Gabriel’s POV
I turned around to look at Patricia. She was leaning on the door frame and smiling at Aria.
“I am glad to see you awake,” Patricia said as she started walking toward us.
She sat down opposite Aria and smiled at her warmly.
“Who are you?” Aria asked quietly.
“Patricia Jones,” Patricia said.
Aria gasped and looked at Nick.
I reached over the couch and placed my hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me with a confused expression on her face.
“Don’t worry, love, she won’t hurt you,” I said, smiling at her.
Aria looked back down at Patricia. “Why are you here?”
“To help,” Patricia said. “I want to defeat Victor.”
“She was the one who stitched up your wounds,” Nick said to Aria.
Aria gasped again. “Really?”
“Yes,” Patricia smiled. “I was a healer in my village.”
“Thank you, Patricia,” Aria said quietly.
“No need to thank me, beautiful,” Patricia responded. “Just be careful not to open the wounds. I will check them and clean them up until they heal.”
Aria nodded and remained silent. I know she had a lot of questions, but she was probably too shy to voice them. I opened my mouth to start explaining to her, but Patricia interrupted me.
“I know you are confused, and you have a lot of questions,” she started. “But before I start explaining, I have another important question for you.”
“Okay,” Aria said quietly and nodded.
“Did Victor ever…” she paused and took a deep breath. “Touch you?”
For a second, the room was completely silent.
Then a loud growl pierced the silence. I looked at Nick and he was shaking. He was going to shift. I was about to grab him when Aria placed her hand on his thigh.
“No,” she said calmly. “He didn’t touch me.”
I let out a breath I had been holding.
If that fucker had touched her like that, I didn’t know what I would have done. There were no words to describe it.
I leaned over and kissed the top of her head. Nick was still shaking, and Jacob was clenching his jaw.
“I am sorry, but I had to ask,” Patricia said with a small smile.
“It’s okay,” Aria smiled.
I reached out to her again, but Nick beat me to it. He pulled her on his lap and buried his nose in her hair. I frowned at him. I know she was his mate, but I wanted to be with her as well. I am her brother, and she needed me too.
I sighed unhappily and walked around the couch. I sat down next to them. I took Aria’s hand in mine, and she gave me a small smile.
“You are probably wondering why I am here,” Patricia said.
Aria turned back to look at her and nodded.
“Well, Victor is a horrible man,” Patricia sighed.
“He is,” Aria said quietly.
My heart clenched. I didn’t know exactly what he did to her, but I could guess. I squeezed her hand and she pulled me closer to her. I kissed her temple and looked at Patricia.
“Do you want to talk about what he did?” Patricia asked Aria.
Aria shook her head. “I am not ready for that.”
“That’s okay, baby,” I said and kissed her temple again.
Nick was fuming and squeezing Aria too tightly.
“Nick,” I warned him and grabbed his arm. “You are hurting her.”
His eyes snapped down to his arms, and he immediately let go of her.
“I am so sorry, love,” he said, guilt written all over his face.
“It’s okay, Nick,” she smiled at him. “I am fine.”
He wrapped his arms around her again. He was gentle this time. He placed his head on her shoulder and she turned back to look at Patricia.
“I am sorry,” Aria said. “Continue, please.”
Patricia smiled. “It’s okay. As I was saying, Victor is a horrible man. He hurt me, and I decided to run away and fake my own death. I waited all these years for a chance to defeat him, and now I finally have one.”
“Aren’t you his mate?” Aria asked, her eyebrows furrowing. “Wouldn’t he be able to feel if you really died?”
“I was his mate,” Patricia nodded. “I broke the bond.”
Aria gasped, and her eyes widened. She leaned back into Nick’s chest. It was an instinct. Nick kissed her cheek and nuzzled his nose into her neck.
“How?” Aria asked quietly.
“An ancient spell,” Patricia said. “A dark witch helped me.”
Aria remained quiet. She kept staring at Patricia in disbelief.
“I know what you are thinking,” Patricia sighed. “And you are right. It was horrible. It was the most painful thing I had ever done. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I couldn’t stay bonded to him. Not after what he did.”
“What did he do?” Aria asked quietly.
She was fidgeting with her fingers, and I could see how nervous she was.
Patricia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I felt sorry for her. She had to talk about the worst thing that ever happened to her. She had already done that twice in the past few days. This couldn’t be easy for her.
Patricia remained silent, and Aria looked over at me, and I saw guilt on her face. She quickly averted her gaze back to Patricia.
“It’s okay, Patricia,” Aria said. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“It’s okay, Aria,” Patricia said as she opened her eyes. “I will tell you. It is hard for me, so it might take me a minute.”
Aria nodded. “That’s okay. Take all the time you need.”
Patricia smiled weakly. She looked down at her hands and took another deep breath.
“Victor never wanted children,” she began explaining. “When he found out I was pregnant, he wanted me to abort my child. When I refused to do that, he took my child forcefully. Cora helped him. They killed my child. They killed my daughter, and they will pay for what they did.”
Aria’s POV
I remained frozen.
Victor killed her baby? He killed his own child?
Goddess.
I knew he was a monster, but I wasn’t expecting this.
