Pack Balance (4 page)

Josiah shook his head. “No, I was just making a date for later.”

He slapped his partner on the shoulder. Josiah was a lady’s man and never short on female companionship. Cooper used to enjoy going out with him and watching Josiah use his slick moves on women. That was before Julie. Once he’d hooked up with Julie, he no longer cared about anyone else. After, he couldn’t go back to one-night stands. Not when he’d learned how it felt to have someone at his side to share his days and help him through the tough cases. He was lucky that Josiah and Julie had bonded as friends very quickly, since both of them were such important parts of his life. It had hurt Josiah when Julie had taken off, too. Every time Cooper had tried to call Julie and had gotten her voicemail, Josiah had been at his side, telling him that she would come around. At first, Cooper had believed him but as they days had turned into weeks then months, he knew he’d lost something special.

“Ready to get this over with?” Cooper asked.

“Yeah.”

* * * *

Two hours later, Cooper really wanted to strangle someone. He slammed his fist on his desk. “Nothing! Neither one will tell us shit,” he griped to Josiah.

“At least we can hold them tonight. That will give us time to plan our next move,” Josiah said calmly.

“We need to get a warrant,” Cooper said. “I’d bet anything that they have some of those drugs in their place.”

Josiah sighed. “You know we don’t have enough for a judge to sign off on a warrant. I’ve put some feelers out, so I’ll make a few calls. You knew they wouldn’t talk.”

He had, but that just pissed him off more. He saw Officer Grant hurrying toward him. Hopefully the young cop had some good news. As Grant got closer, Cooper’s gut felt heavy at the expression on Grant’s face.

“I just got off the phone with the hospital,” Grant said as he joined them. “Kenny is going to be okay.”

Relief washed over Cooper. Maybe they were going to finally catch a break. “That’s good.”

“However, he doesn’t remember anything before forty-eight hours ago,” Grant told him.

“What?”
No, this can’t be happening
.

“The docs say that whatever Kenny took wiped out his memory. He’ll recover, but there is no telling if he will remember what he took or where he got it.”

“You got to be fucking kidding me,” Cooper grumbled.

“The hospital did match it to the same drug that is killing the shifters,” Grant continued. “The new element of memory loss wasn’t in the old samples, so the doc thinks someone is playing around with the ingredients.”

Josiah bumped his shoulder. “That could mean they weren’t targeting shifters. A mistake made during production? The poisoning and overdoses are just a tragic side-effect? Maybe they’re trying to make it safer?”

Grant shook his head. “No, the unknown component that was found to be deadly to shifters was doubled in this batch.”

“Shit!” Cooper’s stomach cramped and he felt like throwing up. There were some sick people out there.

“Sorry, I thought you would want to know right away,” Grant said.

“Thanks, I appreciate all the work tonight,” Cooper told him.

“No problem,” Grant replied. “I was happy to help.”

Cooper waited until Grant had left before turning to his partner. “We have to find those drugs. Jordan is involved. I can feel it.”

“Let me see what I can piece together,” Josiah stated as he sat at his own desk. “Maybe—just maybe—we can convince a judge to take a chance and issue a warrant.”

At least they would be doing something. “What do you want me to do?”

“Get out of here.” Josiah glanced up. “Oh, perfect timing, you have a date.”

Cooper froze. Josiah was looking behind him. Cooper couldn’t get his body to move. He didn’t think his partner would set him up with Julie and not warn him. But what the hell was he talking about dates for otherwise?

“Glad you could make it,” Josiah called out.

“No problem. I needed to get out of the office.”

Cooper’s tension left him so rapidly that Cooper went weak at the knees. He gripped his desk as his oldest friend stepped up beside him. Michael Riley had been his college roommate their freshmen year, both of them studying criminal justice—Cooper to become a police officer and Mike to start the long process of being one of the most powerful defense attorneys in the city. Josiah and Mike had met through Cooper and had become good friends over the years.

So this was what Josiah had been up to earlier.

“I never said the date was for me,” Josiah said with a smirk.

