Looking into Naomi’s eyes, Sawyer knew he had to tell her the truth. They had already shared so much with each other. It couldn’t have been easy for her to tell him about the life-altering event of her parents’ murder. He couldn’t keep the thing that changed the course of his life from her.

“I had only made detective a couple of years ago. I had been assigned to the robbery unit, where I also got paired up with a partner. His name was Ted, but everyone called him Bear,” he said, grinning at the memory of everyone always giving him teddy bears for his birthday.

It was a tired gag, but Bear took it in good spirits.

“He wasn’t a shifter, and I hadn’t told anyone that I was one, so imagine my surprise when I’m suddenly sharing a ride with a guy named Bear,” he added, and Naomi smiled at him.

“And you were good friends?” she asked.

“Pretty much,” he replied. “It was impossible not to be friends with him. He was burly as all hell, built like a tank. But he cared about making a difference. He made me a better cop, showed me how much compassion matters. He always had my back and I had his.”

“In a job like that, that’s gotta be important,” Naomi remarked.

“It is,” Sawyer nodded. “He quickly became like a brother to me.”

Naomi had to be thinking where this story was going. But he wanted to start from the beginning, so she could really understand. And he was glad that she could get to know Bear even a little bit, through his words.

“Even though he was human, and I had the genetic benefits of being a shifter, Ted kept me on my toes. He was obsessed with being the best version of himself. But then, you saw him with his girlfriend, and he was a different man. A real teddy bear,” he said.

“We were busy hustling, trying to make a name in robbery. Both of us had our sights set on homicide. Around that time, there was a spree of home invasions, and we were determined to get to the bottom of it.

“We had just pulled a double one night, and I had to be in court to testify about another case early in the morning. But Ted wanted to go check out the latest crime scene once more, to see if he might have missed something. I told him I’d go with him. But he insisted I go home and get to sleep to be ready for my testimony,” he added, replaying that night in his head.

Sawyer still remembered the scent of the car as he stepped outside, after Ted drove him home. Fast food and stale black coffee. That’s what their car always smelled like. Outside, the air had been cool, and the sky unusually clear.

If I would have just gone with him…

Naomi must have seen he was struggling, as she reached out, flattening her palm against his cheek. Her touch was soft and warm, and instantly reassuring.

“He dropped me off at home, and I got into bed. A phone call woke me up a couple of hours later. Ted had gone to the crime scene like he had planned. But someone had surprised him there. It was likely he never even saw it coming. He was shot in the back. Paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene,” Sawyer finished his story.

“Oh my god,” Naomi murmured, her eyes getting shiny. “I’m so sorry.”

The sincerity in her voice was hard to miss. He had no doubt she could easily relate to his loss.

“I know it doesn’t compare to what you’ve been through…” he started, but she cut him off.

“Let’s not play the game of who has lost more,” she said. “Your friend was taken from you, and that’s terrible. You don’t need to apologize to me for your grief. I’m here to listen.”

Struck by her compassion, Sawyer wondered – if he had opened up to someone before, would things have been different? After Ted’s death, his instinct had been to shut himself off. He thought talking about things would only tear open old wounds. But having Naomi there to listen did the opposite.

It helped him remember his friend as he had been when he was still alive. There was so much more to Ted than the way he had died. But looking at the woman next to him, maybe Naomi coming into his life was what had made him see things in a different light.

Knowing she could relate made things easier. And enough time had passed since Ted’s death that the rawness of it all had faded. There was still a healthy dose of guilt. And he knew Naomi still felt like she could have done more on the night her parents were killed.

He had told her it was foolish to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. Yet he couldn’t take his own advice.

“I stayed on the force long enough to see Ted’s murder case solved,” he said. “Turned out, one of the robbers had gotten worried he might have left some evidence behind, and snuck back to the crime scene. They later found a canister of gasoline and some rags in his trunk. Detectives assumed the man intended to burn the whole place down to cover his tracks. But Ted was in the way.

“I still don’t know why the guy felt the need to shoot him. But the gunshot attracted too much attention. The robber panicked and ran, leaving Ted to die on the living room floor.”

“But they did catch the shooter? He confessed?” Naomi asked.

“Yes. He got life in prison. And before that, I always though solving a crime brought closure to the families and loved ones of the victim. There was a sense of relief that scumbag was off the street, that he was going to pay, don’t get me wrong. But closure doesn’t come from the outside. It’s something you have to find. And I couldn’t find it,” Sawyer replied.

“And that’s when you left?” Naomi said.

“I couldn’t do it anymore,” he replied. “I guess I lost faith in it all for a while. When I got called in, the crime had already been committed. I started thinking, was I really helping anyone? Then, there was the thought of being assigned a new partner… I needed some distance. So yeah, I left. The force, and New York. I drifted along for a while before I settled in Tempe.”

“But you couldn’t stay away from helping people, could you?” Naomi smiled. “Why else would you have become a private investigator.”

“I think you see me better than I am,” Sawyer chuckled. “I’ve never been that good at sitting on my hands. And I was running low on my savings. So, I had to think of a new angle to use the skills I already had.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “When you told me that story earlier, about Jillian… It was clear you really cared. You sympathized with her. You even broke into a man’s house, for Pete’s sake. You can’t tell me you became a PI because you were bored and you couldn’t find anything better to do.”

Sawyer had to admit, she had a point there. Whether he had acknowledged it at the time or not, his decisions had still been affected by that same thing that first set him on the path to the police academy.

“So you know me better than I know myself, huh,” he teased, snaking his arm around Naomi’s waist and pulling her closer.

“No,” she laughed. “I just think people are harder on themselves than they are on others.”

Now that was the truth if I’ve ever heard it.

His wolf let out a content little growl. A part of him never wanted to leave that bed. There was still so much more to know about Naomi, and he was looking forward to discovering more of her.

But, life didn’t stop just because he had found his mate. He still had that statue tucked away in his safe. And it was only a matter of time before Verin came looking for it…