Chapter 133

Aria

Darren and I followed the chief to a more secluded area, one that was free from prying eyes and cameras.

We stopped beneath the shade of a large tree, and the chief turned to us, his cold gray eyes scanning us from head to toe. I felt like he had x-ray vision or something. Even my wolf bristled with discomfort.

“Mr. Avarise,” the chief finally said, placing his hand on his gun holster like we were some kind of threat. “It is my understanding that your company was the one endorsing the soup kitchen today.”

Darren nodded. “That’s true. Lunar Labs’ charity gala funds were used to purchase supplies for the soup kitchen. A couple members of our organization were staffing the table when the protest began, but had nothing to do with the fight.”

The chief’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he didn’t entirely believe us. My stomach then dropped as he said, “And do you have the proper permits to run a soup kitchen in this park?”

I looked at Darren, who just appeared somewhat confused. “It’s my understanding that special permits for small-scale charity drives are not required in this city,” Darren said after a moment.

“That is correct,” the chief said, withdrawing a small handbook from the back pocket of his uniform. “However, this is a law that specifically applies to our citizens. Unfortunately, the laws do not encompass… outsiders.”

My throat constricted. The chief handed us the book, open to a page on charity drives. The local law stated that full-time citizens of this city with justifiable cause were welcome to host charity events, so long as they had permission of the venue owners. This park was privately owned by a high-standing family in the city, but open to the public, and they had given us express permission to set up our soup kitchen here on Fridays.

I frowned, turning to the chief. “Forgive us if we’re mistaken, Major Martinez, but we thought we were well within our rights by setting up this soup kitchen today.”

“Is that so?” The chief’s lip curled to reveal a row of pristine white teeth as he looked at me. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Unfortunately, you would be mistaken. You see, these laws are reserved for residents of this city. Official residents.”

Darren looked stunned. “What are you saying?”

The chief’s face hardened. “I’m saying that foreign business owners must fill out the proper paperwork to run such events in our lovely city,” he said, gesturing at the park around us. “You, Mr. Avarise, have not gone through the proper procedures to do so. And had you followed the proper procedures, perhaps none of these unfortunate coincidences would have occurred today.”

“But I am a resident of this city,” Darren replied quickly. “I’ve lived here for over ten years, and Lunar Labs has been an official business here for over a century.”

The chief narrowed his cold eyes into slits.

Suddenly, another officer ran up to us, whispering something to the chief. I looked over to see that another small scuffle had broken out between a werewolf and a human a ways away, and several officers were pulling them off one another.

The chief sighed, looking more exasperated than concerned.

“Look,” he said, placing his hat back on his head, “until you fill out the proper paperwork and get the permit, I’m going to have to place a formal suspension on all of your current and future charity events.”

“But—” Darren began, but the chief was already moving away.

“Send your documentation to the precinct,” he called over his shoulder with a curt wave of one hand. “Assuming you even have the proper documentation, then it should be no trouble for you at all.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Darren quickly squeezed my hand, shaking his head to stop me. “It’s alright,” he said gently, leading me away. “It’s just fucking bureaucracy at play. We’ll fill out the forms and get it situated quickly.”

I nodded, knowing that with these sorts of things, it was better to just cooperate. Especially now that the media was watching our every move, waiting for us to prove their hateful suspicions. It made no sense that the chief seemed to think we weren’t official residents of the city, but we were, so I wasn’t terribly worried.

With that, Darren and I made our way back to Liam and Bella. We found Liam standing by Darren’s car, but Bella wasn’t with him.

“Where did she go?” I asked, looking around.

Liam sighed and pointed toward a coffee shop across the street. “She said she needed oolong tea, for some reason?” He looked confused. “She wouldn’t let me go with her.”

I frowned, turning to go look for her. I knew Bella well enough to know that when she said she needed oolong tea out of nowhere, that was code for “I need something to lower my blood pressure. Like, yesterday.”

While I hurried across the street, Darren and Liam remained in the car, waiting. I found Bella standing near the counter in the coffee shop, her face set in a pout as she waited for her tea.

“What’s wrong?” I asked by way of greeting as I sidled up next to her.

“Nothing.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “Bella…”

My friend sighed, flipping a strand of long, dark hair over her shoulder. She turned and looked up at me, and if looks could kill, I might have fallen to the floor just then, dead.

“The chief,” she said. “Be careful with him. He’s a son of a bitch motherfucker.”

I blinked, stunned by that… colorful string of words. “You know him?” I asked.

Bella picked up her tea and stormed out of the coffee shop in a huff. I followed her onto the sidewalk, and she turned to look at me again. This time, I could have sworn her eyes were somewhat misted over with tears.

“He’s my fucking dad,” she admitted.

My eyes widened. “Your… father?” I could hardly believe it; Bella and I had met in the youth home, and she always just said she was an orphan. “I thought…”

She nodded, her fingers tightening around her cup. “Surprise,” she growled through clenched teeth. “That good-for-nothing asshole is my father, who’s alive and well. I’d say he’s a bootlicker, but really, it’s his boots that everyone licks.”

I hesitated, not sure what to say. I always knew Bella didn’t have the most positive view of the authorities, thanks to her episodes in and out of juvie as a kid. I supposed this also contributed to that.

“Wow, that must be… tough, to have to see him all of a sudden,” I finally said.

Bella scoffed and took a long gulp of her tea. She winced, the hot liquid no doubt burning her tongue. “That would be putting it lightly. Between him and my mother, my life was hell. He was a fucking drill sargeant my entire life, and my mom always backed him up, letting him abuse me in the hopes of turning me into a ‘perfect daughter’ who would make a good housewife for a little army of military brats someday.”

My heart ached. “I’m so sorry, Bells. I had no idea.”

She shrugged. “I try not to think about it. It’s better if I just pretend they’re dead. That’s why I always said I was an orphan.”

“I… can’t really blame you,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “But, Bella, you know you could have told me at any point.”

Bella sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I guess it was pretty rich of me to get mad at you for keeping the whole werewolf thing a secret when I’ve been sitting on this steaming pile of shit the whole time we’ve known each other.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe that’s why you got so pissed at me,” I teased. “Guilty conscience and all that.”

She snorted, but then her face turned serious once more. “I mean it, though, Aria. Be careful with him. He’s a stickler for the rules; the type of stickler who will intentionally use those very rules against you.”

I nodded, promising that Darren and I would be as careful as possible. I wasn’t worried, though; as soon as we turned in our paperwork, it was sure to be smooth sailing. As for the fight today… Well, I wasn’t sure how that was going to pan out. Likely not very well. But we’d handled worse before.

Bella looked a little relieved now that I knew the truth, and I pulled her in for a hug. She sighed and sank into me, and I held her tight, letting her relax. Just then, I heard her mumble something against my chest.

I pulled back to look at her. “What did you say?”

She giggled and shook her head, pouring her tea out into a nearby trash can. “I said that I don’t even like oolong,” she said as she tossed the cup in after it.

At that, I had no choice but to laugh out loud.