17. Diffusion Day

SEVENTEEN

DIFFUSION DAY

Oliver woke early the next morning, combed his hair, cleaned his teeth and pulled on his jeans with all the speed of a March hare. He got to the police station before all his colleagues, took a set of car keys from the safe and waited for Lucas to come back from his end of shift de-briefing. Right on cue, the alpha appeared in the briefing room, all messy hair and tired eyes. He clocked Oliver immediately, a small smile pinching his mouth as he looked him over.

“Good morning,” Lucas said, not bothering to check the room before kissing his cheek.

How could he be so fucking calm after their conversation last night? Mate. My mate. What was Oliver supposed to say to that? Didn’t the big idiot know he couldn’t just go around making those kinds of decisions on his own? Was there some kind of mating ritual they were supposed to engage in when they saw one another? He didn’t think Matteus and Julian did such a thing, but he could be wrong.

His ears grew hot, and his face looked as though he was about to burst into flames. Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “Er, yeah. Morning.”

Lucas smirked as he filled up a water bottle from the dispenser. “Ready to go?” He said, loosening his collar.

Oliver stood, hopping from foot to foot as the bottle seemed to take a fucking eternity to fill. “Y-Yeah. You know, you look exhausted. Perhaps I should just go on my own. You get some sleep.”

Lucas hummed, popped the lid on the bottle and walked towards the door. So that was a no, then? Scrambling behind, it wasn’t until they almost reached the car park that Oliver caught up to him. “Why are you walking so fast?” He said, out of breath.

Lucas gave a small shrug. “I can assure you Reed, this is my normal walking speed.”

“Look, Lucas. Please don’t say anything embarrassing,” he said, following the alpha towards the cars. “I just want to get in, do the diffusion day, and get out. There’s no need to cause a scene.”

“Believe me, Reed. I do not intend to cause a scene.” As they reached the Jazz and the BMW, Oliver grabbed his arm.

“But last night… you said?—”

Lucas turned, his hazel eyes bright despite having not slept in over twenty-four hours. “I know what I said. The question is, do you have anything to say about it?”

“W-Well yes , but I just?—”

Lucas’ eyes softened as he bent down and kissed the top of his head. “We’ll talk about it later. Over dinner?”

“O-Okay, but?—”

With that, Lucas opened the car door and slid into his vehicle. Oliver grumbled as he walked towards his own, which was parked—still covered in bird shit—a few rows down. He really meant to clean that.

Lucas’ mood was worrying him. It was as though the alpha was on a warpath, which Oliver found both concerning, and confusing, and—just a teensy bit—arousing.

“Wait up, you giant prick,” he muttered, watching the BMW pull away.

As they rolled onto the driveway of 18 Greenacre Way, a sense of impending doom gripped Oliver’s chest. Lucas was practically glued to his shoulder as they walked towards the foster home, the gravel driveway crunching underfoot.

Lucas rang the bell, which caused a string of high pitched barks and whines to erupt from within the house. “Alfie, come back here! We agreed, no shifting until later!” A voice called. Oliver knew it was Alfie’s foster-mother, Sarah, as he had spoken to her on the phone a few times since the interview.

The door swung open before the bell could finish its merry little tune.

“Oliv—oh. You’re not who I was expecting,” Patrick said, head pulling back as he came face to face with Lucas.

“Good Morning, Mr Coletta,” Lucas replied, tone brusque and business-like. Patrick’s eyes narrowed as they slid to Oliver, lip twitching as the other alpha loomed possessively next to him.

“Morning,” Oliver said, attempting to mirror Lucas’ confident tone. Looking over Patrick’s shoulder, he saw Alfie running up and down the stairs in his wolf form. Sarah gave him an apologetic look before ushering the boy upstairs.

“Sorry, and you are?” Patrick said, attention snapping back to Lucas.

“DS White. We spoke on the phone.”

“Oh! Yes, yes, DS White I remember. You tried to veto our little diffusion day.”

“Yes,” Lucas replied, lip peeling back ever so slightly. Had Oliver not been caught in the cross-fire, he would have loved a bag of popcorn while watching the alphas posture. Instead, his throat went dry when Patrick’s mouth curled into its signature shit-eating grin. He leant forward to grasp Lucas’ hand. They shook, and their knuckles popped as they glared at one another. Without releasing the hand shake, Patrick covered his mouth in a conspiratory fashion.

