Chapter 9 Adri #2
The full force of Marco’s gaze turned on him, and his jaguar hissed inside him at the wolf trying to dominate him. There was only one wolf in the world he would submit to, and it wasn’t Marco Fucking Lunetti.
Wait. What? NO wolves. There were no wolves he’d submit to.
“Even if you hadn’t worked for me for over a decade, you belong to Rafe; therefore, you’re pack. Whether you like it or not,” Marco said, turning back to the doc to continue their stare-off.
Rafe immediately tipped his head to the side, baring his throat, which only pissed Adri off more.
His jaguar really didn’t like the threat to their doc, and Adri couldn’t resist the urge to lean over and rest his chin on Rafe’s shoulder, putting his head between Rafe’s vulnerable neck and the annoyed Alpha throwing his weight around.
The move broke the tension between them, but not in the way he’d meant to. The two older wolves shared a knowing smile that had Adri rolling his eyes and scooping up the empty coffee cups to take them to the sink before he said something that started everyone growling again. Fucking wolves.
“Apologies, Alpha. I know you, of all people, wouldn’t put a mate bond at risk,” Rafe said.
Adri wondered what the story behind that was. Why Marco, ‘of all people’? He’d have to ask Rafe later.
“If you claimed him, the risk would be less. A tracking device can be removed,” Marco told Rafe.
Adri scoffed, sarcasm dripping in his words. “So romantic. Forming a mating bond for eternity, just for the convenience of being able to find me if someone happens to grab me. Definitely the best reason to make a permanent, life-altering decision.”
“To be fair, I agree. That is quite far down my very long list of reasons you should let me bond you,” Rafe said.
Adri’s head whipped round to the doc. What the fuck? How long had he been sitting on this ‘list’? In thirteen years, Rafe had never even mentioned they were mates until the previous night. Now he had a fucking list?
“I’m more interested in what could possibly be on Carter’s list of reasons why not,” Marco said.
“How about because we haven’t even spent an entire week in each other’s company? Or because no one is ever going to fucking own me again, and I don’t need a man to give my life meaning? Or because I’m not interested in some dominant wolf trying to tell me what to do forever?”
“Well, that last one’s just an outright lie, kitten,” Marco said.
“Alpha, with all due respect, I don’t need you to have this conversation for me, and I really don’t need you to call him that,” Rafe said.
How had this conversation got so off track?
“I’ll talk to my people this afternoon. See if I can get an invite to wherever they’re training for this other ring,” Adri said, dragging the conversation back where it was supposed to be.
“How are you going to convince them you’re not just spying for me?” Marco asked.
Adri smirked. “They’ve heard me tell Viviana you’re not my Alpha enough times. I’ll have a loud conversation with Jay about how Rafe doesn’t fucking own me, and I’m sick of the Lunettis thinking I’ll ever be part of your pack.”
Marco’s eyes glittered dangerously, and Rafe got that particular tension in his jaw that said he was not impressed with his rudeness.
Oops.
“I’ll handle him, Alpha,” Rafe said, pissing him off even more.
Adri leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. A rookie mistake, and not something he would’ve done in the ring, because Rafe moved so fast across the room, Adri didn’t have a chance to uncross them before the wolf had him pinned—one hand keeping his arms trapped, and the other wrapped round his throat.
As strong as Adri was, the older, larger wolf shifter was an immovable object against him as he shoved his thigh between Adri’s legs.
Adri scowled at the smug look on Rafe’s face as his leg rubbed against Adri’s arousal.
It wasn’t his fault that the way Rafe could take control of a space was so fucking sexy.
Adri had spent years trying to embed that skill in the fighters he trained, and here was a damn doctor who could do it as easily as breathing.
Marco took his time getting to his feet before coming to stand near them. “Carter, Angelo will text you when your support is in place. Don’t go anywhere with anyone until you have backup.”
“This is when you say: ‘Thank you, Alpha.’ Because he already explained that you are pack,” Rafe warned.
Marco overruling Rafe on Adri’s involvement had clearly left the doc cranky.
Adri reminded himself he’d won the argument about checking out the fighting ring, even if the position he was in made it feel like maybe they’d been arguing about something else entirely.
Turning his head as far as he could in Rafe’s tight grip, Adri met Marco’s eyes.
“Thank you, Marco.” He’d be damned if he called him Alpha or dropped his gaze. Even if they were determined to tell him he was pack, he was not a fucking wolf.
