Page 36 of Assisting the Alpha
“Not if you want to live,” the vampire adds from their position straddling my back.
“Hey! Get away from him!” A man comes running towards us, and for a moment I fear for his safety, especially when I realise he’s human, but the crew who ambushed me must decide they’ve done what they set out to do because they run off.
I roll over and take deep, gasping breaths, needing a moment before I try to get to my feet. My throat hurts, my wrists ache, and my jaw definitely needs ice.
The human crouches beside me, his kind green eyes full of worry. “I’m Detective Inspector Idris Gough. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. Where are you hurt?”
Human police? Fuck, things just got worse.
Chapter Ten
ETHAN
I burst into my flat and follow the scent of Ayo’s pain straight to the living room, my wolf absolutely frantic to get to him. Doc P is with Ayo, thank goodness, along with a frowning human with auburn hair who I don’t recall ever seeing before.
I’m guessing the human is the person Ayo said scared away his attackers, but I’ll deal with him later. My first priority is Ayo.
I immediately sit next to Ayo on the sofa, making sure not to get in the way of whatever Doc P is doing, and carefully put my arm around my sorcerer. He sags against me, one hand holding a bag of frozen peas against his jaw.
“You came,” he croaks.
“Of course. How are you feeling?” I press a kiss to his temple, unable to help myself. I don’t like how hoarse his voice sounds, but at least my wolf is calmer now that Ayo is in my arms.
“Sore. Scared. But wait, you had that emergency to deal with. Can you even be here? Don’t Raj and Jet need you?”
I take hold of his free hand and thread our fingers together. “It was mostly sorted, but I pulled Kit in to assist them. I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Ayo nods gingerly.
Doc P stands up and puts away a stethoscope I’ve never seen him use before. Maybe it’s for the human’s benefit? “Good news. You sustained no serious injuries. You might be sore for a few days, and try to limit how much talking you do to allow your throat to heal, but there’s no need to go to hospital. You were lucky the Detective Inspector came along when he did.”
A human detective? No wonder Doc P is being careful.
The detective releases a breath. “Thank you, Doctor. I did try to suggest an ambulance, but Mr Muroyi wouldn’t hear of it.”
Doc P’s answering smile is enigmatic. “Some people just don’t like hospitals.”
“With the wait times in A&E these days, I don’t blame them.”
I reluctantly release Ayo so I can stand and shake Doc P’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Of course, Ethan.” Doc P leaves immediately. He’s probably got other patients to attend to.
As I show the detective out, he stops in the hall and holds out his hand for me to shake. “I’m DI Idris Gough.”
I shake the man’s hand. “Ethan Lupo. Thank you for scaring away the attackers.”
“It’s my job. I would have chased after them if I hadn’t been worried about your boyfriend.”
I ignore the boyfriend comment; it’s not really this man’s business what Ayo and I have going on. “Detectives don’t usually do much chasing, do they?”
The detective doesn’t look unfit, but there’s a slight roundness to his stomach that speaks to more of a desk job.
“You’d be surprised. Listen, I’ve tried to persuade your boyfriend to file a report. I’m not sure there’s much anyonecould do, what with the gang wearing masks, gloves, and no identifiable clothing, but I don’t like the idea of gangs roaming around and assaulting people in broad daylight.”
If Ayo is refusing to file a report with the human police, which it sounds like he is, then his attackers were likely supes.
“Neither do I, Detective Inspector, but my priority is Ayo’s safety and happiness. If reporting this won’t get us any closer to identifying the attackers, I won’t make him relive it.”
