An hour or so later, Aiden's contacts had taken the survivors away for check-ups and to have them returned to their hometowns after they were all interviewed to gather all possible clues. Their stories, sadly, did not give us much to work with, as many of the accounts resembled Natalia's kidnapping. Some, however, spoke of hearing Mr X and they commented on how smooth and persuasive his voice always felt. Many compared it to a siren song, one that you could not resist even if you tried to. It was a rather strange remark but my gut was telling me that there was more to it than Mr X having a nice voice.

Meanwhile James had insisted on taking Natalia back home as soon as possible, so they left with Callum and Connor as soon as we were all out of the mansion. That suited me just fine because Rafe and I still needed to handle the situation with the enforcer. My contacts, luckily, provided us with another untraceable car- no questions asked- allowing us to make our way back to Scotland separately from the rest. I really was lucky to have a team that was willing to have my back whenever I was in need.

The drive back to Scotland went by in the blink of an eye and I found myself standing in front of the remote cottage that Rafe had told me about. The place was rather cosy- a small cottage made out of stone, situated on a glade in the middle of a thick forest. It was the kind of place that you go to in order to disconnect from the rest of the world. Despite its modest size on the outside, the cottage was big enough to cover all the basic needs for a short stay. It also had a good-sized basement that we decided that we were going to use as an interrogation room. I had also taken a few tranquillizers from the mansion before we left as I did not want our guest to shift and run away, even though I was not sure if he still had his wolf. We handcuffed him to a pipe close to a bed in the basement and made our way back to the living room.

By now we were all starving but the cabin had no food as it was not usually used by anyone. Unfortunately for us, there were no stores nearby- the whole purpose of us going to this place was that it was very remote.

"I'm going to drive to the nearest shop to get some food but it will take me a good two hours until I am back. Can I trust you two not to kill each other in my absence?" Aiden was raising his eyebrows at Rafe and me but I was not sure if his question was intended more for one or the other.

I looked at Rafe who was still dirty and bloodied, though by now he at least had clothes on. I remembered how vulnerable he had been in that dungeon and I felt like someone was squeezing my heart whenever I remembered his pain.

"We will be fine, I promise. But make sure that you bring back some wine for me to drown my insanity after spending time with that one," I joked as I pointed at Rafe. Aiden chuckled and left the cabin.

It was only Rafe and me now and the awkwardness hit me immediately. It was the first time that we had ever been on our own and one of us was not trying to take the piss out of the other one.

"Sooooo....." I decide to break the silence," you should probably shower. I'll make you tea in the meantime." Rafe gave me a doubtful look at the mention of tea- clearly, it was not a manly enough drink for him. "Don't worry- I saw some rum in the cupboard so I'll add that too. Although that's a complete waste of alcohol with you shifters."

Breakthrough- he actually smiled at my lame attempt of a joke. For some reason this made me feel very proud of myself, though I was also worried to see Rafe so quiet and without any cocky comebacks.

While he went to shower, I headed for the stove to boil some water and make tea for both of us. The small bathroom was attached to one of the two bedrooms and I felt a bit relieved that Rafe was not going to walk through the living room half-naked. Out of the blue, I found myself thinking about his perfect body earlier that morning before my mind moved to the moment we shared in the mansion in the middle of a freaking gunfight.

Ugh, what's wrong with me? I shouldn't be thinking about any of this.

Mate or not, Rafe was trouble- he pushed my buttons in the worst possible way, he was a smug bastard and his list of conquests was probably longer than Hugh Hefner's. But my goodness, his lips were so enticing and as much as I hated his cocky attitude, I also felt the need to shut him up by slipping my tongue in his mouth.

Wow. I sounded like some sex-crazed woman now which I could only explain with the lack of sleep and exhaustion.

We still needed to interrogate our guest in the basement but he was in no shape to talk right now, so I thought it was better to try and relax tonight. I had texted Connor to ask him to make up some story for my brother as to why I was not back yet because I knew I would need to spend some time here until I got the answers I was looking for. Of course, in true Connor style, he had replied to me with suggestive emojis involving a wolf and a dragon. Sometimes I really did wonder how he ended up being my brother's Beta.

The boiling water on the stove drew my attention and I realised that Rafe was now out of the shower. I put a mint tea bag in each of the two cups I had prepared before adding the hot water and the rum. I waited for the tea bags to steep in the water for a few minutes, giving also Rafe some time to get ready.