“Sorry to have out-ranked you, DS White. I hope you’re not too upset about it.”

Lucas sucked his teeth, eyes dragging up and down the other alpha. “You’d have to be a police officer to out-rank me, Mr Coletta. Correct me if I’m wrong, but social workers are civilians.” Oliver’s eyes flicked between them, as though he were watching a tennis match.

Patrick chuckled. “True, but isn’t it amazing how one so lowly as myself can get what they want when they know the right people?”

Then it was Lucas who chuckled, his top lip curling back for all three of them to see. “I wouldn’t know,” he said, leaning forward. “I’ve never stooped lower than a snake’s belly.”

Oliver was hard. So fucking hard he could have broken down the door with his erection.

Patrick huffed and drew back. “Is that so? Well, little Ollie here was more than happy to tag along.” The corner of Lucas’ eye twitched.

“For Alfie,” Oliver said. “Let’s just remember, this is all for Alfie.” With that, he pushed past the two posturing alphas and entered the foster home. He found Alfie and Sarah sitting at the dining room table, crayons in hand, as they coloured what looked like a T-Rex.

“Morning DC Reed,” Sarah said with an exhausted sigh. “Sorry about that, Alfie has…” She glanced at the boy with a tender expression. “Well, Alfie has been struggling to stay in his human form just recently. I think he feels safer as a wolf, you know?” Oliver did know. He knew very fucking well.

“Hey Alfie,” he said, sliding into a chair opposite him. The boy looked up under the tendrils of his curly blonde hair.

“Hi,” he replied, turning the page of his colouring book. Sarah nodded, patted his leg and said she’d leave them to it.

“Remember me?”

Alfie nodded, his eyes drifting to the front door. “Who’s that?” He said, pointing at Lucas.

“Oh, that’s Lucas. He’s my…er…friend. He’s a police officer, like me. Want to meet him?”

Alfie shrugged and turned back to his colouring, though he kept glancing up at the two men in the doorway. Catching Lucas’ eye, Oliver tipped his chin, indicating that he should join them. Patrick scoffed as Lucas shoved past him, drawing Alfie’s wary gaze once more.

“Sit down,” Oliver said, and Lucas did.

“You must be Alfie,” the alpha said, all the malice draining from his voice. “It’s nice to meet you at last.” Alfie looked absolutely tiny sitting next to Lucas, his little blonde head like a handful of straw.

“Nice to meet you,” he replied, without looking up. Lucas glanced at Oliver, eyes pleading for some kind of direction.

“Hey, Alfie. Guess where Lucas is from?”

The boy finally looked up, his brown eyes studying Lucas’ face. “Africa,” he said, without hesitation. A loud laugh slipped between Oliver’s lips, and he threw a hand over his mouth to stop it from getting any louder.

“Not quite,” Lucas said around a chuckle of his own. “Try again.”

Alfie pouted. “Spain?”

“Look,” Oliver said, tapping Lucas’ forearm. “There’s a clue, right here.”

Lucas nodded as he drew back his sleeve, revealing the jaguar tattoo. Alfie frowned, studying the picture. “Australia?”

“Brazil,” Lucas said, finally putting them out of their misery.

“Bra-zil,” he repeated, as though testing the word in his mouth.

“Yeah, isn’t that cool?” Oliver said, kicking Lucas’ shin under the table.

Alfie nodded. “I have something cool, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” Lucas said, raising an eyebrow. “Show me?”

Shifting slightly, Alfie pulled a little woolly hat from beneath his chair. It had two large knitted eyes, a beak and two pompoms on the top, giving it the appearance of an owl.

“Wow, that is cool,” Lucas said, placing the hat on Alfie’s head. “It’s chilly outside, so you’ll need it.”

Oliver rested his chin on his hands as he watched the interaction. The tender moment was ruined when Patrick stormed back into the room.

“We should get going,” he said, pulling on his coat. “Before the traffic gets bad.” And he wasn’t wrong. Rush hour in High Enfield was a fucking nightmare.

“R-Right,” Oliver said, rising from his seat. Lucas followed suit.

They waited near the car as Sarah helped Alfie pull on his coat and shoes. Patrick lingered near the end of the drive, pretending to look at his phone.

“Keep your phone on,” Lucas said, squeezing Oliver’s shoulder.

