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He’s not going to get me on a drunk and disorderly tonight. I haven’t had a single drink. I’m tired as hell after working the last… I actually don’t know how long it’s been since I had a day off. And I’ve got to do it all again in a couple of hours. I just want to get us home and in bed so I can add this new adventure to the catalogue of Evil Genius Em stories.
Lately, my entire life has been one mishap after another, piling up so fast that I can’t recover. I can’t even say how I managed to get so far gone in the wrong direction. It doesn’t stop me from trying to clear the wreckage though. What else can I do? It’s not just me I’m fighting for.
None of that matters. Officer Slick clocked me as trash the minute he saw me, even if we are in downtown Knotty Pines.
“You got a last name, Cammie?”
“Cooper.”
“Cooper, huh? Jeanie your sister?” His eyes tell me he already knows.
My sister, Jeanie, and I look alike, and she’s a regular visitor at county, always having to bail out her alpha from his latest bar fight. Nick is decent to my sister, loves her even, but he is shit at taking care of her and himself. And she doesn’t help matters, drinking too much and acting up right along with him.
“Yes, sir. You can run my name. It’s clear.”
He raises his flashlight to my eyes, temporarily whiting out my vision in the harsh light.
I cup my hand over my face and try to explain. “I was late home?—”
Officer Slick grunts knowingly but lowers his death-laser.
“—from work over at Mel’s. I put Em to bed, but she didn’t get a chance to ride her bike this evening. It was too late. She was upset?—”
“Because knights can ride their dragons in the dark,” Emmaline explains, looking between us.
He doesn’t even crack a smile. Asshole.
“I know they can,” I say. “You’re a very brave knight, but even knights shouldn’t go out without telling their mommies or without backup.”
Em considers my logic, buying me some time.
I turn back to the officer, trying to finish up and get us out of this mess. “After I went to sleep, she must have found a way out. I promise to?—”
“Not properly securing your premises is a form of neglect. I should take you in for this. It’s past two a.m. Little girls should be in bed. Where is your mate?” The officer’s tone is dripping with condescension.
“I don’t have a mate.” My cheeks heat at his grilling.
Around us, doors are opening, and neighbors are coming to see about those flashing lights. Just what I need, to be known as the renter who brings the cops.
“Cliff, man, mind turning off the lights?” a deep, rumbly voice calls from my left side.
It’s the sound of an alpha, dominant in the same ways as Officer Slick, only smooth at the same time. Whereas the deputy makes me want to find cover, this voice makes my pulse slow, some of the panic easing out.
I whip my head toward the newcomer striding down from his porch. He’s big, bigger even than the hulking figure next to me, and half-dressed. He’s also hot as hell, with a dark, trimmed beard, a fade cut, and muscles that bunch and flex with each movement.
In long strides, the alpha closes the distance, scowling. “You’re waking the whole neighborhood, man.”
“Why don’t you stick to rescuing kittens from trees and let me handle the criminals?” Officer Slick-Cliff calls to the man, but it’s my cheeks that catch fire. He finally turns back to his cruiser and shuts off the lights.
My vision whirls, spots dancing at the edges of my sight, making me dizzy.The deputy leans into his car, speaking low enough into his radio that I can’t hear.
“You all right?” The newcomer alpha places his hand on my shoulder to steady me.
The touch sends a pulse of electricity through me, zipping down my spine at the same time his scent hits me. It’s a muscle relaxer and a vacation all at once, making my body turn to mush. He smells like the best kind of alpha, like protection and the sense of safety that comes from a cozy home. I’ve never had that. Not even with Trent on our best days. It sends a hunger through me, piercing my chest.
Focus, bitch.You’re areformedalpha-chaser, and this alpha isn’t here to help you.
I blink, calling on every ounce of willpower to get it together. I step out of the strange alpha’s hold, already missing the warm notes of his scent.
