“First they even seemed to get better. My guess is you treated the original illness. Can’t have unknown variables screwing with your results. Then their condition suddenly, rapidly deteriorated—one after another. Three out of four dead, and you’re the only person who could possibly have done it. You destroyed the keeper’s notes so that no one would doubt your findings, but James Finnigan still suspected something about that story was off, didn’t he? That’s why he was researching natural poisons before he died.”
He gave Freeman a moment to respond, but she didn’t. Just kept shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what was happening. Like it was a dream she could shake herself out of.
“Killing a zoo animal is a federal crime, you know,” Cooper continued. “But it’s nothing compared to three counts of murder. People, this time. Though, to be fair, I don’t know if it was your plan to kill Neil Gerhart or if that was solely Ryan improvising.” He stood. “Director Cola will be by in a couple of minutes to officially charge you. Your lawyer’s already on his way.”
“No! Wait!” Freeman said desperately. “Fine, yes, I developed the toxin and tested it on the wolves. But that doesn’t prove I knew what Ryan would do with it. That doesn’t prove I was behind any of this at all.”
“No,” Cooper agreed. “But confessing to the development of a biological weapon with the express purpose of targeting a specific group of people is a good start. Not to mention the fact you just implied you knew Ryan Basque had possession of said weapon and didn’t report it. Those are going to be far heftier charges than accomplice.”
Freeman stared at him for one beat, two, then her face twisted in rage. “They’ll turn on you, you know,” she spat. “You might have stopped me, but the word is already out, or it will be soon enough. The three factions have been jostling for control for too long to let a potential source of power live peacefully. They’ll fight over you like three starving dogs over a rabbit. If I get nothing else out of this other than the satisfaction of knowing that one day this stupid curse of a legend will rip you apart, then so be it.”
Cooper glanced at the viewing window briefly, then turned his back to it and stepped up to the edge of the table. Placing a hand on the cool metal, he leaned over close.
“And if I really am the Moon?” he quietly murmured. “Would you still think threatening me was a good idea?”
Freeman blinked at him, confusion flickering in her eyes. A touch of fear, too. “You’re human,” she said. “You and I both know that’s nonsense. There’s no such thing.”
“Maybe not for us,” Cooper agreed. “But you said it yourself. I’m part of their world now. And I will do whatever it takes to protect what’s mine as well as any other wolf who needs me. Whatever name you want to give it, that part is true.”
He straightened and backed away. “Sorry I can’t stay,” he said in a normal volume, checking the time. “The courts are closing soon and I have some business that can’t wait. Goodbye, Dr. Freeman.”
Cooper walked out of the room without looking back.
On the other side of the door stood Park and Cola waiting with her arms crossed. “Nice little confession you got,” she said. “I was worried for a minute in the beginning, but all’s well that ends well.”
“Thanks,” Cooper said dryly.
“What did you whisper to her at the end, though? We couldn’t hear.”
“Just talking long-term plans,” he said easily.
“Cute,” Cola said. “But I said we couldn’t hear you. We heard her threats crystal clear.”
“Then you know she was implying you have a leak.”
“Yes.” Cola shifted her weight then sighed slightly. “I will do everything I can to clean house and keep the details of this case need-to-know, you have my word on that. But...”
“But it’s only a matter of time, yeah, so I’ve heard,” Cooper said. Most of his fellow agents belonged to ruling packs and had obligations outside of the Trust. Maybe all of them, besides Cooper and Park. That needed to change. But it was a job for another day.
“And what about the other leak?” he continued. “Freeman couldn’t have pulled this off without a hell of a lot of wolf information, science, lore and politics for a human who supposedly can’t comprehend your existence without a wolf hand to hold.”
Cola’s expression darkened. “We will be checking Dr. Freeman’s hands and whose she’s been holding. Thoroughly.”
“Rebels, ruling packs, WIP—we’ve always been at odds on everything but this,” Park agreed. “If there’s a traitor sharing our secrets, hoping to expose us, they must know it won’t end well.”
Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead, Cooper thought. Ryan’s intended star victims: James Finnigan, Arthur Crane and the Shepherd. Each of them infamously connected to the rebels, WIP, and the ruling packs, respectively.
“Maybe exposure isn’t the end goal,” he thought out loud. “Freeman’s certainly wasn’t. Not anymore.”
“She wanted a get out of jail free card,” Park said.
“And to develop and test a weapon to use against wolves,” Cooper added. “And for the rumor of the Moon to get out and ignite the simmering tension between the three factions.”
Cola and Park both looked disturbed at that. “You think a rebel or WIP wolf intentionally shared secrets?” Park asked.
“Or a ruling pack,” Cooper said. “Your uncle had hopes for that, once. Let’s not forget where Freeman got those biological samples.”
“Marcus was delusional,” Park said flatly. “Whatever noble reasons he told himself he was doing it for, at the end of the day he just wanted to take over the Park pack. He wanted power. The ruling packs have power already. They don’t need to ignite war between the factions to get it.”
“There won’t be any ignition,” Cola said firmly. “The Trust will make sure of it. We’ll find Freeman’s source and determine if they’re simply a fool or if there really was intention of unsettling the balance between the three.”
“Even if the source turns out to be a ruling pack?” Cooper couldn’t help but push.
“Even then,” Cola said. “The Trust isn’t the ruling packs’ personal guard.”
“Does Helena know that? Do you? Because when I became an agent, that wasn’t what I signed up to do,” Cooper warned. “And it never will be.”
Cola narrowed her eyes at him, and then glanced briefly at Park, who had gone very still and watchful. “I see. All right, Dayton. You’ve made your point. I can let Helena know we need to...lock down information pathways. Security concerns. But I can’t stop every agent in the Trust from reporting back to their own packs.”
“No, but it’s a start,” Cooper said. “Thank you.”
She nodded at him. He wasn’t sure if he could one hundred percent trust Cola. But if the Trust was ever going to be the impartial resource wolves could turn to outside the three factions, they’d need her on their side. Cooper wanted her on their side. He respected Cola. Liked her a hell of a lot, too. But tradition and long-standing loyalties were old and rusty bonds to break. Only time would tell.
Cola’s phone buzzed and she checked it. “Lawyer’s here,” she said. “I’m off to collect him. You two better leave if you’re going to make that appointment.”
“Appointment?” Park asked, but Cola was already bustling out of the room, holding her phone to her ear, speaking in hushed tones. He turned to Cooper. “Does this have anything to do with your mysterious business at court? Don’t tell me you’ve taken on another freelance case already.”
“I think I’ll have my hands full reconstituting the Trust,” Cooper said. “No more freelance cases for a while, I hope.”
“On that we can agree,” Park said with a smile. “Speaking of. I couldn’t help but notice you’re having a productive day. Building a pack for me. Finding a way to shield me from my grandmother.”<
br />
“Oh, well,” Cooper said. “I want to make sure I come up to snuff at our next power couple check-in. How am I doing?”
Park’s smile cracked into a sharp-toothed grin. “Wonderfully. I haven’t felt this optimistic in years. Aside from the whole being on the brink of a civil war thing, of course.”
It was true. Park did look refreshed and joyful despite a long few days by anyone’s definition. The paralytic was completely processed out of his body—he was back to his old werewolf self and couldn’t seem to stop playing. Slipping his claws, eyes, teeth, scenting the air every five minutes, bouncing up on to the balls of his feet...like he was so happy to be him. More in love with himself and appreciative of who he was than Cooper had ever seen him.
“What about you?” Park asked. “You’re spoiling me and I’m slacking. What do you want most in the world? I’ll fetch it.”
“Marry me,” Cooper said. “Please.”
Park laughed. “Haven’t we done this bit already?”
