Chapter 23
Emerson suddenly remembered they weren’t alone.
He turned his gaze towards Randall, who sat quietly watching them.
Emerson cleared his throat, squeezed Dash’s hand, and tried not to let the joy spreading through him force a broad smile on his lips—not when he wasn’t completely sure Randall would approve.
“Does anyone else know?” Randall asked. “Family-wise?”
“Harrison found out last night. He’s the only one.”
“How’d he take the news?” Randall asked.
“Better than you,” Emerson replied.
“I wasn’t upset you were with Dash,” Randall said.
“I was scared for you both.” He looked away for a second and then back.
“When I was searching for the arrested men, I saw the way some of those alphas lived. I guess I can kind of see why you might’ve been hesitant to share.
I guess I saw… but didn’t connect that with you… and us.”
“I’m glad you can see why,” Emerson said. “And I want you to know that I didn’t hide away because I wanted to. I felt like I had no other choice. It has destroyed me to keep you all at a distance.”
“Now that I know, does that mean I get my brother back?” Randall asked him.
Emerson fought the sting at the backs of his eyes. He nodded, worried the second he spoke, he’d lose it. After wiping at the wetness under one eye and clearing his throat, he sighed. “I’d love nothing more.”
Randall wore a small smile. “I’d like that, too.”
Emerson grinned.
“Maybe you could take us all out fishing on this heap of yours. After we take a look at that motor.”
Emerson chuckled. “You always did know your way around an internal combustion engine.” He nodded. “Help with that and fishing is absolutely on—but you and Harrison are the only two who know about the boat. I can’t have family stopping by and seeing something they shouldn’t.”
“How could we go fishing without Luke and Fitz?” Randall asked, scowling.
Emerson hedged.
“Maybe it’s time to tell everyone,” Randall said. “You know us, Em. We’re not the turn-our-backs kind of family. You’d have to kill someone for that to happen and even then, we’d check first to make sure the other guy didn’t have it coming.”
Emerson barked with laughter, yet the idea of sharing the news with the whole Walker clan made him nervous. He’d lucked out so far, but what if that luck ran out? “I’ll consider it.”
“You should,” Randall said. He turned to Dash. “Maybe you should, too. Even if you have to hide this from the outside world, you might have people in your corner who will accept who you are—and help protect what you both have here.”
Dash held Randall’s stare before it turned to Emerson. He saw panic growing in Dash’s eyes and completely understood it.
Emerson squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to decide anything now.”
Dash nodded but didn’t speak.
Quiet filled around the table. A ship horn sounded in the distance.
“Maybe I can listen closer to that motor on the way back to the marina?” Randall asked. He drained the rest of his ginger ale. “And I’ll take that beer now.”
Emerson grinned. “Let’s go.”
Once Randall departed, Emerson walked back into the belly of the boat and eyed Dash.
He remained sitting in the booth, pouring over the files Randall had reluctantly agreed to leave with him.
Emerson scooted in beside Dash again, the unfamiliar alpha’s scent once again coming to his nose.
He fought a growl but couldn’t fight his curiosity.
Or the glimmer of jealousy.
“Who’d you meet with this evening that made you late?”
Dash looked over at him. “An ex-teammate from the Guard landed on my doorstep unexpectantly. He also came bearing a massive file of information. It’s going to take me weeks to wade through both files.
” Dash laid down the sheet in his hand. “I’m going to be really busy for a while.
You realize that, right? We might see little of one another moving forward.
” He scrubbed his face. “Even if I call an all hands on deck with my team, this is going to be a massive undertaking.”
“I could help, you know?” Emerson said. “I’m sure Harrison might be willing to let me take some time off to do a little investigating for you.”
“You’d want to do that?”
“Beats sitting around in that office with nothing to do,” Emerson said. “I might have to race out if there’s a suspicious fire—or a major one—but otherwise, I’ve got nothing but time on my hands lately. Like I said, it’s been very quiet as of late since our serial arsonist went away.”
Dash appeared hesitant. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think we should mix personal and professional. It’s not smart.”
“You just said it was a massive undertaking. I can help. Use me.”
“I can’t,” Dash said.
“You don’t want to.”
Dash’s jaw clenched.
“Does this have anything to do with the alpha you met with earlier? The ex-teammate I scent all over you?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Dash griped. He shoved all the loose papers back into one of the files. “I need to go.”
