Boarlander Silverback (Boarlander Bears #3)(34)

With every word Kirk had spoken, Alison had grown sicker and sicker. Testing facilities? That hadn’t even been mentioned in Cora Keller’s attack on the agency. The shifters here had gone through so much more than she, or likely anyone else, realized. And yet here they were, accepting her as Kirk’s claim, even though she was human.

Finn was so wrong in his assumption that the shifters were the bad guys.

“My mate is bringing home barbecue later, and we’re gonna have some beer and throw some horseshoes if you want to stay and join us,” Harrison gritted out. “Since you are working right alongside of us, it might benefit you to get to know us, like Ally is doing.”

“You mean Officer Holman,” Finn ground out, his eyes narrowed on the alpha.

“No, I mean Ally. She’s a friend here and plenty welcome to spend time in Damon’s mountains to do her job because she made the effort to get to know us and secure that open invite. You still don’t have Damon’s permission to be on his land unescorted, so if you want the same privileges Ally has, you should make more of an effort to get us to trust you. Sitting up in your little cabin glaring at us as we drive by isn’t gonna do you any favors.”

Finn had donned his uniform to come up here, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he inhaled deeply, eyes on her. “Look, Holman, I’m your partner. You know what it’s like to lose a partner, don’t you?”

Alison closed her eyes against the pain of the memory of Riggs gasping for air on the floor. “Yeah.” Her voice cracked on the word.

“Well, you’re my partner, and I’ve called you ten damned times.”

“My phone is sitting in the front seat of the truck.”

“Great, but can you see why I was worried? Last I saw, you were fishtailing out of our post, headed for these mountains, and you didn’t call me for backup, but you also didn’t pick up the phone to let me know you were all right.”

And now she felt like shit. “I’m really sorry. It didn’t work like that undercover. It was every man for himself, and I didn’t think about your side of it.”

“Well, next time call me and let me know what you’re doing so I don’t just sit down there thinking you’re up here bleeding out or something.” He cast a quick narrow-eyed glance to Harrison. “And no, I don’t want a beer.”

Harrison pursed his lips and nodded. “Then you’ll have to get out of my territory.” With a quick flick of his fingers, he gestured Finn back toward the trailer park.

Kirk gripped Alison’s waist and gave her a quick kiss on the side of the head as they followed the others through the woods. Finn narrowed his eyes at them but was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Partner or not, he had no say in who she dated.

“You look ridiculous and completely unprofessional,” he grumbled as she stepped into line with him.

“We went swimming at the falls,” Kirk said in a deep, rough tone. “It ain’t like she’s naked.”

Finn offered him a dirty look, then sighed and arced his attention to Alison. “Look, I get the draw. It’s lonely as f*ck up here. Why do you think I’m always down in Saratoga? But you aren’t even wearing your damned badge.”

“Finn, I’m not cut from the same cloth as you. You worked in a precinct with rules, dress codes, and organization. That was never my work environment. If I wore a badge, it would’ve gotten me shot, and my dress code was street clothes because a uniform would—”

“Get you shot. Yeah, I get it. I’ve worked around undercover cops, you know? They would come into our precinct every once in a while, dressed down, inconspicuous, but you could always tell by their eyes they weren’t just someone there to report a crime. They all had that haunted, hard look. I made you as an undercover cop the second I saw you at the airport.”

“You did not.”

“I swear I did. Also when I tried to look you up in the system, I could barely find anything on you. I had to ask around Chicago to get the scoop on you.”

“Had to,” she muttered sarcastically.

“This wasn’t my choice either, you know? I was used to being on the streets, and then I came to play shifter babysitter up in the wilderness with a partner I knew nothing about.” Finn shook his head.

“What did you learn about her?” Kirk asked.

“Ha!” Finn gave him a pointed look. “I see those f*ckin’ lovey dovey looks you’re giving her, but don’t be fooled. She’s a pit viper.”

“And yet somehow that makes her more attractive to me,” Kirk murmured.

Finn snorted. “Shifters. You know what they used to call her?”

“Finn, shut up.” Alison didn’t know why he was so damned talkative all the sudden. He’d come in here pissed off, and now he was a Chatty-Cathy. She was seriously stifling the urge to punch him in the mouth-hole right now.

“What did they call her?” Clinton asked from behind them.

“Ghost.”

Mother f*cker, whoever he’d tracked down to dish dirt on her was going to get an earful from her.

“Why Ghost?” Mason asked from where he leaned on the corner of a trailer as they came out of the tree line.

“Because she was quiet. They say she could blend in anywhere, melt through walls.”