He’d definitely made a lot of enemies after internal affairs had descended on the department. Maynard had become a pariah in a matter of hours.

  Luke sighed as he sank farther into the water. “So how can you change into an animal?”

  “I was born that way,” Maynard explained. “I’m an impala shifter.”

  “The same impala I saw that night.”

  Maynard nodded. “I wanted to catch whoever was breaking into your shed, but you found me before I could follow the scent. I finally did, but the person used the creek to mask his scent.”

  Maynard kept kneading Luke’s thigh, trying his best to ignore the fact that the man’s cock was exposed and so close. This was not the time to get turned on. Luke was in pain, so Maynard actively avoided looking at Luke’s groin.

  “Your impala is beautiful.” Luke looked at him.

  “Thank you.” Maynard felt himself blushing as his fingers began to cramp. “I wanted to tell you before we took things any further because if we’d had sex, our souls would have bound together.”

  Luke’s brows dipped. “I’m not following. So when you have sex with someone, you became bound to them? So either you’re bound to other guys or you’re a virgin.”

  Maynard sputtered out a laugh. “Hardly on either account. We’re…um…mates.” He looked down at the water. “Fate handpicked you for me. I knew it the night we met, when Dante and Jason were here needing your help and the cops showed up. You smell like pine and leather to me.”

  “I don’t believe in fate or soulmates, Maynard. Those things don’t exist.”

  Maynard pulled his hands from the water and rummaged around for a towel, giving himself time to compose himself, to hide his unshed tears at being rejected. He left the towel on the closed toilet lid and walked out of the bathroom.

  It was cold outside, but Maynard made his way to his car and grabbed his go-bag. If Luke was a cynic, if he didn’t believe in soulmates, then there was no chance for them.

  When he went back inside, Maynard got dressed. He desperately wanted to leave, to get away from Luke before he broke down, but he wasn’t going to leave his mate in the bathtub when Luke was in so much pain.

  He stepped back into the bathroom to find Luke out of the tub, the towel wrapped around his waist. “Feel better?”

  “Enough that I can walk.” Luke wouldn’t look at him.

  “If you believe in what I am, why can’t you believe that we were meant to be together? Is it that far of a stretch for you?”

  Luke brushed past him, his limp a lot more pronounced. “I saw with my own eyes what you can do, Maynard. I can’t see fate. Fate is nothing more than a cruel bitch, and I want nothing to do with it.”

  “Why?” Maynard argued. “Why can’t you believe in something like that? Do you even feel the attraction between us? That overwhelming need to be together?”

  “Because I don’t believe in that shit!” Luke argued. “Just drop it, Maynard.”

  “So that’s it?” Maynard lifted his hand to touch Luke’s arm but let it fall away. Instead, he curled his fingers in, forcing himself not to touch his mate.

  “I never promised you anything,” Luke said. There was so much pain and anger in Luke’s gray eyes that Maynard knew he wouldn’t get through to him. Luke had shut down on him.

  It felt as if Maynard’s heart was shattering. He rubbed his chest as he stood in the hallway. Luke turned and limped into his bedroom. Now that Maynard knew his mate would be okay, he headed for the front door. It hurt too much to be around Luke right now. He’d opened himself up only to be slapped down.

  * * * *

  Luke stood in his bedroom, his hands balled into fists at his sides. He did feel the deep attraction to Maynard, but he refused to be fucked over by fate again. Not again. He’d barely survived the first time.

  He sat on his bed and scrubbed a hand over his hair. God, why did life had to be such a bitch? Just when Luke thought he was getting to a place of peace, along came Maynard, throwing a wrench into Luke’s carefully constructed life.

  With a deep sigh, Luke got up and walked into the living room, only to find it empty. He went to the window and looked out. Maynard’s car was gone. Luke cursed as he turned and walked over to the couch, dropping onto the cushion.

  He was still blown away that Maynard wasn’t human, but that would have to take a backseat to Maynard’s declaration that they were mates, that fate had handpicked him to be with the deputy.

