My Unexpected Mate: Chapter 64

Gabriel’s POV

I had never been more nervous in my life.

My hands were shaking, and I had to grip the wheel tightly because I felt like I could drive off the road if I didn’t.

“Are you sure he will be gone?” Nick asked Patricia.

He was bouncing his legs up and down. His fists were clenched together, and his gaze was fixed on the road ahead.

“Yes,” Patricia said. “He will leave soon.”

“What if he changed his plans?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“He is a man of habits,” she said calmly.

“Did you call Mike and Jack?” I asked Nick.

He nodded, not looking away from the road.

We were five minutes away. Mike and Jack should be waiting for us there.

“Be prepared,” Patricia said. “There won’t be many people there, but they will do everything they can to stop you from taking her.”

“Nothing and no one can stop me,” Nick growled.

I focused on the road, and a few minutes later, I saw Mike’s car. I pulled up next to him and turned the engine off. I could see Jacob’s car coming up behind us. He parked on the side of the road, and he and Blake exited the car.

“What the hell is going on?” Mike asked.

He and Jack walked out of the forest.

We called them to tell them about Patricia and that she was going to help us find Aria, but we didn’t tell them much more.

“Why the hell is she here?” Jack asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “She is an enemy.”

“No, she isn’t,” Jacob said and walked closer to Mike and Jack. “She knows where Aria is. She is here to take us to her.”

Mike and Jack’s eyes widened. They looked at her and I could see how surprised they were.

“Why would you do that?” Jack asked her. “Aren’t you on his side?”

“I was,” Patricia nodded. “But not anymore.”

“How come?” Mike asked, his eyes narrowing.

“I will tell you everything,” Patricia sighed. “But not right now. We don’t have much time. We have to go.”

Patricia started walking into the forest, and all of us started following her. Mike and Jack were confused. Nick was rigid, and his gaze was focused on Patricia. Jacob and Blake had a determined expression on their faces. I was nervous as hell. I had to find her. If Patricia had lied, I would rip her apart.

We were walking on an all too familiar path through the forest. Suddenly, Patricia made a small turn through the bushes. The rest of us looked at each other in confusion. What the hell?! I had never seen this path. I had never thought that there could be something behind those bushes.

After a while, we reached a cave.

“What the fuck?” Jacob mumbled.

“This is the entrance,” Patricia said quietly. “We have to hide and wait. He should be out soon.”

Patricia told us that Victor had a meeting with his followers today. She said he always holds his meetings on the same date, the 15th of the month. We were skeptical at first. She hadn’t seen him in years. He could have changed it. But she was convinced. She was sure he still had the same habits.

And she was right.

After about half an hour, we saw a man walking out of the cave. He looked around carefully, making sure there was no one around. He looked pissed off and angry. His body was rigid, and his hands were clenched into tight fists.

I barely managed to keep myself from jumping up and killing him. And I could say the same thing about Nick. He flinched when he saw him, and I had to grab his arm because I was afraid that he would attack him.

I looked at him and gently shook my head. He clenched his jaw and nodded. He looked away from me and focused on Victor.

When he was sure no one was around, Victor walked off in the opposite direction from where we came.

We stayed hidden for a while longer. We didn’t want to risk Victor coming back.

After a while, Patricia stood up from her hiding place. She motioned for us to follow her.

“There will be at least 10 people around,” she said quietly. “Victor won’t risk more people being here. The more people that are here, the higher the chances are of them blabbing something out and others finding out about this place.”

We nodded and started walking inside.

The cave was dark. It was damp and it smelled awful. The path was narrow, and we had to walk in a line. Soon enough, I could feel the walls closing in on my muscular frame. I had to squeeze through.

After a few minutes, I started to see a small light. The cave walls were replaced by a concrete structure, and the path got wider. We could walk next to each other now.

“Hey! Who is there?” a deep voice broke the silence.

A few moments later, a man stood in front of us. His eyes widened, and he was too shocked to do anything.

“Kill. Don’t get hurt,” Nick said darkly and shifted into his huge wolf.

He jumped on the guy, ripping his throat with his canines.

All hell broke loose.

Victor’s men started coming out of the huge metal door at the end of the hall.

Patricia shifted into her wolf and attacked.

Spells started flying around and bouncing off the walls. I closed my eyes and focused on projecting an image of the forest to the guys around me. They stopped fighting and looked around, confused. I walked up to them, slicing through their necks using my pocket knife. Their limp bodies fell around me.

“Nick! Gabe!” Jacob screamed.

I turned around to look at him. He had a huge wound on his forehead and blood was gushing out of it. He was holding a guy’s head in his grip and with one quick move he broke his neck. The guy’s body fell limply in front of Jacob.

“Go get her!” he told us. “We will handle the rest!”

Nick and I didn’t have to be told twice. Nick shifted back and put on a pair of sweats that he had previously tied to his ankle.

Patricia was right. There weren’t many people inside and we managed to defeat them pretty quickly.

We walked through the huge metal door, and there was another long hall. It was faintly illuminated by a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The hall was narrow, and Nick had to walk behind me. We walked quickly, and I saw a door to our left. I opened them and saw a bed and a small closet. I guess this was one of the rooms for Victor’s men. I walked further and started opening every door I saw. They were all the same and all of them were empty. I saw a kitchen and a small bathroom.

“I can smell her,” Nick whimpered behind me. “Walk faster!”

I started running, and a few moments later, we reached another huge metal door. I grabbed the doorknob and it opened.

Wow.

The only security Victor counted on was that he never thought anyone would find this place. I expected more men to guard it. I expected that the door would be locked.

But I guess luck was on our side.

I opened the door further, trying to peek inside. I expected another guard to be inside. But nothing happened.

