“Good luck with your mystical werewolf connection problem,” Cynthia said, zipping up her coat as she stuck her head through the door to tell him she was leaving.
“Thank you,” August said. He looked up from his computer and shot her a grin. “Have a nice weekend.”
Cynthia left, and ten minutes later, August followed her. It was always a bit eerie to be in the clinic by himself, and he was glad that Cynthia had come in on her day off. She’d no doubt marked herself down for overtime, but August expected that. He was happy to pay her what she was worth.
As he rode the elevator down to the lobby, he called Ryker.
“I’m on my way home,” he said, nodding at the security guard as he passed the gate. “I should be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Do you want to have brunch?” Ryker asked. “It would be just the two of us. Dylan went to campus to work in the lab, but he promised to be done in time for our meeting with Steve.”
“He’s coming to that?” August asked. He didn’t mind, but they would be able to be a little bit more frank if he wasn’t there. They were basically negotiating custody, and that was the kind of thing that could leave a human feeling a bit too close to being a pet.
He walked outside, ducking his chin against the cold wind that blasted his face and looking down the street for a cab. He spotted one a bit down the road and lifted his hand.
“He should be there,” Ryker said.
“I agree,” August said. The taxi driver had seen him and was shifting lanes to reach him. “As long as he feels included. There’s no point in bringing him if we’re not going to make him part of the decision making.”
“Of course we’re going to make him part of the process.”
August climbed into the cab, lowering the phone and giving the driver his address. He brought his phone back up to his ear.
“Okay, so we’re agreed.” August shifted the phone to his other ear. “And yes, by the way. I’d like some food. Do we have leftovers from yesterday?”
Ryker told him that they did. August was about to ask him to make some extra chicken when his phone buzzed, the distinctive pattern letting him know he had a message from Dylan in the group chat.
August lowered his phone and opened the message, staring at it for a couple of seconds and trying to make it make sense.
“Is this a joke?” Ryker asked, jolting August out of his surprise. Dylan’s message was curt and to the point.
Hi, guys, my mom called and told me my dad is in the hospital. She doesn’t know what’s wrong, but she sent me a ticket to come visit them. She said it’s serious. I’m on my way to the airport now.
“Do you want to call him or should I?” August asked.
“I’ll call him,” Ryker growled.
He was clearly thinking the same thing that August was. Anything that had Dylan disappearing to Alaska the day after Steve found out that Dylan was his omega was extremely suspicious. If Dylan’s father really was sick, of course they would move heaven and earth so that Dylan could go see him, but they needed more confirmation than a quick call from his mom and a hastily emailed ticket.
“Be nice,” August warned. “Don’t make him feel stupid.”
“I’ll be nice.” Ryker took a calming breath. “I’ll call you right back.”
35
DYLAN
Dylan had reached the terminal when Ryker called him. He hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone after his mom called him. She had sounded rushed and worried – and there had been all sorts of scary hospital noises in the background. She’d told him that she couldn’t talk, but that he needed to get there as soon as possible.
Hearing his mother sound so unlike herself had made Dylan feel extremely unsettled.
“She didn’t say what was wrong?” Ryker asked, probing and making frustration well up inside of him.
Dylan didn’t know anything. He just knew that his mom needed him to come home as soon as possible, which meant that whatever was wrong was serious.
“He passed out at the theater,” Dylan said, repeating what little information his mother had given him. “They took him to the hospital, but he hasn’t woken up and they’ve been running tests.”
Ryker was quiet, and Dylan could feel his worry for him through the line. It didn’t calm him down, but it made him a little less frustrated to be questioned.
