Lone Wolf’s Mate

Prologue

Jude

“Got one,” Derek says, nodding toward a figure slumped against the brick wall of a closed storefront. “He looks toasted.”

The snow falls heavy on Peachtree Street, muffling the sounds of New Year’s Eve revelers spilling out of bars and restaurants. My breath fogs in the cold air as I scan the crowd with my partner. We’ve been on patrol for nine hours and my feet are numb in my boots.

The man Derek spotted is in his forties, unshaven and wearing a thin jacket with patches on the elbows.

His breath reeks of whiskey when we approach, and he can barely focus his eyes.

My wolf picks up his scent. He’s human, seems to be no threat, just drunk off his ass on the last night of the year.

“How are you doing tonight, sir? You okay?” I’m taller than him by a few inches, so I bend down to his level while Derek stands back, arms crossed.

“Oh yeah.” His words slur together. “No problems here.”

I purse my lips, studying his flushed cheeks and glazed eyes. “Have you been drinking, sir?” The answer is obvious, but I ask anyway.

The guy grimaces. “I may have had a drink or two.” His statement is punctuated by a comical hiccup.

Derek sniggers. “This guy’s like a cartoon drunk.”

I give my partner a chiding glance. Derek is a good cop, but he lacks empathy. To me, that’s one of the most important qualities a cop should have. At the very least, a police officer should care about people.

“My wife’s been sick,” the drunk guy mumbles, rubbing at his eyes. “All I want is to forget for a little while, you know?” His eyes are pleading as they meet mine. “I’m broke and the hospital bills just keep piling up. Can’t I have just one night to forget about everything? Is that so wrong of me?”

Derek chuffs. “How about your wife? Does she get to forget about all the problems while you’re off getting soused? She’s the one who’s sick.”

The drunk guy’s flush deepens. “You don’t get it,” he says gruffly. “Nobody does.”

“I get it,” I volunteer, meeting his gaze. “You’re having a bad time of it and you need to let off some steam. That’s understandable. The issue is that public intoxication is against the law. Plus, it’s not safe. You could fall down or someone could rob you.”

Scowling, the guy waves me off. “Ain’t no one going to rob me.”

It’s not lost on me he didn’t argue about the falling down part.

Derek shifts his weight. “We should take him in. He’s plastered.”

The man’s eyes well up. “You’re going to arrest me?” His voice wobbles. “Why? I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just a guy with problems, that’s all. You’re going to make everything worse by locking me up?”

I hesitate. “You can’t be out on the public sidewalk drunk.”

He nods. “Okay, then I’ll go home.” He swallows loudly. “Please don’t take me to jail. I’ll go home and sleep it off. How’s that sound?”

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Marcus,” he says quickly. “Marcus Dougherty.”

Exhaling, my breath hangs in the chilly air. “You promise you’ll go straight home?”

Derek makes a disgusted sound.

“I promise.” The guy holds up one calloused hand. “Scouts honor, officer.”

Something in his voice gets to me. Maybe it’s the genuine despair in his bloodshot eyes. Maybe it’s because it’s New Year’s Eve and I’m thinking about fresh starts and second chances. My wolf settles, reading no danger from this broken man.

“You got a way to get home?” I ask.

The guy nods. “I can walk. It’s just a few blocks.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Derek says under his breath. “This guy’s trouble. I can tell.”

“He’s drunk, that’s all. You heard his reasons.” I meet Derek’s skeptical gaze. “What’s the harm in letting him go home instead of wasting taxpayers’ money to lock him up?”

“You’re too damn soft.” Derek shakes his head. “If it was up to you, we’d never arrest anyone.”

“That’s not true.” I wrinkle my brow. “I arrest people all the time. Hell, we arrested a bunch of people this evening. What’s gotten into you? Don’t you have any holiday spirit?”

“Holiday spirit,” Derek echoes scathingly. “It’s not my job to have holiday spirit. It’s my job to enforce the laws of our city.”

“Come on, man,” I sigh. “It’s New Year’s Eve. I say we give him a break.”

Derek’s mouth thins but he says nothing.

I put my hand on the drunk guy’s shoulder. “Do I have your word you’ll go straight home? No more boozing it up tonight?”

“Yes. Yes. I’ll go straight home,” he says breathlessly.

“Okay, then we’ll let you off with a verbal warning tonight. But listen up. If we see you back out here drinking, you’re going to jail.”

“I understand.” The guy gives a grateful smile, showing crooked yellow teeth. “Thank you, officers. Thank you so much.”

“No problem. Now have a good rest of your evening. And good luck to you and your wife.”

“You too, sir.” Marcus stumbles off, pulling his coat collar up around his ears.

I watch him go, feeling good about giving him a break.

Not an emotion shared by my partner, if his sourpuss expression is anything to go by.

My wolf prickles with irritation at how uncharitable Derek is, but I force it down.

I made the right call. Besides, I’m the senior officer, so Derek will just have to suck it up.

“Mark my words, this will end up biting you in the ass,” Derek grumbles as we head back to the patrol car.

“I disagree.” I open the vehicle door and meet Derek’s surly gaze over the roof of our car.

