Alpha's Moon (Shifter Ops 1)

“It’s a security mission—not a date.” I cut him off before he can finish the order. “She needed a fake date for a wedding to keep Sears off her back. That’s it. And I’m not abandoning her now. I made a promise.”

Silence. My alpha’s so pissed, I can hear his teeth grinding. “This is a bad idea, Adalwulf.”

“I know. Fuck, I know.”

“It won’t end well.”

“I can do it.” I rub my forehead with a thumb, trying to keep a pleading tone out of my voice. I’d fall to my knees and pray if Fate would hear. “I can keep control.”

“You have to. The stakes are too high.”

He’s right. If I lose control, I risk damaging the most precious person on earth. “I’ll be careful.”

“That’s not good enough.” Rafe sighs, but he doesn’t order me home.

“I will keep control,” I repeat and mean it. I’ll do anything—even if I have to drive Sadie away.

“You’d better.” Rafe mutters. “You’re a danger to her. Get out as soon as you can, before it’s too late."

Sadie

How’s it going? the text comes in at 4:45 pm from Adele. “Great,” I type. “Better than great.”

“Is he behaving?”

“Deke or Scott?” I type, feeling cheeky.

BOTH, she texts back.

“Scott’s himself. Deke’s perfect.” Too perfect. Today was unreal. The helicopter ride, the picnic date… but after Teddy dropped us back off at the resort, Deke excused himself, and I haven’t seen him since. “Got shit to do.” I’m disappointed—after our date I was hoping for some alone time with him. Getting to know him, horizontally. In bed.

So much for Operation Seduce Sadie.

He’s a perfect gentleman, I clarify to Adele.

He better be.

I smile and tuck my phone away in my clutch. Tonight is the rehearsal dinner, and I’ve spent the last hour getting dolled up.

Deke appears right as I’m doing a final lipstick check. He takes the bathroom and emerges dressed in very credible rehearsal dinner wear—a dark blazer over his usual black jeans and a black T. It works, even with his beat up motorcycle boots.

“Hey,” I smile at him. “Ready to do this?”

He nods and bends down to kiss my cheek. But he’s sober, shut down. Remote behind his aviator shades.

“What is it?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head, and with a hand on my back, escorts me out of our room and down to the lobby to meet up with the bridal party. I put on my game face and air kiss all the bridesmaids. Deke remains at my side, a tall, silent shadow. Eventually we head out to run through the ceremony. There’s an air of excitement, and when Jenn, the bride to be, arrives, we all squeal and clap.

“This is it,” I remind myself. “This is why we’re here.” For my friend’s big day.

Everything goes smoothly, but I can’t help turning my head to check on Deke every few minutes. He sits in the audience on the bride’s side, staring off into the distance. Playing the part of bored boyfriend, except he’s not bored. This is Broody Deke. His mood reminds me of how he acted after our kiss in the alley way, when the clam-jamming biker came by.

He stirs a little when Scott escorts me down the aisle, but Scott behaves himself. I’ll bet he senses the unspoken threat from Deke if he doesn’t.

When I take my place, I search Deke out. I can’t see his eyes because he’s still wearing his badass aviator shades, even though the sun’s almost down behind the mountains. I make a note to tease him about wearing his sunglasses at night and give him a smile. Deke lifts his chin in response.

I’m going to figure out what put him in this broody mood. Seductive Sadie is making her debut tonight.

Rehearsal ends, and we all head off to dinner. A few people mention the helicopter, and Deke finds himself briefly the center of attention. I’m able and willing to step in to deflect questions, but Deke handles it. “Teddy’s Helicopter Tours,” he says, handing out business cards. “Check ‘em out.”

“Quite the impression your man is making,” Elana purrs in my ear as I stand by watching Deke talk to the curious crowd about helicopter tours. He is patient and calm, even leaning down to converse with Jenn’s grandma, who’s in a wheelchair. She pats his cheek, smiling up at him.

“He’s a good man,” Elana tells me, her eyes glued to Deke’s ass as he’s bent over. When he rises, he’s a full head taller than everyone.

“Mmm,” I murmur into my champagne.

Elana stops ogling Deke and faces me fully. “Way better than your ex. What did you even see in him?”

“I don’t even know. Thanks. I thought it’d be awkward with you here.”

“On no, hun, I’m just here to make him look good. He made it worth my while, if you know what I mean.” Her eyes twinkle over her vodka tonic. “But I'd never hurt a sister. We’ve got to stick together.”