Page 71 of Foxy Filthy Omega

I wanted to stand in his shadow and know nothing could touch me.

This was exactly how I’d felt with Leo too. He’d scared the shit out of me as a kid, but I’d never felt safer than when he was by my side.

Now I was starting to feel theexactsame thing with my rookie?

Soren slid the packet Garcia had given him into his backpack and then pulled out a small bottle of water. He silently offered it to me first and I shook my head, watching him even when I knew I shouldn’t.

He tipped his head back and poured a little of the water into his mouth, making sure his lips never touched the bottle. Then he slid it back into its spot and swung the bag onto his back.

His mismatched gaze met mine and he looked surprised to see me watching him, but it was only the tiniest shift in his expression. I doubt I would have noticed it if I hadn’t been studying him like I might get tested on his body language at any moment by my mean old psych professor.

Why did this rookie have to be so tall? Why did he have to have this insanely calming presence? And he wasgorgeous. Of course he was gorgeous. He was a legacy alpha. No one else could be so fucking attractive and sure of themselves.

Soren Hart didn’t flaunt his strength or power though and there were only two possible reasons for that – either he knew he couldn’t possibly win so he didn’t even try, or he was very,verysure he would, no matter the circumstance.

I jogged to catch up with Garcia, taking note of our surroundings as we went.

Normally, I’d be taking in the crime scene with one hand on the small of Lucy’s back so I could keep track of her while I studied every single person in the area, cataloging their usefulness, and any obvious personality traits and habits, as well as what the forensic team was doing.

But all I could look at was that stupid cord wrapped so precisely around the phone that I almost walked right through the crime scene tape. I stopped just in time and narrowed my eyes at the people on the other side, forcing my eyes to focus.

My palms were sweaty. That wasn’t good. If my palms were sweaty, I was more nervous about this new, miniscule piece of information about my rookie than I was letting myself feel.

I could bury down my emotions, pretend that I didn’t feel them so well I could even convince myself they didn’t exist, but my body has always known better.

I really shouldn’t be nervous about this, but my entire life revolved around my ability to understand the people around me—mysurvivaldepended on that.

Soren was already difficult to read, but I thought I had a general idea of who he was and what he did and didn’t like, but…

You know what? It didn’t matter. His personal preferences were none of my business.

“Would you like to take a look at the crime scene first?” Garcia asked me, glancing at Soren like he wasn’t sure the rookie could be trusted not to ruin all his hard work like a bull in a china shop.

“Give me a second to brief the rookie and then yeah, we’ll take a look around. I want to make sure he’s got a handle on what I expect before I start talking to people.” I glanced over my shoulder at the average looking woman sitting on a benchwith a plaid blanket around her shoulders. “That the hiker who stumbled across this nightmare?”

“Mhm.” Garcia checked his watch. “Officers have already questioned her. She’s just waiting on us.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes.” I took Soren’s wrist and pulled him to the side, far enough away from the cops that I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to hear me.

I looked up and found him staring down at me, patiently waiting for whatever came next.

His black hair fell into his eyes, hiding his red eye from anyone who wasn’t looking too closely and the baseball cap covered it in shadow.

Then I realized I was still holding onto his wrist and I dropped it, hating how obvious it was that I still haven’t figured out how to deal with him.

Shoving my hand into my pocket to hide the awkwardness as much as possible, I yanked out two pairs of nitrile gloves and handed him one.

“Whatever you do, don’t touchanything,” I reminded him. “Normally, Lucy and I split up once we cross the line, but I’m going to shadow you this first time around.”

Snapping on the gloves, I eyed the scene and tried to remember what she did without me. It’s been so long since I’ve worked with anyone other than her and this was my first time with a new recruit.

I may be the senior detective, but I was just as new to this as he was and I had no idea what I was doing.

Maybe I was more worried about trusting him than I thought I was. If I saw how well he did and started to rely on him…

Could I really do that without his designation becoming a problem?

CHAPTER 22

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