Chapter Thirty
Claws, Cover Ups, and Concerned Friends
Elliot
I wait for the pain to tear through me and put me out of my misery.
It never comes.
Then I hear a heavy thump behind me. I turn with wide eyes and catch Dominic’s limp body slumping to the ground.
“Wha—” I try to form words, looking back at Nicholas. But he’s still avoiding my gaze.
He paces towards me, closing the distance between us. Then bypasses me completely and leans down to look at Domonic. He checks his pulse. “He’s gone,” he says mechanically.
He pulls out a piece of cloth from his pocket and uses it to pull Dominic’s gun from its holster. He places it in Dominic’s hand.
I hear footsteps on the floor above us—more than a dozen people.
I must have made a sound because Nicholas comes around and stands in front of me. “It’s the LAPD,” he says, still looking everywhere but at me.
“Fuck it,” he breathes out and pulls me into him. His lips land on mine in a ghost of a kiss. My body sags into him, all the fear, pain, and doubts draining out of my body. He’s solid and safe.
But then the warmth is gone. I open my eyes to him standing far away.
A flurry of people burst into the room. Too many noises all at once. Are they going to arrest me? No, Dominic said something about human police not being after me. Then why are they here? Why did Nicholas save me? Is he cruel enough to save me just to watch me rot in prison?
I look for him in the sea of bodies swarming in the small room. But he’s gone.
“You should sit down,” a woman in a pantsuit says to me. “I’m Detective Serena Vargas, Nick’s partner. The paramedics are on their way. You’ll need to go to the hospital. But do you want to give your statement right now?”
It doesn’t look like Nicholas has told his partner the whole story. She’ll want to know why Domonic abducted me, and I can’t answer—
She gently guides me back to the chair I’d probably spent the last two days on. “Where did Officer Adler capture you?” she asks, pointing at the limp body behind me.
I’ll just follow her lead then. “He came to my house. Said he needs to talk to me about Nicholas. He was in his uniform, so I got worried and opened the door for him. He hit me in the head, and I woke up here,” I say, my voice comes out scratchy like I’ve been screaming for hours.
I feel more and more stupid with every word. I already knew Nicholas was looking into my cases, and I still trusted an officer who used his name to lure me out. How fucking hopeless am I?
She nods, her face completely devoid of any judgment. “Did he say anything about why he did that?”
I shake my head. “He didn’t say much. Just that he was going to enjoy killing me,” I tell her the half-truths.
She scrunches her nose. She looks cute even with the whole hardass cop look she’s got going on. I wonder if she ever had a relationship with Nicholas that was more than just partners. They’d look cute together.
I taste bile at the back of my throat at the thought.
“We can continue later if you want,” she offers.
I shake my head again. “I’m good,” I say in a small voice.
“Alright. Tell me what happened when Detective Harper got here,” she asks. The mask of the hardass cop shifts, and she looks a little concerned.
But she has nothing to worry about. Nicholas made sure to cover all his bases. He called his team here when he didn’t need them, knowing exactly how this was gonna go. He planted the gun in Dominic’s hand to justify his force.
So very un-Boy Scout of him.
“I’d been trying to get free since yesterday, and the ties had loosened enough that I got out when Dominic wasn’t here,” I point at the corpse, now surrounded by four people.
“When he came in, I tried to fight him off. But then Nicholas showed up, and Dominic caught me from behind, holding his gun to my head. He was about to pull the trigger when Nicholas shot him.”
I’m completely sure Nicholas will say the same thing. The biggest rule of lying is to keep it as close to the truth as possible.
Serena sighs in relief. “Thank god. I thought the idiot went fully crazy seeing you here,” she says. “That’s all I have for now. I’ll go check on the paramedics.”
Within minutes, I’m escorted to an ambulance, and hands are poking me from every angle. The sunlight feels too much for my eyes after spending days in the dark basement.
The nice people in the ambulance agree with Serena. They drive me to the hospital despite all my protests.
“You might have a concussion, and they’ll need a sample of your blood to know what drugs he gave you. Stop grumbling,” a paramedic chides me.
Aren’t you supposed to be nice to abduction victims who were sure they were going to die?
I guess they have a hard boundary at the victim being annoying.
***
No concussion, but they still kept me for observation overnight.
Because why not? Not like I have much to look forward to other than getting arrested soon.
I lie on the clean, crisp bed with the sounds of machines beeping all around me.
The sanitized smell of hospital grounds me as I wait for karma to catch up.
Nicholas didn’t make an appearance since he destroyed my escape attempt all those hours ago. But I don’t let myself get complacent. Not this time. Fool me twice and all.
I must have drifted off at some point because soft voices coming from somewhere close startle me awake.
“—he’ll be alright?” a worried voice asks.
“Yes, the doctor looked at him. He was just given mild tranquilizers. He’ll be discharged in a few hours. If he takes it easy for a few days, he’ll be good as new in a week max,” the voice I recognize as the nurse who stuck enough needles in me to make me feel like a fucking voodoo doll says.
“I’ll get the discharge process started,” Matt says in a low voice.
