Chapter 9: What won't you do for love?

***James***

When I arrived at Sergeant Malloy's base of operations, I found a few patrols with their flashing lights on and a dozen uniformed men crowded in front of an explosion in the city's basement. It had been printed on cheap paper, or perhaps it was my eyes that managed to capture details invisible to humans.

The paint was grainy and the distances between the city's old cistern and the subway station were not perfectly dimensioned.

After I broke those two humans' necks, surveillance in the suburbs tripled and guards were recruited by the local police to cover patrol shifts.

I didn't need to get closer to hear what they were saying, but rather the tones were similar to whispers.

“Have you checked the surveillance cameras?”  a woman with her back to me said. From the peremptory tone with which she addressed her colleagues, I deduced that he was of a superior position. Which left me speechless.

“We asked for the recordings at the Dorian's' bar, but the place where the murder took place has practically no light source and the images are faded. However, a technician is already defragmenting the entire tape to improve the quality of Pixel recording.”

“What do we know so far?” the woman spoke again.

“Man. White. In my thirties. Athletic build, about six feet tall. Long, dark hair.”

I rolled my eyes, irritated. Even if I had killed who knows who…

“Nearby is the headquarters of that advertising agency… what's its name?” asked the only police officer who held his hair in his hands instead of on his head.

“Mount Farrow.”

“Maybe an employee was still there and saw or heard something.” speculated another.

“Could it be. Who's on duty this afternoon?” asked the detective. The authoritative voice was irritating and shrill. It looked very much like a man.

Some officers raised their hands, and she pointed at some of them. “Go over there and ask some questions. If you think someone saw something, bring it directly to me at the police station.”

“Yes sir.”

I kind of laughed. Yes sir? Seriously? But didn't they realize she was a woman? My smile disappeared, overcome by a grimace of disgust. We wouldn't have fucked someone like that, even in the heat of climax.

“James Farrow, what a surprise.”

I turned around as soon as I heard my name.

“Hey, Malloy.” He smiles warmly, shaking his hand. Then I pointed at the police officers, lifting my chin. “Did they confuse your base with the police station?”

Her eyes rested irritably on the detective's back. The modest uniform made it impossible to distinguish his features. Finally, he sighed. A long, loud sigh of resignation.

“That bitch mobilized us forest rangers to solve her case too. As if we didn't already have enough to do. I haven't had a decent meal since last night.”

“There is a medicine for that.” I gave him a slight push before putting an arm around his shoulders, being careful not to put too much weight on him. “I'm inviting you to lunch.”

He looked at the watch on her wrist. “It's a little late, don't you think?”

“The kiosk at the park entrance is always open… if you like grilled meat.”

“Okay, but on one condition.” he accepted my invitation, but remained on the fence. “This time the meat, please don't order it raw.”

I started laughing, walking towards my Pickup. “And did you miss the waitress's shocked expression?”

“Aren't we going to walk?” he ran after me to accompany me.

“Nah… you're too old. I wouldn't want to have to carry him back to base in my arms.”

“I'm younger than you.” he pretended to be irritated. And it was. It really was. In spirit, at least.

Physically, however, as a werewolf, I risked aging much faster than him. Each of our years is equivalent to ten human years, and in the heat we were forced to mate with human females to keep our youthful appearance and strength intact.

“In between.” I insisted.

Malloy climbed into the high seat and fastened his seatbelt after turning the direction of the cold air vent.

“I have some documents for you to see for the renewal of access authorizations in your areas.” he reminded me when we arrived at the kiosk's narrow parking lot. There were no other cars, and I didn't bother parking at the dividing line.

“ Is there any news?” I asked.

“Nothing much, but some tourism agencies are pressuring me to organize tour packages to the valley. They wouldn't enter his territory, but they would still be very close. I would like to avoid unnecessary risks.”

I put on my sunglasses and left, slamming the door. “It's time for the heat, Malloy. You will receive no concessions from me. The territory remains impassable.”

“I imagined.”

This requires you to indicate on the map the limits that should not be exceeded. You've increased in size over the last two years, you're going to need more space…

“Not for the time being. Until I have trained the new recruits well, I will not have enough men at my disposal to control larger terrains.”

“Some borders as always, then?”

I nodded and sat down at the wooden table big enough to seat a dozen diners. The bench creaked under my weight.

We ordered fries, two rare buffalo steaks and two pints of beer.

“So boy, what can you tell me? How is your father?”

“Who's going to kill this?” I joked. “He keeps shouting orders left and right, forgetting that the title of Alpha passed to me two years ago.”

“A matter of habit, I suppose.” he laughed. “Why doesn't he come to town anymore?”

