Sittingacross from the DA in the security firm’s large conference room with Jaime’s hand in his, Finn was very thankful that he’d ended up going with the “rip the bandaid off” method of telling Jaime about wolf shifters, because Gabriel Rivera was not taking the “tell then show” method well.
He hadn’t believed them at all, really, accusing Sheppard—who he calledCam—of fucking with him. Sheppard just sat there, raising one stoic eyebrow at the attorney before he stood, and began undressing.
Jaime groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Ugh, not you, too.”
Sam looked from Sheppard to Jaime in alarm at that exclamation.
DA Rivera turned to the two brothers like they were the only three sane people left in the world. “Jaime, what the hell is going on? Have they been feeding you this bullshit the entire time? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gotten you out, brought you somewhere safe. Jesus Christ Cam, why the fuck are you gettingnaked?—”
His rant was cut off as Sheppard shifted, skipping right over the partial shift and going straight for the wolf.
Finn could tell that Jaime was surprised by the size of him, taking up nearly half of the conference room with his bulk, noticeably larger than Finn’s wolf.
He smirked, and leaned into Jaime’s ear. “My wolf is smaller than theirs, since I’m only half shifter. It makes me stealthier.”
Jaime swallowed and nodded. “Uh-huh. Yes. I see that, now.”
“Oh my God.” DA Rivera looked like he was going to pass out.
Jaime stood, walking over to where he sat and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise, they’re not scary. Well, they are if you’re threatening to hurt someone they care about, but you aren’t doing that, so we’re all good. Right, Finn? All good?”
Before Finn could answer, Jaime’s face lit up in the most adorable way, like he’d just had a great idea. “When they’re happy, they purr!”
Silas choked. “Wait, what? Did you just say that Finnpurrs?”
Sam was looking at Jaime like he had sprouted a second head.
Jaime gave Finn a sly smile. “Sometimes.”
DA Rivera was still staring at Sheppard. “I’m sorry, have you all lost your goddamn minds? A man I’ve known for my entire life just turned into a giantdog.Will someone please explain this to me?”
“Good luck with that,” Sam mumbled, shooting Finn a look.
“I did explain it to you already, Gabriel. You just chose not to believe me. Take a few minutes to digest, and then we can discuss arresting Jeffrey Dugan and what to do about Bishop’s body.” Sheppard had shifted back by now, and was putting his clothes back on.
“You’re lucky they aren’t telling you to completely ignore what you just sawbecause it has nothing to do with you,” Sam groused, earning a look from Jaime.
DA Rivera ignored him though, eyes bugging out of his head as he watched Sheppard get dressed. “Bishop’sbody? Did you kill Jackson Bishop, Cam?”
Silas waved his hands around. “I’m sorry, can we please circle back to the purring? What the fuck is Jaime talking about, Finn?”
He blushed. “I don’t purr. When I’m, um.Content.My chest makes a low rumbling noise.”
Jaime snickered. “Content.”
Silas raised an eyebrow, a smirk stretching across his face. “So, you purr.”
“It’s clearly a sex thing, and I don’t want to hear about my brother’s freaky wolfy fucking. Drop it,” Sam sniped.
Jaime turned bright red in confirmation, and Silas gave Sam another one of those heated looks.
Ugh, it was going to start stinking in here if they didn’t hurry this up.
DA Rivera had his face cupped in his hands, massaging his temples. “Will someonepleasetell me if Jackson Bishop is dead? And how he got that way? I’ve got searchers out looking for him, and there’s a storm system coming in. If I can call them back, I need to know now.”
The rest of their meeting went by slightly less chaotically, and DA Rivera mostly just listened to Sheppard’s explanation of Bishop’s attack, his death, and the phone call confession that implicated Jeffrey Dugan in Vera’s murder.
Afterwards, he made his own phone calls to bring the searchers who were out looking for Bishop back in before the storm, and to have the team that was tailing Dugan bring him in for questioning. By the time they got him to the station, the arrest warrants would be ready to go.
