ChapterSixteen
Rafe
"I'm sorry, Rafe," The amusement in Clint's voice came through the speaker on my desk phone clearly. "Can you run that by me again?"
"I said that Trevor kicked us off the compound and kept Harley there," I repeated, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.
"Uh huh. That's what I thought you said," Clint chuckled. "I'm tied up at the moment. Why don't you have Colby talk to him?"
"Ah, well," I hedged, glancing at my pregnant Omega who was huddled miserably in the corner, "he kind of kicked Colby out right along with Zade and me," I finally admitted.
The sudden silence on the line assured me that Clint was now taking the situation seriously. When he finally spoke again, there was no humor.
"What happened, Rafael?"
I gave him the rundown on the conversation – okay, interrogation – and the next time Clint spoke, it was more of a growl. "I should be done here in about an hour. Put your evidence together and then I'll evaluate the situation."
I'd known Clint a long damned time and it didn't exactly take an Empath to know he was pissed. I held back a sigh. "Of course. You want me to meet you.."
"At your office," Clint interrupted me. "Trevor already told you that you're not welcome in our territory for now."
Well, shit.
I'd been hoping that Clint would call Trevor and sweet-talk him for me. That obviously wasn't going to happen. I'd been called a lot of different kinds of a fool in my time, but I wasn't stupid enough to push my luck with a werewolf.
When Clint was escorted into my office a little over an hour later, I had several neat stacks of paper lined up on the desk in front of me, and Clint had something of his own in tow.
His husband.
Trevor sat silently in the chair opposite me. Clint stood behind him, strong hands on his Omega's shoulders.
"Hi," I greeted Trevor first. "I'm sorry."
He raised a brow but didn't respond.
"Trev, really, I am sorry," I repeated. "I know we were hard on Harley, but sometimes that is the only way to get to the truth."
"I told you the truth," Trevor snapped. "He doesn't know what happened to him." He looked up into Clint's face. "I was in his mind, Clint."
"I know, love," Clint agreed soothingly. "But let's shelve that for the moment, okay?" Clint looked across the desk at me with a scowl. "We've beenfriends a long time, Raphael," he said, echoing my thought from earlier. "You know better than most how I feel about the way Omegas are treated."
I nodded and blew out a breath. Yeah, I did. And I also knew without a doubt that I'd fucked up.
"You and yours have always been welcomed in our lands, and my pack and I have covered your back many times." Clint still hadn't raised his voice, but I winced at his words, the truth in them cutting deep. Hell, without him and Trevor I could have lost Colby. Twice. "Today you abused that trust."
Suddenly I understood the problem.
I had approached the situation as an officer with the Council of Packs Security Division. Clint, on the other hand, was seeing it as an Alpha werewolf whose pack had been threatened by an ally. When I put myself in his shoes, when I considered how I would have responded in the same situation, shame bloomed inside of me.
"You're right," I said finally. "Regardless of my intentions, I did. It will never happen again." I looked back to meet Trevor's eyes. "Trev, I should not have brought my job into your home. I also should not have been so hard on Harley. No matter what, he's not a hardened criminal and shouldn't have been treated like one." I caught the flash in his eyes and continued before Trevor could speak. "And I do believe you that he isn't faking it. I've had absolute faith in your abilities since they manifested," I reminded him. "Can you forgive me?"
Trevor's face was tight, but he nodded. Holding out my hand, I waited for him to take it and then closed my eyes, inviting him to feel my contrition for himself. He curled his fingers gently around my bigger hand and smiled.
"It's okay, Rafe." Trevor squeezed my fingers and then let go. "Please don't do that again."
I shook my head in agreement and looked back up to Clint. "Are we good?"
"We are," he agreed gruffly. "This time."
