Page 45 of Assisting the Alpha
“Yes,” I say when she’s gone. “I’d have come to your place the next night. I swear.”
Zaiden glares at his cheeseburger like it’s personally offended him.
“You’re still my best friend,” I say softly.
His lips twitch, and he throws a salt packet at me. “Fuck off, you sappy git. I know that.”
“Forgive me?” I widen my eyes and try my most pitiful face.
He rolls his eyes and shoves a chip into his mouth. Once he’s finished chewing, he sighs. “Fine, yes, I forgive you. But hey, are you still saving for your own place?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because I thought we could get a place in the neutral zone together. I admit it’s a bit of a risk with the coven being wankers about other species, but since we’re just friends, maybe they’d be okay with it?”
When Nyoka told me just over a month ago that I’d have to move out, this was actually the first solution I thought of. But although a lot has changed for me since then, nothing has for Zaiden.
“As awesome as that would be, you need your pack.”
Zaiden frowns. “They’d still be my pack. They won’t kick me out for living with a magic-user.”
“You’d be apart from them, though. I know you, Zay. It would be awesome at first, and we’d have heaps of fun… but then eventually you’d suffer, surrounded by all these buildings with nowhere to go for a run. You need them.”
Zaiden’s scowl is epic. “I don’t care. You need me more.”
And this is why he’s my best friend. One of many reasons.
“I’ll be fine. I can afford my own place soon.” Probably. “Then you can stay over as often as you like. Besides, could you even afford to live around here with your measly student loan?”
“Pfft, I’d figure it out. I make a decent amount busking.” Zaiden points a stern finger at me. “Promise me we’ll go out soon. It’s been far too long since we got drunk and raised hell. My brother actually told me he was proud of me yesterday.” He shudders and pulls a face, and I laugh.
“One hundred percent yes. Fingers crossed this is all over by my birthday. We can have a night out to remember.”
Zaiden holds his fist out and I bump it with mine. “I’m holding you to that.”
Chapter Twelve
ETHAN
“So you’re saying we can rule out these two?” I press close to Ayo, using looking at his computer screen as a flimsy excuse to touch him in the middle of the office.
“I’m as sure as I can be. I can’t say one hundred percent, you know? But yeah, it’s seriously unlikely.” Ayo takes a sip from the mug of tea cradled in his hands.
“Okay, walk me through it. Why not her?” I point to the cat shifter he thinks is probably innocent.
He sets his mug down and turns his chair to face me. It leaves his knees pressed against my leg and my wolf preens, delighted that he’s maintaining contact between us.
“The task force keep arresting Ella for trespassing, right? Multiple infractions over an eight-month period.”
“That’s right.”
“That’s because they keep catching her on coven land.”
Yes, that was clear from the arrest data Kit managed to get hold of. It was one of the things that tipped us off about this particular shifter.
I nod. “Go on. What do you know that we don’t?”
“Let me just find…” Ayo pulls out his phone and scrolls through a multitude of photos until he gets to one of the shifter in question, her tongue down the throat of another woman. “She’s dating Sally from my office. That’s why she keeps sneaking onto coven land. She’s just visiting her girlfriend. The coven don’t approve of inter-species relationships, so they keep arresting her on fake charges.”
