Jason was a shifter. Riley still didn’t know how to process that. If he’d been asked a week ago, he’d have said—truthfully—that he believed in equal rights for shifters. That people were people. But belief was one thing. Sitting across from someone,wantingsomeone, and knowing they could turn into something else entirely? That was another. It unsettled something deep in him—not fear, exactly, just… not knowing where Jason ended and the wolf began.
Didn’t matter. He still had a story to write.
Cracking open another soda, he forced himself to concentrate on the screen in front of him. There were too many Jesse Turners to count, but he slowly whittled them down to three possibilities,who were all about the right age and who had all been involved with official agencies at some point, only to drop off the grid afterward. It was a start, at least.
Bryce Reynolds was, apparently, everything he seemed. He’d gotten a commendation during his stint with a volunteer search and rescue unit, and pictures of him were all over Instagram, with his arm around a pretty guy or girl, and always a different one. The only unusual thing about it was that none of his past hook-ups had a bad word to say about him.
He didn’t look too far into Matt Urban. He figured if the guy had run for sheriff, with all the digging for dirt that would have entailed from his opponents, he was either clean or the bodies were too well hidden for Riley to stumble over in a few hours of research.
He also finally put a last name to Tristan—Howe—and found that he was an academically high-achieving student who had been fostered by Bryce Reynolds since he was fourteen and who lived at Urban’s ranch. It was nice to have confirmation of his hunch.
But none of that helped him find out which one of them was the Argent.
By the time the alarm on his phone sounded, letting him know he should be getting ready to meet Jason, he had more questions than answers. He needed more details from Jason. Nothing incriminating, nothing that would later look as if Jason had sold out the pack or as if Riley had tricked him into saying anything, but some basic, useful information, such as how big this pack was and who was in it. From there, Riley could do the investigative work on his own.
At the diner, Sam greeted him with a smile and seated him at what was fast becoming his usual table. It wasn’t long before Jason came out from the kitchen with a fresh cup of coffee. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Riley’s cheek, blushing all thetime. Riley couldn’t really blame him for the blush, because both Sam and Nerissa Taylor were watching, neither making the least attempt to hide their interest.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Riley said, and drew Jason back for a longer kiss. If they were going to stare, he’d give them something worth looking at.
“I need to talk to you about something later,” Jason said, as he straightened up.
“That sounds ominous,” Riley said cautiously.
“It’s not, I promise. Well,” Jason tipped his head on one side as he considered, “I don’tthinkit is. Okay, so maybe it is, but it isn’t all bad. Probably.”
“What the hell, Jason?” When Jason would have retreated, Riley grabbed his arm. “You can’t just say that and leave. Sit down and tell me.”
“I can’t—the fries—”
“Can wait another thirty seconds,” Riley said heartlessly.
Jason sighed and sat down opposite Riley. “It’s just, you’re invited up to the ranch on Saturday for a cookout.”
He said it so fast it took Riley a minute to untangle his words. And then his heart leapt—hell, yes! This was even better than he could have hoped.
He sobered again just as quickly, as Jason’s attitude about the invitation began to register. “And this is possibly a bad thing, why?”
“Because Bryce will tease me to death, and Christian will probably snarl at you, and Dave will make you drink fruit tea, and they’ll all interrogate you until you want to leave,” Jason said quickly, and got to his feet.
“Hey,” Riley said, snagging his arm and keeping him once more when he would have gone. “You know none of that’s going to change anything, don’t you?”
From the happiness that shone in Jason’s eyes, it was obvious he hadn’t been quite sure.
“You haven’t tasted Dave’s fruit tea,” he said, and retreated to the kitchen.
Well, yeah. But he also hadn’t planned on meeting the whole pack so easily. Riley wasn’t sure whether the grin on his face was from being with Jason again, or from how well things were coming together. He was in. Being invited onto pack territory was perfect. It would give him everything he needed.
But even through his triumph, something felt off, like a bad aftertaste. When he thought of Jason’s earnest face as he’d issued the invitation, his excitement curdled.
No, he’d got what he needed—that was all that mattered.
* * *
Sam came over when Riley had finished the best steak he’d ever eaten.
“Can I get you some dessert?” she asked.
“God, no,” he groaned, gently patting his full stomach. “I keep eating like this and I won’t be able to fit through the door.”
