Gabriel’s POV
Rage.
That was the only thing I felt.
I wanted to kill.
I saw red.
I could still hear her screaming and crying.
My heart was in pain.
I was going to kill that fucker who dared touch her.
I didn’t hear anything except my heart thumping in my chest and Aria’s screams in the back of my mind.
The memory was gone. The orb was gone.
I didn’t know how long I had been sitting like that.
I took a deep breath and tried to focus on Aria. She needed me. I didn’t have time to freak out. Not now. Later. When I have him at my mercy. Then I will freak out and show him he never should have touched my sister.
I averted my gaze toward her and saw her staring wide-eyed at Nick.
I looked at him and he was shaking. His growling was so loud I couldn’t believe I didn’t hear him before.
“Nick?” Aria called him quietly.
Her voice startled him, and he looked at her.
“I am going to kill him,” he said so coldly that I got scared.
I looked at Aria, afraid of her reaction, but she didn’t seem to be scared by him. She was looking at him with tears in her eyes, but she looked slightly relieved as well.
Her pain was clearly visible, and it seemed to hurt Nick even more. He was shaking and growling even louder than before.
I looked back at Nick and saw his eyes were completely black now.
Shit. I don’t think Nate will go back now.
I turned to Aria. “Get back slowly.”
I got up and grabbed Annie’s hand. I pulled her as far away from the couch as possible and shielded her with my body.
I knew Nick wouldn’t hurt us, but in his rage Nate was unpredictable. He could trash my living room just like I did when I found out about Aria. But a human trashing a room was not the same as a wolf trashing it. He could hurt us unintentionally.
I wished I could get to Aria and shield her, but she was standing on the other side of the room, and I didn’t want to make any sudden movements. Goddess knows how Nate would react if I touched her.
Nick shifted so suddenly that if I had blinked, I would have missed it. His ripped clothes fell all over my living room floor.
Aria gasped loudly and I looked instantly at her. She was staring at Nate with an unreadable expression on her face.
“I can feel it,” she said quietly.
“The bond?” Annie asks behind me.
Aria nodded and continued to stare at Nate.
He was not moving, but I could see his wolf shaking with rage.
He was staring at the floor, trying to control himself. So, I guess Nick was not out of control completely.
“Nate?” I called him.
He looked up at me, growled and his lips went over his teeth. He looked terrifying.
I knew the only one to calm him down was Aria. I needed him to touch her. She would calm him down.
“Nate, look at your mate,” I told him quietly.
He peaked his ears and looked at her. He whined loudly and before I could react, he ran toward her.
I was afraid that he would hurt her in his rage, but he wrapped his giant body around her small one and whined silently.
“Nate,” she said quietly and stroked his fur. “You are heavy. I can’t stand.”
He growled slightly and unwrapped himself from her. He motioned for her to sit down on the floor.
She looked at me, confused and I just shrugged.
She sighed but sat down and looked up at him. She seemed even smaller next to Nick’s giant wolf.
He wrapped himself around her again and placed his head on her lap.
She chuckled and started stroking his head. He purred happily.
I smiled and ran my hand through my hair. “Well, that went better than I thought.”
Nate looked up at me and growled slightly.
“What, man?” I said and walked back to the couch. “You should have seen how scary you were. I was afraid you would hurt her unintentionally.”
He growled and whined. I guess he was telling me that he would never hurt her. I knew that, but seeing how mad he was, he couldn’t blame me for thinking otherwise.
“I am glad you two feel the bond completely now,” Annie said and sat back on the sofa.
Aria smiled slightly, but I could see how scared she was. It was going to be hard to make her trust us again. Although, I think she never completely did. As if a small part of her always knew what happened to her.
That was the problem with memory spells. You could take away the memory, but the feelings were hard to erase. The body remembered, just as much as the mind did.
Looking back, she always avoided being touched. Especially by Nick and me. She was probably confused about her feelings and reactions, but she didn’t know the reason behind it. That was why I wanted her to remember even though it was a bad memory. The confusion she felt before would be worse for her in the long term, than dealing with what happened.
“Do you know who Victor is?” Annie broke the silence, and I froze.
That son of a bitch mentioned Victor. I was so angry and hurt about what I saw that I totally missed that.
My heart clenched painfully. They knew about her.
Nick’s POV
I can’t describe how I felt when I saw what had happened to her.
Rage was not the right word. There was no right word for it.
All I knew at that moment was that I would kill him. He was dead. He touched what’s mine. He wanted what’s mine.
When I heard him say that he would find her again and that she belonged to him, I lost control. I couldn’t see anything except a vision of me killing that fucker. He would not take a single breath near her again. He would not lay his eyes on her again.
When I shifted and Nate saw her in his true form, I felt complete. Like a piece of my soul, that I didn’t know was missing, came back to me.
She was everything. I no longer felt like I was pulled to this Earth by gravity. I was pulled by her. She was my center. And if she was not here, nothing made sense. I couldn’t exist without her.
