The Alpha and the FBI Agent

Tacos With Lily

Frankie

“We’ll take your car,” I smirk at my mate. I can’t believe I just got to taste his lips. I have a frantic wolf in my head trying to make me claim him. ‘He doesn’t know what I am yet, Hazel,’ I yell at her. ‘We have to be careful with how we approach this.’

‘But I just want my mate,’ Hazel huffs.

‘I know, sweetheart,’ I respond to her. ‘But if we do this wrong, then we will lose him.’

“Frankie?” Clayton interrupts my conversation with my wolf. “Are you there?” He waves his hand in front of my face.

“Sorry,” I mumble.

He leads me to his vehicle, a black SUV of some kind. I’m not a car person, so I don’t really know what it is. Carter would have known absolutely everything about it. He and my father were crazy about cars. They were rebuilding an old Mustang that now sat half-built in the garage. I get into the SUV, and Clayton turns to me. I am caught up in his chocolate brown eyes.

“Where would you like to go for lunch?” He asks.

I just stare at this hunk of a man that I need to make mine forever. The suit fits him perfectly, but I also want to see what lies beneath. I know he is probably not as muscular as a werewolf, but I sort of like that. I have seen enough beefcakes in my life.

“Frankie,” Clayton chuckles. “You are drooling, sweetheart,” He reaches over and wipes saliva from my chin. The sparks from the touch makes him wrench his hand back and give me that look of uncertainty of his.

I wish I could tell him that those sparks or tingles are because of our bond. But I had to go about this slowly. I didn’t want to scare Clayton off. “S-sorry. I do that when I am eyeing something delicious.” Clayton raises an eyebrow, and I clamp my mouth shut. ‘What the hell was that?’ I scold myself.

“Do you like tacos?” Clayton’s voice makes me jump, and he laughs.

“Y-yes, I like tacos,” I reply.

“Good, there is a taco joint I go to often,” He starts up the SUV, and we drive away from the school.

‘Garrett, keep an eye on things. I am going to lunch with Clayton,’ I mind link my beta.

‘Lunch? Where?’ Garrett questions me.

‘Some taco joint,’ I respond.

‘Where Frankie? Are you leaving the territory alone?’ My beta sounds concerned.

‘I with an armed FBI agent,’ I argue. ‘I’ll be fine. I have my phone with me, so call me if anything comes up.’

‘Frankie, it's not safe-‘ I cut him off by putting up my mental block. I catch Clayton glancing over at me.

“Everyone in this little town gets that weird look on their faces,” He mentions.

“What weird look?” I scoff.

He laughs. “Your eyes glaze over.”

“Oh, that.” I shrug but don’t offer any explanation.

His phone rings, and he presses a button on the dash of the SUV. “Agent Marshall,” He speaks.

“Mr. Marshall,” A woman’s voice speaks out.

“Oh, Mrs. Erickson, what’s up?” He replies to the woman. “My daughter’s principal,” He whispers to me.

I stiffen, and my heart nearly stops. ‘Is he married? In a relationship?’ I think to myself as my wolf howls at the thought. I see no ring on his left hand, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t married.

“Your daughter Lily was caught fighting. I need you to come to the school right away. I tried calling your wife-“

“Ex,” Clayton corrects the woman. “Ex-wife,” He repeats. “Heidi and her new “ He sounds angry. “Anyways, I’ll be right there.” He looks at me. “Sorry, but I have to go get my daughter.”

“That’s alright,” I smirk. I am mildly relieved that he said, ex-wife. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

He nods. “Yeah, Lily. She is ten.” He explains. “Do you have any kids?”

I shake my head. “And are you married?”

“No, not married.” He replies and looks at me when I breathe a loud sigh of relief. “And you?”

“I’m single,” I spit out. ‘Not for long.’ I mumble to myself while my wolf snickers.

We ride in silence again until he pulls into another school. It looks like any school. I follow him into the building, and we stop at the office. I see a little girl sitting outside the office, looking sullen. She looks up at Clayton and gives him a small smile.

“Hi Daddy,” She says to Clayton.

He steps towards her. “What did you do, Lily?”

A woman with greying hair steps out of the office. “Ah, Mr. Marshall, thanks for coming. Come on in.”

Clayton turns to me. “I’ll be right out.” He glances at Lily. “You wait here, Lily.” He goes into the office, and I have to restrain Hazel because she smells two females inside.

