When Clyde had reluctantly agreed to let the Alpha pair accompany him to North Canyon, he had done so under the assumption that it was easier than arguing with not one but two stubborn Alphas, including one who had imprinted on him. If he’d known a road trip with all three of them in the car was how things would shake out, he would have put up more of a fight.

“Must you drum along every time a drum solo comes on?” Clyde groaned as Jason rocked out to Journey in the front seat. “We’re going to go off the road.”

Kade looked over from the backseat, grinning. “He’s always like this. But if it makes you feel better, he hasn’t lost a passenger yet.”

“Loads better,” Clyde said dryly.

“This is the good part, shh,” Jason whispered, turning up the volume to deafening levels.

Clyde sighed and tried to focus on the text message he was sending his boss. Something told him the Alpha wouldn’t be happy that he was checking in at all, so he’d kept his message vague and simply let him know that he would be out of the office for the next week at least, so his cases would need to be passed on to another Mediator.

It was the first time since Clyde had started the job that he had had anything even resembling a day off. Granted, barreling down the highway with eighties music on blast with two Alphas he barely knew was not how he would have chosen to spend a day off if he ever took one, but it was relaxing in its own way.

“So, Clyde, what does your family think of the work you do?” Kade asked, leaning through the front seats once Jason had adjusted the music to a more tolerable volume.

Clyde wasn’t sure how to answer. He knew the Alpha was just being nice, but he didn’t want to risk encouraging any interest in his personal life that might spark things becoming more intimate than they had agreed upon. He knew how quickly Alphas moved when they’d imprinted on an omega, and if he stood a shot at keeping space between them, he couldn’t let his guard down. No matter how tempting Kade made it with that farm boy charm of his.

“They’re proud, I suppose. I have a brother and a sister who are both doctors, and my oldest brother is pretty high up in the Federation, so I’m hardly the success story of the family,” he admitted.

“That must be nice,” Kade said in a wistful tone.

Clyde’s heart softened at the longing behind the Alpha’s words. He knew what it was like to feel invisible in a large family, but he could never understand the pain of feeling truly alone in the world. He could certainly understand why Jason fought so hard to protect his mate, even if they were both Alphas. They had created their own family in the Silver Rapids pack, and it was obvious that they cared deeply for each other.

“It is. We’re not as close as I’d like to be anymore, between our schedules, but it was a good way to grow up.”

“If we ever have kids, I’d like to have a big family like that,” Kade said quietly.

For a moment, Clyde feared the Alpha wasn’t just talking about him and Jason. When he saw that the other Alpha seemed just as antsy about the subject, he realized there was more to it than that. If we ever have kids seemed a strange way to phrase it for someone who obviously wanted a family, and a big one at that.

“We haven’t really had time until recently,” Jason said. “All the stuff that’s been going on with the pack, and keeping those Futurus bastards out of the territory.”

“I’m surprised they’d bother with an independent pack,” Clyde admitted. With low birthrates across the shifter population, the international company had made waves with its controversial breeding program that matched single omegas and Alphas for the purpose of adding to their numbers. Clyde’s own family had been pressuring him to sign up ever since he’d turned thirty. Aside from personally wanting no part in it, he didn’t have any strong feelings one way or another. He’d been hired to investigate numerous regional branches, and while there was the odd case of an arrangement gone wrong, it seemed that Futurus had a better handle on omega protections than most packs did.

“I think they’re just desperate to bolster their ranks after their spokesman left,” Kade mused.

“Yes, Avery has certainly put his career on the back burner now that he has a mate and children,” said Clyde. It was one of the main reasons he had gone from simply not actively seeking out a mate to becoming opposed to the idea. If a driven omega like Avery had chosen to put his family ahead of his career, there was no hope once mating fever set in.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Jason muttered. Always looking for a fight.

Clyde frowned. “What Avery, or any other omega for that matter, does with his life is none of my business. If he’s happier this way, then I’m happy for him and his mate happens to be a trusted colleague of mine.”

“Uh-huh,” Jason snorted.

Kade gave him a warning look in the mirror that Clyde was sure he wasn’t supposed to catch.

“While we’re on the subject, why don’t you adopt?” Clyde asked in a clipped tone. If the Alpha was going to be an ass, so was he. “There are plenty of options for non-traditional couples looking to go the surrogate route as well. Futurus even has a program for it.”

Watching the color drain out of Jason’s face was so worth it. “I’m not interested in having some weirdos in a lab make a baby in a test tube,” he growled.

