Epilogue
Matt
Six months later
“This is an unexpected surprise, unless there’s another incident,” Meena says as soon as she picks up.
“Can't I randomly call my lovely supervisor on a Sunday morning?” I ask.
“What's up, Matthew? I’m late for breakfast with Mark's parents.”
“So, Oliver and I’ve been dating for six months.”
“Thanks for the random update about your relationship status. Is there a point to it?”
“Right, maybe it's time to send him the protocol?” I hesitate.
“The protocol?” I hear her feet stop. “It's serious then.”
“He makes me so happy, Meena.” I smile despite myself.
“And I’m happy for you. He’ll have the protocol in the next thirty seconds.”
“Thirty seconds? Don't you have to customize it for everyone?” Even WRB isn’t that efficient yet.
Meena huffs out a laugh. “I prepared Oliver's protocol the first time you mentioned him, without any context, five times in an official call.”
“I do not talk about Oliver that much,” I grumble, still smiling.
“Mmm-hmm. It's on its way…” she says, distracted. “Sent.”
“What already? I needed to talk to him about it.”
“Well, you should have talked to him before talking to me, dumbass,” she teases. “I gotta go. Tell him he'd better not break your heart or else.”
“Don't you think you've threatened him enough?” I complain.
“That's why I'm threatening you.”
She hangs up before I can argue.
I’m about to exit the cafe, where I’m supposed to be having breakfast with Nick, when he walks in. He parks his ass in the chair opposite me.
“I have to leave early,” I tell him.
“What? Why?”
“I asked Meena to send Oliver the protocol—”
“And she already sent it?” Nick interrupts.
“What—How?”
“Dude, I'm surprised she didn't send it months ago,” Nick rolls his eyes.
“I wanted to give Oliver a chance to make the decision.”
“That guy has been in love with you since the first time I met him. You’re crazy if you couldn't see that,” Nick says.
I smile. We’ve said I love you to each other many times now, but hearing that other people can see it makes my heart soar with happiness. “Well, I still didn't want to hurry things.”
Nick shakes his head like I’m hopeless. “You've been dating for months, Matt, and there are so many things he doesn’t know about us. About you.”
“I’ve told him things,” I defend.
Nick doesn’t even acknowledge it. “Good thing he has werewolf godmothers and godfathers to guide him through this treacherous journey.”
I roll my eyes. “Anyway, now he’ll know everything. Why did you want to meet so early anyway?” I ask, changing the topic. I’m fidgeting to leave already.
“Do you know there are only three hundred and ninety-five aware humans living in Los Angeles?” he asks mysteriously.
“Umm…okay?”
“And Oliver's friend Elliot isn’t one of them,” he continues.
What are we even…? “Why would Elliot know about werewolves?”
“Good question, Matt. If he doesn't know about werewolves, why didn't he react when he saw you shift at your Christmas party?”
“He didn't see me shift. We had an agent confirm, remember?” I’m so confused right now.
“I saw him, and he was looking right at you.”
I still. “Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“I wasn’t sure,” he says, looking guilty. “I've been following him. Kinda.”
“What are you up to, Nick?”
“The little human has a pretty normal life. He works long hours. Has a really long list of loyal customers,” Nick says, looking impressed while my eyes grow wider. What’s this dumbass up to? “But then there are days when he disappears. I couldn't track him for an entire week.”
“Why are you tracking him?” I’m a little angry but more curious. C’mon, Nick’s been stalking someone for six months, it’s kinda exciting. And I’m pretty sure he won’t hurt the human.
Nick waves me off. “Anyway, I thought I’d ask if Oliver mentioned anything.”
“No, he hasn't. You can ask him, you know.”
“I didn't want to raise suspicion before I knew anything. I will look into him a little longer. You know, make the Bureau’s job easy,” he adds, suddenly realizing he sounds sketchy as shit.
“Or maybe you can just follow protocol and report him now? We have a dedicated team just for this. You know that, right?”
Nick straightens. “We work for a secret agency, Matt. We can have little secrets of our own." He gives me the ‘you can’t tell on me’ look.
I raise my hands placatingly. “Okay! Just promise me you won't do anything to him. Oliver really likes him.”
Nick laughs. “Wow. Your concern for a human's life is really tear-jerking.”
Shit, that did sound wrong, didn’t it? “I meant, he’s a nice guy, so don't do anything to him,” I correct.
“You're getting warmer,” Nick teases.
I furrow my brows. “You shouldn't hurt people?”
“Ding ding ding!” Nick says. “And I’m not going to hurt him. I’m just…curious?”
“All right. I won't say anything.” I surrender. “But make sure you do if you find anything or when you get bored. Whichever comes first.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don't you have to go warn your paramour?”
“Oh, fuck!” I almost run out of the cafe. “Take care of the bill,” I throw over my shoulder.
“Asshole,” he whispers, but I hear him.
