As Dean watched Max leave the Buffalo police station from the curb across the street, he could sense the omega’s fear. He felt like shit for sending him in there alone, but it was necessary if the plan was going to work and John agreed. The beta’s interest in Max seemed obvious to everyone but the omega himself, but Dean reminded himself that he had no grounds to take his irritation out on John when all he’d done was help.

So far. If that changed, the beta could count on spending the rest of his holidays in a hospital room, but for the moment, they had formed an unspoken truce.

If all went according to plan, John would be meeting them outside the mall soon to outfit Max with a wire. Dean doubted it would take long for Chris to realize Max had filed a report for harassment since the Alpha obviously had eyes and ears everywhere. Or at least, that was what he wanted the people he intimidated into silence to think.

Dean knew for a fact that Chris had been under suspicion from his higher ups for years, but suspicion and proof were two different things. He’d grown cocky and all it would take was a bit of a push to get him to out himself as the cretin he was. The idea of using his omega as bate made Dean’s stomach churn, but he knew if they didn’t act quickly, Chris would be the one in control again and neither Max nor Gavin would be free to live their lives the way they deserved.

“How’d it go?” Dean asked, opening the door for Max once he arrived.

“The officer who took my report looked at me like I just shot his cat, but they filed it,” Max muttered, slipping into Dean’s truck.

“I hate to say this, but good. That makes our job easier if he knows Chris,” he said, checking to make sure no one had seen Max get into his truck before he took off.

“Is John still going to meet us?” the omega asked, rubbing his hands together.

Dean turned the heat on. “Last I heard. Just know we’re both going to be watching and listening the whole time, alright? You’re never going to be alone with him, not really.”

“He just has to think that,” Max said in a tone of resolution. “I just need him to confess to what he did.”

“To stalking you,” Dean corrected. “That’s all we need. If the other stuff comes up organically, fine, but we just need him to confess to doing what you said in the report. No matter how many friends he has in high places, it’s his word against himself.”

Max nodded. “I can do it.”

Dean couldn’t help but smile. Max had never once faltered in his willingness to go along with the plan, even though Dean could tell it made him nervous. “I know you can.”

Max fell silent and Dean could tell he was deep in thought. “So, you and John seem to have gotten pretty close through the investigation, huh?” He told himself he was just asking the question to take Max’s mind off his nerves, but deep down, he knew it was self-serving.

The omega gave him a strange look. “He’s a good person. We’re friends, if that’s what you mean.”

It wasn’t and Max knew it, but Dean shrugged. “He does seem pretty friendly toward you.”

Max sighed. “Listen, if you’re still trying to fish for info to determine whether I’m a fit parent, you could at least be upfront about it.”

That was actually the last thing on his mind, but it was less embarrassing than admitting the truth, which was that he was irrationally jealous of an omega he’d just met the day before, so Dean went with it. “Just making conversation.”

The omega folded his arms with a huff. “For your information, there’s nothing romantic between us. Between me and anyone, for that matter. I’m one-hundred percent focused on my son, and that’s not going to change for a long time.”

“Right,” Dean said. The omega’s words were the reality check he needed to get his thoughts back on track. As he pulled into the back of the parking lot outside Brattleton’s, Dean found himself wishing for more time alone with Max, even if that was counterproductive to his goals for the moment. “So, how’s the new job treating you?”

“It’s great,” said Max. “My boss is awesome, and Roman Enterprises has been nothing but good to me from the day I started. They gave me a chance when no one else would have, you know?”

Dean knew Max didn’t mean anything by it, but the words still hit him like a punch in the gut. Here he was questioning his own mate’s fitness as a parent while some random corporation had been able to look past his former career and see his potential. As far as Dean could tell, Max had fulfilled it in every way. It wasn’t every omega who could withstand the kind of trauma he’d been through and come out on the other side willing to fight not only for himself but for a child he’d barely even gotten the chance to know. Anyone else might have given up in his circumstances. Maybe he didn’t have the life the Newports led, but that had to count for something, didn’t it?

A knock on the window jolted Dean back to attention. He unlocked the car doors when he saw John watching them. He would grudgingly admit that the beta seemed like a decent enough guy, but he seriously needed to work on not acting like such a weirdo.

“Are you ready?” John asked, opening Max’s door. Dean had to stifle another growl when the beta offered his hand to help Max out of the truck.

