Free To Have A Human by Amber Kell

his head sadly. “Don’t lay this on me, cat man. I don’t care if my son loves a man as long as he has someone. Unfortunately, you don’t seem smart enough to keep him.”
    Carey returned, wearing his clothes from the night before. “Let’s go,” he told his father, not looking in Broden’s direction.
    “Wait!” Broden said. “I’ll assign someone to watch you.”
    “Don’t bother, Broden. I can take care of myself.” Without another word, Carey walked out of the condo.
    “If he gets so much as a scratch on him, I will hunt you down,” Broden growled at Aden.
    Aden shook his head. “You know nothing about my son. Maybe you should talk more and fuck less. Getting to know your mate is just as important as claiming him.”
    With those parting words of wisdom, Aden tucked his gun into the waistband in back of his pants, covered it with his shirt, then followed his son out. Somehow Broden lost both his lover and the respect of his future father-in-law in one fell swoop.
    “Damn.”
    Broden dropped onto the couch in defeat and rubbed his face in his hands. After a few minutes of self-pity, he fetched his phone and called Isaac’s personal cell phone.
    “What’s up, boss?” Isaac answered.
    “I want you to put a guard on Carey Gale.”
    “What’s up?” Isaac asked.
    “He’s a target of the Greben family. They just left Tony dead on his doorstep. His psycho father thinks he can take care of himself.”
    “Against a pack of wolf shifters?” Isaac asked incredulous. “I mean I know he’s got shifter friends, but what there’s only three of them and one human against an entire pack.”
    “I know.” Broden felt better now that his friend agreed with his assessment. When Carey and his father were there, he was beginning to think he was the only sane one.
    “I appreciate a confident man, but are you sure he’s not crazy?” Isaac asked.
    “Not entirely.”
    “What’s his address?”
    Broden froze. “I don’t know.”
    “You’re dating a man whose house you’ve never been to?”
    “We haven’t been dating long,” Broden protested. “Besides, it’ll be in his employee file. Look it up.”
    “You’ve had time to mark him,” Isaac countered.
    Broden growled. “Just find his address and put security on him. If anything happens to him I’ll never forgive myself.”
    “We’ll keep him safe,” Isaac answered cheerfully.
    “Thanks.” Relief filled Broden. Isaac would take care of Carey just like he handled everything else with ruthless efficiency.
    “No problem, boss, I’m interested in discovering more about the guy you’ve fallen in love with. I mean I like him and all and he’s a great hacker, but he never really shares anything personal.”
    “I know,” Broden agreed. When all was said and done, he really didn’t know his lover that well. Maybe he could learn more about Carey and keep him safe at the same time. “While you’re checking out his address, do a background check on his father. He came to my apartment with a gun and he looked more than capable of using it. I’m thinking he has a military background of some kind. He might even still be active. His name is Aden Gale.”
    “Got it. You know if Carey finds out you’re investigating his father he might not be so forgiving,” Isaac warned. “Some people try to learn things through conversations with their mates — you might want to try it sometime.”
    “It should concern you to know that you and Carey’s father agree on that point,” Broden pointed out.
    “I’m just letting you know you might be taking the wrong approach to this whole thing,” Isaac said.
    “Carey is my mate. He’ll forgive me.” Broden had confidence that his lover would get over his ire. Didn’t he have to?
     
    * * * *
     
    Carey was still fuming when he entered his house twenty minutes later with his father on his heels.
    Eaton, Denton and Harris were lounging around the mansion, eating wings and pizza.
    He frowned at the eagle