“I will.”

Gripping the steering wheel, Oliver tried not to scowl as Patrick dropped into the front passenger seat. The musky scent of the alpha’s aftershave did a poor job of hiding the stale stench of cigarettes clinging to the fabric of his clothes. Having him so close made Oliver feel physically sick, and he had to swallow several times to stop the queasiness rising in his throat. Clenching his jaw, he said, “Shouldn’t you sit in the back with Alfie?”

Patrick’s lip curled into a smug smile as he jabbed his thumb towards the rear of the car. “Nah, the iPad will keep him quiet. Give us a chance to talk. Just you and me” And Oliver hated the way Patrick said that last part.

Scowling, he pulled off the driveway, desperately glancing at Lucas’ vehicle in the rear-view mirror. He could turn the car around and say he wasn’t feeling well. But where would that leave Alfie? No, he could do this . But fuck , he felt like such a piece of shit, leaving Lucas behind with only a bad feeling to keep him company. With any luck, the alpha would be in his nest when he returned home that evening.

Oliver took a breath and stared at the road ahead. “The point isn’t to ‘keep him quiet,’ Mr Coletta. The whole reason we’re doing this is so Alfie can talk.” He tried to keep his voice smooth and even.

“Oh, come on, Ollie. Stop with all this ‘Mr Colletta’ bullshit. We’re old friends, after all.”

“We are not old?—”

“Oh, look,” Patrick said, cutting him off. “The M6 is closed. We’ll have to go the long way round.”

Oliver grit his teeth as he stared at the overhead gantry, which flashed red with several warning signs. “Shit,” he muttered.

Turning off the main road, he followed the diversion signs. The journey would be longer, but only by about ten minutes, which he could manage so long as he could tune out Patrick’s voice. Focusing solely on the road lulled him into comfortable disassociation, the kind that left you wondering how the hell you’d gotten to work that morning.

His hopes of a quiet ride were quickly dashed as Patrick started humming along to the radio. The alpha had always hated uncomfortable silences, and felt compelled to fill the space with the sound of his own voice. It seemed nothing had changed in the six years they’d been apart.

“So,” Patrick said, absentmindedly picking his nails. “Does the sergeant fuck you the way you like?”

Oliver spluttered and glanced in the rear-view mirror. He was relieved to see that Alfie’s eyes were still glued to the iPad.

Here we go. Here we fucking go.

“Shut up,” he whispered, trying not to snarl.

Patrick grinned, tapping the toe of his shoe against the dashboard. “Oh, come on, you can’t blame me for being a little curious. His stench is all over you.”

As they pulled up at a row of traffic lights, Oliver set his face into a neutral expression and turned to the alpha. Tempering his voice to just above a whisper, he said, “Mr Coletta, we have a highly traumatised child in the back of the car, one who is hypersensitive to absolutely everything and everyone around him. If you continue to make inappropriate comments, I will report you to the local authority.”

He had to draw his line in the sand, and he had to do it immediately.

Patrick burst into fits of laughter, the sound making the hairs on the back of Oliver’s neck stand on end. The commotion made Alfie look up, and Oliver turned to smile at him whilst the lights remained red.

“Hey,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Alfie returned the silly face with a shy smile, his little hands twitching as they gripped the harness across his chest. “What do you think we’re going to see at the aquarium?” He asked, trying to ignore Patrick’s inane snorts of amusement.

“Fish,” Alfie replied, which actually made Oliver smile because he supposed it was a stupid question. “And pirates.”

“I told him there’s a pirate ship ride at the aquarium,” Patrick said, finally containing himself. “The kid has no idea what a pirate is, but he liked the sound of the skull and crossbones.” Something about the way he said ‘the kid’ irritated Oliver for no explicable reason. Though he supposed there was nothing the alpha could say that wouldn’t annoy him.

As the lights turned green, Oliver put the car in gear and slipped back into disassociated contentment. That was until he felt a gentle tugging at his throat. His top lip peeled back when he realised Patrick had reached across and slipped a finger into the neckline of his shirt. Wrenching his head away, his eyes slid across to the alpha, realising he was staring at him with a self-satisfied grin.

“Just checking,” Patrick said, pressing the tip of his tongue between his teeth.

