“I can call Steve’s supervisor, tell him there’s been an emergency and that Steve needs to come home,” William offered.
Ryker nodded. Steve would be far better to deal with. He turned to William with a suspicious glare. “Does Steve know that you reported back to your dad about him?”
William’s eyes twitched, his guilt obvious. “Maybe?”
Despite everything, that actually made Ryker feel marginally better. If Steve was ignorant of his dad’s scheming, then he hadn’t betrayed them. It was a small consolation, but a consolation all the same.
“Fine. Call Steve’s supervisor and tell him that he needs to send Steve home. We’ll wait for him here.”
37
STEVE
Steve was directing traffic at an intersection where the lights had malfunctioned when he got the call that he had to go home.
“Did they say why?” he asked the guy who dispatch had sent to replace him. He handed over his vest and stop sign, the older cop shooting him a look of annoyance as he put on the vest and smoothly took over directing the flow of traffic.
“No, I was just told to get down here and take over, and to tell you to go home.”
Frowning, Steve hopped on his police motorcycle and drove straight back to his apartment. He could go back to the station to change out of his uniform and get his personal bike after he’d figured out what was wrong.
He pulled up to his building just in time to see Ryker’s car being towed for having been parked in the fire lane.
Resisting the impulse to chase after the tow truck to see why Ryker’s car was being towed, he ran up the steps to his front door, frowning at the sight of the broken door and wondering what the fuck was going on. He raced up the stairs to his apartment, boots stomping and making a racket, his chest clenching when he reached his front door and saw that it had been kicked in. The lock was in shambles, the wood around the doorknob cracked right off.
Ryker and August’s scents hung in the air, strong enough that they were either present or had left just a few seconds ago.
“William?” Steve called, rushing into his apartment. “Ryker, August, are you guys here?”
“In here,” Ryker called from his living room. His voice was ice cold, and Steve wondered what was going on.
The second he stepped into his living room, William jumped behind him, using Steve as a shield between him and Ryker and August.
Steve could smell faint traces of blood, which together with the way William was seeking his protection, made him bare his teeth and growl at Ryker.
“Do you know where Dylan is?” Ryker asked, the question catching Steve off guard. His growl died in his throat, and after studying Ryker’s expression to get a hint as to what was going on, he shook his head.
“No, should I?”
“He’s in Alaska, and I think your father tricked him there based on information your little brother gave him.”
Steve turned and looked at William, who shrank back nervously. “Dad specifically sent me here to find out what was going on. I wasn’t going tolieto him.”
At Steve’s glare, he shrank back further. Then he jutted out a defiant chin. “If I have to choose between pissing off you or Dad, I’m choosing you every time. No offense.”
“You couldn’t have warned me?” Steve asked. He knew it was stupid to feel betrayed – William was a beta, he would never disobey his alpha – and yet, he did.
“He called, and then after I told him everything, he told me not to tell you that I told him.”
Steve rubbed his eyes. “Of course he did.”
“So you didn’t have anything to do with this?” Ryker asked, his tone accusing.
Steve growled at him, baring his teeth again. “No, I didn’t.”
“Can you find out what is actually going on?”
Steve nodded. He took a seat on the couch and took out his phone. He’d had it on silent when he was working, and given what he now knew, he wasn’t surprised to see that he had about a dozen missed calls and a barrage of angry messages.
