wouldn’t tell Dean if we agreed not to inform her Alpha of her part in all this, but foxes are vindictive.”
“So is a male whose mate was wronged,” said Dominic. “Charlene wronged my mate in a major fucking way; she knows I won’t hesitate to report it to her Alpha if she betrays her promise. The guy would be pissed to hear that she made an enemy of us, since her behavior reflects on him. She won’t risk being banished.”
“I doubt Adele would be willing to help lure Dean out into the open,” said Roni. “I mean, she might not want him, but she’ll feel some loyalty toward him. Probably more loyalty than toward her own Alpha—that’s a primitive instinct she won’t be able to ignore.”
“It’s unlikely that Adele will give him up to me,” said Vinnie. “But she might give him up to Mila. I know you don’t like the idea of Mila leaving your territory, Dominic, but she’s our best chance of getting Adele to talk. Your pack mates can’t deal with this—Adele would feel threatened if a bunch of strangers turned up at her home.”
His muscles rigid, Dominic growled. Hadn’t they just had a fucking conversation about how it was best for Mila to lie low? His nostrils flared. “Why Mila?” he bit out.
“Adele will feel that she owes her something,” replied Vinnie. “The guilt of claiming her cousin’s true mate has probably been weighing on Adele for a long time. She’ll only feel worse when she realizes that Dean put Mila’s life in danger.”
“She’ll be home from work by now, but Joel won’t be—that means she can talk openly,” said Mila. “If I point out that Dean’s been acting behind her back, trying to split her from the man she loves, she’ll see that as a betrayal. And if I add that it’s only a matter of time before Dean gets desperate enough to talk with Joel and tell him everything, she’ll panic. Seeing that Dominic and I have officially claimed each other and that I have no designs on Joel might mean she’ll see me as an ally.”
Marcus shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. The worst that can happen is that she refuses to help you and then warns Dean that we have his real identity.”
“The worst that can happen is that Mila is attacked again,” Dominic argued, a snap to his voice. His wolf was no less tense at the idea of her leaving their territory.
“We’ll keep her safe, Dominic,” said Trey. “That I promise you. You know none of us would let anything happen to Mila.”
“You won’t be able to come inside her house with me,” she told Trey. “Dominic will, of course. But Adele won’t confess her darkest secret in front of strangers.”
Trey inclined his head. “Dante, Ryan, and I will wait outside.” His gaze slid back to Dominic. “If you want the threat to Mila to be completely gone from her life, this is the fastest way to see it done.”
Dominic swore under his breath. “Trey—”
“We’ll keep her safe,” the Alpha repeated.
Mila intertwined her fingers with Dominic’s. “I know you want me here, resting. And I swear to you that I’ll do exactly that when we get back. I’ll lie low for a while, and I won’t even moan about it. Out loud. So the quicker we speak to Adele, the quicker I can go to bed. I want this shit with Dean over with, and so do you. Trey’s right, this is the fastest way to make that happen.”
They all talked for a few more minutes, and then Mila ended her call with Vinnie and pocketed her phone.
Dominic drew her close and rested his forehead against hers. “It goes against everything in me to take you away from here right now.” His stomach sank just thinking about it.
She touched his jaw. “I know, and I appreciate how hard it is for you to push past that.” After all, the guy had watched her bleed all over the damn floor of the barbershop. It was little wonder that he wanted to tuck her away somewhere safe. She’d be lying if she claimed that she’d act differently in his position. “But we need to know where Dean is, and Adele’s the one person who might have his location. We have to talk to her.”
Dominic hissed out a breath. “This whole thing fucking sucks.” Especially because he couldn’t deny that she made sense.