“I mean right now. Let’s go get married. We can walk right into the courthouse. You can self-officiate in DC, I checked.”
“Are you serious?” Park asked.
“We did all the wedding things already. We put on fancy suits. Slow danced. Fed each other sweets. My dad almost made me cry. My brother saw your butt.”
“We were drugged and kidnapped,” Park added. “Shackled together in the face of death,”
“So get shackled to me again. Metaphorically this time.” Cooper frowned. “That sounded more romantic in my head.”
“I worry about your head,” Park said frankly.
Cooper held out his hand and Park took it. “I’ve been so anxious about getting this wedding right. Of...representing humanity, somehow. But that’s not my world anymore and I’m not that person. I’m your person.”
Park squeezed his hand and rubbed his thumb on the ring. “I’m your wolf.”
“Obviously,” Cooper said. “That’s all that matters to me.”
“We did want a fall wedding,” Park said, and his face lit up with a mischievous smile. “All right then. Elope me, you brute. Are we telling anyone? Or does your horse and carriage only fit two for speed’s sake in the face of pursuit?”
“I told Eli. As his first duty as second in line to the alpha, he put himself in charge of some kind of surprise party you absolutely didn’t hear about from me. Also, he said to tell you you’ve been demoted to fourth rank.”
“We don’t do ranks,” Park protested. “We’re not pirates.” Then, “Fourth?”
“Boogie took third already. You snooze you lose.” Cooper reached up and touched the ring under Park’s shirt. “Anyway, the party’s not till later. I kinda thought this bit at the courthouse could...just be us?”
Park’s eyes flared gold. “This bit. Any bit. Every bit,” he said. “I’m always happy to be an us with you.”
Cooper smiled and pressed a sweet kiss to Park’s lips. “In that case, it shouldn’t be too hard to always be happy.”
Epilogue
Just as any other task that involves bureaucratic paperwork, getting married was tedious, full of hoops to jump through and vaguely anticlimactic.
It also made Cooper so utterly and effervescently happy he felt like someone could stick a pin in him and he’d explode into light. Glowing, weightless, unstoppable.
Even self-officiating, they still had to leave the building and sign the document off courthouse property. It was windy out, and as they stood by one of DC’s many fountains, faint mists of water blew over them in waves, Park’s dark hair gradually collecting a silver sheen.
“Considerate of you to give me a preview of your graceful old age before I commit,” Cooper said, reaching up and running a hand through the wet strands. “I think I’m looking forward to your silver fox stage.”
“Fox?” Park grumbled, looking vaguely put out.
Cooper laughed. “Big, majestic silver wolf stage then. Either or, I’m suddenly feeling very lucky I’ll get to see it someday.”
Park’s lips twitched into a slightly smug smile. “Lucky you’ll see me old, hmm?”
“Yeah, well,” Cooper mumbled, and tugged gently on the hair over Park’s temple where he knew bi-annual gray hairs were being plucked out. “Someday alarmingly soon, by the looks of things here.”
Park’s smile only deepened and he practically vibrated satisfaction. “Do you realize, the more tender a truth you think you’ve revealed, the more biting you become immediately after?”
Cooper snapped his teeth a couple of times pointedly, and Park laughed, dodged, and kissed him on the nose. “I’m feeling very lucky I get to spend the rest of my life with you, too, my porcupine,” he whispered, and that was...well. That was okay, then.
They were so accustomed to the fountain mist that neither noticed when it first started to drizzle until the sky fully opened up and released an aggressive downpour. Park quickly tucked the papers under his jacket as they ran for the courthouse, laughing at nothing and everything.
Somewhere within the chaos, they filed with the clerk, collected their certificate and drove home to a small handful of people already drinking their alcohol. In the blur of congratulations, clamoring noise, and far too much attention, Cooper couldn’t help wishing he and Park were back in the rain, again, just the two of them. Or hell, who was he kidding, upstairs in bed fucking until the adrenaline and joy that were the only things keeping them upright well and truly sputtered out.
