Page 13 of Assisting the Alpha
I snort and sit next to Raj, cradling my mug in my hands. Raj doesn’t often swear, so it always amuses me when he does. It’s enough to calm the worst of my frustration, at least.
Ranting to Raj while under-caffeinated probably isn’t fair to him, but it’s far from the first time. We’ve been talking first thing in the morning every day since we left the SAS, even though he doesn’t live in the same building and we don’t actually work seven days a week. It’s something we started doing when we were still in the army, and it’s a ritual I value more than he knows.
“Have you ever met a sorcerer who wasn’t an enemy?” I ask him.
He blows out a breath, swirling the dregs of his coffee around the mug. “A few mages before I enlisted, but no, never a sorcerer. He told you?”
I shake my head. “Didn’t have to. I could smell him performing magic when I met him. There were no herbs, charms, runes, or so much as murmured words.”
Sorcerers are the only category of magic-user that can perform magic that way.
“Badass.”
I snort. “Yeah.”
“If he’s that powerful, why isn’t Nyoka using him? Even at his age, surely he should be more than an admin.”
It’s a good point; one I don’t have an answer to. “You see now why I’m concerned he could be a spy?”
“Yeah.” Raj sighs. “He’s helping though, right? From what you’ve said, we wouldn’t even know the little we do about these victims without him.”
“That’s the only reason he’s still here. Just don’t let your guard down, okay? We can’t trust him.”
“Understood.” Raj drains the last of his coffee. “What does your wolf think of him?”
He had to go and ask the difficult question. “Sits up and pays attention whenever Ayo is around.”
Raj side-eyes me, but like hell am I giving him any more than that. It’s not relevant to how trustworthy or not the sorcerer is that my wolf wants to get closer to him, that my gaze is drawn to Ayo’s full lips and huge brown eyes. My friend definitely doesn’t need to know I have to restrain a growl every time someone hugs the man. Which is way more often than I can tolerate. As evidenced by my tantrum just now.
Fuck.
Reaching for a distraction, I drain my coffee in several big gulps then stand. “Let’s get going. The pathologist can meet with me this morning, and I want a quick review of the Whitman job before I go.”
Ayo smells nervous, and my wolf doesn’t like it. Despite my suspicions about the sorcerer, I don’t actually want to traumatisehim by forcing him to see the remains of one or more of his people.
I pull my car key out of my pocket and hold it out to him. “Go wait in the car.”
He blinks up at me, takes a deep breath, and shakes his head. “I’ll be fine. Thank you, though.”
“This isn’t going to be pleasant, Ayo.”
He swallows hard. “I know. And I apologise in advance if I throw up or something. I just… I need to know how they died. I’m really grateful you’re letting me be part of all this. Nyoka shelters me too much. I know you probably don’t need me for this, but please don’t send me away.”
It’s the pleading that does it. I pocket the car key and clench my jaw to stop myself from offering some kind of reassurance. My wolf nudges me, wanting me to make Ayo feel better.
Fortunately, a handsome young white man in scrubs comes into the reception area we were asked to wait in. He smells supernatural, definitely not human, but I can’t place his species by scent. Which is unusual. I thought I’d encountered every species by now. Unless he’s from the fae realm? That’s possible, although he definitely doesn’t smell fae.
Ayo’s eyes light up with recognition. “Doc P, what are you doing here?”
I suppress a sigh. Of course he knows the forensic pathologist, although I can’t imagine how.
The man gives Ayo a slight smile. “It’s good to see you, Ayo. I didn’t realise you have a new employer.”
He looks at me, which Ayo takes as his cue. “Right. Doctor Payton, this is Ethan Lupo of Soldati Security.”
I shake hands with the man, no further along in figuring out his species but slightly more inclined to like him since he didn’t hug Ayo. “Thank you for meeting with us.”
“Of course. Follow me.” He leads us down a maze of corridors to a room with a keypad entry. He blocks the keypad from view with his body as he types in the code, then ushers us into the cool, sterile lab. There’s a body on the table in the centre, covered by a sheet.