“Does it?” Emerson asked, refusing to move until Dash answered him.
Dash glared, his eyes narrowing.
Emerson fought a stronger wave of jealousy. Like nothing he’d ever felt before. “Are you in a relationship with another alpha?”
“Are you serious?”
“Are you?” Emerson demanded.
“Fuck you,” Dash snapped. He waved a hand. “Let me out.”
“I think I deserve an answer first.”
“I told you I’d never been with an alpha—until you. Then you sit here and tell your brother that you think I’m your mate, then turn around and question if I’m screwing another alpha? How fucking dare you!”
Emerson closed his eyes, realizing then that he’d seriously fucked up. “I’m sorry. I got this… wave of possessiveness when I scented another man on you. I didn’t mean to…”
“Didn’t mean to do what?” Dash asked, cocking his head to the side. “Be an asshole? Whether you meant it or not, you were.” He pulled Randall’s files into one arm. “Get the fuck out of my way!”
“Dash…”
Dash ignored him. He rose, spinning to plant his ass on the table, before spinning again to the other side of the booth.
After giving Emerson the finger, he marched out the door.
Emerson sat there for a few seconds, wondering if he should chase Dash down—or let him cool off before begging for forgiveness.
While the first idea screamed in his veins, he opted for the second. There was no way Dash was going to listen to him tonight. He drummed his fingers on the tabletop, trying to remain calm. And still.
Of course, he lost that battle.
Dash was in full nuclear meltdown as he stormed to his car—only to find another infuriating alpha standing beside his car. He ignored the man, opening the passenger doors to secure Randall’s files before rounding and shoving a finger towards Jackson’s face.
“You’re a fucking asshole, too.”
Jackson grinned. He leaned lazily against Dash’s sedan, his arms and ankles crossed.
Dash backed up a step, barely able to breathe from the rage within. He paced the length of the car, attempting to calm himself down.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this upset over anything, Keller. I’m impressed,” Jackson said.
“Do not talk to me right now,” Dash snapped as he made another lap. When he felt a little more in control, he eyed Jackson. “I tossed your tracker. How did you find me?”
“You found the dummy tracker,” Jackson said, grinning. “Not the real one.”
“You asshole.”
“So, you said,” Jackson murmured, chuckling to himself. “Who’s this guy you were just arguing with?”
“None of your business.”
“Sounds serious. Did I hear the word mate lobbed around?”
Dash spun to glare at Jackson, ready to launch a full-scale attack—but he stopped himself somehow. “You know what, I’ve had my fill of asshole alphas tonight. I’m going home,” Dash said, marching past Jackson and to his car.
“Is he your mate?” Jackson asked while Dash had his hand on the door handle.
“Of course he’s not,” Dash snapped. “You know full well that’s impossible.”
“I’ve seen many so-called impossible things turn out to be quite possible,” Jackson said. “So have you.”
Dash glared.
Jackson lifted off the car and walked closer. He stopped a few inches from Dash. “I’ve always gotten the sense you might be into alphas. I tried to catch your eye for years, with no luck. What’s he got that I don’t?”
Me.
“I don’t know.” Dash sighed. This was a conversation he’d never wanted to have and was less in the mood to have it than any other moment in his life.
Jackson lifted a hand to Dash’s face. Before Dash could pull away, he heard a growl. When he turned, Emerson stepped out of the shadows and into a circle of illumination from one of the overhead parking lot lights, staring at them.
More to the point, staring at Jackson.
“Touch him and die,” Emerson growled.
Why the fuck did that possessive alpha bullshit suddenly turn Dash on so fucking much? It should’ve made him livid—yet all the anger immediately manifested into raw need. His cock grew hard, his body tensing.
Jackson growled back in answer yet thankfully took a step away from Dash. The last thing they needed was two alphas brawling—over another alpha.
“Get out of here before something we’ll all regret happens,” Dash said to Jackson.
Jackson turned to eye him a moment. “We’ve had enough regret, I suppose.” He lifted his hands in surrender and glanced at Emerson. “It’s all good. I’ll go.”
Once Jackson was a few feet away, Dash could finally breathe easier. He peeked at Emerson, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Jackson.