“Why do cats always have to be so contrary? Good enough,” Marco said, turning to leave.
“You have to stop challenging him, kitten,” Rafe said as soon as Marco’s presence had faded from his awareness, still pinning him to the wall.
“I’m not challenging him. I’m just not submitting because I have no interest in your hierarchy,” Adri said.
“You don’t have to find this fighting ring for him. We can do it some other way.”
“I’m not doing it for him. I’m doing it for me, and for the fighters so scared they want to run. Do you really think anyone could make me do something I don’t want to?”
“Does that mean you wanted to come on command last night?”
Adri groaned in frustration at the way his doc loved to twist a conversation in a direction he wasn’t prepared for.
“I need to get back to the gym,” Adri said instead of answering.
“Not until Angelo’s people are here to shadow you. Answer the question, kitten.”
“Of course I wanted to come.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”
“But I want to hear you say it.”
“You want me to tell you I won’t submit to your Alpha, but I’ll submit to you?”
Adri watched in fascination as Rafe’s pupils dilated and his lengthening fangs flashed into view as he licked his lips.
The hand pinning his arms tightened, but the one wrapped around his throat stayed gentle.
Adri leaned into that grip harder, eyes half-lidded as the pressure of Rafe’s strong fingers on his carotid increased.
“Fuck, you’re so perfect for me, kitten.”
“I didn’t say it.” Technically.
“Your body said it for you.”
“Just as long as you don’t go hearing things it’s not saying. I’m not going to let you claim me.”
“Ever?”
Rafe’s grey eyes were deep enough to drown in as he stared into what felt like Adri’s soul.
It was too much. Closing his eyes, Adri twisted, huffing when he still couldn’t get free.
The grip on his throat loosened, and Rafe slid his hand to his nape, gripping firmly in a way that had his jaguar instantly relaxing inside him.
The silence between them was heavy as Rafe stood there.
Waiting. Just like he had been for the last thirteen years.
“You’re the most patient wolf I’ve ever met.”
Rafe smiled, leaning forward to nuzzle under his ear. “You’re worth the wait, kitten. Besides, wolves are persistence hunters. I’ll just keep running and running after you until you’re ready to drop all those defences you keep so high.”
A laugh burst from Adri’s chest, and he tilted his head to let Rafe trail his kisses down his neck. “So, you’re just going to wear me out until I give up?”
“Will that work?”
“I can think of more fun ways to wear me out.”
“I’m willing to negotiate. I can be flexible like that.”
Adri snorted. “You’re the most deceptively dominant person I’ve ever met. Lulling everyone into a false sense of security with your whole ‘I’m just a caring doctor’ routine. You could give Marco a run for his money with how much you want to take control.”
“You love it.”
“I’m not just going to roll over for you.”
“I’d be disappointed if you did.”
Adri opened his eyes, blinking against the light as Rafe’s face came back into focus. “You really would, wouldn’t you?”
“I told you, you’re perfect for me. I don’t want to change you. I just don’t want to give the world the slightest chance to break you.”
“I don’t break that easy, Doc.”
“Everyone breaks easily,” Rafe said, old pain in his eyes.
“The reason I studied healing was because my best friend died in my arms, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I lived through the last shifter wars when the pack lost most of a generation to weapons that never should’ve been allowed.
I watched Marco step up to lead far too young, only to witness his mate gunned down in front of him less than two years later.
We may heal faster. We may be able to live forever in theory, but we’re still fragile.
I know that better than anyone because I see it in my work every day.
Deep down, we will always be as mortal as any human because we succumb to fear, and hate, and violence just like them. ”
Adri’s eyes pricked with tears. There was so much pain in him.
Such deep wounds he’d had no idea were there.
It explained so much of Rafe’s behaviour.
His compulsion to heal Adri when he didn’t have the power to spare, the way he tried to keep him from any danger, even when he knew it would piss him off.
The knowledge cracked something open inside him.
Because he’s our person, his jaguar said inside him, all casual like he should’ve already known.
“Humans aren’t all bad. They can love, too. Their lives could end at any minute, and they need to seize each moment that they have,” Adri said.
Rafe rested his head on Adri’s collarbone, his body going lax as he let his hands slide down Adri’s arms. “That’s not how humans love, sweetheart, but it’s how I would love you if you let me.”
“Give me time,” Adri whispered.