Cooper understood. Josiah had called Mike to take care of him. It was times like these that Cooper truly knew how lucky he was. Josiah always had his back.

“So, you ready, man?” Mike’s hand came down on his shoulder.

Oh, he was so ready. “Thanks,” he told Josiah. His partner only nodded in response. Cooper grinned back before turning to Mike. “It’s been too long.”

“I know,” Mike said. “I’ve got a case that is driving me crazy. Can’t seem to track down the one witness I need.”

“I’m sorry.” Cooper hadn’t been a good friend the past year. He and Mike used to run together in human form every morning and as wolves, at least twice a week. “I should have checked on you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mike slapped his back. “I was giving you space. I know how hard it was after… Well, anyway… I’m here now, so why don’t we head out?”

“Sure,” Cooper agreed. He’d find a way to make up his absence to Mike. He grabbed his phone and keys off his desk. When he passed Josiah, he clasped his shoulder briefly. His partner had known that Cooper needed someone to run with and Mike also knew enough about Julie to listen if he needed to talk. Josiah had driven them in to work that morning, so Cooper followed Mike to his Mercedes. The sleek silver car was way outside Cooper’s price range but to Mike, the fact that it was a couple of years old meant that he wouldn’t have it for much longer.

As much as the two men had in common, there were also several things that they were the complete opposite about. Mike clicked the remote, which chirped as it unlocked. Cooper pulled open the door and dropped inside. He was anxious to get where they were going.

“The park okay with you?” Mike asked, as he climbed in on the driver side.

“Yeah.” It’d been a long time since he’d transformed and run in Pack lands. Every couple of weeks the Alpha invited all the wolf shifters to the park and they ran together. Cooper always looked forward to those nights. But that was something else he’d stopped doing when Julie had taken off. He just hadn’t wanted to be around a bunch of people.

“So you want to talk about it?” Mike started the car as he spoke.

“Josiah told you?” It wasn’t really a question he needed answered.

“You’re on a case, called for an ambulance and Julie is there,” Mike said. “That’s about all I got from your partner.”

It was enough. “Pretty much sums up my night,” Cooper replied.

“If it was that simple, Josiah wouldn’t have called me. Not that I mind, but I just want you to know you can talk to me.”

“I do know,” Cooper responded. He really was grateful for Mike’s presence.

“So how’d she look?” Mike asked.

Cooper chuckled. “Just as good as I remember.”

“Did you say anything to her? Ask her how long she’d been back?”

“No, I, uh…was shocked to see her,” he admitted.

“No big deal,” Mike said. “At least you didn’t say anything that you’ll regret. Do you know where she’s staying?”

“Probably her house. I checked on it a few times but she had her partner looking after it. He never told me much but I could tell he wasn’t any happier about her disappearance than I was. I kept hoping that meant she planned to return,” Cooper said.

“Good, so you know where she’ll be when you are ready to talk to her.”

Mike had a point. Cooper could wallow in self-doubt or he could try to win Julie back. If that was what he truly wanted? Of course it was. He didn’t want to be hurt again, but on the other hand, he was still suffering being away from her. “I won’t let her get away this time,” he stated it out loud to himself, not really speaking to Mike.

“That’s the man I know,” Mike approved.

He felt lighter already. Julie had fallen for him once. Sure, she hadn’t known about his ability as a shifter but he was still the same man. If she loved him once, she could love him again. At least he had a better chance of convincing her to give him another try with her in the same city. He was done sitting back and letting the world pass him by. He was going to get his life back. He’d find out who was killing the shifters with their drugs. He was going to get his damn happily ever after. He just needed to find a balance in which he could love Julie and still be true to his wolf side.

Chapter Three

The ground beneath his paws was moist and soft. It had been far too long since he’d been in Pack territory and let his wolf out. The wind ruffled his fur as he used his incredible speed to race through the trees and fallen logs. Mike stayed at his side as the moon shined above them. The light even seemed to illuminate the path for him. Cooper felt free.

