The alpha and his stubborn thief

Chapter 6 - A breath of fresh air

Joshua woke up alone. He looked around his room and noticed that all of Cassie’s clothes were gone, and he could no longer smell her scent.

“I guess she left early,” he sighed as he rubbed his neck and glanced at the clock on his nightstand, displaying that it was a little after ten in the morning.

“I genuinely liked her,” his wolf, Rhys, purred in his head.

“Did you just purr?” Joshua chuckled as he got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom.

“I did not….” Rhys muttered.

“It’s not like you to accept someone that is not our mate so easily,” Joshua responded, surprised as he turned the shower on and gasped as the cold water hit his naked body.

“I know… There was just something different about her.”

“Agreed, she was like a breath of fresh air,” Joshua sighed as the water finally warmed up, and steam started filling the room. 

“A breath of fresh air that didn’t bother saying goodbye,” Rhys grumbled.

“It’s not like we’re going to stick around for long,” Joshua thought as he washed his body, “Wouldn’t help anyone to get too attached. Besides, she’s human. Sticking around too long might put her in danger or expose her to our world.”

“I wouldn’t mind keeping her around for a while,” Rhys grinned.

“Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my hotheaded wolf?” Joshua laughed as he turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around his waist.

“I know how it sounds. I just feel like we should see her again,” Rhys suggested.

“I won’t promise anything, but I’ll admit that I do want to see her again for some reason,” Joshua smiled as he dried his hair with a towel.

Joshua heard a knock on his door, put the towel down, walked through the apartment, and opened the door.

“Look, I know we’re friends and all, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you sporting nothing more than a towel,” Leila said with a repulsed look, and walked past him and straight to the kitchen.

“Please come on in,” Joshua muttered and closed the door, “What got you here so early?”

“Since when is ten early?” Laila groaned as she took a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and drank it right from the bottle. Today, she was wearing her hair down with black pants and a dark green cropped sweater.

“Since some of us didn’t go straight home from the bar?” Joshua groaned, took a glass from the cupboard, and handed it to her.

“And judging by the smell in here, I’m pretty sure that you didn’t come home alone,” Laila said with a raised brow as she took the glass and poured the juice into it and jumped up to sit on the kitchen island. 

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Joshua shook his head and leaned up against the fridge.

Leila looked like she was about to say something but was cut off as Tommy and Russell walked into the room without knocking.

“Damn, it smells like someone got lucky in here last night,” Tommy giggled, making Joshua drag his hand down his face.

“What happened to knocking?” he groaned.

“What, she’s still here?” Tommy asked, wide-eyed, and sniffed the air.

“No, she’s not,” Joshua shook his head.

“Called it,” Leila chuckled and poured herself another glass of juice.

“About time you let off some steam,” Russell shrugged.

“Seriously? You too?” Joshua asked with a raised brow.

“So, who was it?” Tommy asked curiously and took the juice bottle from Leila’s hands and drank the little that was left from the bottle, making Leila growl at him.

“I don’t see how that’s important information, and that’s not a conversation I’m going to go into while half-naked,” Joshua groaned and walked into the bedroom. 

He found a pair of simple jeans, a black shirt, and a hoodie and pulled it from the bag he hadn’t bothered unpacking since they didn’t know how long they were going to stay in town. He could still smell Cassie’s sweet smell lingering in the air and wondered why he couldn’t get her out of his mind. 

He sighed and reminded himself that even though she seemed amazing, he had a mate out there, so getting too involved with a human who wouldn’t understand the effects of the mate bond, was a bad idea.

“But you’re still considering it,” Rhys chimed in.

“I know it’s irrational, but I just can’t get her out of my head,” Joshua sighed and walked out into the main area.

“And the lover boy returns,” Leila chuckled from the kitchen island.

“Why is it that these two can go at it whenever, but when I find someone, it’s the news of the decade?” Joshua replied, rolled his eyes, and sat down on one of the sofas closest to the bedroom.

“Because she was human, at least judging by the scent,” Leila said with a raised brow.

“You slept with a human?” Russell asked, a bit taken aback.

“She was, and I did,” Joshua grunted, “Next order on business.”

“But why?” Tommy asked, “Humans don’t have the stamina to keep up with us when it comes to s*x,” he said way too casually.

“And how would you know that?” Russell asked his mate and crossed his arms.

“What can I say? I was a little experimentative before finding you,” Tommy giggled, and Joshua could see Russell’s jaw tense in jealousy.

“That’s way too much information,” Leila groaned.

“Agreed,” Russell muttered.

“Aww, don’t worry, babe, none of them even comes close to you,” Tommy said and leaned over to kiss Russell.

“Although, I do agree with Tommy’s statement. I’ve given one human guy a chance out of curiosity, and I probably could have done a better job singlehanded,” Leila shrugged.

“This is way too much sharing before noon,” Joshua groaned and rubbed his temples, “I don’t know what kind of people you slept with, but she was the complete opposite.”

“Oh?” Tommy asked and leaned forward on the sofa.

“I’m not going into details,” Joshua shook his head, and Tommy pouted in disappointment, “But will you finally tell me what you’re doing in my room so early in the morning?”

“Just wondering what our plan is,” Leila shrugged, “I don’t like working for a vamp, and I’d like to get home soon.”

