“Damn. You more than like her if you were able to mate her, dumbass.” Daire coughed out another laugh. “I know you’re a reason-type of guy, but even you know that.”
Kell exhaled slowly. Yeah, it was more than like, but he certainly didn’t have to explore his fucking feelings with his brothers, now did he? “I need to contact the queen, anyway. If Alexandra wants out, I have to know how it works.”
Daire’s head jerked. “She wants out?”
Kell laughed. “I appreciate your shock that the woman might not want to stay mated to me for eternity, brother.”
Daire grinned. “I guess that’s true. It’s just that, you’d think a human would want immortality. Even if she had to stay bound to your ugly mug.”
“I guess we’ll have to figure that one out.” Kell relaxed back into the sofa. Surely Alexandra had some feelings for him, considering the bond had taken with her body. That had to mean something, right? “I may have to court her.”
Adam laughed. “You’re going to court a Seattle homicide cop who you’ve already branded and bitten.” He turned to Daire, his smile widening. “I am so fucking glad I’m here in the states working on Apollo and not in Dublin like I’d originally planned. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
A cop. Kell blew out air. “She’s in more danger than ever now. Whoever broke into her place was a witch, and he could fight. She won’t let go of this investigation, and she’s smart. Damn smart. Hell, she might even find the manufacturer before we do.”
“We searched her apartment and couldn’t find anything a witch or the maker of Apollo would want, so we have no clue what those guys were looking for. Besides, I can’t imagine a witch would be behind Apollo,” Adam said slowly. “Unless it’s yet another chance to take out the Coven Nine.”
“I thought we were through with intrigue and war for a while,” Daire muttered. “We can’t even stop and enjoy the fact that our wild brother just mated a cop. A cop!”
“Any chance she’ll back off and let you finish the case?” Adam asked.
Kellach shook his head. “Not a chance in hell.”
“We can have her contained back home. She won’t like it, but you can make it happen,” Daire said.
Truly tempting, but Kell would rather not begin his mating by pissing off his mate enough to shoot him. There was only one solution. “We’ll have to work together.” All he had to do was gain Alexandra’s cooperation.
A blue hue of fire danced on his right arm at the idea.
At the challenge.
The heavy weight of her ankle piece offered almost as much reassurance as the gun tucked into Lex’s waistband when she slowly parked her car near one of the garages at the Grizzly Club. Two of the garage doors were open, and several members milled around, working on bikes and a couple cars. In fact, Garrett and Logan worked in unison on a vintage Harley.
Now wasn’t that interesting? They were prospects with Titans of Fire, and no way in hell would prospects of one club be hanging out at another club, even an ally.
She got out of her car, and instantly, Bear loped her way from near the garage, once again wiping greasy hands on a towel. “Detective?”
Somehow, he was even larger than she remembered.
“Bear. You did say to come back any time.” She shielded her eyes from the waning sun.
He looked at her empty car. “Kell know you’re here?”
“Why would he?” she countered.
Bear lifted a shoulder the size of a board. “Dunno.” He glanced toward the smaller door he’d emerged from the other day. “Would you like to come into my office?”
She swallowed. “I’m good out here.” A quick glance at the cycles showed Garrett and Logan watching intently. “Want to tell me what the Fire prospects are doing here?”
“Not really.” Bear finished wiping and shoved the rag into the back pocket of very worn, well-fitting jeans. “Anything else?”
She studied him. Wavy brown hair, wild to his shoulders, honey-mellowed brown eyes. Biker boots, jeans, dark T-shirt. Hulking, smooth, and lazily intent. She grinned. “I heard a rumor about you.”
“Is that so?” His eyes remained warm and his posture relaxed.
Even so, her heart rate shifted into gear. “Yes. I heard that the Grizzlies are looking to distribute Apollo.”
He smiled, transforming his rugged face into something wildly beautiful. “You heard wrong, Detective Monzelle. We don’t do drugs, we don’t distribute drugs, and we don’t sell drugs. Ever.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re more than you seem?” she asked quietly.
“Everybody is more than they seem,” he countered easily. “Take you, for instance.”
She stilled. “Me?”
“Sure. You’re fragile, dainty, and really pretty.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “And?”