Chapter 5 Adri
It was only a short walk from Doc’s clinic, just inside the neutral zone, to the facility where Adri and the other fighters lived and trained in Lunetti Pack territory.
They’d moved there shortly after Marco took over the fighting ring from the previous asshole owner, and Adri had been furious at another example of how the doc’s overprotectiveness had ruled his life.
To Rafe’s credit, though, he’d stayed away like Adri had asked.
Now, he was just grateful the proximity meant he didn’t have to walk as far to get home.
He’d been right that the pain wasn’t too bad, but the dull, constant ache in his shoulder wasn’t something he was used to with his shifter healing, and it only took a few minutes for him to be really fucking over it.
“Adri! You’re okay!” Jay called as soon as he pushed through the door to the gym on the ground floor below his apartment.
He braced himself as a blur of colour headed in his direction before the vampire pulled him into a hug.
Jay had been the first fighter Adri had used his earnings to repay the debt for, but he hadn’t left like most of the others after him had.
Instead, he’d stuck around, watching Adri’s back and helping him look out for the new crew constantly coming through.
The ring had a high turnover that the manager, Viviana, encouraged.
It kept things interesting for the punters and introduced a level of unknown to the bets on the fights that helped the pack rake in more profit.
Instead of working the indentured fighters to the bone like Garth had, the Lunetti Pack only kept them long enough to make a profit on their investment.
They also had strict rules that had stopped the worst of the injuries.
They weren’t in the business of paying fighters to throw their fights, and they were quick to eject anyone who tried.
Was it annoying that the doc’s high-handedness had improved things for him and the fighters he cared for like family? One hundred percent. That didn’t mean he couldn’t admit Marco was the best of all evils for them, though.
These days, with the fighters better able to repay their own debt under the new system, Adri spent more time coaching than in the ring.
When he did fight, it was usually just exhibition matches when Viviana wanted to draw a particular crowd.
Viviana’s text to him that morning had made it clear the fight next week wasn’t that.
It was only scheduled to reassure the city that the pack had the situation under control after the shitshow of his last opponent turning feral.
“I’m fine, Jay. I texted to tell you that, remember?” Adri said, when the vampire’s hug went on a little too long.
“You lost far too much blood,” Jay chided, squeezing him one more time before releasing him. If anyone would know that, it would be a vamp.
“I’m okay. Doc patched me up,” Adri said.
Jay’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, really? Did he kiss it better, too?”
Adri rolled his eyes and shoved his friend’s shoulder. “Shut up.”
It was nice that Jay had grown in confidence since the young guy he used to look out for, but did he really have to rub Adri’s nose in his own weakness?
“Carter, with me!” a sharp voice called from across the gym—Viviana.
Adri gave Jay an up-nod in farewell and sauntered as slow as he could get away with across the space, exchanging greetings with the fighters who were training as he went.
Hopefully, his slow progress looked like he was antagonising Viviana rather than exhausted from the short walk here.
Maybe Rafe had a point about still needing to heal.
Whatever. It wasn’t the first time he’d hidden a disadvantage from the other fighters.
No one wanted to reveal a weakness to someone you might face in the ring.
Inhaling deeply, Adri let the familiar scent of the metallic tang of the weights cut through with the warmth of clean sweat and competitiveness soothe him.
This was his life. His purpose—keeping the supernaturals who came and went from under this roof safe and healthy, so none of them would have to experience what he had when he’d been sold to Garth at the tender age of eighteen.
“What’s up?” he asked the stern wolf shifter when he reached her.
Viviana jerked her head toward her office, and they headed up the stairs.
One-way glass meant they could look out over the training fighters as they spoke without them seeing.
It made him uncomfortable, but he knew it was a necessary protection in a gym full of people with inhuman eyesight who could easily read lips at that distance.
Keeping the manager in his peripheral vision, he walked up to the glass and stared out at his people rather than sitting down in the chair opposite her desk, where she could feel like she was above him.
