Gabriel’s POV
I woke up pretty early and decided to wake Nick up so we could look at the information Sebastian had given me.
I also needed him to help me decide how to tell Aria the truth.
I brushed my teeth and hopped under the shower.
I got dressed and quietly left my room.
As I was about to knock on Nick’s bedroom door, he opened it and motioned for me to be quiet.
I looked at him confused, and he motioned behind him.
Aria was sleeping in his bed, snuggling his pillow close to her.
I frowned and looked at him coldly.
“Nothing happened, man,” he whispered. “She couldn’t sleep, and she came here.”
“Come on,” I said quietly. “Don’t wake her up.”
He stepped outside and closed the door quietly.
We walked to my grandma’s study.
As soon as we got inside and he closed the door, I gave him a stern look.
“What the hell happened?” I asked him.
He sighed. “Nothing, Gabe. She couldn’t sleep and she came to me all by herself. I didn’t tell her to do that. The bond did. She needed me to sleep.”
I frowned and ran my hand through my hair. I was happy she slept but I wasn’t so happy it was in Nick’s bed.
“Nick, go slow,” I said seriously. “If you hurt her, I will kill you.”
“I believe you will,” Nick said. “But hurting her seems impossible, man. I can’t do that. I love her. She is mine.”
I frowned but nodded. “How is she?”
“I think she will be okay,” he sighed.
“Good,” I said and sat behind the desk. “How do I tell her?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Start by telling her that you understand this will be a shock for her, but you will be there for her. Tell her that you need her to know the truth. She likes you, Gabriel. I can tell. She feels safe around you. She will be shocked, but she will be glad to know you are her brother.”
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.
“I just hope she won’t run,” I said quietly.
“No way I will ever let that happen,” he growled. “She belongs here with us.”
“Will you be there when I tell her?” I asked him.
I hoped that he would. He was my friend and I needed him there. And I thought it would help Aria have him there with her.
“I will,” he nodded. “I think she will need me. The bond will help.”
“Good,” I smiled. “I was hoping you would say that.”
Nick smiled and sat on the sofa.
“So, about the info Sebastian gave you?” he asked me.
I opened the desk drawer. I put the envelope here yesterday before going to my room.
I pulled out a big, white envelope and opened it carefully.
There were some papers inside and a picture of the woman.
She was in her late twenties or early thirties in the picture. Her hair was brown and pulled back into a tight bun. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black. Her face was smooth and pale white. I could tell she was a bitch just by her cold stare.
She would be in her late fifties or early sixties now.
I gave the picture to Nick and started reading what was written on the paper.
“Is there anything useful?” Nick asked me after a few minutes.
“She is a werewolf,” I mumbled.
I continued to read and frowned.
By the information Sebastian managed to collect, Patricia was a real bitch. She supported Victor blindly and she gave him some good ideas about eradicating the human race. She was an extremist, there was no doubt about that.
She had a college degree in history and politics. It said here she was smart, calculated, and cold. She always had been. Gathering humans into a new inquisition and making them slaughter supernaturals was probably her idea.
After Victor was removed from his position, she disappeared. Nobody knew what happened to her. Victor remained in the spotlight for a while, trying to gather his followers and taking the power back.
His attempts were unsuccessful. Until now.
There were some rumors that Victor killed Patricia because she helped take him down. Apparently, she was after power and when she saw that other supernaturals were turning on Victor, she switched sides, hoping to rise to power without him.
Sebastian’s contact managed to find out a possible location where Patricia could be hiding. His contact didn’t believe she was dead.
He listed a few villages, all of them more than five hours away from our city. We should go and check them out.
When I was about to look up at Nick and tell him everything I found out, I caught something handwritten on the bottom of the page.
Victor’s mate?
I smirked and looked up at Nick. He was looking at me and I could see how impatient he was.
“What does it say?” he asked.
“Patricia could be Victor’s mate,” I said quietly.
Nick’s eyes widened. He stared at me for a while and then smiled.
“She is his weakness,” he said.
I nodded and gave him the papers.
He took them and started reading. I watched him frown and then smirk at the end.
“We have to go to these villages and find her,” he said. “If she really is his mate, we would have an advantage.”
I nodded. “Yes. And if she isn’t, she is the only one who really knows him. She could be a great source of information.”
Nick nodded and handed me the papers back.
I placed them back in the envelope and put the envelope back into the desk drawer. I wanted to plan our trip to the villages, but we were interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened and Aria walked in.
“Hey, love,” Nick said with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, guys,” Aria said and walked over. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sure,” I said and motioned for her to sit on the other sofa.
“What is it, love?” Nick asked her and leaned toward her.
Aria looked down at her lap. “I wanted to talk to you about going to my old village. The one I was born in.”
I clenched my fists. She was born here, not in some damn village.
“Why do you want to go there?” Nick asked her.
“I want to see Cassie and Jake,” she said, not looking up. “I miss them terribly. I need to know they are okay.”
Nick and I looked at each other. I was scared she would want to stay with them. And I could tell Nick was thinking the same thing.
Aria’s POV
I was staring into my hands, fidgeting with my fingers.
Neither Gabriel nor Nick said anything.
I looked up and saw them looking at each other.
“I know it is dangerous and I know you won’t let me go alone,” I said. “But you can come with me. You will love them.”