“Checking for wha—” Oliver’s eyes widened as he cut himself off. The bite . Patrick was ‘checking’ whether Oliver had the bite. A bolt of anger shot through him, and it took all his self-restraint not to elbow the social worker in the face. Calmly, he pulled the car into a layby and switched off the engine. Turning to Alfie, he said, “Patrick and I just need to check something, okay, buddy? We’ll be back in two seconds.”

Alfie stared at him before giving a little nod and turning back to the video. The corner of Oliver’s eye twitched as he glared up at Patrick. “Get out,” he said, the words so quiet they were almost inaudible.

“What?” Patrick said, gaze turning cold.

“Get out of the car. Now.”

“No.”

Oliver didn’t give him time to protest as he unbuckled both his and Patrick’s belts and got out. Marching around to the passenger side, he yanked open the door and hauled Patrick out by his collar. Which was no mean feat, given that Oliver was a good half-head shorter than the alpha. Dragging him round to the rear of the car, he shoved the social worker against the filthy window so Alfie couldn’t see.

“Let me make one thing absolutely clear,” Oliver hissed, pressing his knee to the side of Patrick’s groin. “If you ever touch me again, I will not only break your fingers, I will rip them from their fucking sockets.”

If he’d expected the man to cower in fear, he’d been wrong. Instead, the same smug smile curled his lips. “There he is,” Patrick said, expression growing heated. “There’s the fiery little sigma I knew all those years ago. Nice fangs, by the way.”

“You do not know me, Mr Coletta. You have never known me.”

Patrick smiled, bearing his own sharp teeth. “I know you whine like a bitch in heat when you’re on your knees. I know you have a little freckle on the inside of your left thigh. And I know how your arse looks when I’m balls deep inside it.”

Oliver dropped his chin. “Degradation doesn’t work on me, Mr Coletta. Not anymore.”

Patrick sniffed and shifted uncomfortably under Oliver’s knee. “Pity,” he said, jaw tightening as Oliver pressed harder. “You could be so beautifully submissive back then.”

Oliver snarled, which was a mistake because the hostility only widened the alpha’s smile. Matteus’ words echoed in his head— He’ll do something, or say something to get your back up. Don’t jeopardise your job for that fucking tool. So, relaxing his jaw, he removed his knee from the alpha’s crotch, brushed off his coat and got back into the car. Alfie’s eyes were on him immediately, so Oliver gave him a reassuring smile.

The rest of the journey was agonising as he struggled to tune out Patrick’s incessant humming, and he was almost relieved when the big blue sign for The National Aquarium rolled into view. “Look, Alfie, we’re here!” Oliver said, drawing forth all the enthusiasm he could muster. The boy looked up, eyebrows disappearing behind his messy blonde hair.

“Are we going to see the fish now?” He said, voice barely above a whisper.

“I certainly hope so.” Oliver replied, pulling into a parking bay and turning off the car. “What do you think we’re going to see first?” He turned to peer at the boy between the front seats, but Alfie just shrugged in return.

“I hope we see a big shark,” Patrick said, snapping his teeth and making Oliver flinch. Alfie looked between the two of them, frowning.

“We should probably take our badges off,” Patrick said, sliding the lanyard from around his neck. “We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention.”

“Right,” Oliver replied, pulling off his own badge. Because he couldn’t really argue with that.

He held Alfie’s hand as they walked across the car park, it was so tiny and cold that Oliver couldn’t help but squeeze it a little. To his surprise, Alfie squeezed back.

“You have warm hands,” Alfie said, his massive brown eyes making Oliver’s heart ache.

“And yours are freezing, sweetheart. Like two ice cubes!” Alfie giggled and wrapped both hands around Oliver’s fingers. “Brrr,” Oliver replied, pretending the touch had sent a shiver up his spine. Alfie’s bobble hat bounced as they walked along.

“I feel left out,” Patrick said, sidling up to Alfie. “Hold my hand too?” And he did, which made Oliver feel physically sick at the thought of people thinking they were a happy little family. Thankfully, the aquarium was quiet that day, with only a handful of people milling around.

The woman behind the desk beamed at them as they pushed through the huge double doors. Turning her attention to Alfie, she said, “Hello cutie. What’s your name?”

Alfie flinched and let go of Patrick’s hand. He gripped Oliver’s arm, shuffling behind his legs and peering at the woman from behind his hand. Still doesn’t trust women.

“This is Alfie,” Oliver said, reaching around to pat the boy’s head. “He’s a little shy.”