I rush to our apartment. I moved into Oliver's, even though I lived in mine longer. It’s an argument I lost fair and square, so we’re not going to talk about it.
From Oliver's even breathing, I realize he’s still sleeping, and sigh in relief. I walk to the kitchen, plate the croissant I got him, and switch on the coffee machine. When it’s ready, I take everything to the room.
I place the plate and mug on the side table and slowly climb over Oliver's sleep-soft, warm body. I kiss his forehead and his eyes, his skin warm against my lips. His breathing is the only sound in the room.
He blinks when I kiss his cheek. “This is a nice way to wake up.” He wraps his hands around my neck.
“Maybe for you, your breath stinks.” I crinkle my nose dramatically.
“Fuck you,” he says without any heat. ”Do I smell coffee?” He pushes me away and leans against the bedframe.
I let him. “Wow, they did say the romance eventually dies. I didn't think it would just take six months for coffee to become more desirable than me.”
“Oh, just giving you some space from my stinky breath,” he snarks.
“I was kidding,” I whine.
“Well, now you don’t get morning sex. Fair and swift justice.” He takes a sip of his coffee.
I pout.
He looks at me again, seeing my T-shirt and jeans. “Where did you go?”
“Nick wanted to talk about something. That's irrelevant. I brought you a croissant, though.”
He beams.
I lean up and kiss his lips again, unable to stop myself. He smiles against my lips. It makes the kiss messy, but my heart soars.
“So, I checked my phone half an hour ago,” he says, casually taking a bite of the croissant.
“You did?” Warning bells go off in my head.
“I got an email from Meena—”
“I can explain. I didn't think she’d send it so quickly,” I admit. Why the fuck is this making me so nervous!
Oliver rolls his eyes. “Matt, Camila told me serious human partners get this email pretty much right away.”
That! That's why I was feeling like a cornered prey right now. “I wanted to give you time,” I say, defiant.
Oliver tilts his head, smiling. “You still don't get it, do you?”
“What?” I sit down, folding my legs to face him.
“I didn't need time to know this is it,” he says, so sure that my heart picks up.
“But I wanted you to be sure.”
“I was sure the day I kissed you, and you decided to kiss me back.”
Okay, it’s so unfair to date writers. My face heats up anyway. I swallow. “You have a list of people you can tell the secret to. They will obviously get a talk from the Bureau. And if there’s someone you want to tell who's not listed, I’ll fight—”
“Matt, I don't want to tell anyone because I’m not alone in this. I have you, and that's all that matters. If this secret keeps you safe, it’s not even a question that I won’t tell a single soul. You matter the most.”
I feel my eyes sting.
“That simple, huh?”
Oliver sets his mug down and straddles my legs. He kisses me, and I push my tongue inside his mouth, needing to taste him, morning breath and all. His taste, his presence, and his warm comfort, that’s all I’ll ever need.
I pull back. “Would you really read a two-hundred-and-seventy-seven-page document for me?” I ask with mock seriousness.
“Baby,” Oliver looks into my eyes with deep adoration, “for you, I'll even do three hundred.”
I bite his neck, and he yelps out a laugh, falling back on the bed.
***
When Matt shifts in front of Oliver the first time, things get unexpectedly emotional ...and sexy. Read the Bonus Epilogue.
Does Nick ever figures out what's wrong with Elliot? Read Nick and Elliot's story in Claws & Cover Ups.
One werewolf cop. One human serial killer. Zero good choices.
Nick
Detective Nicholas Harper is starting to suspect his city has a villain problem.
He’s busy hunting killers for the LAPD by day and the Werewolf Regulation Bureau by night.
He absolutely doesn’t have time to obsess over Dr. Elliot Rhodes, the chronically unimpressed human who saw a werewolf shift and lied about it. But his wolf needs to know why.
Six months of stalking hasn’t helped. It’s time to change tactics. He’ll date Elliot. Get closer. Find the crack. Except the closer Nick gets, the more his “plan” involves fewer questions and fewer clothes.
And when the truth finally comes out, it’s already too late. Now Elliot is in danger. But Nick doesn’t share. He will tear the city apart to get Elliot back.
Elliot
Veterinarian by day. Killer of bad werewolves by night. A useless human before morning coffee. Elliot absolutely doesn’t have time for curious, annoyingly attractive detectives hovering around him. Especially werewolf ones.
But when Nicholas makes it clear he’s interested, Elliot can’t refuse. He has eyes. And needs. It was supposed to be casual. Just sex. No strings. Elliot didn’t expect Nicholas to make him come undone in more ways than one.
So, he's too distracted when the consequences finally catch up to him. And this time, the cost might be his life.
Tags: a golden retriever werewolf, a black cat serial killing human, high heat, friends who show love by stealing Nick’s dog, a grumpy human who’s only cute before coffee (allegedly), an overworked secret werewolf agency, criminally good tech support for criminals, and hookups that definitely aren’t just hookups.