Chapter 27
Just before lunch on Tuesday, Dash finally arrived at work.
Before Emerson could climb out of bed and navigate them back to dock in the early hours, he’d jumped on the man once more, incapable of stopping himself—or denying their mutual pleasure.
He was still consumed by need as he walked through the doors of Keller Security, belatedly wishing he’d taken one more day to ease the pulsing ache within.
His heats were usually brief, so it felt strange to still be gripped by it.
Fortunately, it was easy enough to ignore… he’d wasted enough time as it was. A man was missing. Multiple men were missing. He already felt enough shame that he’d surrendered to craven need instead of doing his fucking job.
His gaze met Eliott’s as soon as he entered.
He was expecting the ninth degree and wasn’t in the mood for it—nor did he want to bite the guy’s head off, either.
Buzzing past Eliott’s desk, he tossed out a quick “morning,” and kept a brisk pace until he entered his office and closed the door behind him.
He sighed with relief, glad to be alone and unquestioned.
That was, until Jackson rose from the seat in front of his desk.
Dash’s gaze flew to the file in the man’s hand before meeting Jackson’s hard gaze.
“How long have you been sitting there?”
Jackson shrugged. “An hour. Maybe more.”
Dash glanced around, wondering if Jackson had peeked at anything in his office.
He knew damned well he’d locked everything up before leaving last, yet the door had been sitting wide open.
Not even Eliott had a key because of the sensitive items he stored there.
“You didn’t need to sit around and wait. I planned to call you once I was in.”
“I sensed you might not call at all.”
Dash didn’t know what to say to that. He might not have called—if that file didn’t hint that it could shed massive light on his case.
“Although, as much as you’re drooling over what’s in my hand, maybe you would have,” Jackson said, his tone lighter than his expression.
Dash didn’t smile. He was too deep in his head, wishing they could just get past what happened and return to the way things were before. He missed Jackson. The old, lighthearted Jackson.
But then, if he was honest, the problem was more him than Jack.
“Look…” Dash said at the same time Jackson said, “Dash…”
They both paused before doing it again.
“We need to figure…” Dash said as Jackson said, “There has to be a way…”
They both paused, chuckled uncomfortably, and looked away from one another.
“Why don’t you go first?” Dash said.
Sighing, Jackson scanned the office, never looking at Dash. “You know I’d never want to see you hurt, right?”
Dash eyed the man, now more a stranger than friend. He knew Jackson wouldn’t harm him—at least he had until his faith had been sorely tested. The trust he’d had in the man had been battered and bruised.
“Especially by my own hand,” Jackson added.
“I know that. Logically. But what happened left a mark, Jack.”
Jackson frowned, shaking his head with confusion. “How about all the times we saved one another’s ass?”
“Or the last time you saved mine—there in that very same locker room minutes earlier,” Dash said.
Jackson flinched.
“I’ve never truly thanked you for what you did,” Dash mumbled.
“Don’t,” Jackson snapped. He scratched his head, running his palm over the soft waves there, his gaze on the floor. “Don’t thank me for that.”
Awkward silence filled the space between them.
“I wish it hadn’t happened,” Dash said.
Jackson’s gaze flew to his. “What happened brought you here. Where you belong.”
Where you belong. Dash sighed, hearing his own words parroted back at him. He also hadn’t missed what had sounded like the hard edge of pain in Jackson’s voice.
“Do you plan on reclassifying now?” Jackson asked.
Dash narrowed his eyes, remembering the conversation they’d had before he’d left the Guard. Jackson had offered to ‘do right by him’ and become his mate, as if that would’ve made things any better between them.
Working so close for so long had built a bond.
They’d had to put their lives in one another’s hands over and over again.
He could see how Jackson might easily confuse that bond for intimacy.
There’d been times he’d felt a similar confusion in the heat of the moment.
But once the haze had cleared, he’d realized Aiden and Jackson were his brothers, not potential partners.
His love for them was familial and nothing more.
And now, even that felt lost. If Jackson couldn’t see reason, there might not be any point in trying to salvage their friendship. Not if it would be filled with jealousy and recriminations.
“I might have omega insides, but I’m an alpha, Jack. I refuse to relinquish that and become something I’m not in the eyes of this province.”
“So… you’re saying you don’t care about this man enough to make the two of you legal?”
That statement was a punch to the gut. Could he really stand before a judge and declare to the entire world that he was an omega—and not the alpha he was?
