Gabriel’s POV
I couldn’t breathe. The only thing I could feel was my heart beating. It felt like it was going to beat its way out of my chest.
I don’t know how long I had been staring at my laptop screen. I don’t know what I was waiting for. Maybe for the video to start again and for my grandma to say she was kidding.
Pure rage brought me back from the numbness. I wanted to kill. I needed to kill. I threw my laptop into a wall and screamed. Next thing I know I was on my feet breaking every piece of fucking furniture in my living room. The only thing I felt was rage.
My knuckles were bleeding profusely, and I had a cut on my cheek from the broken glass when Nick stopped me.
“Gabriel, stop!” he screamed at me and grabbed my hands, pulling me towards him and hugging me.
I never cry. I never let anyone hug me. But I let Nick hug me. And I cried. Rage was mixing with sadness, and I couldn’t stop crying.
“I am so sorry, Gabe,” Nick said quietly. “I am so sorry, man.”
After a while, I stopped crying and sat on the couch holding my head in my hands. My world is spinning, and I can’t stop it. Everything I have known is a lie.
“What do I do, Nick?” I asked, leaning back on the couch.
I looked at my living room which was now destroyed.
Nick sighed, “I don’t know, man.”
“If Grace was alive, I would find her and kill her,” I said angrily.
“I know. And I would gladly help you,” he said. “But she isn’t. And Aria is.”
I looked at him and felt tears coming. I have a sister. She is alive and well.
“How the hell am I supposed to say that the woman who raised her is a kidnapper and a killer?” I asked, turning to him, blinking my tears away.
I am not going to start crying again. I was embarrassed enough because I cried before.
“I don’t know man. But I will be there when you do.”
Maybe it would be better if she didn’t know. At least not yet. Not until I found out how the hell we were supposed to kill Victor and Cora. Then I could tell her.
“I don’t think I will tell her. Not yet,” I said quietly.
“What do you mean? She has a right to know,” he said, confused.
“I know. And she will. Just not yet. When I find a way to kill Victor and Cora, I will tell her.”
“Haven’t you been listening to your grandma? She is the way to kill them. Your powers are the way to kill them.”
“Yes. But you heard Aria. She thinks she doesn’t have any special powers. She is not aware of them. I need to help her find her power. I promise I will tell her then.”
He shook his head, clearly not agreeing with me. But it is my choice. She is my sister.
“Will you be able to control yourself around her? You know, not tell her why you are so protective over her? Like today,” he asked me.
“I will have to be careful. She feels this connection with me. So, I will just blame everything on it. Which is technically true,” I shrugged.
“And what if she pushes you to find out what this connection is?”
“Let’s just hope we find her power and learn as much as we can about Victor and Cora before she does,” I sighed.
I hoped I was making the right decision. I was angry at my grandma, but the moment I decided not to tell Aria, I understood her. She wanted to protect me. And I wanted to protect her. I know finding out about Grace will hurt her. And I didn’t want to hurt her. Not until it was absolutely necessary. I just hoped she would understand.
“I have to tell you something, man,” Nick interrupted my thinking.
“What is it?” I asked.
I hoped he would tell me what had been bothering him lately. Because I knew something was going on with him. Or with Nate.
“I don’t know how to tell you. I am not even sure myself,” he muttered.
“Look, man. I have noticed that something is wrong with you. Or with Nate. But I didn’t know how to bring it up before. So, tell me. You can tell me anything.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Am I that obvious?” he smiled slightly.
“No. I just know you that well,” I smiled back. “Come on, spill.”
“I didn’t want to say anything before because I didn’t know what this connection that you have with Aria is. But now that I know this connection isn’t romantic and she is your sister, I feel like I can tell you,” he said, looking at me with fear in his eyes.
“What? You like her?” I asked him.
I didn’t get why he was scared. I mean if I could choose a man for her, it would probably be Nick. Not that I would choose. We were not in that time period anymore. But it did make my blood boil thinking about some fucker who would hurt her. And I knew Nick wouldn’t. So, I could approve of that.
