Gabriel’s POV
I’ve never felt better.
I wanted to bring him back only to kill him again.
“What the fuck do we do with him?” Jacob asked and threw his bloody knife away.
“Leave him here. Wild animals will take care of him,” I said and took a step back from his dead body.
We were all drenched in his blood. I had no fucking idea how we were going to clean ourselves.
“We should take his phone,” Nick said and walked over to him. “I have an idea.”
He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a phone. He unlocked it and smiled.
“What idea?” Blake asked.
“I don’t want Victor to know that he is dead,” Nick said and put the phone in his pocket. “He will send somebody else, or he will come by himself. We can pretend to be Calvin and stall him.”
“How the hell will you pretend?” I frowned. “Do you imitate voices now?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “No. I will only text him. Make an excuse as to why I can’t talk.”
“It could buy us a little time,” Jacob said as he ran a hand through his hair.
“It will,” Nick said. “Come on, get this piece of shit down so we can get rid of him. I can’t touch the handcuffs.”
Blake searched his pockets and pulled out a key. He uncuffed Calvin’s dead body and walked back toward us.
“What do we do now?” Jacob asked and crossed his arms over his chest.
“We are going home,” I said. “I am not taking Aria anywhere but home.”
“What about finding Patricia?” Blake asked.
“We will do that,” I nodded. “But I am getting Aria home first.”
The guys nodded and we started walking back to our cars.
“The girls will freak out when they see us,” Blake muttered.
I looked down at my blood-soaked clothes and sighed. It was a good thing we had extra clothes.
We walked up to our cars, and I saw the girls sitting in the back of my car. They were holding hands and talking.
Annie noticed us first. Her eyes grew wide, and a small scream escaped her. Cassie and Aria looked toward us, and their eyes widened in horror.
Cassie opened the door and jumped out. Her eyes went from Blake to her brother.
“What the hell happened?” she screamed. “Are you hurt?”
Aria jumped out of the car, her eyes never leaving me and Nick.
“It’s okay,” Blake said. “It is not our blood.”
“He is gone, love,” Nick said and reached for Aria. “He will never hurt you again.”
Cassie and Annie gasped. Aria just stared at Nick with wide eyes.
“Love?” Nick said when she didn’t react.
Shit. Was she afraid of us now?
Fuck.
I could see Nick was thinking the same thing as I was. I can see how worried he was. His hand was reaching out toward her, but she was not moving.
“Minnie?” Jacob called her.
She looked at him before turning and walking away. My heart started beating painfully fast.
Nick started walking after her but stopped when she opened the trunk.
What is she doing? My eyebrows furrowed and I glanced at Nick, who was as confused as I.
She walked back with a bottle of water and two pairs of shorts.
“I am not touching either one of you until you clean up and change,” she said, handing us the bottle.
I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Fuck, Aria,” I muttered. “I thought you were afraid of us now.”
Annie chuckled and Aria shook her head.
“I am not afraid of you,” she said quietly. “I was a little bit shocked. It is not every day that you see four people completely covered in blood.”
Nick gave me the bottle and I took off my shirt. I poured water on myself and tried to clean up the best I could.
Nick took off behind the tree to change his pants and I saw Jacob and Blake do the same. I followed behind them and changed my sweats.
We hurried back and Nick immediately went to Aria. He wrapped her in his arms and inhaled her scent.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” he growled. “I almost died when he put his hands on you.”
“I couldn’t let him hurt Cassie,” she said quietly and stepped away from him.
“We would have thought of something,” Cassie said. “You would have saved me without you having to sacrifice yourself, Ari.”
Blake wrapped his arms around Cassie from behind and kissed her temple.
“I am sorry,” Aria sighed. “I was terrified. I was always afraid he would hurt one of you and when I saw it happen, I couldn’t stand it. He wanted me and I couldn’t let Cassie get hurt because of that.”
Jacob walked to her and wrapped her up in a hug. Nick growled loudly but Jacob ignored him.
“I am glad you are okay, Minnie,” he said and kissed her on the top of her head. “Thank you for saving my sister. But don’t do that ever again. We are not losing you.”
Aria looked up at him and smiled. Nick pulled her away from Jacob and pressed her up against his chest.
“Enough!” he growled.
Jacob sighed and rolled his eyes.
“What now?” Annie asked.
“We go home,” I said and walked to the trunk to get myself a shirt.
“Home?” Aria asked, surprised. “What about Patricia?”
“We will go find her,” I said. “But not right now. We are going home and making a new plan.”
“What about Victor?” Annie asked. “Won’t he be looking for that man? What is his name anyway?”
“Calvin,” Nick growled and tightened his grip on Aria.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“We have an idea how to stall him,” I said, looking back at Annie. “I will tell you everything when we get home.”
I closed my trunk and walked over to the driver’s side. I jumped inside and started the car.
“Will you be riding with us, Ann?” Cassie asked.
“No. I will go with Aria,” she smiled. “See you back home.”
Cassie gave her a smile and walked back to Jacob’s car.
“Sit in the front, Annie,” Nick said and opened the door.
