Dancing Around The Cop

by Lisa Oliver

  has meant anything to me at all, until I met Terry. He means

  everything to me, so I won’t be doing that any longer.”

  For a long moment no one around the table said anything

  although Richard gave a tiny nod of his head in Zander’s

  direction. But Zander noticed Roy was wanting to say something,

  and yep…

  “Still doesn’t mean you’re not a serial killer or a control freak.”

  Zander nodded, and Terry’s fingers gripped his slightly and then

  lessened.

  “You’re quite right,” Zander said. “But if I was a serial killer then

  you wouldn’t find Terry’s body decomposing in a landfill. I’m a

  police detective and I’ve got more smarts than to leave a body

  where it can be found. You’re just going to have to trust that I’m

  not. As for being a control freak, Terry likes me just the way I

  am, so whether I am or not, doesn’t concern you.”

  Again stunned silence, because there really wasn’t anything you

  could say to that. Then Terry wriggled under his arm, and Zander

  looked down to see his mate’s trusting face smiling up at him.

  “If you do kill me, then can you make sure we have lots of hot

  monkey-sex first? I want to die with a smile on my dial.”

  Zander snorted, and then he laughed out loud, as did Richard.

  Only Richard and Terry knew how it was impossible for one mate

  to physically hurt another. The other men at the table joined in

  after a moment, and the atmosphere around the table lightened,

  just a bit.

  The laughter seemed to remind the men at the table that they

  were out, supposedly to have a good time. Food was ordered,

  drinks consumed and Zander was feeling a quiet buzz of

  contentment as the evening went on. Terry’s friends were funny,

  clearly smart and creative and although Charlie was the only

  single one in the group, Zander understood that until he and

  Richard had entered the scene the four smaller men all used to

  get into quite a bit of trouble. Not intentionally, but it seemed

  that they often attracted the wrong sort of attention. Zander

  made a mental note that if for any reason, he couldn’t be with

  his mate at any time then hopefully Richard would be around.

  So when Charlie caught Zander’s eye for the first time since they

  met, Zander was quietly confident he could handle anything that

  came his way.

  “Why Terry? I mean he’s cute and got the whole innocence thing

  going on, but why him, if you’ve been with so many other people

  in the past?”

  Rather than brush the smaller man off, Zander gave his answer

  some thought. He couldn’t mention about the whole mating

  concept, but he didn’t want to lie either. Looking down at Terry’s

  flushed face, his mate had enjoyed quite a few drinks with

  dinner, he smiled at the pouty kiss Terry threw his way, then

  looked back up at Charlie.

  “I saw Terry after that fight in that sports bar and felt an instant

  connection,” he said. “I’ll admit it wasn’t one I was prepared to

  follow up on. Most people in this town think I’m straight, not that

  it’s a problem either way. The attraction was hot but I wasn’t

  sure if I wanted a relationship, and I knew that was what Terry

  deserved. So I kept away. But for some reason after our first

  meeting I just kept seeing Terry everywhere… when I was

  working, when I was trying to have lunch…” he threw a

  meaningful look at Richard who just grinned.

  “I wanted to be with him more than anything in my life and when

  I finally convinced him to go on a date with me, I wasn’t prepared

  to let him go afterwards.”

  “Not that I was thinking about running away or anything,” Terry

  said, a deep flush working its way up Terry’s slender neck.

  Zander smirked, and continued, “Call it kismet, call it fate, call

  it what you like. When I met Terry my life finally made sense.

  Terry filled the hole in my heart that I didn’t even know I had.

  I’m not letting him go. I couldn’t because he honestly means

  everything to me.”

  “Awww fuck, you’re gonna make me cry. That’s so sweet,” Joel

  said clinging onto Max’s chest.

  “It’s the truth,” Zander said as sincerely as he knew how. Terry’s

  eyes were also looking suspiciously wet, but his face was

  beaming. Clearly Zander had said the right thing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Zander had the urge to laugh out loud as Terry stumbled up the

  path to his house, their home. Being a wolf shifter, Terry couldn’t

  get drunk, but he was must have been feeling a bit of a buzz,

  and Zander admitted to feeling unusually mellow himself. Even

  though he had gotten through the evening without seeing

  anyone he knew, he had spent the night thinking about it,

  watching for it and being prepared to defend his choice of life

  partner, and to protect his Omega. It was almost anti-climactic

  that he hadn’t had to do it.

  The other thing that had totally blown Zander’s mind was the

  fact that Terry clearly hadn’t told any of his friends how much of

  a bastard Zander had been when he first met the man, or his

  involvement with the arrest incident. Zander tried to rationalize

  it – none of Terry’s friends, well except for Richard, knew they

  were wolf shifters, or how they were supposed to act with each

  other. But even as humans, if Terry’s friends had known how

  he’d ignored the need and hope in Terry’s eyes that day,

  something he would never forget or forgive himself for, then

  maybe his reception might have been different.

