Gabriel’s POV
I was laying down next to Aria and playing with her hair.
She and Nick were still asleep.
This was the best sleep I’ve had in days.
I was so happy she was back. I will never leave her again. I will never let anybody take her away from me again.
I looked at Nick and saw that he was waking up.
“Morning,” I whispered and he looked at me.
“Good morning,” he mumbled and turned toward Aria.
He took her hand into his and buried his nose in her neck.
“I can’t believe she is back,” he said quietly.
“Me neither,” I nodded. “When I woke up, I thought I had dreamt about her being here. I can’t tell you how happy I was when I looked to my left and saw her here.”
“I can imagine,” Nick smiled.
I turned to look at the ceiling. There was a question on my mind that I was terrified to say out loud.
“Do you think he will come back for her?” I managed to ask.
Nick took a deep breath but stayed silent.
He will.
He will come back for her.
“He wants her,” Nick mumbled after a while. “He will want her back.”
I sighed and turned my head to look at my sister. “He will never touch her again.”
Nick nodded and kissed her cheek gently. She stirred in her sleep and turned her head toward me. I frowned at him.
“Don’t wake her up,” I said quietly.
He raised his hands in surrender and laid back down.
I looked at my sister and smiled softly. Goddess, how I missed her. I wanted to caress her cheek, but I just told Nick not to wake her up.
Nick stirred and sighed quietly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him and raised my head so I could see him over Aria.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” he sighed.
I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “Well, go.”
“I am scared to leave her,” he said, looking up at the ceiling.
I sighed. I knew exactly how he felt. This fear that she would just disappear was overwhelming. It took everything I had to go shower and change clothes yesterday. I wanted to run back to her every second I was away.
“Just go, Nick,” I said quietly. “I will be with her. Nothing will happen.”
Nick turned to look at me and I could see fear in his eyes.
“Nick, it will be okay,” I said calmly.
He nodded stiffly and got up. He walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He kept turning around and checking on Aria. I could see how much he hesitated to leave her, even if it was just for a couple of minutes. I gave him a reassuring nod.
I turned back to look at Aria, and she began stirring. She could feel the absence of her mate. I caressed her cheek gently and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Hey, love,” I said quietly and smiled at her.
She smiled back and leaned into my touch. My heart melted. Goddess, how much I loved her.
She blinked a couple of times and looked at me. “Hey, Gabe.”
“How are you?” I asked her.
“Fine,” she smiled. “I am so happy that this really isn’t a dream.”
“It’s not,” I said. “You really are here, and you won’t be leaving us anytime soon.”
“I was so afraid yesterday,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to go back to sleep.”
“I know, love,” I cupped her cheek. “You are really here.”
She smiled and turned around slowly. I narrowed my eyes on her and wanted to warn her to be careful, but she wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed herself closer to me.
I immediately returned the hug and pressed her close.
“I missed you so much,” she said.
“I missed you too, love,” I said and placed a kiss on top of her head.
“I love you, Gabriel,” she said, and my heart started to beat faster.
I felt a warm feeling spreading through my body and my insides melted.
“I love you too,” I said and held her tighter.
We stayed like that for a while, and then she slowly let me go.
“Can you help me sit up, please?” she asked me with a small smile.
“Of course,” I smiled back and sat up.
I carefully placed my arms around her waist and pulled her up so she could sit and lean on the headboard.
“Where is Nick?” she asked and looked around the room.
“Bathroom,” I answered as I fixed the blanket around her.
She nodded, and I heard the bathroom door open. Nick came out, drying his hair with a towel. He looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw Aria was awake.
“Goddess, baby, I am so sorry!” he said loudly, and threw the towel into the bathroom.
He ran toward her and cupped her cheeks. She looked at him confused.
“Why are you sorry?” she asked him.
“I promised you that you would never wake up without me again and I already broke that promise,” he said, panicking.
She gave him a small smile and placed her hands over his. “Nick, it is okay. You were in the bathroom.”
“I should have been here,” he said quietly.
She leaned in and kissed him. “It’s okay.”
He sighed and leaned his forehead on hers. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too,” she smiled and leaned back on the headboard.
“Are you okay?” he asked her worriedly. “Are you in pain?”
“No,” she smiled. “I would like to go downstairs and see the others.”
“No,” I said sternly. “You need to rest.”
“Please, Gabe,” she looked at me and pouted. “I promise I will not get off the couch. I want to see the others. I miss them.”
I looked at Nick and he was eyeing her with concern.
“I will carry you downstairs and you will not move,” I said sternly, looking back at her.
A huge smile spread across her face. “I promise.”
I sighed and got off the bed and wanted to pick her up, but Nick beat me to it.
“I will do it,” he said, not leaving room for an argument.
I nodded and followed behind him.
Aria’s POV
Nick carried me downstairs. He was gentle and he kept asking me if I was in pain.