She nodded and climbed in beside me.
Aria and Nick sat in the back, and I started driving.
I couldn’t wait to get home. Aria will be safest there.
Nick’s POV
As soon as Gabriel started driving, I pulled Aria into my lap. I turned her so she would face me and pressed her against me.
“Nick,” she said my name quietly and tried to wiggle out.
“No,” I growled. “You are sitting here.”
She sighed and stopped moving. She leaned into me and placed her head on my shoulder. I turned to kiss the top of her head and inhaled her sweet scent.
I couldn’t live without this girl. She was my whole world. I thought I would die when I saw that fucker touch her. I didn’t even want to know how I would feel if he managed to take her away from me. I would have burnt the world down.
I sneaked my hand under her shirt and rubbed small circles on her lower back with my thumb. Goddess, I loved her skin. I needed to feel more of it.
I gently pulled her shirt up, exposing her belly. She lifted her head to look at me. I pressed her closer and felt her skin against my abs. She closed her eyes and sighed. She loved it as much as I did. Sparks rushed all over my body and I purred.
“No,” Gabriel said. “Not in my fucking car and not in my earshot.”
Annie laughed and looked at Gabriel.
“Leave him alone,” she said. “His wolf needs to feel his mate.”
“He can feel her without fucking purring,” Gabriel said through his teeth. “It is enough that I can see you in the rearview mirror. I don’t have to listen to you as well.”
Aria chuckled and blushed. Goddess, she was beautiful. And mine.
She pulled down her shirt and I frowned.
She tried to get off my lap, but I stopped her.
“No way,” I said. “I can’t purr, but you are not leaving.”
“Can I at least turn around?” she chuckled.
I lifted my hands so she could turn around. I pulled her to my chest, and she leaned in with a content sigh. I kissed her cheek and looked at the road.
“That was some powerful magic, Minnie,” Annie said and turned around to look at us.
“Minnie?” I raised my eyebrows at her.
“What?” she frowned. “I like the nickname.”
I rolled my eyes. I didn’t like anything coming from that fucker, Jacob. He wanted my girl. That was unacceptable. I took a strand of Aria’s hair and started playing with it.
“I don’t even know how I managed to do that,” Aria said. “I just wanted his hands off of me.”
I growled and pressed her even closer to me. I couldn’t think about his hands on her because I would rip something apart.
“We need to work on your magic,” Gabriel said. “You need to learn how to project on only one person. Your magic took us all down.”
“I am so sorry,” she said quietly.
“Don’t be, love,” I said as I nuzzled my nose into her neck. “I would take a thousand blows like that just so you would be safe.”
“Yeah, Aria,” Annie nodded. “You had to do it, and we are all fine.”
Aria smiled at her and turned to me. She gave me a small kiss on the lips and my heart skipped a beat.
Fuck.
I felt my cock hardening.
Shit. She is the only woman in the world who can do that to me. It wasn’t even a big kiss. No tongue. Just a small peck on my lips and I am ready to fuck her.
Shit.
I gently lifted her and placed her next to me. I didn’t want her to feel what she had done to me. I didn’t want her to think I was pushing her.
She gave me a confused look, and I smiled. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
“You like Cassie?” Aria asked Annie.
“Oh, yes,” Annie turned to us with a big smile on her face. “She is great. And the boys are great too.”
“They are,” Aria said, smiling brightly. “I am so glad you like them.”
I frowned and turned to the window. Annie caught my frown.
“You don’t like them, Nick?” she asked me.
“He doesn’t like Jacob,” Gabriel said and chuckled.
“Oh,” Annie sighed. “Well, he is great.”
“He wants what’s mine,” I growled and turned back to look at her.
“Can you blame him?” Annie asked and chuckled. “She is fucking hot. And pretty. Any guy would want her.”
“Annie!” Aria said with a warning tone.
“What?” Annie said and looked at her. “It is the truth.”
I couldn’t agree more. She was beautiful. Hot. Sexy. Pretty. Amazing. Wonderful. She was everything. And she was mine. No guy will touch her.
“She is mine,” I said sternly. “If anybody else touches her, I will kill them.”
My nostrils were flaring. I felt anger building up. I clenched my fists.
“Nick,” Aria said my name and placed her hand on my cheek. “It’s okay. Nobody is going to touch me.”
My breathing calmed down a little when I looked down at her. She was here. Right next to me. And nobody will ever take her away from me.
“Why did you do that, Annie?” Gabriel asked. “You know how possessive he is, and he always freaks out when you mention other guys.”
“I am just telling the truth,” she shrugged.
“You are such a tease,” I said with a smirk.
She turned around and winked at me. Goddess, she will make me suffer, won’t she? I rolled my eyes and looked down at Aria. She was smiling at me and the only thing I could think about was kissing those lips. But I couldn’t Not right now, anyway. Gabriel will kick me out of the car.
I pulled her closer and inhaled her scent. I immediately felt at peace. She wrapped her hands around my waist and placed her head on my chest. I never wanted her to leave. This was where she belonged.