  As the evening had progressed, the food good, the drinks

  flowing, the young men clearly being left alone by any bigots

  thanks to the larger men at the table, Zander had this urge to

  say…something. He’d already apologized to Terry the day he

  claimed him. But anytime he’d tried to broach the subject since,

  Terry had smiled sweetly and said that he didn’t have to worry

  about anything. It was sweet, a totally ‘Terry-like’ gesture, but

  Zander couldn’t shift the guilt that was burning a hole in his gut.

  He was an Alpha wolf. He should have known better and he’d

  fucked up. He was determined to make amends for every little

  slight he’d forced on Terry prior to their claiming.

  “Are you coming inside, or is there something more riveting than

  my ass on this porch,” Terry teased, slipping into Zander’s arms

  like he was born to fit. Which he was.

  “Nope, nothing more riveting than that sexy ass,” Zander said

  with a smile, a lightbulb moment going on in his head. “Can we

  talk for a minute though, before removing any clothes? You know

  how distracting I find that sexy body of yours and I do have

  something I need to say.”

  “My body’s meant to be distracting to you,” Terry said with an

  adorable little pout that Zander had a sudden urge to kiss. But

  if he did that then clothes would come off and yep…it was almost

  laughable at how pavlovian Zander’s response to his mate was.

  Not that
he minded.

  Focusing on his mission, Zander ignored the pout and picked

  Terry up, got them inside, settled down on the couch and holding

  Terry tight in his arms, Zander started to speak. He wasn’t sure

  what he was going to say, but he prayed the words would just

  come to him.

  “Sweetheart, I hope by now you know how much you mean to

  me. I’m not the most demonstrative person in the world, but you

  are everything to me and I’m trying to get better at showing it.”

  “I know,” Terry said, a happy smile on his beautifully fine face.

  “Can we kiss now?”

  “Not yet. I haven’t finished.” Zander felt his face responding to

  Terry’s happiness, and his cock, well that always perked up when

  Terry was near him. It was like his mate had it on a remote

  controlled switch.

  “I can’t help thinking about how badly I treated you. You didn’t

  share that with your friends, you didn’t tell anybody…”

  “I told Richard. I knew he’d understand because he’s like us.”

  Zander knew that Terry had told Richard what he’d done, but

  that was beside the point. Terry had four really good friends,

  who were like family to him and he never once complained to

  them.

  “Richard doesn’t count, although I am grudgingly glad you told

  him, and that he tried to help you out. It might have taken me

  longer to get my head out of my ass if he hadn’t.”

  “I feel so sorry for Richard, losing his mate like he did. I hope

  things work out with him and Roy,” Terry whispered. His hands

  had found their way under Zander’s neckline and were in the

  process of drawing delicious little circles up his neck. Fuck, his

  mate was distraction personified and Zander forced himself to

  stay on track.

  “Richard’s a very strong shifter. I know my life would be over if

  something happened to you,” Zander agreed. He had long

  figured that the only reason Richard was still alive was because

  his mate had been human, and so hadn’t been able to bite and

  claim Richard in return, the way two wolf shifters did.

  “The thing is, up until I left my pack, I had been taught the laws

  regarding mates. How important they were, how they were to

  be cared for and cherished. My Father damn near reamed me a

  new one over the phone when he heard my mate was an Omega

  and I hadn’t stepped up and claimed you.”

  “He doesn’t mind Omegas?”

  “He adores Omegas, and okay, most of the ones he’s met are

  female, but to my Father gender wasn’t the issue. Our wolf

  status was.”

  “But we’re people too. Not just our animal halves, and you and

  I, we live as humans, among humans, with human ideas. Surely

  your Father can understand that.”

  Fuck it all, Terry was going to kill him with kindness and

  understanding. Zander just knew it.

  “That’s not the point,” Zander said trying to keep the frustration

  out of his voice. He wasn’t angry with Terry, he was angry with

  himself.

  “We were raised as wolf shifters, those core beliefs are as much

  a part of who we are as the color of our hair or how big we grow.

  My Father had every right to be angry at me. I was raised to

  lead my pack, to be a strong Alpha wolf. I gave that away

  because I refused to challenge my Father when the time came –

  I refused to even contemplate hurting the man who had raised

  me. Instead I hurt my Father by leaving the pack. I couldn’t stay.

  You might not understand this, not having lived in a pack, but

  my very presence in the pack was weakening it and I couldn’t

  do that to my Father.”

  “You love your Father.”

  “He was an Alpha, not an easy man to love. He was harsh, he

  was fair, but he never forgot he was leader of his pack. I don’t

  know if love is the right word, but he’s the only family I’ve ever

  had,” Zander said sadly. “I didn’t want to leave, but pack law

  says only one Alpha can rule, and I couldn’t take away my

  Father’s reason for living.”