The door to the room was slightly ajar so I pushed it with my foot as my hands were busy with the tea mugs. It flew open seeing as I kicked it a bit too strongly, and I ended up bursting rather ungracefully into the room. My sudden entrance caused Rafe to sharply turn around and it was then that I realised that he was completely naked- no towel or anything else to cover him. At first, my gaze was fixed on his flawless face but it didn't take long before it travelled lower, my mouth salivating at the memory of what I knew I would find there. It had only been seconds since I barged in like that but the sight in front of me turned me on to such an extent that the surprise of seeing him like this and the effect that he had on me caused me to spill the burning tea all over my jeans and my thin t-shirt.

Shit! I felt the hot liquid scald my skin, which caused me to instinctively throw the mugs on the floor and take off my clothes to prevent serious burns to my skin. I must have looked like some nutter doing a shitty strip dance or perhaps I resembled more one of those comedy scenes in movies where the character has a spider down her back and is desperately trying to get it off. Whatever the case, it must have been pretty entertaining to watch my desperation to save myself from the burns.

I was not even aware of what I was doing though until I saw Rafe staring at me. I now stood in front of him in nothing by my underwear and my socks, the red marks from the hot water visible on my stomach and my thighs. I probably would have felt awkward about the whole situation if it wasn't for the fact that my skin was genuinely burning and not in a nice way. I hissed as I gently ran my fingertips over the scalds.

"Goddess, woman, why did you do that?" He asked but he was, in fact, scolding me.

"Oh, I am sorry, did you not know- I love burning myself for fun," I replied sarcastically, fighting the urge to pull some mocking, childish expression.

"First you jump on top of me at the mansion, now you get naked in front of me...admit it, Moreau- you want a piece of this," he said while he motioned with his hand as if he was presenting his perfectly shaped body. I was not blind- I had seen already how chiselled he was all over but I was not going to admit that to him.

"Are you serious? I saved you earlier today and now it was not my fault that you were walking around naked." I threw my hands in the air in exasperation but in return, he smirked, which shockingly turned me on enormously.

He took a step towards me, once again today being dangerously close to me. With a smug smile on his face, he continued to taunt me. "You are such a terrible liar, Moreau. I bet you suck at poker." Actually, I was a badass at poker but somehow right now he was messing with my brain and my poker face. "Lie down," he ordered, leaving me shocked.

"What? No way!"

"Lie down on the bed if you want me to take care of you, Moreau." My knees went weak from the idea of him "taking care" of me but my mind was fighting my imagination.

I somehow managed to gain some control and decided to stand my ground. "No."

Rafe chuckled like I had told him some joke. "Why are you always so damn stubborn, Moreau? Just trust me to help you feel better." I looked him straight in the eyes which were full of a mix of lust and care. How was I supposed to react to that?

My brain was telling me to grab my clothes and run, but my body was telling me to lie on the damn bed. Yes! No! Yes! No! That was all that I could hear in my head, the angel and the devil inside me having an intense fight. Do it, my body was screaming. Hell no, he is a prick that you usually want to strangle, my brain was protesting. Then he placed his fingers on the burnt skin on my stomach, making me wince. Yet, the pain only lasted for a second as the skin beneath his fingertips actually felt soothed and relieved. How was he able to do that?

"You don't heal like us shifters and you are in pain. I can feel it as well. But the licks from a wolf can heal it, those of a mate that is. So, lie down and either let Kai do it or me. Your call."

I really didn't know what was worse- the idea of my skin being licked by an actual wolf or Rafe Macalister but it was also true that the burns felt quite painful.

"Or I can try to reach Aiden and ask him to grab me some cream from the shop?" I made a desperate attempt to find another solution.

He laughed, "You can try that but I think you are overestimating what is available in that tiny shop."

I didn't like this, not one bit, but damn it he was right. "Fine. You do it. Even though Kai is a way bigger gentleman than you," I retorted and the compliment to his wolf made his eyes flash yellow, making Rafe- or rather Kai- let out a satisfied howl.

I sat down on the edge of the bed before I lied down on my back, my feet still firmly on the floor. Rafe gently nudged my legs apart, placing himself between them, before he knelt so that he could get to my thighs easier. I felt the heat pooling inside me as my arousal was getting off the charts. I could have sworn that as I peeked to see what he was doing I saw his cock swell when he dropped to his knees, which only worked against me because it brought sinful thoughts to my mind.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" I asked, closing my eyes as I didn't dare look at him again and all I heard was him chuckling once more. Damn cocky prick.

"Scared you can't handle me? I thought you wanted to play with the big boys?" Ugh, I really wanted to argue but the sooner I let him get on with it, the faster we would be done which was why I bit my tongue on this occasion. "Relax, we'll be done in no time."