“We’ve considered adoption,” Kade said in a far more cordial tone. “It’s just hard not being from a pack that’s affiliated with the Federation. And it wouldn’t be fair to adopt a human child from an outside agency. I felt enough like a fish out of water and I’m only half.”

“What if Betty’s grandmother isn’t able to take Rae?” asked Clyde.

The look on both Alphas’ faces made it clear that wasn’t something either of them had considered at length. Kade looked up front toward his mate, seeming afraid to hope for the answer he wanted.

“If Betty’s mom can’t come for whatever reason, of course we’ll take her. I promised the kid I’d look out for her, and I intend on doing the same for Rae.”

Kade touched his mate’s shoulder, and the soft smile that passed between them did things to Clyde’s heart that he’d never expected. It was all the more reason to keep his boundaries where they were.

He hated the way his thoughts drifted whenever he was in the company of these Alphas. It was bad enough to always have the spotlight of imprinting shine on him. Like a stage light pointing out not only the fact that he was intruding on a relationship that already worked and if it was lacking anything, it certainly wasn’t him.

They drove in silence for a few minutes until they reached the checkpoint for the North Canyon pack. It hadn’t been nearly as official looking the last time Clyde was there. Even if the killer turned out to be the Alpha, it looked like they had gone to great lengths to keep out any threats. Or perhaps simply to keep any more omegas from escaping.

The idea soured Clyde’s mood in an instant, and he made a mental note to keep an eye out for any sign that the other omegas within the pack might be troubled. Anything that would prove Anthony was not the benevolent, grieving leader he liked to present himself as.

“Alright,” said Clyde, “Let’s go over the plan once more. Kade is going to pose as my partner with the Tribunal while we go meet my contact. Jason, you’re a relative of Betty’s mother. You have her address, so stay focused on her and whether she agrees to come or not, we’re meeting back at the diner in exactly one hour.”

“Got it, Captain,” Jason quipped, rolling down the window to show Clyde’s badge to the guard at the gate. They were ushered inside to a lot on the outskirts of the thriving town that had grown to the point where it was on the border of being a small city.

Clyde pulled on his jacket and flipped his ponytail out of the collar, eyeing Jason nervously. “How much chance is there that he’s going to go rogue and call attention to us?”

Kade studied his mate thoughtfully. “I’d say about thirty.”

Clyde sighed. “At least you’re honest.”

“Come on,” Kade laughed, motioning for Clyde to follow him down the row of restaurants and shops. “Everything will be fine.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Clyde couldn’t help but notice how well the Alpha cleaned up. He still looked a bit too broad shouldered and rakish for the average Tribunal agent, but he wore that suit well. A little too well for Clyde’s liking. So did his mate.

“This is nice,” Kade said, looking around. “Haven’t seen how the other side lives for a while.”

“You lived in Jason’s pack for a time, didn’t you?”

“It was huge. More like a city. Not nearly this quaint.”

Clyde smiled. “That’s the Great Plains Council for you. Quaint, sometimes to a fault.”

Kade stopped in front of a diner, looking up at the neon sign. “This is it, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t think he’s here yet,” Clyde said, looking in through the window.

“We can go in and grab a bite to eat first,” Kade offered, opening the door.

Clyde hesitated a second before thanking him and walking inside. In his younger years, he’d been insistent on avoiding his colleagues’ displays of chivalry, but he’d learned quickly that it didn’t make them take him seriously. If anything, they just accused him of “trying to be an Alpha.” He’d come to accept the social treatment he received as an omega, and didn’t mind it as much as he used to, but any Alpha who thought it would gain him special treatment in return had another thing coming.

The sign up front said “seat yourself” so Clyde found a booth where they could expect some measure of privacy when Glen showed up.

“So is this the kind of thing you usually do?” asked Kade, sitting across from him. “Going out to interview people, stakeouts, murder investigations?”

“Hardly.” It was a good thing, too. The demands of this most recent case and all the traveling that came with it had been wearing on him. When he was younger, he could go days on end without sleep or exhaustion, always chasing the lead wherever it led. Now, he was starting to feel it. “I’m usually just a glorified divorce lawyer. They call me in when there’s a case that requires higher level intervention.”

“Such as?” The way Kade asked and actually listened when Clyde spoke was so unlike an Alpha. Or at least, unlike most of the ones he knew. It was almost as if he actually cared what the omega had to say.

“Legal gray areas… some that aren’t gray at all, like abuse. The old laws don’t always leave appropriate room for the rights of the omegas involved, so it’s my job to determine a solution that upholds the law while protecting anyone who may be vulnerable.”

“That must be hard,” Kade said, frowning. “And I don’t mean because you’re an omega. It just sounds draining. I know it would be for me.”