I wrinkled my nose. “He doesn't like the presence of humans very much, you know.”

“And you?” He twisted his mouth and his gaze fixed inquisitively on mine. “How are you after last night?”

I took off my sunglasses and clipped the chain around my neck. Malloy was cunning, too cunning to think he could fool him.

“Then you offend me. What makes you think I was the one who killed those two?”

“The fact that you left your fingernail mark on the back of a victim's head.”

A tight smile escaped me. “You never lose anything, right?”

“Over the years, I've learned to distinguish a murder from a supernatural attack. You almost never leave any traces behind, and the unsolved cases at the police station are starting to get ten centimeters higher… you're not very careful.”

“What do you want me to tell you? At the time, I was distracted by their necks breaking.”

He rolled a cigarette and calmly lit it, releasing a cloud of smoke that stung my nostrils. “What they did?”

“They were following my partner.”

His hand froze in the air and the cigarette almost slipped from his fingers. “Did you find her? My God, boy, we didn't expect this anymore. I prayed every night that you would find her before you turned thirty.”

“Well, go ahead and pray because she's human.”

This time, the cigarette slipped from his two slender fingers and rolled to the floor. I bent down to pick it up and handed it to him.

“Now that's a big problem.” he stuttered.

“Tell me.”

“Have you been in the heat yet?”

“Two hours ago.” I took the cigarette from his hand and took a drag of the smoke, releasing it slowly. “By the way, do you know anyone who can fix windows quickly?”

“Mr. Tucker.” He shook his head. “Why?”

I diverted the conversation with an indifferent wave of my hand. “Forget. Long story.”

I took another drag and handed the cigarette back to him. His eyes never lost sight of me, perhaps waiting to see me scream in despair. Which, by the way, I would have liked to do more than willingly.

“Are you going to transform her?” he asked. The question was obvious, but Malloy was still waiting for an answer.

“Who said I can do this?”

“The movies! You have to transform her before she turns thirty.”

What was? The marathon of obvious phrases?

“We cannot transform humans. That's a movie thing, like you said. And now my priority is to make sure she makes it to my birthday alive. You know how it is…”

“But how are you…” he stopped suddenly, disturbed by the arrival of the waitress. He waited for the food to be placed on the table and continued, speaking in a low voice. “You have been imprinted, but she will not become your mate until you mate with her.”

Live with another summary of the obvious. This Jiminy Cricket version of him was starting to irritate me.

“And how are you going to mate with her while she's still human?” completed the long list of trivia.

“I'll try to convince myself that she's just any human. You know…” I lowered my glasses and looked at him over the metal frame. “It's not like I've never done this to a human.”

He glanced at me sideways. “The intensity of mating with any human is very different from what you feel with your partner.”

That was right. When we mixed with human women, the beast within us remained calm, almost as if it were an absent, bored spectator. There was always the risk that she would awaken, leading us to brutality. Especially during the hot season. And occasionally someone died. But killing any human being wasn't exactly the same thing as killing one's life partner.

“I'll try to hold out until my birthday.” I tried again.

He looked at me even more suspiciously.

“What the fuck, Malloy! What do you want me to tell you?” I took the mug and drank half the beer. “I still don't know what I'll do. I only imprinted three days ago, and I'm already sick of it.”

His eyebrow showed no sign of lowering. Was he looking at me for the third time? Seriously? I held on to the bench just to keep your hands busy and not run the risk of wrapping them around his neck.

“Okay.” I huffed uncomfortably. It was clear he didn't believe anything I said. “That didn't irritate me at all. I mean… just a little.”

“It's frustrating?” he teased me.

I nodded with a single nod. Hell, it was!

“It's strange that you imprinted on a human. As far as I know, this never happened.”

“Not in my pack, certainly, or I would definitely have heard about it.”

“What they call bad luck, right?” he raised the mug to toast. What Christ was there to offer…

I bumped mine against his. “That's why I looked for you. I need your help.”

“You know you can always count on me.”

“I needed to get that little girl closer to me without making her scream in fear in less than two minutes, so I thought about putting together a fake advertising campaign. Advertising stunt to protect the flora and fauna of our forests. Something that can be useful and worth your effort.”

“What disorder?”

“Well…” I coughed embarrassed. “You should pretend to be our client and hire us to…”

His laughter killed the words in my mouth, then turned into a hoarse cough.

“Malloy.” I warned him irritably.

“I shouldn't have to pay myself for anything.” he managed to say between coughs. “Just seeing you court a woman will be so incredible that it will reward me for all the favors I've done your pack over the last forty years.”

“ What a great son of a bitch” I murmured.