“Our Alpha called about the unsanctioned fight club you told him about. Why didn’t you come to me?” Viviana asked as soon as the door shut off all sound from outside. Her voice was clipped and angry.
Ah. He should’ve realised she’d be pissed about that.
“I don’t have anything but hearsay and suspicion. You didn’t ask. Marco did,” Adri said.
“Alpha,” Viviana corrected him.
“He’s your Alpha, not mine. Jaguars don’t have Alphas.”
“As long as you’re working for the pack, you will address him with respect.”
“He’s not here, and I respect Marco plenty,” Adri said.
Viviana growled, lunging at him too fast for him to side-step in his weakened condition and pinning him to the window by his throat.
“Your species isn’t an excuse for your issues with authority. Don’t test me, Carter,” she said, snarling in his face.
Adri tried to shrug, immediately regretting it as it pulled his still-healing shoulder in the worst way. Viviana looked exasperated at him.
“Why did the doc let you out when you’re still healing? I can’t coddle you here.”
“Didn’t ask you to.”
“You couldn’t even listen to a doctor?” she asked, frustration in her tone.
“He’s not the boss of me.”
“Well, I am. Go take a nap, and don’t you dare show your face in the gym again until you’re strong enough that the others don’t realise you’re injured. We’re trying to restore everyone’s confidence, not break it.”
Adri’s brow furrowed. “I thought next week’s fight was to reassure the city that things are fine?”
“It’s to reassure them, too,” Viviana said, gesturing out to the training fighters. “Casey quit last week. Sera was so tense sparring that she let Dray, of all people, get the drop on her.”
Adri winced. Dray was one of their newest recruits, still too inexperienced to put in the ring. No way should any of their regulars have let him through their guard. “I’ll talk to her.”
“She’s fine. This may surprise you, but it’s my job to manage the fighters here, and I’m actually perfectly competent at it without your help.”
Adri smirked at her. “You fucked her until she got out of her head, didn’t you?”
“Piss off, Carter,” Viviana said, pushing him toward the door. She was hiding a smile, though.
They might butt heads more often than not and come at things from different angles, but they both knew the other was essential to the success of the ring. They’d long since learned to work together.
The pain finally disappeared the next morning.
Adri cautiously stretched in his bed, arching his back and reaching both arms above his head just like his jaguar would have if he’d let it free.
It was tempting to shift and lie in the narrow line of sunlight cutting across his floor, but he should really get downstairs and check on his crew properly.
As he kicked the blankets off himself, he reached down to stroke his achingly hard dick, groaning as his fingers massaged the ridges ringing his shaft that were so much more noticeable and sensitive whenever Rafe was involved.
His dreams had been frustratingly commandeered by the doctor, images of all the things Rafe had offered him playing on repeat in his subconscious, leaving him uncharacteristically needy.
Why did just the thought of the sensual torture Rafe described light him up like none of his hook-ups ever had?
Adri hated being told what to do. He’d spent enough time with all his choices removed when he’d been captured as a teen.
He didn’t have any interest in going back to that.
Nor did he need some knight in shining armour to whisk him away from the place he’d finally carved out for himself here. He was just fine on his own.
A firm knock on his door interrupted him before he could finish taking care of himself.
Which of his protégés was bothering him before he’d even got out of bed?
Groaning, he rolled out of bed and grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist, hoping the folds of fabric would hide the situation he had going on.
His mouth watered as the scent of fresh-roasted coffee and bacon washed over him when he opened the door.
It took him far too long to process that it was being held by a certain salt-and-pepper-haired, sexy-as-fuck doctor whose pupils were dilating as he drew in deep breaths of Adri’s scent with flaring nostrils.
“Mmm… looks like I timed my visit perfectly,” Rafe said, stalking forward with his wolf flashing in his eyes.
Adri ignored the instinct to hold his ground, huffing in annoyance as he turned his back on Rafe to head to his kitchenette for some hydration.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, tipping his head back to drink like he could trick his body into thinking that was the tall glass of water he was craving.