  It would never work. Luke wouldn’t allow this to work. He’d already fucked up one life. He wasn’t going to ruin Maynard’s. The guy was too sweet, to pure for someone like him. It was best that Maynard left before Luke’s feelings had grown any deeper.

  Before he wouldn’t be able to walk away.

  But Luke needed to find out who had shot at Maynard. He might not want a forever relationship with the guy, but he also didn’t want to see him hurt.

  Luke got dressed and grabbed his rifle. He headed out the back door with Diablo, walking straight toward the woods. It probably would have been best if he’d let his leg rest, but Luke wanted Diablo on a fresh trail.

  “Go find the son of a bitch, Diablo,” Luke said.

  His dog took off, and Luke followed the best he could. He was slower than the dog because of his leg, but he still found Diablo. His dog was sniffing at something on the ground.

  With a deep hiss, Luke lowered to his bad knee, keeping the other bent. He brushed his hand over the grass and saw a bullet casing. He didn’t have gloves or anything else to pick it up with except for his wallet. Luke wrestled with the casing for a moment, careful not to touch it so he wouldn’t spoil any prints on it and dumped it into his front pocket.

  “Good boy.” Luke patted Diablo’s head. “It might not be much, but it’s better than nothing.”

  Using the rifle as leverage, Luke got to his feet. He looked around, listening to the natural world around him. Hearing the leaves rustle centered him and helped him think. Mates. Luke rubbed his chest because, damn it, he missed Maynard already. Did he even care that the deputy wasn’t human?

  Not really. He liked Maynard’s company. It had been so long since he’d laughed, and Maynard was easy to be around.

  But he wanted a commitment Luke couldn’t give. The guy was talking about binding their souls. For fuck’s sake, they’d known each other only two weeks. Well, they’d met before that, but it had been fourteen days since Maynard had started coming over.

  Two fucking weeks. That wasn’t enough time to make that heavy a decision. Hell, it had taken two months for Luke to decide he wanted to buy this place. He wasn’t one to jump into decisions that altered his life. He just wasn’t.

  “Come on, buddy.” Luke headed back toward the house. He would go into town tomorrow morning and talk to the sheriff about what happened and hand over the casing. It was already late, and Luke was tired. His leg was still hurting, and he needed the rest.

  But when he lay down in bed, sleep eluded him. Thoughts of Maynard plagued him, making Luke toss and turn most of the night.

  * * * *

  Maynard sat at his desk, trying hard not to think of Luke. He hadn’t been able to sleep last night, and now he felt like shit. He couldn’t stop yawning as he tried to write up a report about a call he’d gone on first thing this morning.

  “Late night?” Deputy Saint Delaney asked as he parked his butt on the edge of Maynard’s desk. “Tell me it was worth it.”

  Maynard gave Delaney a droll stare. “Do I ask for details concerning you and Alwyn?”

  “Touchy.” Delaney grinned. “Just so you know, your boy is here.”

  What on earth was he talking about? Maynard looked around, but he didn’t see anyone there other than the other deputies. “Huh?”

  “That Luke guy.” Delaney winked. “Rumor is saying you’re sweet on him.”

  Maynard nearly choked on a laugh. “Sweet on him? Have we rolled back to the fifties?”

  With a roll of his eyes, Delaney got up. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  As Delaney walked away, Maynard’s heart quickened. Why would Luke be at the station after the debacle last night? Had he changed his mind?

  “Dario, get in here,” Sheriff Weston said by the door. “My office. Now.”

  Maynard had no idea why the sheriff wanted to see him. He pushed away from his desk, glancing toward Delaney, but the deputy wasn’t paying him any attention. Maynard cleared his throat before he knocked on the open door and walked in. He stopped when he saw Luke sitting across the desk from Weston.

  “Close the door.” The sheriff waved to the chair next to Luke. “Have a seat.”

  With his heart thundering, Maynard closed the door then sat. He fidgeted in his chair before looking directly at his boss, trying his best to ignore Luke. “You wanted to see me?”