“Agreed, we’re worried about the vampire part,” Russell nodded.

“It’s just a means to an end,” Joshua sighed, “I’ll admit, I was surprised that she was a vampire, but we needed the information she had. I don’t like working together like that, but she might lead us to the thief, and I think that’s worth a risk.”

“You sure it’s not too big of a risk?” Tommy asked, his usually calm and playful manner replaced with a serious look.

“I guess only time will tell, but I promise that we will back away if this becomes too much,” Joshua nodded, “Let’s just see how this progresses for now.”

“Fine,” Leila nodded and jumped off the island, “So what’s the plan for today?”

“We’re going to walk around town and look at the places the thief hit. We still don’t know if it’s the same thief, but if we find him or her, they could lead us in the direction of the other thief and the brooch. Leila, you’ll join me and use your skills to get some information, and you guys will look into the places in the next town over."

All of them listened closely to Joshua’s orders. They might look and act unprofessional at times, but as soon as it was required of them, they instantly dropped that façade and got into work mode. He knew he couldn’t ask for a better team to help him with his mission.

Russell and Tommy nodded their heads in agreement and immediately got up to drive to the next town as soon as their plan was set. Leila followed Joshua around town, and they looked at the places in town that hopefully would give them some clues.

Leila had amazing persuasion skills, and for regular humans and simple werewolves, it was easy for her to get the information she needed. So hopefully, they’d soon find some leads.

---

A few hours later, they sat in a corner booth at a small restaurant, and Joshua nibbled on his fries as he thought about what they had learned today.

All the thefts had been flawlessly executed, and although quite some time had passed, they were able to get some information that suggested the crimes were performed by a single person with similar if not identical skills to the thief that had broken into their skyscraper.

“But we still don’t know anything that gives us an idea where the person is now. They might as well be on the other side of the world right now,” Leila said, and took a big bite from her burger.

“Then we’ll follow them to the other side of the world,” Joshua shrugged, “But relax. It’s just been a few hours. I’m sure that we’ll find something that we can use to track the person.”

“Putting the matter of the thief to the side,” Leila said thinkingly and tilted her head to the side, “Do you want to talk about whatever’s on your mind?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joshua muttered, and took a sip of his drink.

“You’re really going to try that? I’ve known you since we were kids. I know when something is on your mind,” Leila added, and crossed her arms.

“It’s the girl from last night,” Joshua sighed in defeat, knowing that Leila would fish it out of him eventually.

“What about her?”

“I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“Was the s*x that good?” Leila asked with a raised brow.

“It was incredible. I’m not going to deny that,” Joshua muttered, “But it’s more than that. She just keeps popping up in my head, and even Rhys wants to see her again.”

“Hold up,” Leila blurted, “Rhys likes someone right off the bat?” 

“Took me by surprise too,” Joshua explained, “Normally, he doesn’t like it when I sleep with someone, since he only wants our mate, but he didn’t even complain once today or last night.”

“We’re talking about the same Rhys, right?” Leila mocked.

“The one and the same,” Joshua shrugged.

“But she’s not your mate?” Leila asked.

“No, Rhys doesn’t want to claim her or anything like that. It’s more like there’s something about her that’s dragging both of us in.”

“That sounds a bit skeptical,” Leila frowned.

“Skeptical?” Joshua said and crossed his arms.

“I just mean that it isn’t every day that you can’t get a girl you just met out of your mind,” Leila shrugged, “I’m just telling you to be careful.”

Before Joshua could reply, his phone beeped, and he looked at it to see a message on the screen.

“I believe that’s from Mary,” Joshua nodded when he saw the signature TBM under the text. The Bloody Mary.

“What does that bloodsucker want?” Leila groaned.

“She wanted to let us know that some people have reported being robbed of all loose change while partying. However, they all still had their wallets.”

“You mean that if they’re telling the truth, the thief stole their wallet, took their money, and then returned the wallets without them knowing?” Leila frowned and asked Joshua to send him the file, which he did.

“Which is why their reports haven’t led anywhere,” Joshua answered. It wasn’t unusual for people to lose their money while out drinking since they might not even remember spending it, but so many people reporting theft did raise a few flags.

“How do you want to handle this information?” Leila asked as she finished her food and started looking closer at the reports Joshua sent her.

“You track down these people and ask them what happened. Maybe you’ll find a pattern,” Joshua suggested.

“And you?” 

“I’m going to see what the boys found and see if we can figure something out. Then we’ll all go out tonight and look at the bars that these people reported being at,” Joshua continued and felt anticipation build as he noticed the name of the bar Cassie worked at.

“And I take it you’re expecting to see the girl from last night judging by that look?” Leila shook her head.

“She works at one of the bars,” Joshua said and rubbed his neck.

“So, she’s a suspect,” Leila stated.

“I didn’t say that,” Joshua answered defensively.

“Well, she is. Most of the people robbed were men, so it’s a safe bet to assume we’re looking for a woman,” Leila shrugged.

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet,” Joshua sighed, “Go and see if you can get something more out of these people, and then we’ll see where we stand before hitting the bars tonight.”

“Understood,” Leila nodded, but judging by the look in her eyes. Joshua knew that this conversation was not over.