Sighing, he picked up his empty glass and traced the rim with his thumb.
He got up and poured himself another drink to celebrate that things were finally looking up.
2
SEBASTIAN
Sebastian was at the grocery store, picking out tomatoes and wondering if he was going to bother making homemade garlic bread for dinner, when the two police officers approached him.
At first, he didn’t register that they were heading toward him. He took note of them when they entered the vegetable aisle, devoting a brief second to wondering why the police had been called and hoping it wasn’t for something ridiculous, but after that first glance he dismissed them and focused on picking just the right tomatoes.
Turning around, he let out a startled yelp when he found himself effectively boxed in by the two men in uniform. They were taller than him, which unfortunately wasn’t unusual, staring down at him with neutral, businesslike expressions.
“Sebastian Mann?” the younger of the two cops asked. He had an athletic build, with wide shoulders and a trim waist, his biceps just big enough to stretch the sleeve of his uniform shirt.
The older of the two was built like a stack of bricks, and in any other circumstance, Sebastian would have been drooling at the sight of him.
He’d always had a thing for muscular guys.
“Yes?” Sebastian said, looking around. Several people were openly staring, and even more were pretending not to. An elderly woman over by the avocados sneered and shook her head, as though Sebastian was some sort of criminal and she was disgusted with him.
It was the strangest feeling. Sebastian was tempted to march over and tell her in no uncertain terms that he had donenothingwrong.
“I’m Office Vano, and this is my partner Officer Alverez,” the younger cop introduced himself, nodding toward his partner. “We need you to come with us.”
Knowing that he hadn’t done anything that would have the police seeking him out, Sebastian was confused. Then his heart hammered into his ribs when he realized that something must have happened to his mom. He gripped his cart, blood rushing to his head and making him feel faint.
“My mom?” he asked, dreading the answer. He felt like he was nine years old again, a teary police lady telling him and his mom that his dad had died in a car crash.
“Oh, no, nothing like that, sorry,” Vano said, his neutral expression giving way to reassurance. “No one’s been hurt.”
Sebastian let out a shaky breath, his racing heart calming.
“So what is this about?” he asked. He wasn’t about to just wander off with two random cops, even if they did look like a pair of Tom of Finland characters come to life.
“You have an appointment with the Life Mate Program.” Alvarez’s voice was sympathetic, like he was delivering bad news. “We’ve been sent to escort you.”
Sebastian blinked, looking up at the two cops and then looking around, the bright supermarket lighting and vividly colored vegetables surrounding him all of a sudden feeling like the set of a very surreal dream.
“I don’t…” Sebastian trailed off, swallowing and trying to get his thoughts in order. “I don’t have an appointment with them. I think there’s been some kind of mistake.”
Alvarez shook his head. “The appointment was just made an hour ago.”
“But they didn’t call me,” he said, biting his lip. “Wouldn’t they call me if I had an appointment?”
Alvarez glanced at his fellow officer, putting his hands on his belt and looking uncomfortable. “Not if they’re worried you’ll try to make a run for it.”
That made a distressing amount of sense. When the representative from the Pacific branch of Life Mate had stopped by his house to collect a new scent sample a few weeks ago, Sebastian probably hadn’t given him the impression that he was eager to be picked. The representative had probably put something in his file to the effect ofextremely reluctant – police escort advised.
Or maybe a police escort was standard practice.
“What kind of appointment?” Sebastian tried not to get himself worked up. There was no way a werewolf had chosen him based on an old t-shirt and a profile that hadn’t been updated since he was seventeen.
“They didn’t give us that information.” Vano squared his stance. “But we need to get going.”
“I have to put away my groceries,” Sebastian objected. “It would be rude to just-”
“You need to come with us now,” Alvarez interrupted, reluctantly stern. There was a warning in his voice, and Sebastian realized that he was being given the choice to come willingly without a fuss.
