“I agree,” Vinnie declared. “In fact, Adele’s more likely to be feeling guilty that she’s claimed her cousin’s predestined mate.”
“But not so guilty that she’s told Joel the truth or given him up,” Trey pointed out.
Mila shrugged. “She loves him.” Something that no longer pained her or her cat. “If I met someone who I suspected was Dominic’s true mate, I’m not sure I’d be selfless enough to share that suspicion with him. I certainly wouldn’t be willing to give him up.” If that made Mila a shitty person, so be it.
Dominic kissed her temple. “Just as I wouldn’t give you up, no matter what.”
“You should have told me about Joel, Mila,” Vinnie chastised. “I’m not just your Alpha, I’m your uncle.”
Mila sighed. “I didn’t tell anyone other than my parents and Alex. My mother constantly pushed me to tell Joel the truth so that he could decide for himself who he wanted. You would have done the same, because you love me and would have hated that I was hurting. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Vinnie gave a low, frustrated growl—no doubt annoyed that he couldn’t deny it. “It’s unfair of you to make that decision for Joel.”
“I didn’t. He made the choice when he claimed Adele, which he knew meant forsaking his predestined mate. And I’m okay with that now. Even my cat is no longer bitter about it. So if we can get back to the point at hand—which is that Dean Preston is Adele’s true mate and needs to be found—that would be great.”
Tao propped his hip against the wall. “My guess is that Dean’s either staying with a friend or at a motel. He’d stay close to Adele, right? He’d want to be close enough to watch over her.”
Jaime pursed her lips. “We could check out the motels local to her address. Does she live in your apartment building, Mila?”
“No. She and Joel live in a house that’s about a ten-minute drive away from the building.”
“You know,” began Dominic, doodling little circles on her shoulder with his fingertip, “it strikes me that we don’t actually need to search for Dean. Vinnie could talk to Adele, convince her to lure Dean to meet with her, and then we could make a grab for him.”
Jaime grimaced. “But if Charlene’s warned him that we know his identity, he’ll suspect it’s a trap. I know she promised she 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.
“Yeah, I’m with you on that one.”
As Dante pulled up outside Adele and Joel’s house, Mila raised a brow at Dominic. “Ready?”
He gave a curt nod. “If she doesn’t spill everything, I’m going to be fucking pissed—just so you know.”
“I’m not leaving that house until she tells me what I want to know,” said Mila.
Riding shotgun, Trey twisted in his seat. “Ryan will canvass the area just in case Dean is close.”
“There’s no way to sneak up on a pallas cat,” Mila warned.
“Ryan’s like a ghost when he tracks,” Dominic told her, sliding out of the SUV. “Trust me, if Dean’s nearby, Ryan will find him.” Hand in hand, they walked up the cobbled pathway toward the townhouse. “You’re all right going into the home your predestined mate shares with another female? Can your cat handle it?”