Chloe Neill - Wild Things

We’d come to Loring Park to avoid prison; instead, we’d found a different one.

Since we were still dirty from battle, the four of us agreed to take turns in the shower. Mallory, then Catcher, then me, and Ethan was last. They hadn’t planned to stay at the Brecks’ and hadn’t packed bags, so I let Mallory borrow clothes, and Ethan offered replacements for Catcher.

I emerged from my turn in the bath wrapped in a towel, my skin blissfully clean of gore and dirt and probably worse, hair damp around my shoulders.

Ethan stood in the bedroom, naked from the waist up, bare toes peeking beneath his jeans. His hand was on his hip, his dirty hair framing his face. His phone was in his free hand, brow furrowed. That expression was easy enough for me to read.

“What’s wrong?”

He glanced up at me, male appreciation in his eyes as he took in the towel. But exhaustion quickly replaced interest. I didn’t take it personally; it had been a long night.

“I advised Luc of tonight’s events and asked him about the CPD. He said there’s been no contact, either from the CPD or Kowalcyzk.”

I moved to my duffel bag to pick out sleepwear. “Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe she’s realized how ridiculous she’s being.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Luc has given her a copy of the House’s security tapes, which quite clearly show the intrusion and Monmonth’s threats.”

I glanced back at him. I wasn’t normally one to play the optimist, but we’d already gone on the lam. There wasn’t much else to do but wait and hope.

“That could have been enough. Maybe Detective Jacobs convinced her that pursuing you would be completely illogical.”

“As much as I appreciate Detective Jacobs, your premise requires her to use rational thought and logic. I’m not certain she’s capable.”

I found a tank and pajama bottoms, zipped up the duffel again. “Well, if she intends to push, she isn’t showing it now. We’ll just have to wait until she relents or our other plans work. What about my grandfather? Any word from Luc?”

“He’s stable,” Ethan said with a smile. “And he despises hospital food. You have the appetite in common.”

My grandmother had been an amazing cook—a whiz with vegetables and salt pork—and she’d undoubtedly sparked the appreciation of it in both of us.

“Good.” I frowned. “I’m not sure if it’s better or worse to tell him what went on tonight. He won’t need the stress.”

“Then you must give him constant fits.”

“Your material is usually better than that, Sullivan.”

“Perhaps you’d like to see just how good my material is.” Ethan put the phone on a bureau and moved toward me, arms outstretched for a hug and a grin on his face.

But he was filthy, so I hustled out of reach and pointed a warning finger at him.

“You’re still disgusting, and for the first time in hours, I’m not. Shower first. Then affection.”

“You’re a cruel mistress,” he said, but disappeared into the bathroom.

• • •

I dressed while Ethan showered, grateful for a few minutes of privacy and silence. I checked in with Jonah, advised him what was up, and wasn’t at all surprised by the cursing that followed.

LEADS? he asked when he’d exhausted his phone’s symbol keys.

NOT YET, I advised, BUT GABE HAS ASSIGNED US TO INVESTIGATE. WE FIND ATTACKERS, OR WE ARE ATTACKERS.

YOU GET ALL THE FUN JOBS, he advised. CALL IF YOU NEED HELP.

ROGER THAT. KEEP CHICAGO SAFE.

THAT WILL BE EASY, he messaged. ALL THE TROUBLEMAKERS ARE IN LORING PARK TONIGHT.

I couldn’t argue much with that.

Ethan had emerged from the bathroom—clad only in perfectly fitting jeans and scrubbing a towel through his hair—when the carriage house’s front door opened and closed.

My gaze on Ethan’s chest, it took me a moment to recognize the sound and turn my head toward the shuffling in the other room.

“I’ll just check that out,” I said, moving toward it while Ethan searched for a T-shirt.

Gabriel stood in the living room in front of the coffee table, arms crossed, watching as Berna and several shifters, her apparent helpers, carried in aluminum trays of food. My stomach, empty and roiling, rejoiced.

“I have brought dinner,” Berna pronounced, eyeing me nastily, as if there was a chance I’d decline free food. My patience for shifters was growing shorter by the moment.

“Honestly, Berna, when have you ever known me not to eat?”

She didn’t seem entirely satisfied with the answer, but I was saved by distraction.

Ethan walked into the room, hair still damp but fully dressed. Berna’s eyes lit with feminine appreciation.

“Berna brought us dinner,” I said.

“That was very thoughtful of you, Berna,” Ethan said.

“Is for health,” she said, squeezing her knotted fingers around Ethan’s biceps. “For muscles and teeth. Good, strong muscle. Strong. Good.”

“I think they’ve got it.” Gabriel smirked.

She humphed and herded her crew back to the door, but not before snapping a towel in his direction.

“I’ll meet you outside,” Gabriel said, closing the door when he was the only shifter left in the room.

“Chow time for the prisoners?” Ethan asked. His voice was low, threatening, and very, very alpha.

Gabriel grunted and headed for the kitchen. While Ethan, Mallory, Catcher, and I exchanged glances, the refrigerator door opened and closed again, and the clink of glass sounded.

He walked back in with a bottle of beer in hand and looked, I realized for the first time, utterly exhausted. He’d probably been playing Apex all evening, and for the festival he’d planned for. Here, finally, he was with people who weren’t his subjects. For a brief moment—a rare moment—he shook off the mantle of power and sprawled onto the couch.

“The Pack is pissed,” he said, taking a drink of the beer. “No,” he amended, gesturing with the bottle. “They’re scared. And that’s infinitely worse.”

Ethan considered the admission for a moment, then took a seat on the couch across from Gabe. If you hadn’t known they were Apex and Master, you might have thought them athletes relaxing after a game. Or A-list actors between scenes on a movie set. There was just something about the supernatural that brought out the best in male genetics.

Taking cues from the alphas, Mallory and I took seats as well, and Catcher followed. I sat beside Ethan, comforted by the closeness of his body and the smell of his cologne, the familiar things that brought comfort in unusual times.

That, I thought, was one of the best parts of being in a relationship. No matter how foreign the world, the landmarks, the customs, I’d never be a stranger beside Ethan. Love bred the best kind of familiarity.

If, down the road, Ethan was leaving dirty socks on the floor, I might not find the familiarity so charming. But for now, it soothed with a depth that surprised me.

“We are not their enemy,” Ethan said.

“No,” Gabe said, taking another drink, the bottle slung between two fingers. “But trouble arrived shortly after you did. That coincidence isn’t going unnoticed.” He looked up, smiled wolfishly. “It would go a long way toward mending fences if you could figure out what happened.”

“You haven’t given us much choice,” Ethan said. “You’ve made it sound like we’re guilty if we don’t figure it out.”

“Added incentive,” Gabriel said with a smile.

I didn’t smile back. I, for one, was sick of being manipulated by shape-shifters. In addition to being slammed in the face. At the moment, those two things were at the top of my shit list.

Gabe sat forward. “Look. You’re not cops, and you’re certainly not on the Pack payroll. It’s not your job to solve our problems. I get that. But you know how to do this.” He glanced at me. “You and your team have a way of figuring these things out. You’re better at it than I am, even if I had the time. But I’ve got colleagues to mourn, a Pack to watch over.” He paused. “I need the help, Sullivan. And I’m asking for it.”