  “He and your mother weren’t true mates?”

  Zander shook his head. “No, they were bonded. My Father had

  given up looking and according to him he and my mother were

  happy for years until her death. He’s only just over 100 now, so

  there is still hope he will find his true mate, and I wasn’t going

  to take the pack away from him while he was still strong enough

  to rule it. But the pack was starting to become divided. Some of

  the younger men wanting to follow me, rather than my father. I

  did what I had to do.”

  “You’re a good man,” Terry said softly, resting his head on

  Zander’s chest. Everything Terry did centered on comforting

  him, supporting him, and dare he even hope, loving him too.

  Zander wondered how the hell he’d ever thought he could live

  without the touches, affection and Terry’s innate goodness.

  Which reminded him, yet again of the wrong he had done his

  mate at the start.

  “I wasn’t good to you. I was mean. I hurt you. I had this stupid

  idea that you would be nothing more than a means of getting

  off. I…fuck I should be flogged for what I thought I could get

  away with, taking you as a mate. I didn’t value you, your Omega

  status, or even think about you as a person. I was consumed by

  my selfish needs and to hell with anyone else. I’m an absolute

  bastard and you should have kicked me to the curb from the get

  go.”

  Zander’s self-loathing had returned in force, and if it wasn’t for

  the presence of Terry on his lap, he would have stood up and

  started pacing the floor. His agitation was like an ant hill inside

  of him, churning up his insides, crawling over his skin.

  “Stop doing this to yourself,” Terry cried out, thumping Zander

  on the chest. “Stop beating yourself up for something that’s over

  and done with. You’re here with me now. You care about me

  now. You gave up your fucking best friend just so you could build

  a life with me. Don’t let that life be built on the hatred you have

  for your stupid actions at the beginning.”

  Terry’s face was bright red and Zander was horrified to see tears

  dripping down those fine cheek bones. He realized with a

  completely ‘duh’ moment that his poor mate had been subjected

  to all he was feeling through their mind link. He was actually

  hurting his dear sweet mate, with his self-directed anger.

  Snapping back to his senses, Zander tenderly wiped away the

  tears with his fingers, shaking his head at his own stupidity.

  “I’m sorry precious. I didn’t mean…I forgot for a moment…I don’t

  want to hurt you anymore. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “Then get over yourself,” Terry said, with a big sniff and a small

  smile. “I get it, okay? You’re this big strong Alpha. You couldn’t

  get close to your pack. You didn’t get close to anyone, except

  Sully. You’re not used to caring for someone else and you were

  scared. Not a common thing for an Alpha maybe, but you di
dn’t

  want your life to change. Change is a scary thing. Bigotry is a

  scary thing. The one person you did have in your life was the

  very reason you were staying away from me. I get it. I

  understand it. I forgive you for it. Now stop going on about it.”

  Sweet delicate face. Sweeter nature and yet Terry had the

  confidence of a man who’d been brought up with love and

  acceptance and that was a powerful thing. Zander might be the

  Alpha, but he suspected that Terry would always be the stronger

  man inside. It was that thought that made it easier for what he

  had to say next.

  “I want you to claim me.”

  Terry furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side, looking

  up into Zander’s face.

  “I already claimed you,” he said. “You wear my mark. I bit you

  at the same time you claimed me.”

  Zander could feel a flush blooming over his face. “No. I meant

  claim me, claim me. Like I did to you.”

  Terry’s was still looking puzzled but as Zander watched he could

  see the exact moment Terry understood what he meant. His dark

  eyes got darker still, and then they widened. Then they narrowed

  again and Terry’s lips firmed in a straight line.

  “No.”

  No? Who turned down the chance at an Alpha’s ass? Apparently

  his mate would. Well fine. Zander would just have to put his

  persuasion techniques to good use. Terry had been interested at

  first. So perhaps nerves were getting at him; Terry being an

  Omega, and it being his first time as a top. Zander could work

  with that.

  “It’s a gift I can give to you,” Zander said, hoping his face was

  projecting his sincerity. “I’ve never let anyone do anything like

  that before, so it would be a first for both of us. I want you to

  do it. I want to give this to you.”

  “Oh Zander,” Terry shook his head, his dark hair flopping down

  over one eye as he rearranged himself so he was straddling

  Zander’s legs. Hooking his arms around Zander’s neck he looked

  deep into Zander’s eyes, as though searching for his soul.

  Zander let him because he had nothing to hide.

  “It’s a very lovely thought,” Terry said softly, his dark eyes soft

  and warm. “A wonderful gift. One that I would treasure.

  Something I never dreamed you would let me do. But please,

  Zander. Not like this. Not tonight. Not because you think you