Chapter Sixteen

Once Sloan and I had dried off and put on clothes, which was a shame given how dangerously sexy my omega was, I needed to talk to him about the sketch. I would have in the shower, but we were distracted in the best way possible.

"You drew this?" I prompted, picking up the piece of paper to show him.

Sloan sat down on the love seat and nodded. "I did. Didn't know you were mated to an artist, huh?"

I took a seat across from him on the edge of the bed. "I didn't. You're very talented." I looked over the scene on the paper, again surprised at how the pencil strokes mimicked the exact picture I'd been texted. "Is this somewhere you've been?"

Droplets of water fell onto his forehead. I reached forward and brushed it away with the towel next to me. "Tyrus, that was a scene I saw in a dream."

My chest constricted. He didn't share this dream with me, but I had to put that aside for now. My omega dreamed of a place where an evil man still lived despite my orders. "Did you feel anything in the dream?"

"Impending doom. All succumbing danger and evil. There's something awful in that house and it's not only recent. Bad things have happened in that place for a long time, Tyrus."

I blew out a breath and gathered my bravery. Funnily enough, I could make sure hits on bad men were carried out but hesitated in telling my fated mate the truth about myself. In some ways, I thought myself courageous but, in front of him, I was nothing but a shivering cub. "I need to talk to you about something, Sloan. Something I've been keeping from you and from the others."

"Come and sit next to me. That will help you." I moved to the love seat at his gentle command. He put his hand on the back of my neck, and finally I could breathe again. "I know you are aware that I research the tips for the breeding rings and others so we can take those down, but there's another part of my job that not even Hammer realizes. I'm scared that once I tell you what I do, you'll want nothing to do with me."

He nodded. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Go on and tell me."

"Sometimes I get texts or phone calls. Always from an unknown number and name. They have me…me and my bear…we carry out assassinations of people who are abusing omegas. Your mate is a killer, Sloan."

My beautiful mate looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. This was it. The end of the road for us. The end of this slice of happiness I allowed myself to have. Beads of sweat broke out along my hairline, and my throat turned into a desert. I gave him a moment. He was a thinker, my Sloan. He took pause before speaking, always careful with his words. He knew more than anyone how they could be more lethal than a sword.

"Tyrus, you only kill people who have done horrible things, right?"

"Yes. Only people who I'm told to kill and, of course, anyone who threatens or attacks the team when we go on raids."

He turned those brilliant green eyes on me. "Then that makes you a warrior, not a murderer, mate."

Mate. After everything I'd told him, he was still calling me mate?

"It's all the same. I have to take lives sometimes."

Sloan crawled into my lap. "It's not the same. You kill to avenge omegas who can't fight for themselves and to save the lives of your brothers. Not the same. I have to admit, it's not a career path I would choose for you but, given our circumstances, I would rather you be who you are then some of the asshole abusive alphas I've met in my life."

I swallowed and tried to fight back tears. He knew the darkest parts of me and saw through them. "I don't deserve you, Sloan. I thought you would leave me once you knew."

He shook his head. "Not for this. Not for doing what you needed to do. Cheat on me and you're gone, mister."

I barked out a laugh. We cuddled and kissed for an hour before my mind went back to the business at hand. "I need to call Aziz and have him get on the research for this place. I have coordinates. He's the best at stakeouts. Sly and quiet as a shadow."

"Let's go."

I moved with weightlessness now that the anchor holding my chest down had been removed. All I had to do was tell him everything, and we would be okay.

"Aziz," I said, walking up to his desk.

"Whatcha got?" he said as I was trying to hand him a piece of paper with the sketch on it.

"I texted you the coordinates for this place and my… Sloan had a dream that something evil was in there. Can you stake it out for me? Get the intel."

He stood and looked at the sketch but didn't take it from my hands. "I can. Been too long since I was in my element. I'll report back when I can."

I turned to Sloan. "I want you to sleep in my room tonight. Me and you."

Sloan bit down on his bottom lip. Clearly, he was conflicted. "The kids?"

"They will be fine. See? Already asleep for the night. Unless you're not ready?"

He fisted the front of my shirt. "I've been ready since I first saw you."