If his reluctance perturbed the woman, she did not show it. “Hi Alfie! Wow, what handsome Daddies you have!” She said, winking at Oliver. He knew it was meant as a kind gesture, but the comment made him want to vomit, as did the way Patrick’s eyes bored into the side of his skull as he handed over the money.

“They’re not my Daddies,” Alfie said abruptly. “Paddy told me my Mummy and Daddy are dead.”

Because kids just loved to correct adults.

The cashier went very pale as she stared at the two of them. Oliver could see her hand drifting towards a red button beneath the till, so he lurched forward, whipped out his badge and pressed it to the desk. “I’m a police officer, he’s a social worker,” he said, jabbing his thumb towards Patrick. “Just before you get the wrong idea. I can leave you my office details if you’d like to double check.”

Because it really was very clear from her expression that she thought they’d kidnapped a child and killed his parents. “O-Oh, no, that won’t be necessary,” she said, face visibly relaxing. “Here you go Alfie.” She tried to hand him a balloon, but he shrunk even further behind Oliver’s legs.

“It’s okay, I can carry it for you,” Oliver said, taking the massive blue dolphin from the woman.

As they walked towards the main entrance, Patrick went uncharacteristically quiet. Chancing a look at the alpha, Oliver noticed that his ginger brows were furrowed as though deep in thought.

“Why do you think he hates females so much?” Patrick eventually asked. Oliver scowled and pressed a finger to his own lips, telling Patrick to keep his voice down. Frowning, Patrick continued, “If only males abused him, then why women?

Eyes flitting to the brightly coloured banners overhead, Oliver whispered, “Because it was the betrayal of his mother that damaged him the most. By facilitating the abuse, she shattered the only secure attachment he had. Kids’ brains have a way of dissociating from trauma, but the betrayal of a parent will stay with them for life.”

Didn’t they teach him anything at social worker school?

As they passed under the huge awning, Alfie’s eyes went wide and the wonder radiated off his pale little face. Patrick was about to say something further, but Oliver shushed him, wanting Alfie to enjoy the moment. Patrick huffed and pulled out his phone, clearly perturbed by the dismissal. Oliver took advantage of the distraction as he clutched Alfie’s hand, leading him towards a huge spherical tank containing bright pink jellyfish. The boy leant up on his tip-toes, eyebrows pulling together as he strained to see.

“Here.” Oliver held open his arms. Hesitantly, Alfie stepped towards him and wrapped his arms around his neck. “Heave-Ho!” Oliver said, lifting the boy onto his hip. “Pretty cool, huh? Look at that one over there!” He pointed as a huge jellyfish floated towards them, the pinky-white colour reflecting in Alfie’s eyes.

“Mummy’s friend had jellyfish underpants,” Alfie said, still gazing at the fish.

Oliver chuckled, “Jellyfish pants? That’s one way to sting your bum.”

Alfie laughed and rested his head on Oliver’s shoulder. “No! Not a real jellyfish. A picture.”

“Ah I see. Did you say it was Mummy’s friend?”

“Yeah. He sometimes made it snow.”

Oliver blinked as he looked down at Alfie and then glanced back at Patrick who was still engrossed in his phone. “A-And what was it like? When the jellyfish man made it snow?”

Alfie hummed as he wrapped his arms a little tighter around Oliver’s neck. “Loud. Mummy and Daddy always had a dance party. The jellyfish man tucked me into bed when I couldn’t sleep.”

Oliver swallowed, mind racing as he thought of what to say next. “That was nice of him. Did he read you a bedtime story?”

“No.”

“No? But you can’t go to sleep without a good bedtime story!”

Alfie giggled, pressing his cheek to Oliver’s. “Foster mummy Sarah reads me stories. I like the one about the monster and the mouse.”

“The Gruffalo?”

“Yeah! Jellyfish man sounded a bit like the Gruffalo.”

“How so?”

“When he lay in bed with me. He made the same growling noise.”

Fuck.

The truth was, Oliver hated the Gruffalo. Something about the green pimple on the end of the monster’s nose made him feel deeply uncomfortable. But he’d read that story a hundred times if it made Alfie smile.

“He did? What a silly man.”

“Yeah! And he always wet the bed. Mummy shouted and made me change my pyjamas.”