“Ready as I’m gonna be,” Max said with a nervous laugh. Dean walked around to the other side of the truck as John pulled a small microphone set out of a black plastic case. Max unbuttoned his shirt and Dean tried not to act like a complete caveman while the beta put the mic on underneath his mate’s shirt.

“Just remember, there’s no need to talk into the microphone or raise your voice,” said John. “As long as he’s within five feet, the recorder should pick up everything he says.”

“Got it. What do I do when he says what we need him to say?”

“I’ll call the store on the number you gave me that goes to the back,” said John. “Excuse yourself to answer it and we’ll escort you out of the store from there. If there’s any sign of trouble, we’ll come in.”

Max nodded. “Okay.”

“Are you sure you’re good with this?” Dean asked, starting to have second thoughts about his own plan. “We can find another way…”

Max and John both frowned at him. “I’m fine,” the omega said pointedly. “Are you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Just making sure you’re not having second thoughts.” Because all great relationships start out with lying, thought Dean.

Not that Max was going to want anything to do with him by the time it was safe to come out with the truth.

“Alright, you should go on,” said John. “You’re due to clock back in within the next five minutes.”

“Wish me luck,” Max said, pulling his coat tighter around him and looking both ways before he darted across the street and into the store.

“Now we wait,” said John, slipping into the truck.

“Guess we’re waiting together,” Dean muttered under his breath, getting back in. He watched as John adjusted the radio on his lap. He could hear the omega greeting his coworkers and settling back into the routine of the second half of his shift.

“Alright, it looks like everything is set,” John announced once he finally seemed satisfied with his adjustments.

“Good.” Dean leaned back against his seat, propping his arm up against the door. He hated that he needed anyone else’s help, but he was always the muscle when it came to sting operations, and he didn’t know his way around a hot mic anymore than a spaceship.

“So,” John said casually after a few minutes of silence other than the sounds of an especially chatty customer coming through the speakers, “how does it feel to imprint on someone you just met?”

Dean did a double-take. The beta was wearing a smug expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Was it supposed to be a secret?” John asked innocently. “If so, you might want to be a bit less obvious about it.”

“You mean like your little crush on him?” Dean shot back. “Not that I blame you for keeping that under wraps.”

“Maybe you’re right, and my feelings toward Max aren’t as platonic as I’d like to think. It doesn’t matter, I know we’re not compatible. Doesn’t mean I care about what happens to him any less.”

“Can’t say I blame you,” Dean muttered. “I’ve barely known him for a day and I’ve already fallen for him. Even if I hadn’t imprinted, I would’ve. He’s that kind of omega.”

“When are you going to tell him?”

“Haven’t figured that part out yet. Once Chris is taken care of, there’s still the matter of Max getting custody, and I don’t want to stand in his way.”

“I thought you wanted him to agree to the adoption.”

Dean frowned. “No. I… it doesn’t matter what I want. It’s not about me, it’s about Gavin and Max. About what’s best for the both of them.”

“Generally speaking, I’d say a child being with the parent who loves him is almost always what’s best.”

“And you think Max is ready for that?” Dean asked. “After everything he’s been through, you think he can handle picking up where he left off after twelve years?”

“I think that’s up to Max and not to me,” John replied. “But I’ll say one thing, if I were a kid and I had a choice between being born into royalty or to a struggling omega who loved me as much as Max loves his son, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

Dean listened to the beta’s words and let them sink in. He still wasn’t sure how he was supposed to give his mate the support he needed while maintaining the distance necessary to give him the best chance at impressing the court, and the hour that passed uneventfully didn’t bring him any closer. He’d started to zone out when he heard the rumbling of an undercover police cruiser pulling into the lot.

“That’s him,” he said, sitting up sharply. The truck was well obscured by the shadows of the trees on the far end of the parking lot, and Dean had purposely chosen a spot under a street lamp that was burnt out, so he could see Chris without the other Alpha seeing them.

“Are you sure?” John asked, squinting.

“I’m the one who’s met him,” Dean muttered.

John fiddled with the radio, turning the dial to raise the volume. Chris disappeared into the store and Dean’s nails dug into the upholstery of his truck as he struggled to remind himself that going in now would defeat the plan.

This was going to be harder than he’d thought.