  Weston sat back, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “You come into work this morning like nothing happened, yet I’m told you were shot. I had to hear this from a civilian?”

  Maynard cleared his throat, wanting desperately to strangle Luke. “I recovered, and I’m fine.”

  “But the perp is still out there,” the sheriff argued. “We have a person on the loose who shot a police officer, Deputy Dario. Do you know how serious that is? You should have called me last night. You should have come to me first thing this morning. What you shouldn’t have done was sweep this under the rug.”

  Maynard felt himself flush as he clasped his hands in his lap. He wasn’t sure what to say. His boss was right, and Maynard had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Luke that he’d completely forgotten to come to the sheriff about the incident.

  Weston held up a small evidence bag. “Mr. Teufel investigated the crime scene and found a casing. That was our job, Dario. Now with the rain this morning, whatever other evidence we might have found out there is gone.”

  This was bad. Maynard had screwed up big time. He swallowed roughly and nodded. “I take full responsibility for my actions, or lack thereof.”

  “You’re damn right you do.” Weston jabbed his finger against his desk. “You violated protocol, didn’t call for backup, let a crime scene become contaminated from weather and a civilian tromping all through it, and the suspect is still at large.”

  “I didn’t tromp through it,” Luke argued.

  Weston held up a hand to silence Luke but was still glaring at Maynard. “You leave me no choice but to suspend you for five days while I try to clean up this mess and find out who shot you.”

  “What!” Maynard jumped out of his seat. “That’s not fair!”

  “Sit. Down.” Weston clenched his jaw. “I’m well aware of where you came from, Deputy Dario. As you may have figured out by now, we do things by the book in my town. There is no corruption, no shakedowns, no drug labs. Willow Point is our home, and we keep it safe, especially from people who try to kill a fucking cop.”

  Maynard glanced at Luke but quickly looked away. He wanted to be pissed at his mate, but Weston was right. Maynard just wished Luke would have told him what he planned to do first, had come to Maynard before going to the sheriff, so he could have smoothed this over.

  “Go to your goddamn desk and write up the incident. Once you’ve done that, go home,” Weston said. “One of the other deputies will be by to take your statement and go by the crime scene. We might get lucky and find another clue, though I doubt it.”

  Hot tears prickled Maynard’s eyes, but he refused to let them fall. “Am I dismissed?”

  “Yes.” Weston waved him away.

  Luke got up and tried to talk to him, but Maynard ignored his mate. What was there to talk about? Luke had rejected him then got Maynard suspended.

  Maynard walked out, going straight to his desk.

  No one said anything to him as he typed up the report, sent a copy to Weston, then shut his computer down and left.

  “Maynard.” Luke was waiting by Maynard’s car. He pushed away from it and limped toward him. “Can we talk?”

  “About what?” Maynard snapped. “Want to find another way to twist the knife in me?”

  “What?” Luke frowned.

  “First you reject me. Then you get me suspended!”

  “Whoa, wait.” Luke held up his hands. “First, what you asked of me is too much. We’re just getting to know each other and you spring this mate thing on me, and I’m supposed to be okay with that? We aren’t even dating, and it’s almost like you said we had to get married.”

  “I never said we had to get married.” Maynard hated that Luke was right. Something that life altering shouldn’t be taken lightly. It wasn’t the fact that Luke hadn’t wanted to mate him right away. It was the fact that he’d shot the idea down entirely.

  “Second, I didn’t get you suspended. I brought in the casing in hopes of finding whoever shot you. How was I supposed to know your boss would suspend you? If you’d told him this morning, maybe this wouldn’t have gotten out of hand.”

  Maynard was too upset to listen to reason. He shoved past Luke and opened his car door. Luke grabbed his arm and spun Maynard around. Maynard snatched his arm back.

  “Look.” Luke gave a frustrated sigh. “Can we go back to the way things were? Dinner and a movie? Just hanging out? I had no idea Sheriff Weston would do that. I swear.”

  “Go screw yourself, Luke Teufel.” Maynard slipped into the driver’s seat and reversed, forcing himself not to look back.