I assess the damage in my body. I don’t feel fatigued. I’m not well rested or anything, but it doesn’t feel like I can’t talk without hurting my throat anymore.
I blink my eyes open. No pain in the head, the bright light still stings a bit.
But what are Matt and Oliver doing here? Do they know what I’ve done? Are they going to arrest me?
“Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Oliver says as he leans over me.
Guess not. But why are they here then?
“Nicholas called Matt and asked us to pick you up. He has to deal with some internal investigation because of the whole discharging his weapon thing,” he explains.
I sit up, leaning back against the bed, and surprisingly, don’t feel any pain. Oliver helps me by sliding a pillow behind my back.
“I know you must have so many questions right now. Nicholas told us what happened.” My eyes bulge out.
“Yes, they’re real. Yes, I knew about them.
And no, they aren’t all as bad as Dominic.
Listen, we’ll talk more when we’re back at our place.
Just trust me for now, okay? You’re safe, and no one will harm you. ”
It takes a second to sink in that Oliver is talking about the existence of werewolves and not what really happened in that basement. Nicholas didn’t tell them the truth. Why?
I mechanically nod. I will not shoot myself in the foot. Besides, it’s hilarious how cute Oliver is being about this. I’m curious to see how this plays out.
Matt comes back with some forms, and we don’t talk about anything other than me rattling off my information until I’m sitting in the back of Matt’s car.
“I know you’re scared,” Matt starts.
“I already went through that part,” Oliver interrupts him.
Matt nods. “Okay, so yeah. The Bureau won’t harm you, you can be sur—”
“I didn’t go that far. We were in a public place, Matt.”
I smile at them. This would be so much more entertaining if I didn’t know what’s waiting for me back at my place. Wait—
“This is not the way to my place,” I point out.
“Oh yeah,” Oliver hesitates. “Your house is a crime scene right now. And it’s pretty unlivable at the moment, anyway. You can stay with us for as long as you want. Or Nick’s, whatever you feel like,” he offers.
I sigh. At least it doesn’t sound like they’re planning to arrest me anytime soon unless all of this is an elaborate trap. “Can you still take me to my place so I can pick up my car?”
“I really don’t think you want to see your place right now. It’ll be traumatic. You can use my car for now,” he says easily.
Fuck.
“Okay, so I’m gonna try this again,” Matt starts. “What you saw in there was a werewolf. But he didn’t want to hurt you because he was a werewolf. He was just a horrible person. And it was our fault that we didn’t catch him earlier. We, as in the Werewolf Regulation Bureau,” he says.
“The what now?”
“The Bureau’s primary task is to keep our secret hidden and deal with werewolf-related crimes. Both committed by and against them. All our friends that you’ve met are Bureau agents. We work in emergency services to take hands-on action for the Bureau's objectives.”
“They all literally have two full-time jobs while I can’t be bothered to leave my place on the weekends after working five days a week in my desk job,” Oliver says, mesmerized.
Matt shoots him a broad smile.
“Typically, Meena, our supervisor, handles these conversations, but we’re perpetually understaffed. So here I am,” he explains. “Even when it has been well established, I’m horrible at Bureau tasks other than my job description.”
Oliver snorts.
“Wait, so you all have a secret agency here in LA to deal with werewolf crimes?”
“We’re an international agency. Nick, Cami, Bree, Sloan, Marcus, and I are on-field agents posted here. Off-field agents typically get rotated, but there are several who have permanent assignments too,” he explains. “You’re taking this way better than Oliver did, by the way,” he sounds impressed.
“It’s the trauma,” Oliver whispers loudly.
I roll my eyes.
Matt laughs. “So listen, the only way the Bureau can keep the secret is through minor threats to you and your life,” he says.
Oliver huffs. “Oh my god, ignore him. Elliot, unless you make a big splash of the secret, like collect evidence and reveal it to the world somehow, no one will do anything to you or your family.”
Whoa, this is some serious shit then. So this agency is going to arrest me, then? And Matt is an agent, as he proclaimed. Why the fuck isn’t he getting to it already?
When we reach Matt and Oliver’s, Oliver shoves a mug of coffee into my hand and a plate of warm pasta into the other. He stares at me until I sit down and eat, like I’m going to fall over with all the trauma.
I eat, somewhat to appease him but mostly because I’m hungry and the pasta smells heavenly. What they served me at the hospital last night could be best described as flavorless goo.
They act completely normal, other than the concern and the staring. No hostility, though.
“Can I borrow your car right now? I just need to go check on the clinic,” I lie. Oliver starts to interrupt. “No, I will not work. Calm down, Oliver. Just need to update Ashley, or she’ll worry. I don’t even have my phone on me,” I tack on.
“I can drive you,” Oliver offers.
“No,” I say quickly. “I don’t know how long it’ll take. We’ll need to reschedule the appointments so that I can rest up for a few days. To deal with the trauma, you know?” I lay it on thick.
Matt tilts his head. Yeah, I maybe went overboard.
“Can I have the car?”
Oliver sighs, but hands over the keys. I need to get away. I don’t even know where. But right now I just know one thing. I will not sit here waiting to find out what fate holds for me.