The warning didn't go over my head. He'd overlook this transgression, but a repeat would be addressed more forcefully. An Alpha myself, I understood completely.
"Thank you." I nodded to the second chair. "Do you want to sit down and go over this?"
Clint began to shake his head, but, to both of our surprise, Trevor spoke up.
"I would, please."
"Okay." I reached for the first stack and passed Trevor the profile information and messages from the dating website. "We know that Harley had a secret life that he hid from his pack."
Trevor scanned them and then looked up questioningly. "But Harley was already living with a pack that had purchased him as mate to an Alpha who told him – regularly and in no uncertain terms, from what I've heard – that he wasn't wanted. How else was he supposed to find a mate?"
"If that was all it was, why didn't he tell anyone about it?"
Trevor rolled his eyes. "Embarrassment, maybe? Or fear that he'd be sent away before he could find someone? Isn't that what happened when he told his mother about Scott?"
Trevor had a point.
I returned the pile of messages to their spot and reached for the pictures. Trevor studied them one at a time, a smile playing over his lips. "What are these supposed to tell me?"
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "But it is very odd that he recognizes himself in those pictures, but not in the mirror."
"I don't think it is," Trevor disagreed quietly. "Maybe what he's recognizing is his history with Scott. You can tell from those pictures that they were intimate, so maybe they're triggering an emotional memory of good times. Levi said the hope of that was the reason that Scott was initially allowed to interact with Harley."
Okay. Score two for the Empath.
"Rafe, why is the COPSD so determined to disbelief that Harley was a victim in all this?" Clint asked, his eyes locked on the picture that Trevor still held. "If that's all you've got, you're grasping at straws."
"Honestly, I think a lot of the suspicion is due to Harley's reputation before he disappeared. He had a history of sneaking around, slipping into Zade's bed after he was told not to, and kind of gave the impression that he'd do anything to get what he wanted."
"Which was?"
"For Zade to claim him." That answer, at least, I knew. Or thought I did until Trevor laughed.
"Yes?"
"So you think that Harley was a willing part of the plot to force Zade to claim him?"
"That's one theory."
Trevor flipped through the stack of dating app messages and pulled one free. "But he was still looking for a suitor online at the same time?"
"It's possible."
"And he arranged to be kidnapped on the same day that he was supposed to be meeting this hottie for an all-night hookup?"
"Establishing an alibi."
"I see." Trevor sent an amused glance at Clint. "So, Harley used a dating site that no one would know about to set up a date that he didn't tell anyone about to establish an alibi so he could force a different Alpha to claim him?"
When I listened to Trevor string the segments of the theory into one long snake, I had to admit it sounded pretty shaky.
I sighed. "You made your point, Trevor. I'll start back at the beginning."