“No!” he defended himself. “I mean, yes. I do like her. She is beautiful and kind,” he ran his fingers through his hair again, it was his nervous tick. “But it is more than that. I think she is my mate.”
He looked at me and I saw nervousness and fear. He probably thought I was going to flip out and start breaking stuff again. But I was not. I mean, I was not extremely happy about this, but, as I said, Nick was the only one I trust not to hurt my sister. What confused me was that he said he thought that she was his mate. Didn’t werewolves know immediately?
“I don’t understand. You think? Isn’t that like an instant connection? Shouldn’t you know for sure?” I asked him.
He was surprised I was this calm. I saw him let out a breath he was probably holding since he told me.
“You know my werewolf side is weaker than my warlock side. I talked to Nate, and he adores her. But he thinks I should shift when I am around her so he could come forward and be sure. That way he can be fully present and feel her,” he sighed.
“But you don’t feel that pull?”
“Oh, no, I do,” he smiled. “She smells amazing. Like Christmas. I feel tingles when I touch her. I can pick up on some of her emotions when we are near. I already love her. But I still feel like something is missing. I can feel all those things, but it feels like the intensity is at 20 percent. Something like that. I don’t know how to explain it to you. I feel like I could feel her more, smell her better, but I can’t reach that feeling. When Nate comes forward completely it will hit me to the fullest, I think.”
“You love her?” I smirked.
“Yes. And Nate does too. He is annoying. When we are around her, he keeps pressing up against my skin just so he could see her better. It took all my power not to shift when I first saw her,” he smiled lovingly.
It is weird for me to see that love in his eyes. I’ve never heard him talk about a girl like that.
“Well, I can’t say I am too happy about this,” I told him. “But I am one hundred percent sure you will not hurt her. And I can’t say that about any other man in this world. So, it is enough for me.”
He smiled brightly. “Really? I was ready for you to kill me.”
“If you hurt her, I will.”
“I know,” he laughed. “Good thing I can’t hurt her. It would kill me before you could.”
“Will you tell her?” I asked him.
“I will have to. I don’t think I can hide it. Especially when I shift, and it hits me to the fullest,” he sighed. “I don’t feel the mate bond totally now and I want to go to this Mike guy and rip his throat out. I can’t even think about any of them touching her. Nate is freaking out. I think it is going to be pretty hard to hide it after shifting.”
“I am glad because I would like to rip their throats out too,” I laughed. “Do you think she will feel the mate pull?”
“Yes. She feels it now, I can tell. When she cried, she scotched closer to me. She wasn’t aware of course. It’s her body’s natural reflex. To find her mate’s comfort. She will know for sure when I shift,” he explained.
“But she doesn’t have a wolf. How could she feel it?” I was confused.
“Goddess made sure that mate pull activates in those who don’t have a wolf in case they are mated to us. Wolves have it from the moment they are born. It is in our genes. It activates when we find our mate. I don’t think they can feel it as strongly as we do, though. But they feel it,” he said.
“Ah, the Goddess,” I sighed. “Shift soon, man. She won’t be as freaked out by our protectiveness when she finds out. And we can get her to move here. I want her to move here. And Annie, of course.”
“Yes. I was just about to suggest that. I want her close. And she will want to be closer to me so she will say yes.”
“You can move in here too. But you are not sleeping in the same room as her,” I smirked.
“You know she is an adult, right?” he laughed.
“You know I can kill you, right?”
He laughed again and patted my back. “Don’t worry. I will not sleep in the same room as her. It is enough to know she is here, and she is safe.”
“Speaking of her, I have to check my messages,” I said and grabbed my phone.
There were no new ones. The last one was around 10 pm and I hadn’t responded to that one. She hasn’t texted after that. I froze. How could I forget about this? What if something had happened? I looked at the time and saw it was 1 am.
“What happened?” Nick asked when he saw my face.
“She stopped texting after 10 pm,” I said angrily.
His hands started shaking and I could tell he was holding Nate back. For someone who didn’t have a strong connection to his wolf side, he was having real trouble controlling Nate right now. I guess the mate bond made Nate stronger.
“Call her,” he growled. “Now!”
