anything.” At this point, he’d take a shifter-aware orderly.
“There aren’t any,” Carl growled. “Because all the sane ones don’t live inside the city.”
Sadly, he knew that was true. And with that, he thumbed off the connection. “Okay,” he said as he avoided looking Alyssa in the eyes. “Play me all my messages, starting from the top.”
