Chapter 78

I shrug. “You’re free to come, but then you will also be on babysitting duty. It’s going to take two of you to look after Finn, anyway. He goes a little crazy with all the flashing lights and rides.”

“My son? Crazy?” Cedric looks insulted.

My smile widens, a hint of malicious glee in it. “Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I’m wrong.”

“Of course you are,” he says in an affronted manner. “Finn is a prince. He knows how to carry himself.”

Cedric clearly hasn’t seen his little prince hanging upside down from a tree branch like a monkey.

I turn around and head into the house, gesturing with my hands as I do. “My bad. I’m sure you two will have no problem looking after him tonight.”

My sweet little boy is going to run circles around them.

Usually, Finn tries to be very well behaved. But there are times when he simply gets too excited. Like they do to any child, fairs and carnivals get him all worked up because he wants to do everything at once.

“No fighting with anyone. No shifting. If you think one of the game stalls is cheating you, don’t attack them. Just walk away,” I instruct the two adult men in front of me. “Don’t let him eat much sugar. And he’s too young to go on the big rides. If the person in charge says Finn cannot do it, you do not argue that he is a prince and can do whatever he wants.”

Cedric gives me a disapproving look. “He is a prince, and—”

“If you can’t follow my rules, all three of you can go home.”

“What about you?” My mate studies me. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be with you for a while. Then I have to meet someone.”

The carnival is on the outskirts of the city. Bright, colorful, flashing lights, striped tents, and covered stalls are sprinkled throughout the field on this dark night. There are plenty of people milling about, most of them families or couples. Shifters are sensitive to consistent loud sounds, but since Derrick and Cedric have been on the battlefield for so long, they don’t really register them. And Finn was born here, so his ears have adapted. But even shifters who live in the Human Wolf Kingdom avoid places like these, which is why a carnival is the best place for my meeting.

I pay for everyone’s tickets, and as we head in, I have a firm grip on Finn’s hand. My son looks around in awe, and just as I anticipated, as soon as he sees the first stand, serving spicy chocolate apples, he starts tugging me toward it.

“Can we go there first?” he asks, quivering in excitement.

“Are you sure you want to eat before you go on the rides?” I look down at him. “You know you will throw up afterward.”

“I won’t eat that much!” He looks up at me with his big eyes. “I promise.”

I sigh. “Very well. Let’s get you a spicy apple.”

I don’t know why Finn likes them so much. When we get to the stall, I order one each for Derrick and Cedric, as well.

But as I’m about to pay, Cedric takes out something that looks suspiciously like a wallet. “I can pay for it.”

I stare at him. “Where did you get that from?”

He shrugs. “I have money in this world. I just don’t use it. Never saw the need.”

I watch him carefully count the bills before paying the man, and I smile softly.

Derrick isn’t fond of the spicy chocolate apple, but Cedric, for some reason, shares his son’s peculiar taste. He wants to go back for a second one, but I refuse. There’s a lot to eat here, and if Cedric gets a second apple, Finn will want one as well.

My son is pulling Cedric along by the hand, and he is following him without a complaint. I purposefully guide us toward the darker areas and check my watch. My eyes search the designated meetup spot, and then I see him. A tall man wearing a trench coat.

I make sure that Finn is distracted before I touch Cedric’s arm. “I’ll just be a minute.”

He nods, and I slip away. I make my way to a fried potato vendor where they are selling everything from French fries to tornado swirls. After getting some fries, I stand next to a small, round table near the stall. The man in the trench coat approaches me, holding his own paper plate filled with fries.

He stops next to me and sighs. “Marcy has me on a diet. If she sees me eating these, she’ll kill me.”

“A diet?” I study the gray-haired man. “What for?”

“My heart. Apparently she dreamed that I died of a heart attack. God forbid. But I should be so lucky. If I eat one more baked kale chip, I’ll shoot myself in the chest.”

I chuckle. “She’s just worried about you.”

“Look at me.” The man gestures with his arms. To humor him, I do so.

Tall with a trim figure that doesn’t give away his age, George Hammel is in his late fifties and deputy commissioner of the local police. Normally, our paths would never have crossed, but the fates have their own plans, and I ended up meeting George when I saved his life from a rabid rogue shifter.

Rogue shifters are rare among our kind, and no one knows how they become rabid. George had been in the woods with his sons when the shifter attacked him. I happened to be nearby with Finn. I had been teaching my son how to shift forms when I heard the sound of children screaming.

I ended up killing the shifter, not an easy task but one that became necessary when it turned its attention toward my own son. However, the injuries that I sustained in the process had me shifting back to my human form. I remember how George bandaged me up and helped me back to the city. His children were too young to understand what they had seen, but their father did.

George found my address in my wallet and made sure I got home and into Maya’s care before he left. I intended to tell Erik about my run-in with the man, but I didn’t know who he was. The next time I bumped into him was when I was trying to search for police files on a certain case.

Since then, for all these years, George has kept my secret, and he has helped me with a lot of my investigations. In return, I’ve helped him with a few of his. It’s an odd friendship, but one that is mutually beneficial.

“You look completely healthy,” I announce after my visual inspection of the man. “How are the boys?”

“Nate has started high school.” George looks proud. “Ben is in his last year of middle school. I don’t know how they grew up so fast. How’s Finn? Did you bring him with you?”

He looks around, and I smile. “He’s with his father.”

George appears surprised. “I didn’t know his father was in the picture.”

“He wasn’t. This is a recent development.”

The older man clears his throat. “And you? Are the two of you…”

My smile widens. “We’re working things out. I’m considering moving to be near him.”