Aria’s POV
The ringing of my phone woke me up. Didn’t I just go to bed? I can’t believe it is morning already. I don’t remember setting my alarm. I groaned and turned on my back without opening my eyes. The ringing kept going. I slowly opened my eyes and saw it was dark in my room. A little bit of moonlight came through the window. What the hell? I grabbed my phone realizing it wasn’t my alarm. I was getting a phone call. I quickly answered without looking at who it was.
“Aria!” a male voice came through.
I didn’t recognize it and was confused. I was still half asleep.
“Aria! Are you okay?” another male voice.
“I am fine,” I said quietly. “Who is this?”
“Gabriel,” he said, and I could hear the anger in his voice.
Shit. He is probably pissed I didn’t text him.
“Hey. Sorry. I was sleeping. Still kind of am,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
“Sleeping? Where are you?” I heard another male voice followed by a growl.
I recognized it as Nick’s.
“Home. What is wrong?” I asked, sitting up in my bed.
“You stopped texting,” Gabriel said and I could tell he was furious. “What did I tell you would happen if you stopped texting?”
“Calm down. No need to storm Mike’s house,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I stopped because you didn’t respond to my last text, and I figured you had fallen asleep. And I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Well, I am not sleeping. And even if I was, you still should have texted,” he growled angrily.
I heard Nick take a deep breath and rolled my eyes. They were really exaggerating.
“I am sorry. I really am,” I said slowly, trying to calm them so we could end the conversation and I could go back to sleep. “But I am fine. Really. Kind of annoyed you woke me up, but fine.”
“What if something happened to you?” Nick growled.
“Something is going to happen to you if you don’t let me sleep,” I said angrily.
“Fine,” Nick muttered. “We will be there first thing in the morning.”
I rolled my eyes but decided to be nice. I don’t want to fight with them right now. I just wanted to sleep.
“Okay. I will see you tomorrow. Good night,” I said.
“Night,” they responded at the same time.
I ended the call, turned to my side, and fell asleep.
I was awoken by a knock on my door and Annie’s voice calling my name.
I turned around and looked at her. She was already dressed and had her makeup on perfectly. How did she do that? I just wanted to stay in bed all day.
“Come on, A. Get up. The guys are here,” she said, pulling me out of my comfy, warm bed.
I groaned, “Already? What do they have against sleep?” I whined as she pulled me to my bathroom.
“It is 11 am sleepyhead,” she laughed. “Do your thing, girl. They want to talk to us.”
She left my bathroom and closed my door.
I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair up into a messy bun. I didn’t want to get dressed. This would do. I was wearing my pajama pants and a short sleeve black t-shirt. I looked fine. I wanted to get this conversation over with soon so I could come back and soak in my bathtub all day long.
I came down to the kitchen and they both looked at me as I entered. They were still mad at me.
“Morning,” I said and went to grab a cup of coffee.
“We need to talk,” Gabriel said and I turned to him.
I saw Nick staring up and down my body and I felt shivers down my spine. What the hell? Shouldn’t I be embarrassed?
I quickly looked at Gabriel and nodded. “Talk,” I said quietly.
“I want you to move to my house,” he told me before turning to Annie. “You too, Annie.”
I stood frozen. Move in with him? Is he crazy? I saw Annie was shocked too. She looked at me, her eyes wide.
“No,” I said.
“No?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I don’t know you, Gabriel,” I told him, placing my mug down on a kitchen counter. “Why do you expect me to live with you?”
“So I can keep you safe,” he said, looking at me intensely.
Suddenly I felt like I needed protection from him. I flinched and looked at Annie.
“A little help?” I said looking at her.
“Don’t ask her for help,” Gabriel said angrily. “Both of you are coming with me.”
“Why do I feel like I need protection from you?” I asked him, feeling tears welling up.
He flinched and I saw sadness in his eyes. Nick tried to say something, but I raised my hand, stopping him.
“I am going upstairs to take a nice, long, hot bath,” I told them. “Annie, you deal with this.”
I quickly left the kitchen before anyone could stop me.
I ran upstairs to my room and locked the door. There was no way I was leaving with them.
