Yeah, I did it. I finally asked Lars how he felt about me asking Harley on a date. Surprisingly, he agreed. He an intuitive kind of guy and I think he can see some bigger picture I can’t. I usually trust his decisions and if he thought this was a good idea…

My heart was in my throat as I sent that text to Harley. I didn’t want to make things weird. But he must have expected it. He replied immediately and said he’d love to.

Now I’m waiting outside his door in my car. I see him walk out the door and down the steps, and I press the button to slide the door open. He hops in, and I don’t see a wince of pain on his face as he shifts. It seems like he’s recovered from the pregnancy decently well, though I’m sure there’s still trouble.

I chuckle to myself. I really must have been born an omega midwife in another life or something. But all alphas are like me—on the inside, at least. We go crazy for babies and omegas but we try not to show it.

“Hey,” I say. “How are you?”

“Good,” says Hunter, buckling himself up as the car pulls away. “Hunter is so energetic and cute. And sleepy. He spit up on me this morning and I wasn’t even mad. But now I’m wondering if I should be thinking about preschools, or what—”

“Harley?” I take his chin in my hand. “How are you?”

He smiles bashfully and my heart glows a little. “I’m alright,” he says, and we break contact. “I feel like I’m doing well. I mean, my body is still recovering but we’ve settled into a rhythm. Well, a rhythm where I still wake up some nights, but it’s fine.”

“Good,” I say. My wolf is satisfied to hear that he is doing well.

But it’s agitated, too. I promised Lars I’d do something. I promised I’d tell Harley today, on our first real date, that I’m a shifter. And what Lars and I really do. We have to gauge Harley’s reaction before we get in too deep.

I was worried because I didn’t want to get him in any kind of trouble with his employer. But it would have to come out at some time, anyway.

I take us to a nice rooftop restaurant that’s a favorite of the pack’s. We come here for drinks sometimes, when we want to celebrate some achievement.

Harley looks so adorable and huggable and fuckable in his trim chambray dress shirt—something he must have picked up since I last saw him—and black jeans. You’d never guess he came from out near Spruce Springs, coming to Stell with nothing.

Now he looks fashionable. It’s quite the transformation. He’s an incredibly strong person.

I order us a selection of small plates and we kick back. It’s nice to actually relax for once.

“So,” Harley starts. “Tell me… how did you and Lars meet?”

“Whoa, getting to the meat already, are we?” I say, chuckling. But I don’t mind. This means Harley feels comfortable with me, and that means more than anything.

Harley just smiles at me.

“Well,” I say. “It was probably, what, ten years ago? I had just joined the pack, and I was eager to do justice. Lars was also a new recruit, and we were paired up for our very first mission. We were helping out with an elderly couple somewhere south of the Paisley.”

Harley tilts his head at me. “I guess I never really asked you before, what you did for a living.”

I smile, though underneath, I'm nervous about having to come out to him about being a shifter.

“We’ll get to that,” I say. “But yeah, Lars and me. Ever since we helped the elderly couple feel safe in their own home again, we were inseparable. We tried to do all our missions together, and eventually, once we realized that this was what we wanted to do with our lives, we applied for leadership positions. It was only then that we got the chance to think about a romantic relationship. We’d been hooking up for a while, but we never had the chance—or desire, really—to pursue something romantic. We were too focused on the action. But life is been a little more chill since then, though with the increased gang activity in the Paisley, we had to participate in more missions.”

“I see,” says Harley. “So you’re kind of like the cops? I thought there were already cops here.”

I shrug. “No, we're not quite cops. But we do serve a similar function. We basically helped bring bad guys to justice, and we have a lot of abilities that the cops don't. So we deal with slightly different situations.”

I know I'm being a little cagey, and I can tell that Harley is intrigued, wanting to know more. But I have to handle this delicately. I might be telling him about the pack sooner than I predicted.

“That's pretty cool,” says Harley. “But is a very dangerous job? Don't you worry for each other?”

“Of course we do,” I say. “But we are actually out of the danger zone, for the most part. Now that we’re leaders, we’re not on the front lines. But that doesn't mean we don't take risks—what kind of leaders would we be if we weren't fighting alongside our pack members?”

“You keep saying pack,” says Harley. “Like a wolf pack?” He chuckles.

My heart starts to beat a little faster, and the words in my mouth seem to evaporate into thin air.

“Yeah,” I start, “Harley, I need to tell you something. No, it's nothing bad,” I say, when I see the worried expression across his face. He relaxes slightly, but he’s still apprehensive.