He’d refused when the Black Guard had passed him the paperwork, ripping it up and tossing it in the garbage on his way out the door. He was an alpha, regardless of what anyone claimed.
Yet in that moment, he had to consider it.
What would he truly lose? Omegas had rights in Fort Seattle that they didn’t have elsewhere.
Sure, the way he looked would still cause problems for them.
He didn’t look like an omega, so there would be stares and potentially even confrontation and legal issues, but it was a path to being with Emerson legally.
He’d only have to lie to the world about who he really was. As long as Emerson still treated him as an alpha, did the rest matter?
A lump formed in his throat. It did matter. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it did. He identified as an alpha and he didn’t want to pretend he was something else for the rest of his life.
“No witty comeback? Will the wonders never cease,” Jackson murmured.
Dash shook himself from his thoughts.
“Or are you actually considering it?” Jackson asked, his brows furrowing deep.
Dash met Jackson’s gaze, unwilling to answer.
“Wow,” Jackson said, the sound near a whisper. He winced, shaking his head. “Maybe this guy really is it for you.”
“I’m not going to discuss my relationship with Emerson with you,” Dash said. “You’re here to help with my case. Nothing more.”
Jackson’s jaw clenched and he glared at Dash. “It is what it is, then.”
Dash’s next breath was difficult to drag in. “It’s not the way I want it, but clearly it’s the way it needs to be.”
Jackson laid his file on Dash’s desk and rapped his knuckles over the cover. “I’ve got some errands to run. I’ll be back for this later.”
Dash watched him depart. Before Jackson could open the door, a comment sprung from his lips that he couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Had it not been for you, that day would’ve been a million times worse.”
Jackson slowly spun to look at him.
He paused, dragging his gaze from Jackson’s. No way could he face the man while offering his appreciation after that shameful day. “Thank you.”
Jackson was silent. After a few seconds, he nodded and mumbled something under his breath. A half-assed, forced smile came after. “I’ll see you later.”
As Jackson walked out the front, glass doors, Mason appeared in his eyeline, also watching Jackson’s departure. When he turned and noticed Dash, he sauntered closer, leaning on the doorframe. “Got a minute?”
“Sure,” Dash said, though he’d prefer to get a breather between one confrontation and the next. “Why not?”
Mason closed the door and sat in the chair that groaned under him. “I want to apologize. I overstepped yesterday.”
Dash relaxed a little, not expecting that. “You were worried. I can’t fault you for that.”
“Yeah, worried is fine, but tracking you down?” Mason said. He stared out Dash’s office window. “I let Jackson get me worked up.”
“I should’ve messaged you myself.”
“Make sure you teach him a codeword for next time.”
“Next time?” Dash asked, eyeing Mason. “I figured you came in here to persuade me to end things again.”
“I watched a possessive alpha—unclothed and unarmed— ready to lay his life on the line to protect his omega.”
Dash rolled his eyes. “That was the instinct talking. I’m not an omega, Mason.”
“I know that but seeing him like that—and then seeing you cling to him and th—.”
“I wasn’t clinging,” Dash snapped.
“If you want to argue semantics, fine,” Mason said. “I know what I saw. No way in hell am I getting in the way of whatever this is.”
“Even if it means the business might suffer?”
“We’ll work on the changes you suggested and move on as carefully as we can,” Mason said. “You’ll get no more arguments from me about it now.”
As if Dash needed more guilt heaped on his shoulders. He was being a selfish ass, putting his desire for Emerson above everything else in his life. It wasn’t fair.
But after a life denying himself, it was hard not to be a little selfish for once.
Mason walked closer and eyed the file on Dash’s desk. “Is this the file Jackson said you walked out of that informant meeting with?”
Dash sighed. “Jackson told you all of my business, did he?”
Mason shrugged. “Not like you wouldn’t have gotten around to telling me today.”
Dash hauled Randall’s thick file out of his messenger bag and dropped it beside Jackson’s. “This is the file I got access to that night. The other one is full of intel Jackson brought with him regarding the Lachlins and their sleazy attorney Crenshaw.”
“There’s got to be close to a thousand pages between the two,” Mason said, flipping through a few pages in Randall’s file. “We’ve already lost a couple of days. We’re going to need as many hands as we can on deck to go through both.”
“I want some time alone with them first. Plus there’s the NDA we need to tiptoe around,” Dash said.
Mason nodded. “Want me to see if I can free anyone up in the meantime?”
Dash nodded. “Can’t hurt to get at least one or two freed up, just in case.”