“We showed compassion to someone tonight. That’s a good thing.

That means one less person in the system.

Marcus gets to wake up with his wife on New Year’s Day instead of in a jail cell. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Something dark passes through Derek’s eyes, but he just shrugs and gets into the car.

****

The next afternoon I’m called into Lieutenant Morris’s office. I’ve expressed interest in being assigned to a task force for abused children and I assume that’s why he’s summoned me. But when I enter his office, my usually congenial boss doesn’t look up or greet me with his typical warm smile.

“Close the door, Collins.”

His gruff tone makes my stomach drop. I close the door and stand at attention, my wolf suddenly alert. “Sir, you wanted to speak to me?”

He sets his pen down carefully and looks up. His gaze is hard and his jaw tight. “Want to tell me about last night?”

I frown. “Last night, sir?”

“Marcus Dougherty. Does that name ring a bell?”

I have to think for a moment because it doesn’t.

Then I remember the inebriated male human I’d given a warning to the evening before.

I grimace. “Oh, right. Did Derek come to you about that?” I sigh.

“Sir, I’m not sure why Derek is so bothered by that incident.

Mr. Dougherty was just drunk. I saw no harm in letting him go home to sleep it off. His wife is sick and—”

“Marcus Dougherty robbed a liquor store at midnight last night,” he growls, standing up, his face red. “He shot and killed the owner, David Kim. Kim died on the scene.”

Shock rolls through me and the blood rushes through my ears. I put my hand out to steady myself on the chair in front of his desk. “What?” I whisper.

“Kim’s daughter found him when she went over to the store to help close up for the night.” Morris’s voice is flat. Emotionless. But anger burns in his eyes.

“I don’t understand.” I rub the back of my neck, trying to make sense of what I’m hearing. I’m in complete shock at what he’s saying to me. “He promised he’d go home to his sick wife…”

“What a surprise,” he says coldly. “A criminal lied.”

I wince at the raw hostility in his voice. Lieutenant Morris has never looked at me with such disdain before. I feel sick as I hold his angry, accusing stare. “Sir, there was nothing in Marcus Dougherty’s behavior to suggest he’d be violent.”

“No?” Lieutenant Morris laughs humorlessly. “Well the surveillance footage shows Dougherty murdering Kim, clear as day. As a matter of fact, he’s already confessed to the crime.”

I gape at him, guilt and horror eating at me. “Sir, I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Did you even bother running his name to check for warrants or anything?” He comes around his desk, shoulders bunched. “You didn’t, did you? You just let him go without even running his name.”

“Sir, he was just drunk and upset about his wife’s health and medical bills.

He wasn’t doing anything when we came up on him.

He was drunk but not causing any trouble.

I… I can’t believe he killed someone.” I’m dazed as I hold his gaze.

“I went easy on him because it was a holiday and I was just trying to… show compassion.”

“Yeah?” he rasps. “Well, he didn’t show David Kim any goddamned compassion, of that I can assure you.

” Even though he’s human, his authority fills the room.

“If you’d bothered to look into Dougherty’s background you’d have seen he was in prison for armed robbery and just got out six months ago.

You made a judgment call, Collins. A bad one.

Because you didn’t run a check on Dougherty, a man is dead. ”

“Sir…” I let out a shaky breath. “Even if I had run Dougherty’s name, whether he had a record or not, he wasn’t acting belligerent or violent. He wasn’t doing anything other than leaning up against a wall. He’d… he’d just had too much to drink. I probably still wouldn’t have arrested the guy.”

“Oh, really?” he growls. “Well, Derek sure as shit thought you should. If you’d listened to your partner, maybe David Kim would be alive today.”

Guilt mixes with anger and betrayal. It’s obvious Derek went running to the lieutenant because he didn’t like my decision to let Dougherty off easy.

The disloyalty makes my stomach turn. I knew he resented me pulling rank on him last night, but I hadn’t expected him to sell me out.

Partners are supposed to have each other’s backs.

We’d been on patrol all morning, and he hadn’t said a word about going to the lieutenant or about David Kim’s murder.

He wanted me blindsided. If he’d had any decency, he would’ve given me a heads up.

Humans have no fucking loyalty.

“IA has to take a look at this,” the lieutenant says. “It’s standard procedure, I’m sure you know that.”

I tense, feeling numb. “Right.” This is a nightmare. Probably a career-ending nightmare.

“While IA looks into things you’re on paid leave.” He clears his throat. “I’ll need your badge and weapon for now.”

Robotically, I comply. I can’t believe what’s happening.

I did a good deed and this is how it turned out.

It doesn’t even really matter what the IA has to say about this situation.

I’m already condemning myself. Even if technically I did nothing wrong, a man lost his life because of a decision I made.

The lieutenant says a few more things but I’m deaf to them.

I’m in my head now, and all I can think about is getting out of his office.

Once he dismisses me, I head straight to the parking garage before I run into any of my co-workers.

I sit in my car, hands shaking on the steering wheel, and try to breathe.

My eyes sting and there’s a lump in my throat the size of a golf ball.

When my phone buzzes, I tug it from my pocket. There’s a text from Derek.

I told you so.