“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 notmyAlpha 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 youarepack,” 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.”