“I’ll work on that while you dig through this mess,” Mason said.
“Thanks,” Dash said as Mason walked towards the door.
Mason headed out. “You got it, boss.”
“Not the boss,” Dash called out, shaking his head.
“Force of habit, Partner!” Mason yelled from just outside the door.
Seconds after Mason departed, Eliott walked in with a steaming cup of coffee and an armful of papers. He quietly marched to the desk, lowered the cup, and stood waiting for Dash’s attention.
“I didn’t ask for coffee. Is that the trick? Get what ye least expect?” Dash asked jokingly.
“You didn’t call. Didn’t text. Then you just rushed on past this morning without a word,” Eliott said.
“I said ‘morning’.”
Eliott glared as he laid a stack of messages on Dash’s desk and then added a stack of opened mail. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I do not like being kept out of the loop. Nor do I like to worry about you.”
“I’ve just had… some personal stuff going on. I’m sorry.”
Eliott searched his face, frowning. “Something’s different with you.”
Dash stiffened. “Nothing’s different.”
Everything was different. No way he was telling Eliott that.
“Well, you’ve always been different,” Eliott said matter-of-factly. “But now… it’s even more…” Eliott waved a hand, as if he was searching for the right word. “I don’t know. Pronounced. You’re not exactly you anymore.”
“I am very much still me.”
Eliott leaned over the surface of the desk. “I know you’re not like other alphas. We’ve worked together long enough. I’ve seen things. I’ve sensed things.”
Dash clenched his jaw.
“Why in the fuck do you think I’ve put up with the chaos of this place? Yeah, you pay well enough, but it’s you, Dash.” Eliott’s expression softened. “I know I’m safe around you.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Do you really want me to get into the specifics?” Eliott asked.
Panic rose in Dash. What did Eliott see? Did others?
Was his mask slipping?
“It’s nothing strangers would notice,” Eliott said, as if reading his mind. “It’s just a lot of little things that added up.”
“Like?” Dash asked, feigning indifference.
“I’ve worked here for years. I’ve had dozens of heats right under your nose and you haven’t moved a muscle. And I’ve tested you. Gotten real close. It’s like you can’t even scent it.”
“You’re on Heatex and Scentex, right? I wouldn’t have scented anything.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. All the literature claims an alpha won’t notice, but…
they do. It’s not a conscious thing, but if you pay attention, you can tell.
Alphas move in a little closer. They inhale a little deeper when beside me.
Sometimes they accidentally-on-purpose brush against my hand or bump my hip on the trolley home.
” Eliott narrowed his eyes. “The man might not know, but the instinct always does. Even if it’s just a tiny, subconscious thing. ”
Dash attempted not to react. How would he have known to do any of that? He’d never reacted to any omega in his life and wasn’t sure he’d go into rut if faced with an omega in full heat. He’d been more worried about his own heat, more than likely.
“You know who doesn’t react in that way? Betas… and other omegas.” Eliott stood up a little straighter. “And while it’s killing me to know which, I won’t ask. It’s none of my business. I just want you to know that I don’t care that you’re pretending to be an alpha.”
“I’m not pretending,” Dash bit out, glaring at Eliott.
Eliott’s expression shifted into one of concern. He’d overstepped and he knew it. “I’m sorry, Dash… I just meant…”
“You have things wrong,” Dash said, trying to keep the venom from his voice. He sensed Eliott was trying to show acceptance, but in his current state of mind and the guy’s two-left-feet way of explaining himself, all it had done was cause his hackles to rise more.
“I appreciate you,” Eliott blurted.
Dash sighed, lowering his gaze.
“I appreciate that you’re not like other alphas… and that’s why I feel safe with you. That’s all I was trying to say.”
Dash met Eliott’s stare. “Heard.”
Eliott scoffed. “You’re the toughest nut I’ve ever tried to crack. Each time I think I see a splinter, it just seals itself right back up.”
“It has to,” Dash whispered.
Eliott examined his face a moment before nodding. “Okay… now that that’s over, don’t expect me to be all nice and kissy-ass again anytime soon. We don’t have that kind of relationship, got it?”
Dash smirked. “Got it.”
“Good.” Eliott pointed to the mail. “I need you to look these over before I can enter them into the system.”
“I’ll get to them as soon as possible.”
“You’ll get to them now so I can take care of them,” Eliott said, lifting a brow.
Dash reached for the pile, sighing. “Now’s good.”
“Damned right it is,” Eliott said, crossing his arms over his chest and fighting a victorious smile.