The room was very dark, and I could smell blood.

My breathing picked up and Nick started shoving me from behind. He moved past me, and I finally found the light switch.

I turned it on and gasped.

There she was.

Chained to a metal table. Covered in bruises, scrapes, and blood.

My heart broke and a sob escaped me.

Nick’s POV

I froze for a second.

She was lying on a metal table. She was chained.

Chained.

My baby was chained.

Her head was turned away from us and her hair was splattered all over her. It was soaked with blood.

Her blood.

Nate’s growl woke me from my frozen state, and I ran toward her.

I touched her and those sparks I missed flew through my body.

A sob escaped me, and I slowly turned her head. Her eyes were closed, and I could feel how warm she was. She was burning up.

Her breaths were quick and shallow.

“Oh, love,” I cried out.

Gabriel ran toward us and grabbed her face in his hands. “Aria, love, wake up.”

He sounded broken. I could see tears falling down his cheeks.

“We have to get her out of here, Nick,” he said, his voice trembling. “Get those fucking chains off of her.”

I used my magic to break them.

“Ruptura,” I mumbled, and I could see the chain around her right arm break.

I repeated the process on all the chains holding her captive. Gabriel unwrapped them from around her small body, and I could see the bruises that were left behind.

I couldn’t even feel anger. Not now.

I was afraid. Afraid that she wouldn’t wake up again, afraid that I would never see her eyes again, afraid that I would never hear her voice again.

There will be time for me to unleash my anger. And when I do, may the Goddess help Victor. There won’t be anything left of him.

I carefully lifted her up and pulled her to my chest. She was covered in blood, and I could feel it stick to my skin. I turned my head to kiss her cheek and held her tighter to me.

“Nick,” Gabriel’s angry voice startled me. “We have to go.”

I walked behind him back to the hall. It was quiet. The sounds of battle were gone.

I just hoped that our friends were okay.

Gabriel and I practically ran the whole way.

I never took my eyes away from her. I kept kissing every part of her I could. My lips were covered in blood, but I didn’t care. She was here, in my arms. I finally had her. I just needed her to wake up. I needed her to be okay.

The gasps that broke the silence made me realize that Gabriel and I had reached our friends.

I looked up and saw them staring at her. Jacob’s eyes held pain. Blake was filled with guilt. The others were in shock.

Patricia moved first. “We need to go.”

I nodded and started following her outside. The whole place was filled with bodies. The floor was red with their blood.

We passed the narrow cave walls and we walked out of the cave. Patricia didn’t stop. She kept walking until we reached our cars.

Gabriel unlocked the car, and I got into the backseat. Patricia sat next to me, and Gabriel started driving. I could hear Mike and Jacob’s cars following us.

“We will have to give her blood when we get home,” Patricia said and grabbed Aria’s arm.

I growled at her and barred my teeth.

“Easy, boy,” she said angrily. “I am just trying to help.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I need to calm down. She needed help, and I will have to deal with people touching her for a while.

I looked down at the face I adored. I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

“Wake up, love,” I whispered. “I am here. I will never let you go again.”

Gabriel kept glancing at her through the rearview mirror. I could see tears in his eyes.

It took us 30 minutes less to arrive home. Gabriel was driving like a madman, and I was thankful for it.

I saw Cassie and Annie standing outside the house, nervously glancing at our car.

I got out, holding Aria in my arms.

I heard gasps and screams coming from Annie and Cassie.

“Ari!” They yelled at the same time and ran toward me.

I growled instinctively.

“No time, girls,” Gabriel said and ran inside the house. “We need to get her inside.”

I ran after him. I could hear Patricia following me.

We ran into our room, and I placed her on the bed. I never let go of her hand. From now on, I will make sure that I was always touching a part of her. She was not going to be apart from me ever again.

Jacob ran into the room. “Goddess, Minnie!”

“Jacob, grab the medical bag from my car,” Patricia said as she lifted Aria’s shirt to check her other injuries.

Her belly was completely black and blue.

I growled loudly, and my vision blackened. I could hear Gabriel breathing heavily.

“Her ribs are broken,” Patricia mumbled.

I started shaking. I could feel Nate clawing his way out. I closed my eyes and focused on controlling him. I couldn’t let him out now. I needed to be next to her.

I could hear something breaking and I opened my eyes.

Gabriel was fuming. His nostrils were flared. His hands were clenched into tight fists. His jaw kept twitching. On the floor next to him was broken glass.

“I will kill him,” he said so coldly that a shiver went up my spine.

I had never seen him this angry. His eyes had blackened and, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought his wolf had surfaced.

“Gabe, man, you need to calm down,” I said, trying to sound calm. “We will rip him to pieces. But your sister needs you right now. If you continue like this, you will lose control of your magic and we will have a problem.”

His eyes snapped to Aria and his gaze softened immediately.

“Oh, love,” he sobbed as he kneeled next to her and took her other hand into his. “I love you. Please wake up.”

Jacob walked inside with Patricia’s bag. She grabbed it from him and walked over to us.

“I need you to give me some space,” she said. “I will check her wounds and prepare her for a blood transfusion.”

I wanted to ask her how she knew all this, but I decided it could wait.

“Nick, I need you to move,” she said.

“No,” I growled. “I am not letting go of her.”

“You have to,” she sighed. “I need room to work. Get off the bed and go stand next to Gabriel.”

I looked up and saw a very nervous Gabriel and Jacob leaning on a wall.

“I can’t let go,” I whispered.

“I know,” she said and placed her arm on my shoulder. “You need to. Just for a little while. For her own good.”

I looked down at the love of my life and nodded slowly. I let go of her hand and my heart clenched painfully.

I promised myself I would never let go of her again.

And I already broke that promise.