“If you’re going to fight, I’m going to make sure you can train safely.Nowyou’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.
CHAPTER 6: RAFE
Rafe blinked awake,achingly hard and momentarily disoriented as he tried to remember where he was. Confusion quickly gave way to cursing as he realised he’d slept five solid hours and was in danger of missing his afternoon clinic appointments.
When Adri had left the day before, he’d spent almost all night researching what could force a shifter to turn feral. He’d barely managed an hour’s sleep before he’d been out to visit the dock workers at shift change in the dark, early hours of the morning. They couldn’t come to his clinic in Lunetti territory without drawing the wrong kind of attention from their vampire bosses, and he had to time his visits to treat them for the few shifts supervised by someone who owed him a favour.
There had been a sharp increase in accidents at the docks recently, and he’d known it was going to be a rough morning when a harrowing scream had shredded the silence of the container he’d been working from. One of the cranes had failed, trapping a young vampire and crushing their lower body. Their co-workers, underfed and drawn by the blood, had struggled toget near without succumbing to bloodlust. Rafe had been forced to use his healing power not just to heal the poor thing, but to sedate the biological urges of the other workers to feast on them.
The breakfast sandwiches he’d brought to eat with Adri had been as much to restore his own energy levels as they were to satisfy his wolf’s need to feed his mate. He should’ve known better than to use the last of his reserves getting Adri’s shoulder to the point where he wouldn’t have any discomfort using it. His wolf didn’t give a fuck about minor things like conserving power, though. It just wanted to give their mate every single thing he needed and make sure he never felt any pain again. Even if his obsession was never reciprocated.
When he finally located his phone behind the sandwich Adri had left on the bedside table for him and saw the message from Marco, a thrill filled him and he sank back against the headboard. Maybe his feelings were reciprocated after all.
Alpha:
Your kitten asked me to sort the clinic for you. Rocco is there with one of the witches from the MC who heals.
Checking his calendar, Rafe made sure none of the patients who’d booked would be uncomfortable with a witch treating them. Luckily, there was no one who’d have a problem with it. He flicked a quick thank you to Marco before ripping into the sandwich he hadn’t had a chance to eat earlier.
With his hunger sated and his responsibilities taken care of, his thoughts turned to his mate. The tug in his chest that hadn’t left him since he met Adri all those years ago was pulling him down to the gym on the ground floor. Of course, his mate would still be there even though he’d only just recovered.
