Maybe not with Isaac watching over them. But from what he’d heard, they certainly didn’t afford humans the same courtesy.
“Alice,” Isaac said, ignoring Paul. “You stay here and help if necessary. And by help, I mean make sure they leave everything as it was and don’t break anything.”
She nodded, a grin appearing at the mumbled complaints from Paul’s team. “Of course, Alpha.”
“Really?” Paul grumbled as he followed Isaac up the last set of stairs to the top floor. “You literally just heard me tell them to be careful and treat your house with respect.”
Isaac glanced over his shoulder. “Our ideas of respect may differ greatly.”
From Paul’s expression, Isaac knew he wanted to tell him to fuck right off, but even though Paul was HRU, Isaac was still an alpha and they were in his home.
He held his tongue and Isaac was grudgingly impressed.
Isaac paused outside his door, no part of him wanting to open it and let Paul inside.
The heavy sigh behind him only made it worse.
“The sooner you let me inside, the sooner we can get this over with.”
He was right, but Isaac didn’t bother answering. Squaring his shoulders, he pushed his instincts away for once and opened the door.
Paul followed him through the apartment and into his bedroom. He turned in a slow circle, taking everything in.
Isaac’s mind flashed back to when he’d brought Michael up here. That had felt safe. Right. Nothing like the dread crawling up his spine now.
All traces of Michael’s visit had been thoroughly erased, he knew that, but Isaac’s heartbeat steadily increased the longer Paul remained silent.
He walked over and closed the door, shutting them inside, and Isaac rolled his shoulders, forcing himself not to react as Paul’s scent filled the air.
“I’m going to open a window.”
Before Isaac had chance to move, Paul stepped in front of him. “I’d prefer you wait until I’ve searched everywhere. If there’s a trace of any McKillan pack scent in here, I want the chance to find it before you start opening windows.”
Isaac rolled his eyes. “Why would I have any of the McKillan pack in my fucking bedroom, and if I had, don’t you think I’d have got rid of their scent before you arrived?”
Paul shrugged but didn’t answer, which Isaac found more infuriating than anything.
Calm down.
He’s trying to catch you out, that’s all.
Isaac breathed in and out, slow and steady, settling himself. No trace of Michael remained, not that he could pick up, and Paul’s senses were nowhere near as sensitive as Isaac’s.
Walking over to the far wall by the window, he crossed his arms and leant back against it. “Let’s get this over with then.”
Paul gave him a terse nod and got to work.
Isaac watched, unmoving, as Paul meticulously went through every single thing in Isaac’s bedroom. He knew the HRU were good at their job, frighteningly so at times, but Paul’s thoroughness still took him by surprise.
As did the care with which he handled Isaac’s belongings.
Every item he picked up and examined for traces of Goddess knew what, he put back carefully and in the exact spot he’d taken it from.
Thank fuck his own pack were just as thorough because it was quickly becoming evident that if there was anything for the HRU to find, then they’d bloody well find it.
Another side effect of being that thorough was that it took forever for Paul to search Isaac’s bedroom.
Isaac changed positions several times, getting more and more unsettled as Paul’s scent filled the room. It made no sense. Paul was McKillan pack, same as Michael. It shouldn’t affect him like this, unless... “Did Baker bite you already?”