Oliver closed his eyes for a moment, letting the connotations of that statement sink in. He could hear Patrick talking on the phone, his back was turned so Oliver seized the opportunity. “Alfie, shall we see if we can find some turtles? I love turtles.”

“Okay!”

Turning on his heel, Oliver carried Alfie deeper into the aquarium. Thankfully it was dark in most of the areas, the back-lighting from the tanks making it difficult to see. If Patrick came looking, they wouldn’t be easy to spot.

“There!” Alfie said, pointing towards the turtle enclosure. The boy wriggled, so Oliver put him down. Running over to a massive viewing deck, Alfie pressed his face against the glass. “Look Ollie! It’s huge!” Oliver jogged over, and saw that there was, indeed, a massive turtle lazily gliding through the water.

“Wow, look at that! It’s bigger than you, Alfie!”

“Mummy said I’m like a turtle.”

“Did she?”

“Yeah! When the jellyfish man came I wrapped myself up in all my blankets. Mummy shouted and pulled them all off.”

Bitch .

“D-Did she? How did that make you feel?”

“Scared. But Daddy sometimes took me swimming if I’d been a good boy.”

“Did he? Where did you go swimming?” It was a stretch asking a four year old to describe a location, but he had to try.

Alfie shrugged and continued to look at the animals. “There was a huge clock that went ding-dong. And a birdie. Sometimes it tweeted, but most of the time it was broken.”

“That sounds cool, did you like going swimming with Daddy?”

“Mhm, sometimes.”

Oliver cocked a brow. “Only sometimes?”

Alfie looked down at his feet. “Sometimes he left me on my own.”

“Where did Daddy go?”

“To his friend’s house. But sometimes I went to the house as well. They had a swing in the front and they let me play outside.” As Alfie stared into the glass, Oliver quickly pulled out his phone and texted Blake and Lucas.

‘Underwear brand with a jellyfish logo, swimming pool with a tall clock outside and a bird that’s sometimes broken. House nearby with a swing set in the front garden.’

Within moments, his phone pinged. It was Blake. ‘Pardon?’

‘That’s what Alfie remembers.’

Within the same breath, Lucas replied. ‘The jellyfish is from a brand called ‘Meduza,’ it’s Polish. As far as I can see, it is not a brand that’s sold in the UK.’

Oliver swallowed and began typing. ‘So not many people will be walking around wearing them?’

‘Correct. According to their website, they’re a small-scale brand that only sells out of a few select stores. All within the same area of Warsaw.’

‘Which might suggest that the offender is from/visits that area?’ Oliver replied.

‘Correct. DS Smith is looking into the swimming pool you mentioned.’

Oliver was about to text, ‘shouldn’t you be sleeping?’ But then remembered Blake was part of the group chat. His heart raced as he waited for the other sergeant to reply. Suddenly, a photograph of ‘Tintern-upon-Wye Aquatics’ flashed up on the screen. True to Alfie’s word, there was a clocktower statue directly outside, with a little wrought iron bird perched on its weather vein.

‘Shit, I think that’s it.’

‘Can you show Alfie? Get him to confirm if it’s the place.’ Blake replied.

Oliver hesitated before typing. ‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It might re-traumatise him. Can you run it by the boss?’

There was a brief pause in the messages, then, ‘The boss said show him.’

Taking a breath, Oliver said, “Hey, Alfie. Is this where you used to go swimming?”

The boy nodded when he showed him the picture.

‘He said yes.’

The next moment a photograph from a mapping app popped up on the phone, followed by a street view image. It showed the front of a run-down terrace house with a swing set in the front garden, which appeared to be almost opposite the pool.

‘Can you get the local plod to send over an intel package? To see what they know about that house?’ Oliver replied.

‘Already on it. Please can you show Alfie the picture?’ Blake replied.

Hesitating, Oliver thought about denying the request, but reasoned that if they stood any chance of obtaining a search warrant they’d need a positive identification of the property. Of course, there was always a chance that Alfie could be mistaken, but he had offered the information even before being shown the photograph. So, against his better judgement, he showed him.

Alfie stared at the picture for a long time, his eyes turning glassy and unfocused. “Don’t worry about it,” Oliver said, pulling the phone away. He ruffled Alfie’s hair as he looked back at the turtles.

“They have a dog, too. A big one, called Norman.”

Oliver let out a breath and nodded. ‘That’s the one. There’s apparently a dog called Norman.’