What should I say?
I was staring at Patricia, thinking about something I could do or say. I knew that nothing would make her feel better, but I had this need to comfort her. She helped me. She saved me. What could I do for her?
“I am so sorry,” I mumbled quietly after a few moments of silence.
Patricia nodded and looked up at me. “Thank you, Aria.”
I leaned back into a comforting embrace of my mate. I squeezed my brother’s hand tighter. I needed them. I will always need them.
Nick kissed my cheek, and Gabriel came even closer to me. If he moved a little bit more, he would be sitting on Nick’s lap together with me.
Patricia looked down at her hands again and silence enveloped us. I had no idea what to do or say.
“Are you okay, Patricia?” Jake asked her quietly.
“I am fine,” she said as she looked up at him. “It is hard for me to talk about that.”
“I understand,” I said. “Thank you for telling me, Patricia.”
She gave me a weak smile and leaned back on the couch.
“Did anything else happen while I was away?” I asked them after a few more moments of silence.
“There was a little bit of fighting going around,” Mike mumbled and smirked.
I looked at him wide-eyed. “Fighting?”
“Ask around,” Mike smiled.
I looked at Gabriel, Nick, and Jacob, who were glaring at Mike.
“What did you do?” I sighed.
Nick scoffed and buried his nose in my hair. Gabriel turned to look at me guiltily.
“We were on the edge,” he mumbled.
I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue.
“Jack and I got into a fight, Nick shifted and almost bit Mike’s head off and Jacob…” he stopped talking and looked over at Jake.
I was shocked. Why the hell were they fighting? And what did Jake do?
I followed Gabriel’s gaze and looked at Jake, who was staring at his hands.
“What did you do?” I asked quietly.
“I broke Blake’s nose,” he mumbled so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him.
I wish I hadn’t.
I gasped loudly and looked at Blake. He was looking away from me.
“Why would you do that, Jake?” I asked, shocked.
Jake sighed and ran his hand through his hair. At first, I thought he wasn’t going to answer me, but then he looked up at me. He had a guilty look on his face.
“I was pissed at him for letting you go to Victor,” he said.
“And if he didn’t do it, I would have done it,” Gabriel added and glared at Blake.
I slapped his arm. “Stop looking at him like that.”
Gabriel turned to look at me and rolled his eyes.
I frowned. “It wasn’t Blake’s fault. I decided to do that. Stop blaming him.”
Jake scoffed and turned away from me.
“I am serious, Jake,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. “It wasn’t Blake’s fault. Even if he did tell you, I would have found a way to go to him. I won’t let anything happen to you because of me.”
Nick’s arms tightened around me. “Nothing will happen to us, love. And you will never do something like that again.”
I looked at him over my shoulder and sighed.
“You promised, Aria,” Gabriel said sternly. “You won’t be putting yourself in danger again.”
I looked at him and furrowed my eyebrows. “I won’t. And all of you will stop blaming Blake.”
The guys huffed, and I narrowed my eyes at them.
“I am serious,” I said sternly. “Stop blaming him and apologize.”
Jake and Gabriel looked at me wide-eyed. I could feel Nick’s gaze on my face as well.
“Apologize?” Jake asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Aria, it’s okay,” Blake said quietly. “They don’t have to apologize. I deserved it.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said, looking at him. “They need to apologize.”
I looked back at Jake and Gabriel. I gently elbowed Nick. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“Fine,” Nick mumbled. “I am sorry, Blake.”
Gabriel and Jake turned to him and muttered an apology. I wasn’t happy with the way they did it, but I knew this was all I was going to get from them right now. I know they blame Blake, but I will change that. It wasn’t his fault.
“I told you she would be pissed at you,” I heard Annie’s voice behind us.
She was leaning on the doorframe and looking at us with a smirk on her face.
“Shut up, Ann,” Gabriel said and rolled his eyes.
I slapped his arm and Annie chuckled.
“I told them you’d beat their asses when you return,” she said as she walked over to us.
“I guess Annie knows me the best,” I chuckled.
“I do,” she grinned at me. “Come on, now. Breakfast is ready.”
I smiled at her and tried to get up, but Nick pulled me back to his chest.
“I will carry you,” he said as he started getting up.
“I can walk,” I protested.
“She is right, Nick,” Patricia added. “She can walk, and it would be good for her.”
Nick mumbled something to his chin and growled. I didn’t understand him, so I gave him a questioning look.
“Fine,” he sighed and placed me on my feet gently. “But I will be right next to you, and I will pick you up if you need me to or if I think you are hurting yourself.”
I smiled warmly at him. “It’s just a short walk to the kitchen. I will be fine.”
Nick ignored me completely and grabbed my arm. We began walking toward the kitchen, and he never looked away from me. I rolled my eyes, but I was glad. Nobody ever cared this much about me, and it made me feel safe and wanted.
Walking wasn’t hard, but my body hurt, so I had to walk slowly. It took us a few minutes to get to the kitchen. When we entered, everybody smiled warmly at me, and Gabriel patted the seat next to him. I sat down and started eating my breakfast.
I looked around the table, and a warm feeling spread through my body. I love these people. I missed them so much.
