Page 142 of Night Call

“It would be regulated.” Caitlin cut across him, though she glanced nervously back and forth between Blake and the inspector. “We’d give him an earpiece, and instr?—”

“A fucking earpiece isn’t going to save him from a den of fucking vipers, Cait!”

Blake’s voice was tremulous, and Pember could feel the cords of his arm tensing across his shoulder. Anger poured off him and into Pember, making a sour heat twist in his gut. Rising to his feet, he clutched Blake’s hand and slowly turned to walk out of the office.

The scraping of chairs across the carpet told him others also stood. “I want an answer, Mr McArthur,” the inspector said, his voice hard.

Blake tensed again, his fangs popping out as his head jerked round.

“With all due respect,” Pember said quietly, running a hand up Blake’s abdomen before he could say something he’d regret. “You are not my supervisor, nor are you my mate.”

All three alphas glanced up at Blake again, then back to Pember.

The inspector scoffed. “But I am your senior officer, and you?—”

“I’m a civilian,” Pember continued. “You cannot order me to do anything.” Although he sounded assertive, his confidence was quickly fading. The inspector glowered, clearly unused to being told ‘no.’

Sniffing, Pember slipped his hand into Blake’s. “I need time to think about it. I’ll give you an answer by the end of the day.”

“Pem—” Blake growled.

“Theendof the day,” he said again, giving each of them a hard look.

Without another word, he led Blake out of the police station and through the car park. They walked in silence, taking thetrack towards the dog kennels. Bailey jumped straight into Blake’s arms, sending him barrelling backwards towards a bush. Pember caught his elbow just before he became intimately acquainted with a conifer. Bailey hopped to the ground and ran into the woods with George. Blake brushed the dog hair and slobber off his shirt, the tension in his eyebrows softening just a little.

“Your anger is making them uneasy.” Pember’s voice cracked as he unwound the leads from around the steel bars. “And me.”

That part was barely above a whisper.

Blake’s jaw was clenching and unclenching, his breaths heavy as Pember handed him the leads. He was practically rooted to the spot, his feet planted as though he were getting ready for a fight.

Pember swallowed. “Let’s follow them, yeah? Go on one of those walks we’ve talked so much about.” Yanking his arm, Pember finally got him moving, albeit stiffly. “It’ll be good for your blood pressure. Let’s just stay nice and calm.”

Blake finally let out a long breath, his arm curling around Pember’s waist.

“Sorry,” he said, kissing his head. “That just… It blindsided me. I knew they could be underhanded, butthat?” He let out another breath and shook his head.

“I know,” Pember replied, leading them into the woods. “I wasn’t expecting it either. Come on.”

The trees swayed in the morning breeze, the multitude of oaks and silver birches creating a thick canopy above the path, cloaking it in shadow. It was well away from the shifter run, and it was quiet, despite the chaos of the police station at the bottom of the hill.

“Better?” he said, glancing up at Blake. The alpha gave him a thin-lipped smile, eventually loosening his grip on Pember and letting him walk ahead.

The floral scent of jasmine wafted through the woodlands, and Pember hummed when he saw a patch of the wild white flowers peeking through a sunny break in the trees. Reaching into his inner jacket pocket, he pulled out a plastic shopping bag that he kept in case of emergencies.

“Are you pilfering the local flora again?” Blake said, watching with a lopsided smile as Pember picked bunches of jasmine and placed them into his bag.

“What?” he said, softly punching Blake’s shoulder. “You said it’s not stealing so long as I don’t fell the whole plant.”

Blake huffed and started picking the flowers with him. “More moonshine?”

“Yeah, jasmine and elderflower sounds pretty good. I’m going to get another brewing kit from the supermarket after work.” He shook the bag to make more room.

Blake snorted. “You’re going to have a whole distillery at this rate.”

Sighing, Pember pressed a fragrant branch to his nose. “That’s the dream.”

There was a poking sensation next to his right ear, and he realised Blake had slid a small stick of jasmine into his hair.

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