They both looked at me with unreadable expressions on their faces.
“Of course, you are not going alone,” Nick growled. “I just don’t know if I am okay with you going at all.”
“Why?” I asked, surprised.
Why would they have a problem with that? Cassie and Jake were my family.
“What if something happens to you? What if Victor finds you? He obviously wants you for some reason. You heard what Annie found out about him, he is insane,” Gabriel said.
I frowned. “Nothing will happen to me there. You will be there, and Jake won’t let anything happen to me. They are my family. And how do we know that Victor Annie read about and Victor trying to find me are the same person? Victor is not that uncommon name.”
Nick growled and narrowed his eyes at me.
“Who was Jake to you?” he asked through his teeth.
I looked down and sighed. Shit. I shouldn’t have mentioned Jake. I was hoping we would focus on talking about Victor.
The more I thought about it, the more I knew that Victor from the book Annie read and Victor that man mentioned were not the same person. I was not powerful, and I definitely didn’t have a sibling. It was just a weird coincidence, that’s all.
“Aria?” Nick called me and grabbed my hand.
I looked up at him. “He was my boyfriend.”
I could lie and tell him we were friends. But I knew he would find out and I would be in much bigger trouble than I was now.
Nick’s eyes went dark. Nate was here. Shit.
He growled loudly and stood up. He started pacing the room and grabbed his hair with his fists.
“Nick, please, calm down,” I said and got up. “It has been four years. He must have moved on and besides I have you now. Nothing will happen between us. But we grew up together and he is important. He is no longer my boyfriend, but he is my family. I need to see him and know that he is okay. Cassie as well.”
Nick walked up to me and grabbed my face with his hands. His eyes were flickering between black and brown.
“You are mine,” he said in a much deeper voice, Nate’s.
“I am yours, Nate,” I said quietly. “Yours and Nick’s.”
He lowered his hands on my shoulders, nuzzled his nose into my neck and breathed deeply.
After a few moments he looked up at me, his eyes now back to brown. He kissed my forehead and smiled.
“I am sorry,” he said, not letting go of me. “Nate is a very possessive wolf, and I am a very jealous man.”
I chuckled. “You don’t have to be. He is family now. Nothing more.”
He nodded and we sat back down.
Gabriel was frowning and looking between us.
“I am still scared about Victor. He can’t get to you here. Magic is protecting the house,” he said.
“If he wanted to take me, he would come here already and he would,” I said. “I was at Pete’s when that man first found me. Your magic didn’t protect me then. Either he is waiting for something, or he is not that man from the book.”
Gabriel frowned and started thinking.
“I am pretty sure he is not the same man. I am not powerful. What would Victor want with me?” I said after no one spoke.
Gabriel and Nick glanced at each other.
“Aria, you and I need to talk,” Gabriel said slowly.
I gulped. “About?”
“About Victor and the prophecy,” Gabriel said, looking at me.
Does he know something about the prophecy? Does he know about the book? Does he know I found it?
I stared at him without saying a word. I waited for him to start.
He looked down and sighed. He seemed so nervous.
Why was he nervous? I was the one who should be in trouble, no? I found that book and didn’t tell them.
He opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted when Nick’s phone rang.
“Shit,” he muttered and answered.
He got up and walked to the window. I looked back at Gabriel. He was staring at Nick, frowning. He was not happy that he interrupted him.
Nick hung up and walked back to us.
“Sorry,” he said to Gabriel. “It was mom. She is bringing us breakfast.”
Gabriel sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“How about we eat and continue this conversation after breakfast?” Nick asked and looked between me and Gabriel.
I didn’t want that. I needed to know what he wanted to tell me. I can’t eat now.
But Gabriel nodded. “Okay. We will eat breakfast and then we’ll talk.”
I sighed in disappointment but got up and followed the guys to the kitchen.
Mrs. Black, Nick’s mom, was already there. She was placing a plate full of blueberry pancakes on the kitchen table.
She looked up and smiled brightly when she saw us walk in.
“Oh, my Goddess, honey,” she said and walked over to me. “I am so glad you are my son’s mate. You are beautiful and kind and Nick is so lucky to have you.”
She wrapped me into a tight hug, and I smiled.
“Thank you, Mrs. Black,” I said.
“Oh, honey, call me Linda,” she said, letting me go. “I told you that already.”
I smiled and nodded just as Annie walked into the kitchen.
“You must be Annie,” Linda said and gave her a hug. “Welcome to the family, Annie.”
Annie was surprised but happy. She smiled brightly and hugged Linda back.
“Thank you, Mrs. Black,” she said.
“Linda. Just call me Linda,” she said. “Mrs. Black makes me sound old.”
“You are old, mom,” Nick said playfully.
She turned to him and frowned. “I will spank you, mister. I don’t care how old you are.”
We laughed and Nick grinned at his mom.
I couldn’t help but smile. Goddess, he was gorgeous.
“Come on, sit down and eat,” Linda said and pulled me and Annie to the table.
Linda stayed and ate breakfast with us. She told us Nick’s dad was at work, but he would love to meet Annie and me when we were ready.
She was an awesome lady, and I was glad to know her. She seemed like a great mom to Nick and I could see how much he loved her. Gabriel as well. I was glad they had her growing up.
I was smiling, talking, and enjoying breakfast, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Gabriel wanted to talk about.
