Page 22 of Jacob

Jacob had no idea how to answer that question.He could only tell Gal what he thoughthewould do in this case, but he’d never been homeless.Even when he’d hated living with the pride and Alpha Carter, he’d always had a roof over his head.He’d never had to worry about not having enough food.He didn’t know what the shifter had lived through, but it couldn’t have been easy.Maybe they were trying to stay away from people.Maybe they’d been hurt and couldn’t trust anyone, including the pride and the shifters who lived in town.

“I don’t know,” he told Liam.“What I do know is that I don’t think the shifter is dangerous, but that doesn’t mean something won’t happen.They’re homeless and stealing food and items necessary to their survival.Someone might catch them in the act and react, and people could get hurt.It’s also not easy to survive in the forest.They shouldn’t have to.”

“We won’t let it happen if the shifter is still around,” Gal agreed.“I’m sorry to ask this of you because it’s not your job, but do you think you could continue looking for the shifter?They might have left the area, as you said, but there’s a chance they didn’t, and if they’re still around, they need help.They shouldn’t have to live in the forest, and I suspect that Tony would rather the petty thefts stop.”

Tony and Jacob had talked about what was happening on their way back to the station, so Jacob knew that Gal was right.Even though the stuff that was being stolen didn’t have a lot of monetary value, it had value to the people who owned it.The shifter needed help, and they needed to stop stealing.The only way to make both of those things happen would be to find them.

Jacob didn’t know how they’d do that.He could go back into the forest and continue sniffing around until he found a fresh trail, but something told him that the shifter had been doing this for a long time.They were clearly used to this life, which was sad to think about but also complicated things.They could avoid Jacob and anyone looking for them.That was probably what they’d been doing and the reason Jacob hadn’t found them today.

He started getting up from his seat.“I’m going back to my room to get a shower.”He was sweaty and probably smelly.He’d spent part of the day in his tiger form, but he’d also been human, and humans sweated.

“How are things going with Tony?”Liam quickly asked.

Jacob wished he’d left sooner.He didn’t want to be rude to his alpha mate, even though he knew that if he told Liam that he didn’t want to answer, the man would let it go.At the same time, there wasn’t much to say, so why keep it a secret?“There’s nothing going on with Tony,” Jacob explained.

“You spent the day with him.You can’t tell me that nothing happened.”

“We were working, so no.Nothing happened.”

Liam groaned.“Why?You spent hours with him today.Surely you talked about things.”

“We didn’t.We were focused on finding the shifter and spent most of the day talking about their situation and how to do that.I wasn’t there on a date.I was working, and I take my job seriously.”

Liam raised his hands.“I know.I wasn’t insinuating that you don’t.I’m just excited for you.Tony’s a handsome man, and I heard good things about him from Taylor.”

Gal gave a little growl, but they all knew it was playful.Liam loved his mate, and even though he found other men handsome, he would never do anything to hurt Gal.

Liam turned toward Gal.“What?I have eyes, and so do you.I saw him the other day when he came to the house in his uniform.You can’t tell me he’s not handsome.”

“You know as well as I do that physical appearance isn’t what makes mate relationships special,” Gal pointed out.

“Yeah, but it helps.Come on, Jacob.Please tell me you like the way Tony looks.”

Jacob’s thoughts went straight to how Tony had looked today.So far, he’d only seen his mate in his uniform, and what a sight it was.Jacob had never realized he had a thing for uniforms, but maybe it was limited to his mate.“He does look good,” he admitted.

“What are you waiting for, then?The fact that you’re working together doesn’t mean you can’t talk about your private lives.Do you at least have his number?”

Jacob looked away.He could feel his cheeks turning pink, and he wished it wasn’t so visible on his skin.“I do.We exchanged numbers so that we could contact each other if anyone sees the shifter.”

Liam rolled his eyes.“Of course that’s why you asked for his number.I’m ready to bet that’s not the only reason he gave it to you, though.”

“He wants to find the shifter as much as I do.”Probably more, actually.He’d complained about the many reports he and Taylor were having to deal with.He would probably be happy once he didn’t receive complaints about stuff being stolen from yards and trash cans being broken into during the night.

“Yeah, but you have his number.Use it,” Liam insisted.

Jacob had to admit that he wanted to use that number.Would it be such a bad thing?He and Tony hadn’t talked about their bond, but they would have to eventually.Maybe it would be easier if they weren’t face to face as they did so.

* * * *

TONY STARED AT THEpile of reports on his desk.As far as he could tell, they were all related because the perpetrator was the one and only shifter they were still looking for.

Someone had reported that a pie had been stolen from their porch.Tony had almost laughed in her face, but the woman had been so outraged that he hadn’t been able to.He never wanted the people he served to think he was making fun of them, even though it was ridiculous to report a stolen pie.

More blankets and towels had vanished from yards.Someone had seen a massive dog digging in their trash.From the sound of it, it was probably a bear, not a dog, although Tony couldn’t be sure.From the report, it had been dark, and by the time the man had found his gun and returned outside, the animal was gone.

That was one of the reasons Tony needed to find the shifter.People were getting fed up, but more than that, some of those people were dangerous.The man who’d reported the last sighting had gotten his gun, and if that shifter had still been there when he’d come back outside, they would have been hurt or, worse, killed.The man wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot them.Hell, he probably wouldn’t even have thought about the fact that it might be a shifter.Tony didn’t want anyone to die because someone was trying to protect their trash cans.

He and Jacob had wondered if the shifter had left town since Jacob hadn’t been able to find them, but it was clear to Tony that the shifter was still around.The reports were coming more often now, possibly because people had started to realize they weren’t alone in this.Tony was going to have a massive problem on his hands if he didn’t manage to stop it, but he didn’t know how.

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