I sit down beside Lily, and she is eyeing me. “Why are you with my Daddy?”

I look her over. She looks like Clayton’s daughter with light brown hair and brown eyes. Her nose is different, and I assume she got it from her mother. I look down the row of chairs and see another little girl glaring daggers at Lily.

“I am working with him on his case,” I blurt out. “What happened? Why were you sent here?”

Lily shrugs but says nothing.

“Why is that little girl looking at you like that?” I ask quieter.

Lily eyes me and then leans towards me. “That’s Vicky Lewis. She likes to bully my friend Henry because he is a little person.” She explains.

I look at Vicky and notice she is covered in mud. “Did you do that?”

Lily nods. “I got tired of her making fun of Henry and no one helping him, so I pushed her into the mud. She tried to hit me, but I punched her.”

I look at Vicky and notice she also has a huge bruise on her cheek along with the mud-caked on her clothes. I have to stifle a laugh. “Good job defending your friend.”

“I kept telling the teachers that Vicky wouldn’t leave Henry alone. It’s not his fault he walks with a limp.” She wrinkles her nose.

“Henry is lucky to have a friend like you, Lily,” I say, and she smiles at me.

“What is your name?” Lily asks me.

“Frankie,” I reply.

She giggles. “Isn’t that a boy’s name?”

I nod. “Usually. But sometimes girls have boy names.”

The office door opens, and Clayton walks out with the two women. “Okay, that is all for today. You both may take your children home.”

“Is Vicky in trouble for bullying Henry?” Lily stands up and looks at the principal.

“No, Lily. Vicky did nothing wrong,” The principal tells her.

“That’s bullshit!” Lily stomps her foot.

“Lily!” Clayton barks at her. “Come on. We have to go now.”

“But Daddy!” Lily protests.

“Take your daughter home, Mr. Marshall.” The principal says and goes into her office.

Clayton grabs his daughter’s hand and starts down the hall. He looks at me. “I have to take my daughter home. Sorry about lunch.”

“We can’t still have lunch?” I ask him and flutter my eyelashes. “I don’t mind having Lily eat with us.” I wink at Lily, and she grins.

“Please, Daddy?” Lily asks.

Clayton huffs. “Fine. But if anyone asks, I took you straight home and sent you to your room.”

We go out to his car and pile in. “We are having tacos,” I say to Lily.

“I love tacos.” Lily declares.

Clayton drives for about ten minutes until we reach a small Mexican restaurant. “This place looks rundown, but it has the best Mexican food outside of the Southwest,” He laughs.

We walk into the restaurant, and a short Latina woman rushes over to Clayton. “Clayton,” She greets him with a thick accent. “Como Esta?”

“Bien, Carmen,” Clayton hugs her.

Carmen hugs him back and eyes Lily and me. “Ah, Lily,” She smiles at Lily and then eyes me. “Who is this?” Carmen waggles her eyebrows at Clayton.

Clayton glances at me with his mouth open. “She is, uh-“ He licks his lips nervously. “A friend.”

“I see,” Carmen smiles at me. “I am Carmen Alvarez.”

“Frankie,” I shake her hand.

Carmen nods picks up some menus, and leads us into the restaurant. There are only three other patrons inside, even though it’s lunch hour. She sets the menus down at a booth, and I climb in on one side while Lily and Clayton sit opposite me. “What can I get you three to drink?”

I look at the menu. “A margarita sounds good.”

“Just a coke for me,” Clayton replies. “And Sprite for Lily.”

Carmen nods and walks away. We sit silently, looking at the menus. I find what I want and set the menu down.

“What job do you have?” Lily asks me.

I smile at her. “I am the mayor of my town.”

“So, you are in charge?” She smiles.

“Yep,” I respond.

Carmen returns with our drinks and chips with salsa. “Are you three ready to order?”

We give her our orders, and she scurries off to the kitchen. I munch on some chips while trying not to stare at Clayton, who is trying not to stare at me.

“Do you like my Dad?” Lily blurts out.

I smile at her. “I like him very much.”

Clayton eyes his daughter but says nothing.

“Are you going to marry him?” Lily asks right as Clayton is drinking his soda. He spats it out and chokes.

“Lily,” He gasps. “That’s not an appropriate question to ask.”

Lily rolls her eyes. I reach over and wipe soda from Clayton’s mouth. “We are just uh friends, Lily,” I say to my mate’s child.