Nate completely took over and before I knew what he was doing, he wrapped himself around her. I felt sparks erupt from my heart and spread all over my body. Touching her would be like a drug. I will never get enough.
She was so small compared to Nate that she disappeared in his fur. Her quiet, melodic voice brought me back from my angry thoughts.
“Nate,” she said quietly and stroked Nate’s fur. “You are heavy. I can’t stand.”
Get off her you big beast. I growled at Nate.
Fine. He whined. But I am not leaving her yet.
What are you going to do? I asked him angrily.
He didn’t respond. He motioned for her to sit down. She looked at Gabriel slightly confused, but she sighed and sat down. She looked up at us with those big green eyes and my heart melted completely.
There wasn’t anything in this world I wouldn’t do for this girl.
Nate wrapped himself around her again and placed his head on her lap. She chuckled slightly, melting my heart all over again and started stroking Nate. He purred happily.
Silly wolf. I growled.
You are just jealous that our mate isn’t afraid of me, but she is afraid of you. He said.
I froze. He was right. She was afraid of me. She would not let me hold her like this. My heart clenched painfully.
You know I am right. He said and I could feel him smirking.
Shut up, Nate. I growled at him.
At least I could hold her like this. Be close to her in my wolf form. That was a start, right?
“Well, that went better than I thought,” I heard Gabriel.
I growled at him. Did he think I would hurt her?
“What, man?” he said and walked back to the couch. “You should have seen how scary you were. I was afraid you would hurt her unintentionally.”
I growled and Nate whined at the same time. I would never hurt her. She was mine to protect.
Does he think we would hurt mate? Nate asks sadly.
No. I told him, still a bit angry. But we kind of lost control. We have to be careful around her, Nate.
Gabriel was right. I did get angry. I was kind of surprised by the amount of control Nate took over. He had never been this strong before.
It is because of her. My mate is my strength. We can protect her better now. He said proudly.
“I am glad you two feel the bond completely now,” Annie said and I felt Aria tense under me.
She was scared. I could feel her emotions. She was scared of me.
I knew she could feel my emotions as well, so I tried to make her feel my love for her. Let her know she was the most important thing to me now. I would never hurt her.
I think it worked because I could feel her relax a little.
But then Annie spoke again. “Do you know who Victor is?”
That fucker mentioned Victor. Do they know who she is?
Aria froze and I could feel a wave of fear coming off her. I growled loudly and startled her.
“Nate!” Gabriel said strictly.
Nate whined and licked her face.
She scrunched up her nose. Goddess, she was adorable.
“Nate,” she said slowly, stroking my fur. “I like you and can’t wait to see you again, but could you let Nick back to us, please?”
He whined but unwrapped his body from her.
“Go to my room and grab some clothes,” Gabriel said.
Tell mate I love her. He told me while we were walking upstairs.
I will. I responded and shifted back as soon as I got inside Gabriel’s room.
I quickly put on some sweats and a black hoodie. I couldn’t wait to get back to her. She was not to be left alone hereafter. Not even for a second. I was not risking him getting close to her again.
When I came back to the living room Aria was sitting on the sofa. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile.
Goddess, I wanted to hold her. But I didn’t want to freak her out. I didn’t want her to fear me.
I walked slowly to the couch and sat beside Gabriel.
“Thank you for not getting angry at me,” Aria said quietly, looking down at her hands.
I looked between Gabriel and Annie. They were as confused as I was.
“Why would we be angry at you?” Gabriel asked her.
“Well, I thought maybe you would think it was my fault,” she said, not looking up at us.
She thought it was her fault. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. I saw Gabriel do the same thing.
Annie gasped. She got up and walked over to Aria. She sat on the armrest and hugged her. I felt a pinch of jealousy. I wanted to hug her like that.
“Goddess, A,” Annie said. “In no way, shape or form was it your fault. It was his. He is a sick man, and you did nothing wrong. Please don’t say that again.”
“Annie is right, Aria,” Gabriel interfered. “There wasn’t a second when I thought you were at fault here. It is all on him. And he will get punished for what he did. I will kill him. He will not lay his eyes on you again.”
Aria looked between them with tears in her beautiful eyes. But I could still feel guilt coming from her.
“Thank you,” she said and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I was really scared to show you, but I am glad I did. I don’t have to go through this alone. Although, I don’t want to be a burden. And a part of me thinks I shouldn’t have bothered you with this.”
Goddess, did she have a selfish bone in her body?
“You are not a burden, love,” I said and she looked up at me. “You are a gift. Not just to me. But to Annie and Gabriel as well. It would have hurt us more if you hadn’t told us about this. We want to help you. I want to help you, love. And I want to help Gabriel kill that bastard. I will show him what happens when you touch something that is mine.”
Gabriel and Annie nodded and smiled at her. She was looking at me and tears were falling down her cheeks.
“Thank you, Nick,” she said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better mate.”
Oh, no, love. I was the one who got lucky.
I smiled brightly and she responded with a small smile.
Annie wrapped her hand around Aria’s shoulders and squeezed her tight.
“So, about Victor,” Annie said. “Do you know who he is?”