Clyde smiled a little. “It is sometimes, more so lately. But things are so unequal throughout the Federation. On the one hand, you have the Mountain Council packs where omegas are practically worshipped. Then there are some packs where we’re still treated like chattel. Whenever I walk into a room and I see the look of relief on an abused omega’s face over the fact that their fate isn’t just going to be decided by someone who’s ready to dismiss whatever they say… it’s worth the long hours and the difficult cases.”

Kade watched him as he spoke, and the look on the Alpha’s face was so hard to read. Clyde was shocked by just how much he longed to understand the man in front of him. How much it meant to know that Kade was trying to understand…

“I’m glad they have you,” he said at last. “I’ll admit, when we first met, the idea of an omega doing the kind of work you do… especially one I’d imprinted on… it threw me.”

“And now?” Clyde asked, surprised Kade was being so candid. He’d expected this to go the way things had with his one short-lived relationship in the last five years. For Kade to pretend like he was supportive of Clyde’s career and to understand how important it was to him only to do an about face when it came time to take things to the next level.

The fact that Roy had come so close to forcing a mark on him, even if it was during the throes of his heat, had soured him on the idea of Alphas forever.

Or at least, that’s what he’d thought until now.

“Now, I think I understand a little better,” Kade answered. “This job isn’t just important to you, it’s part of you.”

“It’s everything,” Clyde admitted.

“That’s how Jason feels about the pack.”

“And you don’t?”

Kade hesitated. “I love the pack. Taking care of the others, protecting them… it gives me a sense of belonging, but I’ve never found my purpose in it the way Jason does. It’s more like a family than a calling.”

“And you feel a calling to have a family of your own,” Clyde murmured.

His response seemed to take Kade by surprise. “I guess it’s partly me trying to recreate what I didn’t have when I was younger,” he admitted. “But it’s more than that. What Jason did for me—what he gave up for me—is more than I could ever give him in return. At least on my own.”

“You want to replace the family he lost,” Clyde realized.

“I love him.” The other Alpha’s voice was rough with guilt. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to have a family with him.”

Clyde wanted to push the idea at the forefront of his mind all the way into the back. He didn’t know what had possessed him to even come up with it, and he was sure that it wouldn’t be received in the right way. Especially not when Jason got wind of it.

Before he had the chance to talk himself out of saying anything, the bell over the door rang and in walked the beta he’d been waiting for. Glen was a handsome man in his late forties, and by all accounts, a pillar of the North Canyon pack. He was also Anthony’s right-hand man, so it had surprised Clyde when Glen had reached out to him once he’d found out about the investigation.

“Hello,” Clyde said, standing to shake the beta’s hand. “Glen, right?”

“You must be Clyde,” the beta said, casting a nervous glance Kade’s way. “I thought we were meeting alone.”

“Kade is helping me with my investigation,” Clyde said, wincing at the last-minute pseudonym. “We were both in the area and figured we’d meet up, but I assure you, he can be trusted.

Glen nodded reluctantly. Kade moved into the booth next to Clyde since he was muscular enough that fitting both him and Glen on the same side wouldn’t be comfortable. With Kade’s athletic thigh pressed close to his, the Alpha’s warmth radiating through his clothes, Clyde had to struggle not to get a little too comfortable.

“So,” said Kade, “you think you have information on Ocean’s killer?” He took out a notepad and Clyde was surprised at just how into the role he was getting.

“Yes,” Glen said, seeming to relax. He folded his hands on the table and cleared his throat. “I live across the street from Ocean’s parents, and I watched him grow up. The night he was killed, I heard the gunshot and I ran over.”

“Did you see anyone around the house?” Clyde asked earnestly.

The beta’s expression turned guarded and he glanced to make sure they were alone. “Yes. Anthony.”

Clyde gulped. Here it was. He hadn’t expected such direct intel from Anthony’s go-to follower himself, but it was not looking good for the Alpha’s innocence. “Just to be clear…Anthony as in Ocean’s brother and the Alpha of the pack?”

“Yes,” Glen said impatiently. “Who else?”

“Was he with the body when you saw him?” asked Kade.

“No, but he ran out of the house. I don’t think he saw me.”

“Did he have any weapons, or any blood on his clothes?” asked Clyde.

“Hard to say at the time,” said Glen. “But I went back to his house after the police came. Just to see if he was there.”

“Was he?” Kade asked.

Glen shook his head. “But I was at his place the next day. Running errands for the family and stuff. I found this in the trash,” he said, taking out a small freezer bag filled with a piece of bloodstained cloth. A shirt, Clyde realized on closer inspection.