“I am fine, Nick,” I smiled at him. “Don’t worry.”
“I will always worry, baby,” he mumbled into my hair and kissed the top of my head.
As we entered the living room, I saw my friends sitting and talking quietly. As soon as they heard us come in, they turned around. Their eyes widened, and they jumped up.
“Aria!”
“Minnie!”
“Ari!”
I heard them yelling at the same time. A huge smile spread across my face and Nick walked me over to them. He placed me down on the couch carefully and turned to look at our friends.
“Be careful,” he said in a warning tone. “Don’t hurt her.”
They nodded and turned back to look at me. Cassie came to me first. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“Ari,” she sobbed as she hugged me. “I missed you so much. I am so glad you are okay.”
“I missed you too, Cass,” I said. “I am fine, don’t worry.”
She let me go and smiled at me.
“Okay, let her go, I want to hug her as well,” Annie said and pushed Cassie away.
She wrapped me in a tight hug. “Don’t ever do something stupid like that again.”
I laughed. That was such an Annie thing to say. She let me go, and Mike came to me next. He hugged me carefully.
“I am so glad you are okay, kid,” he said.
“Hey, I am not a kid,” I mumbled.
He smiled brightly and ruffled my hair. “You are to me.”
I rolled my eyes playfully and looked at Jack. He smiled and hugged me tightly. I heard Nick growling, and I rolled my eyes.
“I am so happy to see you, Aria,” Jack said as he let me go.
“I am happy to see you too, Jack,” I said and smiled at him.
I looked over at Jake and tears started forming in my eyes. He looked tortured. There were huge black circles around his eyes. He was sitting across from me, and his posture was slumped. He looked like he had given up. He was looking at me with so much pain that I wanted to hug him and never let go.
“Jake…” I sobbed.
He stood up immediately and walked over to me. He pulled me into a hug and wrapped his arms around me tightly.
Nick placed a hand on my lower back. I could sense jealousy coming off of him through the mate bond.
I focused on Jake, and I held him as tightly as I could. “I missed you, Jake.”
“I missed you too, Minnie,” he mumbled into my neck. “Don’t leave me ever again.”
“I won’t, Jake, I promise,” I said quietly.
“You did such a stupid thing,” he said, not letting go of me. “I could have lost you forever.”
Nick tensed up and growled, but Jake ignored him.
“I don’t know how I would live without you, Aria,” he continued. “Don’t ever leave me again. Don’t ever put yourself in danger again.”
Tears were falling down my cheeks and the only thing I could do was nod. He let go of me and Nick immediately pulled me to his chest. I could feel his heart beating fast. I looked at him over my shoulder and he was sending daggers at Jake.
I placed my hand on his thigh and I could feel him relax slightly.
Jake ignored him completely and gave me a small smile. “Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
“I am fine, Jake,” I smiled back at him.
He nodded and took my hand in his. I looked over at Blake, who was staring down at his hands. The atmosphere in the room suddenly got tense.
“Blake,” I called him and he looked up at me.
He looked so guilty. My heart was breaking. This wasn’t his fault. I hoped they weren’t blaming him for this.
I reached out to him, and he hesitatingly stood up and walked over to me. He kneeled in front of me and gave me his hand.
“I am so sorry, Aria,” he said, his voice trembling.
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Blake,” I said. “It was my decision. You tried to stop me. You tried talking to me. I didn’t listen to you. I decided. You are not to blame here, Blake.”
He lowered his head and a sob escaped him. “I should have stopped you. I should have called Nick or Gabriel or Jake.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I would have never let him hurt Cassie. I would have gone to him no matter what. You couldn’t have stopped me. Nobody could have.”
He looked up at me and wrapped his arms around me. “I am so glad you are okay, Minnie. I will never let him hurt you again, I promise.”
I let go of him and smiled. “Thank you, Blake.”
He smiled at me and went back to his seat. Cassie sat on his lap and wrapped her hands around his neck. He held her tightly and smiled at me again.
I looked around the room and my heart swelled. I missed my friends so much.
Gabriel came to stand behind me. “Are you hungry?”
“A little,” I looked up at him and smiled.
“I will make you something,” Annie said with a huge smile. “How do pancakes sound?”
“Heavenly,” I smiled brightly.
“Coming right up,” Annie said and ran toward the kitchen.
“I will help her,” Cassie said and stood up.
She walked over to me and kissed my cheek before following Annie to the kitchen.
I relaxed into Nick’s hold and leaned back on his chest.
“Are you tired, baby?” Nick asked me.
“No,” I shook my head and smiled. “I am waiting for the pancakes.”
Nick smiled at me and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Well, hello there, little witch,” I heard someone say.
I tensed up and looked to the living room door, where the voice came from. A woman in her sixties was standing there, looking at me with a smile on her face.
Who the hell was that?