But they had their whole lives to be selfishly, blissfully alone together. And despite feeling overwhelmed, Cooper was warmed, too, that people had bothered to arrive on bewilderingly short notice. Eli’s charm at work, no doubt. He’d even somehow managed to gather all of Park’s siblings into one video call, and the echoing laughter and soft, surprised pleasure on Park’s face as they teased him were perhaps Cooper’s second favorite part of the day.
Santiago was there and got along like a house on fire with Sophie. Cola had brought her partner, an alarmingly hot but surprisingly goofy man, as well as three children Cooper hadn’t even known she had. Eli had introduced himself to Ed as Park and Cooper’s new live-in Boy Friday, which would doubtless lead to an intensely awkward conversation later, but Cooper couldn’t even find it in himself to be annoyed. Not today. Not when Eli had also accepted Cooper’s embarrassed request to invite Boogie’s old sitter Ava without blinking and then seamlessly got her and her parents comfortably chatting with Cayla and Dean.
After a couple of hours, Cooper escaped outside to the covered front porch, just to get a few moments’ peace. Bent over, forearms propped on the railing, he watched the steady sheets of rain pull bright, twirling leaves to the ground and wondered if it was dangerous to feel so content.
It was astonishing how much his life had changed in so short a time. Where would he be a year from now? More? The thought should have been frightening—his entire life had drastically changed over a matter of months, it could drastically change again—but Cooper couldn’t summon up the slightest sliver of anxiety. At this moment, on this day, it was frankly too difficult to imagine Park out of his life and every scenario with him in it, too manageable.
Cooper looked at the ring on his hand. Ran a finger over its smooth surface. Married. Him. How ridiculous. He felt...not changed. But like he’d been seen, understood, and then cherished all the more for it, which had something of a transformative effect in itself.
Behind him, the front door opened, and to his surprise Eli slipped out onto the porch and propped his hip jauntily on the railing beside Cooper.
“Unless you’re hiding yourself here to build suspense for a surprise musical number, this is shameful host of the party behavior.”
“Aren’t you the host of the party?” Cooper asked.
“I’m the life of the party,” Eli corrected. “And never has the phrase ‘last man alive
’ been more apt. What are you doing outside?”
“Hiding,” Cooper agreed, not sure he could explain the way his emotions felt too large to fit inside his own skin, never mind a house already full of people. “I’m worried my father’s going to see me and feel inspired to give a speech.”
“Oh, he’s already informed us all he’s forbidden from doing so,” Eli said cheerfully. “A charming little prepared monologue delivered seven different times to five different people, on the other hand...”
“Christ, why?” Cooper groaned, face in his hands.
“I was one of the lucky ones to be twice-blessed, so I’ve got the good bits memorized, if you want to hear. Actually”—Eli cocked his head, squinting—”I think I hear him going round eight with the Park pack right now.”
Cursing, Cooper started to straighten up, but Eli stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Leave it, he’s fine. I’m certain they like your father more than they do you anyway.”
“Don’t you hate it when everyone tries to flatter you on your special day,” Cooper said dryly, but relaxed back over the railing. Eli just shrugged and rolled in place so that he was mimicking Cooper’s pose.
“Don’t take it personally. They’re too tight knit to bother caring much for anyone outside the family who takes up more time than a short-term acquaintance.”
Eli’s casual tone was at odds with his tense posture, and Cooper remembered that up until a couple weeks ago, these people had been his pack. For years. Not anymore. Maybe never again. And yet still he had called them in as a wedding gift. For his ex.
Cooper hesitated, not sure what to do or say, but definitely feeling like he was supposed to do or say something. Inviting Eli into the pack had seemed like an excellent idea for Park’s sake. An immediate solution to Eli’s problems, too. What Cooper hadn’t fully considered was what came next. Particularly now, when there was a very good chance of trouble on the horizon and Eli didn’t know what he’d agreed to get involved in.
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