As he walked away, Jackson looked over his shoulder and grinned at Dash. “I’ll see you at your office tomorrow around nine, hmm? You can finish reviewing my file—and maybe you can let me look at whatever you’re hiding in your front seat.”
“We’ll see,” Dash spat.
After Jackson slipped behind the wheel of his rental and pulled away, the parking lot was completely empty, besides the two of them and a few unoccupied vehicles.
The whole place was desolate, other than the large ships in the faraway docks.
Dash turned his focus to Emerson, who stood with accusation in his eyes.
“Oh, hell nooo,” Dash said. “You’re not going to make me feel like the bad guy here. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Emerson slowly walked closer, his expression masked in shadow until he stopped under the light where Dash stood. Dash’s body trembled in recognition as soon as Emerson neared. Emerson’s pheromones were thick and cloying. In that moment, there was no doubt about it. This was his alpha.
Instead of anger, all he felt was longing.
“Why was he here?” Emerson asked, his voice calmer than what Dash sensed he was.
Dash’s first instinct was to tell Emerson to fuck off once more—but for some reason he couldn’t stop himself from answering.
“Jackson’s come to help me with the investigation—at the direction of the Black Guard.
I was late because I was reviewing the intel he’d gathered.
When I noticed the time, I told him I was late to a meeting with an informant.
He offered to come as my backup, but I refused.
I told him I was covered, but he apparently followed me anyway,” Dash said before realizing there was another tracker on him somewhere. He searched his pockets again.
“What are you doing?”
“He put a tracker on me,” Dash said. “It’s how he found me.” When he came up empty, he glanced at his car. “Or maybe it’s not on me.” He knelt and searched the closest wheel well. On the third, he found the tracker. Growling, he hurled it into the water.
“You two seem pretty close,” Emerson said, shoving his hands in his pockets as Dash walked closer.
There was a hint of accusation in his voice, but the barest of hints.
Dash inhaled and almost wished he hadn’t. Emerson’s scent was overpowering. It left him feeling shaky.
“We were close. Not intimate, but going on dangerous ops as a small team, you get close to the men you work with. You have to trust them with your life. Lines can get blurred, but I never crossed the line with Jackson.”
“Did he cross one with you?”
Dash froze. After a couple of seconds, he shook his head. “No.”
“You called the name Jackson when you were having your nightmare,” Emerson said, pinning him with a stare.
Dash’s eyes widened. “I did?”
“Did he hurt you?” Emerson asked, simmering anger clear in his voice.
Another tremor went down Dash’s spine. “No!”
Emerson searched his face, silent.
“He didn’t,” Dash said. “In fact, he saved me from being hurt.” Dash stared down at the ground, trying to calm his shaking body. “Him and Mason.”
“Are you okay?” Emerson asked, the anger gone from his voice. It was replaced with concern.
Dash lifted his shaking hands.
He wasn’t okay.
He realized that reaction he’d had the first time with Emerson—it had suddenly returned. Why now? What had triggered it?
There wasn’t time for questions, though.
“You need to get me back on the boat and pull away from the marina,” Dash said, struggling to breathe.
Emerson closed the gap between them, grasping Dash’s arm with alarm in his expression. But as soon as he was inches away, another growl came.
His alpha had caught wind.
“We have to go,” Dash whispered, panic sending him over the edge. “Or we’re going to be caught.”
Emerson lowered his head, scenting Dash. The tip of his nose rubbed just under his ear and sent a spiral of need through him. Dash turned his head, pressing his nose against Emerson’s shoulder and inhaling.
The need took hold.
He couldn’t allow it. Not yet.
“Emerson!” Dash barked before lurching a few steps away. “Get the files from the front seat… and then we go back to the boat. Now!”
Emerson stumbled back, his gaze pinned on Dash.
“Hurry!” Dash pleaded.
Emerson rounded the car. He pulled the files out and tucked them under one arm before returning to Dash’s side. He shoved his other arm under Dash’s and held on to his back, urging them both forward.
Together they staggered down the dock to Emerson’s boat. He wasn’t even sure how he got from the dock to the deck of the boat but was glad when Emerson finally got them inside. He slammed the files onto the kitchen counter before dragging Dash into his arms.
“What the fuck is this?” Emerson asked, his voice more growl than anything.
“I’m…” Dash shivered. “I’m going into heat.”