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“What?” Kingston cut Huxley off. “What’s wrong with Autumn? Is she okay?”
“I don’t know ifokayis the right term for what she is,” Colton said carefully.
Alarm shot through Kingston, making him worried enough to forget to pretend indifference. He set the water bottle down, then pounded his fist down on the table hard enough to shake the entire frame. “What the fuck does that mean? Is she hurt?”
“She’s not hurt. It’s just that…well…”
Kingston let out a growl worthy of the most feral shifter. “Will you just finish your fucking sentence!”
Huxley bit his lower lip. “I’m just trying to figure out the right way to explain what’s going on. It’s kind of…”
“Stop that! I swear to the gods, I will strangle you if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on. Right. Now!”
“Umm, I don’t think he can explain if you strangle him,” Thayer pointed out.
Huxley quickly jumped off the bench before Kingston could make good on his threat. He exchanged glances with Thayer and Colton, then they all started laughing.
“It’s about damn time you admitted you have feelings for that girl,” Colton declared.
“Yeah,” Huxley agreed. “It’s gotten fucking hard pretending we all don’t notice the way you two make googly heart eyes at each other. Really, it’s a little nauseating.”
Their mocking words slightly dulled the haze of anger and worry that had Kingston seeing red, but only a little. He’d thought Thayer was the only one who’d been aware of his obsession with his sweet little baker, but apparently, he’d been wrong.
He trusted these males with his own life but trusting them with the truth of his connection to Autumn was much harder. He knew that wasn’t rational. All of the members of the pack loved her, and he was sure they would protect her with their last breath if it came down to it.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Kingston let it out slowly and finally admitted, “Autumn is my mate.”
“You’ll have to—what?” Colton gasped. “What did you say?”
“You all know my situation. Making my connection to her public will only put her in danger,” Kingston explained. “I can’t risk that.”
Huxley let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
Before anyone could answer Kingston, a flashy red Ferrari shot down the street and abruptly came to a stop in the no parking zone directly in front of the firehouse, blocking part of the wide driveway. When two familiar demons got out of the car, he sighed.
This was exactly the reason he’d kept his feelings for Autumn a secret.
The Larkin brothers’ magical staff had been stolen from their vault back when Kingston had been set up. Over the years, they had been his most vocal harassers. They’d tried to get him fired from the department and had shown up at the Bazin pack to spew their hate. Fortunately, the administration at the fire department had backed Kingston, and the Bazin pack had sent the two demons running for their lives after they’d pissed them off.
Before the brothers could come any closer, Colton called out, “Move your car, asshole.”
“Hand over the thief, and we will,” one of the brothers jeered.
The other brother glared at Kingston. “Looks like you don’t get a chance to hide from us this time, you worthless bastard.”
“I was out on a call the last time you stopped by, not hiding,” Kingston corrected blandly.
“And he’s not a thief,” Thayer growled.
“Bullshit! We know he took the staff from our vault—”
“You don’t know shit. If you had more than half a brain between you, the two of you would have been spending all this time tracking down the real culprit instead of harassing King and crying over your missing toy,” Huxley mocked.
“Toy? That staff was once held by kings!”
Colton snorted in derision. “So, what? Boys, don’t make me come over there so I can slap some sense into you.”