He was very lucky that he had such an understanding and compassionate Alpha. Instead of pressuring Cooper to run with the Pack, Alpha Jeremy had offered to listen to him and just sit and talk. When Cooper had confessed how much Julie’s rejection had hurt him, his Alpha had told him not to give up on her. Cooper had just about given up on that advice.

With the reappearance of Julie in his life, he was glad he’d listened. Jeremy had been right once again. Cooper owed the older wolf shifter a lot. He’d taken Cooper into his Pack and was a true friend.

In the year that Cooper had been pulling away from the Pack, Jeremy had still kept in touch with him. His Alpha was the only shifter he’d run with in the last several months. It had only been a few times, but Cooper could look back now and see how his Alpha had been making sure Cooper was okay.

Mike bumped into him and almost sent Cooper into a stumble. He needed to just enjoy his time as a wolf.

He leaped over Mike, nipping playfully at his back side. Mike yelped before chasing after him. Cooper took off toward the small creek that was only a few yards away. Just as he reached the water’s edge, Mike bumped into him, knocking him off his feet. He rolled to the side, before popping back up. Mike barked softly—what Cooper took as laughing—and strolled up to the creek. Cooper followed then lapped up the cool liquid, refreshing himself. He lay down in the damp bank, resting his chin on his paws. He’d needed this and already felt steadier for it. In the past year he could admit to somewhat punishing himself when not allowing his wolf this much needed release.

Cooper was done, though. He’d never before let humans or anyone make him feel less of a man for being able to shift—until he’d lost Julie because of his abilities. Seeing her earlier had helped clear his mind and how he’d been acting by not spending time as his wolf like he’d always done. If Cooper hid what he was, how could he expect Julie to accept him?

He closed his eyes and sighed. Cooper already had a plan forming on what his next steps should be. He’d let her shock wear off from running into him but by the weekend, he would track her down and make her talk to him.

There had been so many times he’d almost driven to Kermit to see her. It hadn’t been hard to find her. Her entire family lived in Kermit and her partner had filled him in on everything else. He’d met her parents and was pretty sure they’d liked him. Then again, that was before Julie had found out what he was. After the shifters had gone public, he hadn’t been certain whether or not that would help his case, so he’d stayed away.

Too much time had been wasted. Julie belonged to him. He had to man—or wolf—up.

* * * *

The long road that led to Cooper’s house was so familiar that it made Julie’s heart ache. She’d never lived with Cooper but she had spent more time at his home than her own while they’d been dating.

He’d picked a residence on the outskirts of town where the houses had more room between them than if he was in the middle of the city. There were also numerous trees and a wooded area around the back. When she’d started to date Cooper and had visited him for the first time, he’d told her that he saw so much hatred and the bad side of people that he enjoyed the solitude, being away from everyone. She’d bought his explanation easily. Now that she knew what he’d been hiding, so much more made sense.

Julie turned onto the smooth asphalt, following the driveway until she was in front of his cabin-style house. She parked and stared ahead. Julie had fallen in love with the structure and found it more comfortable than her own place. Even though the morning was dark around her, the outside lights illuminated the grounds and she could see that he’d recently cut the grass. The green, thick lawn neat and gorgeous. The flowers they’d planted together leading up to the front door were in full bloom.

She could still recall every detail of that long Saturday. The way the sun had beat down on Cooper’s broad shoulders. The sweat that had dripped from his body that had made him look even sexier as he’d dug the holes to plant each delicate flower. After they’d finished and while they’d both still been dirty and wet, Cooper had taken her hard and fast in the entry of the house. Then again in the shower.

Julie shivered, remembering how Cooper’s hands felt on her. She had to shake the memories from her mind as she turned off her car. There were no lights shining through the front windows. Cooper might not be home yet. It had only been a couple of hours since she’d seen him for the first time in a year but it was almost four in the morning. That was late to anyone’s standards, except for the people who worked late shifts like her and Cooper.

He could still be at the station or he could be in bed. Maybe he was seeing someone else and he wasn’t alone. Oh God, that thought made her want to puke. Maybe she was making a mistake surprising him. She should just go home and wait until she had a better plan. Cooper didn’t like surprises.