“Okay…” He leans back in his chair.

“So… I don't know what you know about Stell,” I say, “but you might've heard some rumors about it?”

He nods slowly. “Yeah. I've heard all kinds of rumors about the big city.”

“Well, some of them are true,” I continue. “Like, have you heard about the wolves?”

“The wolves? Don't they come out in the middle of the night and eat people?”

Now it's my turn to look confused. I have no idea where he would've ever gotten that idea. “No, of course not. Wolves are like dogs. They aren't monsters that skulk in the night and murder people.”

“I heard the ones here do,” Harley continues earnestly.

“Well, we don't. Or they don't, rather. I mean, my point is, we are the wolves.”

Harley just looks at me skeptically.

“Like werewolves,” I say. “Lars, I, and the rest of our pack, we're shifters. And we’re not the only shifters in the city, either. There aren't just wolf shifters.”

“So… There are werewolves, but they're not monsters who eat people. Got it.” Harley nods slightly.

Inside, I'm thinking that he thinks I lost it. He seems to be processing the information, turning it over.

“Look, I don't want to scare you,” I say. “We're just normal people, and I'm sure you've been able to see that now, getting to know me and Lars. But we have another whole aspect of our life that we don't want to keep hidden from you.”

“Thanks for the trust,” says Harley. “So… What other kind of shifters are there? Do other… humans know about them? Will I be able to tell if someone is a shifter?”

I laugh. Harley is taking to this remarkably well, but I guess the fact that we helped him out so much laid the groundwork for a good first impression. “There are shifters of all kinds of animals, I don't know how many. Bear shifters, fox shifters, coyotes, crows, eagles… All kinds. Most humans know about them, some don't. We try not to draw attention to ourselves. But Stell is one of the few places where able to live somewhat openly. As for the last question. You can learn to tell, but you won't have that innate sense that we do where we would know for sure.”

“How do I tell?” asks Harley.

“It's not something that can be clearly explained,” I say. “You might pick it up from strange little clues like them having lots of fur on their clothes…”

“Like Morty,” says Harley.

“Yes,” I say. “He's a shifter.”

“Do you guys have some kind of beef with his family or something?”

I sigh. I didn't really want to get into this on the date, but it would be easier to explain everything.

“We think that they might be connected to some suspects in another case,” I say. I'm well aware that I need to be judicious with what I say because I don't want to put Harley in danger.

“It makes sense why you’re worried,” says Harley. “But these two, they’re good people. They've taken such good care of me, and for no reason.”

“Well, I'm just suspicious. Exercise caution, is all I'm saying.”

Harley gives a short laugh. “Funny, that's the exact same thing they said to me. They told me that you and your kind don't like them. That you guys seem like do-gooders but you actually don't care about the people in the Paisley. I told him that I didn't think it was true.”

I shrug. “There's always gonna be people who don't get it, and I don't necessarily blame them. We just have to keep doing what we're doing and show them that we do care.”

“Well,” says Harley, “maybe I can help you out with this investigation.”

My wolf immediately growls inside me. “I can't let you do that. You're a new omega dad and you've got a newborn to care for.”

Harley deflates a little. “I know you're right,” he says. “But in any case, I'll keep my eyes peeled.”

There's a bit of silence as we both take a bite of our meals, which had been forgotten in the intense discussion about me being a shifter.

Soon enough we finish eating and we’re on our last drink, when the waiter brings the check. I grab it before Harley can, as there's no way he'll be able to pay it on his salary. This is my way of treating him, because he deserves it.

Harley’s looking at the map of the train system on his phone.

“Why are you looking at that?” I ask. “I’m gonna give you a ride home.”

“I have to pick up Hunter from Marie's house,” Harley says. He looks away a little bashfully.

I need to maintain his trust. I can't push him away, further into the arms of the gang.

“You could use the daycare facilities,” I say. “They’re there just for occasions like yours.”

Harley sighs.

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll take you there.”

“There's no way they'll agree,” says Harley. “Since they don't trust you.”

I don't like this, but I don't see what else I can do. “At least let me drop you off near their house,” I say. “I don't want you out late alone. Especially with the baby.”

Harley smiles. “I think I'll be okay.”

I have to trust that he does, and eventually, we part ways, even though I’m reluctant to.

My phone pings, interrupting my thoughts during the drive. It’s Lars. The ping is followed by my ring—he’s calling.

“We need to talk, Carson,” says Lars. “It’s Harley’s ex. He’s here.”