Moments later, Blake sent the same photo but zoomed in on what appeared to be dog shit on the small patch of grass.

‘Bingo.’

‘Good work,’ Lucas replied, followed by a thumbs up emoji. Oliver had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

It was at that moment, Patrick made a re-appearance. He looked flustered. “There you are,” he said, jaw set in a hard line. “Has he told you anything?”

Oliver glanced down at Alfie, then back up at Patrick. “Nope.”

They meandered around the remainder of the aquarium, Alfie finally finding his confidence as he ran from tank to tank. Patrick huffed and puffed behind them, annoyed that they had both taken to flat out ignoring him. Eventually, they reached the main attraction. The shark tank. Or rather ‘the predator tank,’ as Oliver spotted a swarm of Puranas drifting menacingly nearby.

“Finally,” Patrick said, taking Alfie by the hand and pulling him away from Oliver.

Oliver hung back as he watched the two of them stare up at the huge wall of water. His feet were tired, his nerves were on edge and his brain very much needed a rest.However, the reprieve was short lived, as Alfie whipped around and shouted, “Ollie! Come here Ollie, look at these huge fish!”

Oliver chuckled as he walked over to them. “They’re not just fish, sweetheart, they’re sharks!”

“No way!” Alfie said, turning back to the tank.

“Yes way, look at all those sharp teeth!” He said, pointing towards a shark that drifted nearby.

“Whoa,” Alfie replied, taking his hand. They stood like that for a long moment, Alfie grasping both his and Patrick’s hands as he stared up in wonder. The back-lighting bathed everything in a serene blue light, which was a total contrast to Oliver’s racing emotions. He could feel the alpha’s eyes on him again, so he returned it with a glare. They stared at one another for a long time, and Oliver wished beyond everything that it was Lucas standing in Patrick’s place.

“This could have been us, Ollie,” Patrick said, with a sad smile. Except Oliver knew all too well that it was fake. He’d failed to get enough of a rise during the car journey, so he’d taken to playing the victim.

“No it couldn’t,” he whispered back, eyes drifting back to the sharks.

“It could. If your body hadn’t killed our baby.” And there it was. Patrick’s trump card, out in the open.

Oliver almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Almost, had the words come out of anyone other than the auburn haired alpha. He swallowed, then bit the inside of his cheek so hard it drew blood. The comment hurt. Even after six years, it fucking hurt .

Oliver wanted nothing more then to turn around and give the alpha a big ol’ ‘fuck you.’ But as he felt Alfie’s little hand clutching his, he just kept his eyes on the tank, scooped the boy up and placed him on his hip.

“What do you think that ones called?” He said, battling to keep the words steady as he pointed at a striped tiger shark.

“Mmm, Tiggy!” Alfie said, nuzzling his face into Oliver’s hair.

“What a great name! And that one…”

Patrick had given up trying to bait Oliver by the time they left the aquarium. The winter sun had started to dip below the horizon, and it was almost dark as they pulled onto the driveway of the foster placement. Alfie fell asleep on the journey home, and just as Oliver was calculating the best way to get him out of the child seat, a set of headlights flickered a few metres down the road.

“Oh, look. The lovely Detective Sergeant has come to give us a welcome party,” Patrick said, rolling his eyes. And Oliver realised—with some confusion—that it was in fact Lucas’ green BMW parked up outside the house. Frowning, he switched off the Jazz and stepped out of the car. He watched as Lucas slowly opened the door, his expression stoney and cold. Then the passenger door opened, and he realised with utter horror that Matteus was stepping out of the car.

“Shit,” he said, under his breath.

Totally unsure of how to handle the situation, he strode around to the passenger side and pulled open Alfie’s door. “Go inside,” he barked at Patrick, unclipping Alfie and tugging him into his arms.

Without another word, Patrick turned and walked towards the house, clearly afraid of whatever he saw in Lucas’ expression. With only a cursory glance at Oliver, Lucas stalked straight past him and followed the other alpha towards the house. Oliver turned to Matteus, who was glancing nervously between him and the retreating alphas.

“Why are you here?” Oliver spat, trying not to wake Alfie.

“He knows, Ollie.”

Oliver’s stomach dropped, and he was about to run after them when Matteus caught his arm. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t go in there.”

“How does he know, Matty?”

“I told him.”