Page 4 of I Ain't Lyin'

See, we aren’t the only ones who think that name fits.

I scoffed at my lion’s comment, and Ashton and Lillianna looked at me.

“Sorry, I’ve been referring to him as that in my head this whole time. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one getting that vibe from the man.”

“I felt the guy was off somehow. His energy is wrong somehow. I can’t figure out how,” Ashton agreed.

“We will keep an eye on him.” My attorney nodded. “Now, Ashton, you go call in your team. We need to get Leo out of here as soon as we can. I will stay here and keep asking questions until they get here. I don’t want to leave Leo alone in the station.”

As much as I was worried that she was right and that something about this case felt wrong, I couldn’t help but feel safe with her and my mate on my side.

Chapter Four

Ashton

“I don’t care what the evidence on-site shows. He didn’t do it.” I felt my anger rise as I spoke with the human officer in charge of Leo’s case. Archie Matthews wouldn’t listen to what I was saying. He thought the findings at the crime scene made this an open-and-shut case.

“I understand you think he’s innocent. You’ve scented him as your mate, or whatever you call what happens for shifters when they meet the other person they want to be with for life. But I’m telling you, as an officer working cases like this for over thirty years, the evidence shows he did it. Unless you have a secret weapon to prove his innocence, I suggest you ensure he has the best lawyers instead of trying to convince us not to throw him into the cells.”

Eat him.

Shush.But, yeah, I wish we could.

When I start agreeing with my dragon that we should eat people, that’s a sign I need to leave the person’s presence. “I’m going to go get some coffee. Ms. Jeffries will stay with Mr. Wilson until the rest of my team arrives and can ask him more questions. I request you and your officers keep out of our way. I’ll have to discuss things with my supervisor about how the human authorities are not allowing the shifter council proper space and time to investigate a shifter case.

“We don’t know for a fact there weren’t any humans involved.” Captain Matthews pointed toward the files on his desk. “We can’t just dismiss the case as a shifter-only case if we don’t have any proof there were only shifters and witches involved in the crime.”

“I’ll be back. Just let the attorney do her job with her client. And when my colleagues arrive, stay out of the way.” I turned and left his office before my dragon decided to come out and get a quick snack.

He probably tastes like dirty feet.

Most likely.

Walking out of the precinct, I headed west to the local Pink Coffee Café. The station had a stocked breakroom, but I’d instead drink motor oil than the sludge they try to pass off as coffee. Besides, leaving the area for a bit would allow me to ground myself and stop imagining ripping the head off of Captain Matthews. I needed someone to talk to about this, and unfortunately, my teammates were still a couple of hours out. Pulling out my phone, I dialed the one person I knew would understand my frustration: my twin Darren.

“What’s wrong?” Darren’s first words didn’t surprise me, considering our bond.

“I met my mate.”

“That would explain the massive rush I felt earlier, but then I was confused by all the negativity rushing through the link. I had to leave my meeting earlier because my dragon suddenly wanted to chew on Mr. Caparelli’s bones.” Darren chuckled, and I smiled at my twin’s amusement. “So why did I suddenly want to chow down on the nicest boss I’ve ever had?”

“He is part of the case I’m working on.” I sighed, stopped outside the café doors, and sat at the nearest table.

“The omega who they think killed his mate?” Darren’s tone turned serious. “Are you mated to one of the officers?”

“Nope.” I watched the people passing by and envied the couples holding hands. I wanted to hold my mate’s hand. “Right case, but wrong guess on who my mate is. He’s innocent, though, Dare. I know it. I need to prove it. And it was an ex-boyfriend, not a mate.”

“Well, if he wasn’t innocent, I think you would be able to tell something was off,” Darren agreed. “At least the way that I have always seen mates in our family be able to tell when the other is lying leads me to believe that yours would be the same.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” I rolled my shoulders and tried to work out some of the kinks that had built up while dealing with the idiots on the case. “But the case is tied up with the human officers right now, so I need to play nice with some assholes who just want to charge him and lock him up without doing enough investigating into the crime.”

“Do they have enough evidence?” Darren also worked for the GSC but in the main offices in Europe. He hardly worked on field cases, but he knew the frustration of working with the human authorities on cases. “Or do they just want to take down another shifter and will jump at the chance to do so?”

“They don’t seem entirely anti-shifter, but there is a definite them vs. us feel to how they speak with me. I will be able to judge that more when the rest of the team comes up.”

“Who else is working the case with you?” Darren knew most of my team and their abilities.

“Dean and Willa.” I stood back up and stretched my back.I’ll be sitting a lot later, so I probably should stand and walk while I can.

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