But he’d barely taken more than a few steps across the parking lot when he realized there were two people still hanging around, talking in hushed tones that suggested something personal and private. He immediately recognized Mike’s voice as well as that of the chief, and froze in his tracks, wondering if it would be better to keep going or turn around and head back inside the training building. Knowing that either option was likely to get him noticed, he slid into the deeper shadows along the side of the admin building.
He tried to not hear what was being said on the far side of the parking lot, having no desire to eavesdrop, but he was a werewolf, and short of shoving his fingers in his ears and humming to himself, it wasn’t going to happen.
“I guess this means you don’t think there’s a chance this could ever work between us?” the chief said with a sigh.
“I wish it could,” Mike answered softly. “I wanted it to work, but I respect you way too much to start something I know I can’t finish.”
Carter really didn’t want to listen to this. He knew Mike and the chief had been flirting with each other the past couple months, circling like two curious fish too tentative to take a nibble of the baited hook. Hell, the entire pack recognized the attraction, and several bets were going on as to how things would work out. It was sad to say, Carter had put his money on it not working out at all.
While a relationship between a corporal in SWAT and the chief of police wouldn’t technically be prohibited—not with all the supervisory links between them in the chain of command—it would have been complicated. People would have talked, and careers could have been put in jeopardy.
But more than that, Carter knew there was something else holding Mike back, though he wasn’t sure what it was. While he and Mike had been friends for a long time, there was a lot Carter didn’t know about him.
What he did know for sure was that Mike had spent a good portion of his law enforcement career prior to SWAT doing undercover work in the narcotics and organized crime divisions. That kind of life tended to make a person guarded when it came to personal information. Still, there’d been talk around the team that Mike had been in a serious relationship back then. Carter didn’t know what happened, but it must have been bad if Mike didn’t want to get involved with anyone again.
“Well, I won’t say I’m not disappointed,” Chief Leclair said as Carter heard a soft sound that he recognized as a kiss. “I hope everything works out for you in the end, Mike. Someday, you’re going to have to stop hiding your heart, you know.”
Mike didn’t respond to that comment one way or another, and a few moments later, the sound of a car starting reached him, and then the chief was driving away.
Carter stayed where he was, hoping Mike would go into the admin building. Unfortunately, his pack mate walked straight toward his hiding place, stopping at the corner of the building.
“You get all that?” Mike asked in a tone that suggested violence was a distinct possibility. “I smelled you the moment you stepped out of the training building, you know.”
Crap.
“Sorry about that,” Carter said, stepping out of the shadows. “I never intended to eavesdrop. I didn’t want to interrupt what seemed like an important conversation.”
Mike regarded him silently for a moment, and Carter had no doubt his pack mate was checking to see if he was lying. Mike—along with some of the other members of the Pack—could read people so well they could tell if someone was lying.
Good thing Carter wasn’t lying.
Mike suddenly leaned forward, sniffing at Carter in the darkness before giving him a curious look. “So, you’re sleeping with your psychiatrist? Didn’t expect that.”
Shit.
“We aren’t having sex,” Carter said defensively. “She was scared to sleep alone after Strickland attacked her at Coffield Unit yesterday.”
“I never said you were having sex,” Mike said. “I simply pointed out you were sleeping with her. But thanks for confirming that’s where you think this is going.”
Carter ground his jaw, not sure what to say next, especially since Mike had nailed it when it came to him wanting to do more than sleep with Hadley.
“She honestly was freaked out,” he finally said. “The fact that Strickland promised he’d escape from prison and come after her has her even more terrified.”
“And now that he’s out, you’re worried that he might come after her. So, you’re what, staying at her place?”
“Mine, actually,” Carter admitted. “I’m sure it’s not as nice as her place, but I figured there’d be less chance that Strickland would be able to find her. And since it’s not like I’m doing much these days, I certainly have the time to keep an eye on her. At least, until this sicko is caught.”
Mike regarded him with a knowing look for so long that Carter would have started squirming if he wasn’t a damn full-grown man.
“Do you think this is a good idea?” his pack mate finally asked, his expression giving nothing away. “It wasn’t that long ago that you were worried about hurting someone. All it takes is one second of losing control and you wolfing out, and then we all have a problem to deal with.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Carter said, glad he didn’t have to be concerned about being caught in a lie. “It already happened and she was completely cool with it. It turns out that she had a brother who was an omega, so it’s good that we’ll be spending more time together.”
Mike considered that, giving him another long, possibly judgmental stare. “And what about the fact that Dr. Delacroix is all that’s standing between you and a career behind a desk? Your pack is depending on her to help get your head screwed on right and I’m not sure she’ll be able to help if she’s sleeping with you at the same time. It’s going to complicate an already complicated situation.”
“It won’t,” Carter insisted, even as he accepted that Mike was almost certainly right. “Nothing is going to go wrong, because nothing is going on. I’m merely keeping an eye on her until Strickland is off the streets. And in the meantime, she understands me—maybe more than anyone could. She’s going to help me get my act together. It’s all good.”
He expected Mike to throw the BS flag because it was waving damn hard. But in the end, his squad leader nodded and let it all go.