Rafe’s eyes tracked his movements, the doc licking his lips as his focus narrowed on Adri’s throat.
Visibly shaking himself out of whatever spell he’d fallen under, Rafe’s voice was like gravel when he replied. “House call. I got us breakfast sandwiches from the deli down the road.”
Adri forced himself to loosen his grip on the glass he was still holding before he cracked it, watching as the wolf shifter made himself at home, setting out their coffee and sandwiches on the tiny table pushed against the wall.
His apartment wasn’t big, but it had never felt quite so small as it did with Rafe’s scent everywhere and his dominating presence filling the space.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to check on me,” Adri said, stalking to his bedroom to find some clothes that might hide the way his body was betraying him. Unfortunately, the sweats he usually wore in the gym weren’t going to cut it.
He didn’t need to look to feel the doc trailing after him. A warm hand gripped his arm before he could rifle through his drawers, trailing up to his shoulder in a tingling of moonlit power that made his heart race and his breath catch as Rafe gently investigated the joint.
“You need at least another day before you start doing weights with this,” Rafe said, dipping his chin to nuzzle into Adri’s neck.
“I said, I’m fine. I need to train.”
Rafe’s frustrated growl sent a low vibration through him where the doc was still pressed against his back. The tingling sensation of his power strengthened, coalescing around Adri’s abused joint.
“Don’t waste your power on me!” Adri snapped, even more annoyed.
“If you’re going to fight, I’m going to make sure you can train safely. Now you’re fine,” Rafe said.
Adri spun around to bare his teeth at him, only to catch the doc around the waist as he swayed backwards from the harsh movement, fatigue visible on his face.
Huffing again, Adri scooped the bigger man up in his arms and dropped him onto his bed with a bounce.
“Take some of your own advice and rest, Doc.”
Rafe blinked up at him. “Maybe just a few minutes.”
Adri scowled at him, confiscating Rafe’s phone so it couldn’t disturb his sleep as he pulled out his own.
Adri:
The doc needs a break. Can you send someone to watch the clinic for him?
Marco:
Good work. On it. Look after him.
Adri rolled his eyes at the praise, chucking his phone on the counter so he could eat the sandwich Rafe had brought.
He really needed to get downstairs, but the man in his bed was enticing his jaguar to stay.
Leaning in the doorway, he watched Rafe’s chest rise and fall with his breaths, all the tension and concentration gone from his face in sleep.
It didn’t mean anything when he went to the couch and grabbed the softest blanket he owned, tucking it gently around Rafe’s sleeping form.
The one he shifted and curled up in when he was stressed, digging his claws in and pulling at the threads until it was just right.
Just like it didn’t mean anything when he closed the curtains so the morning light wouldn’t wake him when it crossed the room.
Or when he pressed the softest kiss to Rafe’s elegant cheekbone.
“So good to me. Thank you, kitten,” Rafe whispered before he could pull away.
He wanted to tell the man invading his space to shut up, but Rafe’s warning about rudeness made him pause despite himself.
“Don’t get used to it,” he said instead.
Rafe’s mouth twitched in a smile as he rolled onto his side, drawing in a deep breath as he burrowed his face into the blanket that was drenched in Adri’s scent and fell back to sleep.
Adri stood there for far longer than he should have, just silently watching him.
What was it about this wolf that his jaguar wouldn’t let him let go?
He didn’t know much about fated mates thanks to his upbringing, but everyone said jaguars were loners.
And surely, Rafe wouldn’t have left him alone for over a decade if there was a potential bond between them?
Their last words all those years ago played back in his memory as he drank in the sight of the man on his bed.
He’d told Rafe to stay the fuck away unless someone needed a doctor.
Rafe’s reply had stunned him: “I’m sorry your life led you to this place where you can’t let someone help you, but I’m not sorry I did.
I’ll respect this boundary you’re drawing, but I will always be here for you, Adrien.
I will always come if you call. When you’re ready to let your pain go, I will take it from you. ”
No one would respect a boundary for that long if they wanted more, would they?
He would, his jaguar insisted.