  Chapter Five

  It had been two days since Maynard had been suspended, and he was going insane. He wasn’t used to sitting on his thumb. Deputy Rey Foster and Dante Mykel had come by to question him, but after that, Maynard had been just sitting in his house.

  He was dying to see Luke. He’d been upset when he’d left the station, hadn’t meant to tell his mate to go screw himself, and now he was afraid Luke wouldn’t want to see him.

  Unable to stand it any longer, Maynard went for his keys. Before he reached the door, a knock sounded. He hadn’t been expecting anyone. Maynard tiptoed toward the door and looked out the peephole. Then he frowned when he saw who was on the other side.

  Maynard swung the door open. “How did you know where I live?”

  “Took some time to find out,” Luke said. “Are you going to invite me in?”

  “I don’t know. With the way you’re going, I might end up fired.” Maynard moved back to let Luke in.

  “I didn’t get you suspended,” Luke argued as he crossed the threshold and Maynard closed his door. “You didn’t even give me a chance to call the cops that night. You were the one who walked out.”

  Maynard gaped at him. “After you said that fate was nothing more than a cruel bitch and you want nothing to do with it. You rejected me, Luke. What was I supposed to do, stick around so you could finish stomping my heart?”

  Luke dropped onto Maynard’s sofa. Maynard tried his hardest not to notice how good looking the man was in his dark jeans, red flannel shirt, biker boots, and thick leather jacket. Looking at Luke’s bearded jaw and gorgeous eyes, Maynard wanted to melt into a puddle of goo.

  He was also surprised his sofa held with Luke’s massive weight.

  “Shit just got way too serious way too fast,” Luke said. “I just found out you were an impala. Then you laid that binding-soul thing on me. You threw me for a loop, and I just needed time to sort things out.” Luke cocked his head. “What was the sheriff talking about when he mentioned corruption and a drug lab? Just where in the hell did you work?”

  Maynard dropped next to Luke and crossed his arms. He didn’t want to tell Luke that he was a snitch, but there was no use hiding the fact if one of his former coworkers was out to get him.

  So Maynard sat there and told Luke the whole sordid story. “That’s why I transferred here.”

  “I hate people who abuse their power,” Luke said. “You did the right thing, Maynard.”

  Maynard eyed him. “You don’t look at me as a snitch?”

  “Dude, they were abusing their power, fucking with people, and running a damn meth lab. Should they have been allowed to continue what they were doing?”

  “No.” Maynard bit his lower lip. “My coworkers didn’t see it that way. They viewed what I’d done as betrayal.” Then he confessed something he hadn’t to anyone else. “Now, because of that, I can’t even trust my new coworkers.”

  Luke sat there for the longest saying nothing. Then he spoke. “I guess I wouldn’t trust anyone after that, either.”

  That was it? Maynard thought the guy was about to say something profound, something enlightening that would make him feel better. Instead, Maynard burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Luke’s brow wrinkled between his eyes.

  “I thought you were going to go Gandhi on me. Talk to me like Yoda.”

  Luke got a goofy grin that Maynard loved. “Let your past go, you must.”

  That only made Maynard laugh harder, and then Luke joined him. It took a moment for both of them to settle down.

  “I’m not full of sage advice, Maynard. Hell, most days I can’t even deal with my own shit, so don’t look at me to impart wisdom, but I will help you with this. Defending I know all about.”

  “Why would you do that?” Maynard turned sideways to face Luke. “You rejected me, so why would you help me?”

  Luke shrugged. “Just because I might not ever be ready for that kind of commitment doesn’t mean I want to see you hurt.”

  Maynard was still struggling with Luke not wanting him, and he wasn’t sure he could stand to have his mate so near but so out of reach. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

  “Why not?” Luke looked genuinely puzzled.

  “Because I want you too much, and being near you is playing havoc on my emotions.” Maynard messed with the string on his jogging pants. “Because being rejected is the worst thing for a nonhuman. I’m honestly aching with you here.”

  “You wouldn’t like who I am,” Luke said, so low that Maynard almost missed what he said.