The beta quickly stashed it back in his coat. Clyde’s heart was racing. “That’s it. That’s the evidence we need to connect Anthony to his brother’s murder. In the report he gave the police, he said he wasn’t at the scene until his mother called him over and the pack guards were already there.”

“Couldn’t he just say the blood got there while he was looking at Ocean’s body?” asked Kade.

“It’ll depend on whether forensics says it was sprayed or not. In any case, it’s a hell of a lot more proof than they had to pin the murder on Betty.”

“You were there,” Kade said urgently, looking at Glen. “Why didn’t you just tell the police she wasn’t there?”

The beta’s face turned ash white. “You don’t understand how this pack works, buddy. Going up against Anthony? Not a wise move.”

Kade frowned. Clyde could tell what he wanted to say. What an Alpha who’d gone up against the Federation itself must be thinking, but to his credit, he stayed quiet and let Clyde take the lead.

“Just give us the shirt and we’ll make sure it gets to a Tribunal lab,” Clyde promised.

Glen took the bag out but stopped short of giving it to him. “I don’t want my name on this until you have enough to put him away.”

“You have my word,” Clyde said, taking the shirt from him. He glanced up at the clock and realized it was close to time to meet Jason. Hopefully the Alpha hadn’t gone and done anything too Alpha-like.

Clyde stuffed the bag into his briefcase, already trying to figure out how he was going to get it to the lab without tipping his boss off. He didn’t want any more evidence to “go missing,” which meant calling in some help from a friend yet again.

If Nicholas wasn’t sick of him already, he would be by the time this case was over.

Once they reassured Glen that his neck wasn’t on the line, they made it around to the back lot of the diner where Jason was waiting by the car next to a short, harried looking omega in her late fifties.

She had to be Betty’s mother. The look of grief on her face could mean nothing less. Clyde’s heart ached for her. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose a child. Especially one who was so close to being out on her own and starting her young life.

“There you are,” muttered Jason. “Took you long enough.”

“Sorry if our murder investigation isn’t moving according to your schedule,” Clyde shot back.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Mrs. Harold, this is Clyde Harp, the Tribunal investigator handling your daughter’s case and my mate, Kade.” His words were far kinder than Clyde had expected. He was certain that Mrs. Harold would have a few choice words for him for believing her daughter was anything other than innocent from the outset, but all her attention seemed to be on Kade for the moment.

“Kade,” she breathed, throwing her arms around the much taller Alpha. He seemed surprised, but he returned the hug. “I know what you did for my girl,” she said, pulling away to look back at Jason. “Both of you. Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank us,” Kade said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m just sorry for your loss. Your daughter was an incredible young woman, and very brave to go through everything she did to protect her child.”

Mrs. Harold’s eyes watered. “Is the baby alright? Is she healthy?”

“She’s a couple of months premature,” said Jason. “The doctor says she’s not quite out of the woods yet, but she’s under round the clock care and he expects her get better with lots of love and attention.”

The older omega nodded.

“We should get going,” Jason said, glancing around to make sure they were alone. “Technically speaking, pack members have to sign out before they leave, but I’d rather not tip off Anthony.”

It was clear what he thought of that policy, too. An Alpha like Jason couldn’t possibly understand the demands of a regular Federation pack or the organization it took to keep everyone safe and provided for. Treating his packmates like equals might have worked since they all shared a common background, but it didn’t work in the rest of the Great Plains.

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Anthony for much longer,” Kade murmured. “Clyde’s source handed over the smoking gun in Ocean’s case.”

The look of shock on Mrs. Harold’s face made Kade wince. “Not literally. Sorry, poor choice of words. But we did find strong evidence that links Anthony to the scene.”

“And proves my daughter’s innocence?” the woman asked, casting a pointed look at Clyde.

“I hope so,” he assured her. “And I’ll do everything I can to make sure of it. Jason, I’m going to need to make a stop on the way back. There’s a lab about thirty miles south of Cromley.”

“Fine with me,” he said, opening the door for Mrs. Harold. Once they were all on the road, Clyde got lost in his thoughts while Kade regaled the other omega with stories of her granddaughter. He sent a text to Nicholas asking if he still had a contact at the southwest laboratory and was relieved when the Alpha responded affirmatively.

Getting the evidence back was not only a matter of time but a matter of keeping it out of Anthony’s hands as well. Clyde wasn’t sure the Alpha was directly connected to his own corrupt boss, but he had enough reason to be cautious either way. After a forty-minute detour, they made the second leg of the journey. By the time they made it back to Silver Rapids, Clyde was disturbed at just how easy it was to think of the remote pack as home.