“ID?”
“Wallet, back pocket.”
“Roy Banner. Montana,” the man read. “What are you doing breaking into an accounting office?”
“No comment.”
“How’d you get a hold of an employee’s access card?”
“Found it on the ground,” Roy replied.
“Check the rest of the office,” the police officer said. From my curled up position, I had to guess there were more than one who showed up. Should I pop out and tell them we were here legally?
“I’m here alone,” Roy said.
Shit. I couldn’t now. If I did, they’d obviously know he was lying. Then they’d be doubtful of anything else he said, and lying to the police couldn’t be a good thing.
“You found it on the ground and decided to enter illegally? Again, what are you doing here?”
“I want a lawyer.”
“Don’t want to answer any questions?” The police officer grunted. “Works for me. You can call your lawyer down at the station.”
“No one else here,” a different voice said, probably a second police officer. “Nothing appears to be disturbed.”
“Okay. Roy Banner, you’re under arrest for illegal trespassing. You have the right to–”
My heart pounded. I considered coming out from my hiding place once again. I could run out there and tell them Roy was with me. That I worked here. Why did he just give himself up like that?
He tucked me away with the thumb drive for a reason. He told me to call Mark.
And Mark is law enforcement, so he had to sort this out. He had to. It was his fault we were here in the first place.
I clung to that thought as the voices got softer. I waited a while–I had no idea how long–after they left and all was quiet to climb out from beneath my desk. I had the thumb drive and the info Mark wanted. But now Roy had been arrested and was going to jail because I’d agreed to help.
It was all my fault. Again.
20
ROY
Fuck, fuck, fuck. My wolf thrashed beneath the surface, tearing to get free.
I sat on a long bench in a cell trying to keep him on a tight leash. I had to maintain control. No matter how threatened or cornered he thought we were. This room was no bigger than the military prison cell I’d been in.
I’d go feral before that happened, and that would be real, real bad.
Brooke might have been able to talk her way out of that situation in her office by showing her ID and badge and explaining that she worked there, but I didn’t want her whereabouts flagged by anyone. Her boss may have been in the hospital, but who knew if he was part of this scheme? Or if Lazano had men on the police force. Maybe they’d been watching the place in case she showed up. I didn’t trust any human but Brooke.
Keeping her safe was all that mattered to me, and that meant hiding her. Protecting her at all costs.
My wolf got itchy the moment they put the cuffs on, and I was breathing hard and sweating by the time we got to the station.
I needed to stay calm. Stay in human form.
Breathe. Think of Brooke. Think of her scent, her taste. Think of sinking balls deep inside her tight little pussy. Think of marking her, seeing my permanent mark on her.
Fuck, breathing wasn’t working. If I really lost my shit, my wolf would take over and tear his way out of captivity. That would be epically bad for every shifter on the planet because exposing our kind to the humans was suicide.