Page 33 of Butterfly Assassin
Harry shrugged. “I don’t know about that, but I always go with Rob and give him twenty quid each time. He’s a member. Only members can bring guests, and they have to vouch for them.”
“So you’ll become a member, then.” Michael had thought for a minute they had a real problem.
“It’s expensive.”
Michael hoped Arlington would back him up. “We can cover that. When are you supposed to pay your debt?”
“Thursday.”
“Right, so when you meet whoever it is, you can ask to become a member too.”
“Assuming Aaron agrees to fight,” Isaac cut in. “I haven’t heard him agree to anything yet.”
Fuck. Isaac was right, they’d been getting ahead of themselves.
Michael sighed. “Aaron,” he said, meeting his eye. “We need a decision before we can proceed. Are you willing to keep fighting and help us find out if Smith’s involved with the three murders?” He forced himself not to hold his breath but couldn’t do anything about the way his heart raced in anticipation. They needed him to do this.
Aaron looked to his alpha and Thomas walked over to him, placing a hand on the side of his neck. Stroking the skin there with his thumb, Thomas leaned down and rested their foreheads together. “This is entirely your decision. But know that we’ll support you no matter what you choose to do.”
The whole thing seemed far too intimate to be done in front of a room full of witnesses, but judging from the lack of reaction from the other two shifters, it was probably only him and Frank that might think that. Was this normal pack behaviour? Or were the two of them involved? That last thought didn’t sit too well with him, but he refused to examine exactly why that might be.
“Well?” he prompted when Alpha Thomas stepped back, giving Aaron some space.
Aaron sighed heavily, and Michael braced himself to be disappointed.
“I’ll do it.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Oh fuck.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Aaron wanted to take them back again.
But he didn’t.
Couldn’t.
He didn’t want to carry on fighting, especially after spending the weekend accepting that quitting was the right thing to do. Initially, he’d felt a pang of loss at the thought of not experiencing that rush of adrenaline, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew it was the right decision. He’d been happy—they’d come clean with Sam, and everything was out in the open.
He should have fucking known it had been too easy. There were always consequences to bad decisions. He’d thought enforced curfew and being put on probation was the extent of it for him, but obviously, he’d been wrong.
Apart from the fact he didn’t want to be arrested by the SCTF and possibly end up spending time at Krillick Hall, people were dying. All evidence pointed to the murderer being a shifter, and things would only get worse for his pack and all the others in London if he or she wasn’t stopped.
He had no wish to be avoided on the street, have people look at him in fear, or have humans start to boycott their businesses. There was only one possible choice, and he’d made it.
He just hoped Smith was guilty and had a loose tongue.
“You’re absolutely sure?” Detective Archer asked him, searching Aaron’s face for something as he spoke.
Aaron nodded. “Yes.” Whatever expression he had right then seemed to be satisfactory because Archer gave him a grim smile and then turned to talk to Sam.
“I know you want more of your pack involved, but please trust me when I say that I think it’s a bad idea. There’ll be three SCTF members there, and that’s not negotiable. If Harry suddenly brings in a slew of newbies, then it’s going to look suspicious. We’re trying not to draw much attention to ourselves.”
Sam glanced up at the ceiling, and Aaron could tell by the way he clenched and unclenched his fists that he didn’t like the idea. “You’re asking me to trust that you’ll keep my pack members safe.”
“I am.” Archer sounded sincere enough. Aaron believed Archer thought he could do it. “We’re good at what we do.”
“Fine.” Sam narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see how things go, but I want to revisit the situation if it goes on longer than a month or if either Aaron or Harry feel threatened at any time.”
