Alpha's Revenge (Shifter Ops 3)

“Let us continue,” Gabriel orders, and I find myself walking ahead of him on the path. He has the same air of command Rafe does.

Am I a magnet for overbearing, yet beautiful, men? They’re lucky they’re so nice to look at; otherwise, I’d kick them to the snowy curb.

Which brings me back to my original problem: Rafe. My steps quicken, ready to return to him, even though I haven't figured out what I’m going to do about him.

“Adele,” a voice roars, and Rafe comes racing down the path. He’s not wearing a coat, and his eyes are wild.

“Ah yes,” Dieter murmurs. “Here’s the wolf now.”

Rafe

“Adele?” My voice bounces off the vaulted ceilings when I get to the ski mansion. The place is empty.

She isn’t in the kitchen and hasn’t been for a while. I don’t sense her presence anywhere.

I tear through the mansion, leaving a few doors askew with claw marks on the frames. Is she mad at me for leaving? I’ll make it up to her. In bed. Or in the heated pool…

Outside I find the heated stone patio clear of snow, but the path beyond shows her boot prints. Even though I’m not in a coat, I plunge into the forest.

A strong scent hovers on the air. It’s heavy and spicy with a smoky undertone, almost like incense. The last time I smelled it was in Gabriel Dieter’s Lake Como home. Which means…

The bastard is here. Adele’s in danger.

I sprint down the path and find Adele and Dieter. “Adele,” I roar.

She looks unharmed, thank fuck. She starts at my shout, and Dieter’s right there, taking her arm, murmuring something in her ear. My wolf goes rabid. “Get away from him.” My voice is hoarse. I'm on the verge of shifting.

I need to get control. Adele can’t know what I am. Once I get her away from Dieter, I need to completely distance myself from her. I can’t stand her being in danger because of me. It will literally kill me.

“Rafe. This is one of the nearby neighbors, Mr. Dieter.” At the same time, she steps away from him, and he lets her go.

“Please, call me Gabriel.” Dieter smiles at me. There’s a cruel twist of the mouth. “Mr. Lightfoot and I have met.” His English is perfect, but he has a little more of an accent than he did in Lake Como.

I skid to a stop in front of them, reaching for Adele, desperate to get her safely by my side.

“You have?” Adele frowns at my high-handedness when I reach for her and pull her away from Dieter.

I insert myself between her and Dieter. My big body blocks hers from his sight. “Get the fuck out of here, Dieter.”

Behind me, Adele gasps. I don’t give a fuck. If Dieter pushes me, I’ll go to war with him. Right here, right now.

To my shock, Dieter throws back his head and laughs.

What the fuck?

“What’s so funny?”

“It is as I suspected,” Dieter muses.

“Fuck off,” I say.

“Oh, I will,” he raises his gloved hands in a sign of surrender. I don't trust it. “I relinquish my claim on Adele. She’s not my mate.”

“Of course she’s not your fucking mate!” I snarl. “I don’t know what game you’re playing at–”

“What do you mean, claim on Adele?” Adele demands. “What in the hell is going on here?”

“She doesn’t even know what you are, does she?” Dieter asks, gesturing to Adele. I tense and growl, moving as if to block a blow from landing on Adele.

Dieter remains calm. “Why haven’t you claimed her?” He cocks his head to the side. He’s wearing black glasses, the lenses make it impossible for me to see his eyes.

A tight band closes around my throat. “She’s human,” I choke out, although with my wolf so close to the surface I can barely get the words out.

“What’s he talking about?” Adele asks.

I need to get her out of here. “We’re going back to the house,” I announce, crowding her back. “We need to leave.”

“No, stay,” Dieter uses an alpha command, and I have to fight my body’s urge to obey. What the fuck is this guy? “I find this infinitely interesting, wolf. After centuries of slumber, I finally have a new game to play against a worthy adversary.”

Centuries of slumber… worthy adversary.

Is he a vampire? Some kind of undead?

“You have met your mate, yet you do not claim her. How long do you think you can hold off the madness?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Adele raises her voice. “But I don’t like this.” She tries to step in front of me, but I block her again.

Dieter addresses her. “You deserve to know what he’s hiding from you. Don’t you want to know?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says in that autocratic way of hers. My princess, protecting me. “Gabriel, it was nice to meet you. Was. Now you need to leave.” I don’t like Dieter’s first name on her lips, but I feel a thrill of pride at her imperious tone.