“Mommy is married,” Lily says.

“Oh, is she?”

Clayton huffs. “Yeah, to my former best friend,” He grumbles.

“Oh dear,” I frown. “She didn’t cheat on you, did she?” I ask, but the look on Clayton’s face tells me everything I need to know. “I’m sorry. I hate it when good people get cheated on.”

“I don’t like my stepdad,” Lily blurts out. “He makes fun of my Dad.”

“I wouldn’t like it if someone made fun of my Dad, either,” I tell Lily.

“What’s your Dad like?” Lily asks.

I sigh and look at the table. “My Dad was a great Dad.”

“Was?” Lily asks sadly.

“He passed away about six months ago along with my big brother,” I say.

Lily frowns. “I’m sorry.”

There is an awkward silence for a few minutes until Carmen shows up with our food. The smell of the tacos and other food makes my mouth water. We dig into the food. “This is really good,” I say to Clayton.

“Told you it was the best,” He says while biting into a carnitas taco. Lily is eating a plain chicken taco with a bit of cheese.

We eat in silence for a few minutes. ‘When are you going to mark him?’ Hazel pushes.

‘Hazel, stop.’ I snark at her.

“Your eyes are glazed over again,” Clayton mentions.

“Uh, sorry,” I mumble and ignore my wolf. “So, can I ask you are strange question?” I say to Clayton, who is in mid-bite with his taco.

He chews for a second before swallowing and taking a sip of his soda. “I guess.”

“What do you think about werewolves?” I ask casually.

He chuckles. “Werewolves? As in the mythical creature?”

I just nod. “Yeah.”

“I don’t think much about them. I just know they don’t exist,” He explains.

‘This is going to be hard,’ I mumble to Hazel. “Are you sure about that?” I ask Clayton.

“Yeah,” He chuckles again. “It’s absurd to think werewolves exist.”

“I think they exist,” Lily chimes in. “I saw a big wolf last night in the woods.”

Clayton looks at his daughter. “There are no wolves around here, Lily. You probably just saw a dog.”

“It wasn’t a dog, Daddy,” Lily argues. “I saw a wolf, and its eyes glowed.”

I say nothing, thinking Lily must have seen me in the woods. I think this little girl would probably accept me being a wolf easier than her father will.

Clayton shakes his head. “Lily has an active imagination. She thinks unicorns exist too.”

I wanted to tell her that unicorns do indeed exist, along with werewolves and lots of other creatures. I wonder how I’ll ever broach the subject of my true identity to Clayton. We quickly eat our lunch, and Clayton pays the bill.

As we leave the restaurant, my phone rings, and I see Garrett is calling. I walk a few feet away from Clayton and Lily. “What’s up, Gar?” I ask my Beta.

“We need you to come home,” Garrett responds.

“What’s wrong, Garrett?”

“We found another body on the border. And it’s chewed up just like Larry was,” He explains.

“s**t!” I curse, eliciting looks from Clayton and Lily. “Who is it?”

“We can’t tell it’s so chewed up. Tyler believes it's another omega. He is trying to figure out who is missing,” Garrett tells me.

“Goddammit. I’ll be right there, Garrett,” I hang up the phone and look at Clayton. “I have to get home like right now,” I tell my mate. “Someone is coming to pick me up,” I lie.

“Is everything alright?” Clayton asks me.

I should tell him it's another body, but I don’t want to involve him. He is already too involved in investigating what happened to Larry.

‘Maybe we should involve him,’ Hazel suggests. ‘That way, we get to spend more time with him.’

‘Hush,’ I scold my wolf. “Anyways, thank you for lunch.” I smile at him.

Clayton sighs. “Can I see you again? I’m not supposed to during the investigation, but I-“

“Yes, you can see me again. Anytime you want.” I blurt out.

He laughs. “Okay, I’ll call you?”

I nod and look at Lily, who is just grinning at our exchange. “It was nice meeting you, Lily.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Frankie.” She says to me. She gets into the SUV and watches us.

Clayton leans towards me and, kisses my lips, then pulls away. “Bye.” He says awkwardly as I hear Lily giggling from the car.

“Bye,” I say softly as Clayton walks away. Hazel whines in my head. ‘Sorry, Hazel.’ I want to cry as I watch Clayton drive away. I walk into the woods behind the restaurant, take my clothes off, and shift into my black wolf. I pick up my clothes and run towards home.