Gabriel’s POV
“What happens now?” Annie asked while we were eating.
I raised my head to look at her. “Now we go home.”
I took Aria’s hand in mine. We will finally be at peace. We will finally be able to live like a normal family.
“It seems surreal,” Aria mumbled, looking down at her plate.
“What does?” I asked her.
She put down her fork and looked up at me. “Everything. Are we sure that this is over? It sounds too good to be true. What about the prophecy? What about his threat?”
“He is dead, baby,” Nick spoke before I could. “He is gone forever and this whole story is over. Not all prophecies come true.”
She sighed and looked back down at her plate. “I guess.”
I placed my hand on her back and rubbed small circles soothingly. “Don’t worry, love. It is over.”
She looked up at me and gave me a small smile. She didn’t look convinced. I sighed internally. I would make sure she felt safe. I would make sure she believed that this was over.
Because it was.
It had to be.
Nick watched him burn until there was nothing left. He was gone. This whole problem is gone.
“What will happen to Victor’s followers?” Jake asked. “Should we do something about this whole inquisition thing?”
“I will handle that,” Patricia said.
“Are you sure?” I asked, looking at her.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I know where his headquarters are. The people who worked for him used to work for me too. They know me. They will listen to me.”
“What about humans?” Annie asked.
“Well, we know that there are rumors that the humans have started backing down,” I said, placing the fork down. “They heard that the supernaturals were behind it all, and a lot of them are refusing to be a part of the inquisition. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince them to stop.”
“Exactly,” Patricia nodded. “Once the commands stop coming, they will have nothing to go on. They were never the creators of all of this, after all.”
My friends nodded and continued eating in silence.
“Jack and I could help you, Patricia,” Mike said after a few minutes of silence. “You can stay here, and we can help shut all of this down. You don’t have to do this alone.”
I looked at Patricia, who had a big smile on her face. “Thank you, Mike. It would be easier if you two helped.”
I smiled and looked at Mike. He was looking at me knowingly. I gave him a small nod. I felt relieved that Patricia wouldn’t be doing this alone. Not because I was worried about her. I know she can handle herself. But a small part of me still thought that she wanted power. A small part of me was afraid she would pick up right where Victor left off. I know it was horrible of me to doubt her after everything that she had done, but I couldn’t help it.
Mike and I actually talked about this a few days ago. We agreed we should keep an eye on her after we finish this. I guess he saw an opportunity and he took it.
We finished dinner, and Jake, and I decided to clean up. Aria went to check on Zack before going to bed.
“Cassie and I talked,” Jake started talking as we were cleaning up. “We want to move to Moon City.”
I looked at him and smiled. “Really?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “We just got Aria back and we are not ready to say goodbye.”
I nodded. “What about Blake?”
Jake’s jaw clenched slightly. “He wants to move too.”
“Great,” I said with a small smile.
I didn’t want to pry, but I could tell there was something going on between Jake and Blake. I had no idea if it was related to Zack coming back, or not, but I won’t ask him. If he wanted to tell me, he could.
We continued cleaning in silence.
When we finished, I said goodnight to Jake and went upstairs. Before going to my room, I wanted to see Aria.
I knocked on their bedroom door and waited for them to let me in. Nick opened the door and gave me a small smile.
“Hey, man,” he said, stepping away so I could come inside. “Everything okay?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “I just wanted to see Aria.”
“She is in the bathroom,” Nick said, sitting down on the chair near the window. “She just got back from Zack’s room.”
“Is he okay?” I asked and sat down on the other chair.
Nick nodded. “He is sleeping. He got a fever, so Aria gave him an antibiotic and some potion she made. He should be fine by morning.”
I nodded. “Are you okay? You seem angry.”
“I’m not angry,” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe a bit annoyed.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, I want Aria and I to live together, but she said we should wait a while longer,” he sighed.
What the fuck?
No. No fucking way he was taking her away from me!
I just got her back. We finally have a chance to be a family. To live our lives without danger and other people trying to hurt and separate us.
No. I was not letting him take her away.
I clenched my fists and stared at him sternly. “She is not living with you.”
His eyes snapped to me. “Why?”
“I just got her back,” I said through my teeth. “I haven’t had a chance to live with her without somebody trying to take her away from me. We haven’t had a chance to fight over stupid sibling stuff. I want that. I want us to live together like we were supposed to our whole lives.”
He narrowed his eyes at me and clenched his jaw. “But she is my mate.”
“She is,” I nodded stiffly. “And you can always come over. You can sleep there on the weekends. But you are not taking her away from me. Not yet.”
Nick was fuming. His eyes were flickering from brown to black. I wasn’t afraid of him. I was not changing my mind, no matter what he said or did.
“Gabriel is right, Nick,” Aria’s voice interrupted our stare-down. “I want those things he described. You and I have our whole lives ahead of us. I want to spend some time with my brother.”
Aria’s POV
Nick’s eyes snapped to me. He was angry. I sighed internally. He would have to find a way to deal with it. It’s not like I was leaving him and moving halfway across the world. He lived right next door. He will be at our house all the time, anyway.
“Aria…” he started saying sternly, but I interrupted him.
“Nick, please,” I said, walking toward them. “I love you. You are my mate, and I want us to live together. Just not right now. I just found my brother. I want to spend some time with him and get to know him. Since we met, all we’ve done is prepare for the fight and deal with some difficult situations. I want to live with him without all of that.”
Nick grabbed my arm and pulled me to sit on his lap. He buried his nose in my neck and took a deep breath.
I looked at Gabriel, who was looking at Nick with a pissed off expression on his face. I rolled my eyes at him.
“You are going to be in our house all the time, anyway,” Gabriel sighed after a few minutes of silence.
I chuckled. “Gabe is right. You live right next door.”
Nick whined, and his grip on me tightened. I chuckled, and Gabriel rolled his eyes.
“Come on, Nick,” I said as I ran my fingers through his hair.
He raised his head and looked at me. “Fine. But I get to be there as much as I want.”
“Within reason,” Gabriel said.
Nick narrowed his eyes at him. “Do you want me to take her away? Because I will. She is mine.”
Gabriel’s fist clenched. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” Nick growled.
“Okay, enough,” I said, raising my hands. “Gabriel, don’t push it. It is hard enough for him as it is. He agreed, even though he didn’t have to. I am his mate. He marked me, and it is only natural that we would want to be together all the time.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Nick, who had a huge grin on his face.
“Wipe that smug smile off of your face, Nick,” I sighed. “You can be there as much as you want, but you still have to let us have family time. Just Gabriel and me. Understand?”
Nick’s smile disappeared, and it was replaced by a frown.
“Stop frowning, both of you,” I said as I got off of Nick’s lap. “I am done fighting. We do it like this, or I will find a way to punish both of you.”
I smirked internally. I know just the thing that would tick them both off. I would never do it, of course. But they don’t know that.
“Like what?” Nick asked me, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Well, I want to go to college,” I shrugged. “I could go to Moon City University, or I could choose another town and move there alone. I could visit on weekends and holidays.”
Both Nick and Gabriel jumped up. “No!”
I smiled. “I thought so.”
Nick growled at me. “We stop fighting and you stop talking about leaving without me.”
“Deal,” I grinned and extended my arm for him to shake.
He grabbed it and we sealed the deal. I did the same with Gabriel.
“You are sneaky,” Gabriel said, narrowing his eyes at me.
“I love you too, Gabe,” I chuckled. “Now, go to your room and let me sleep. I have to get up early to check on Zack.”
Gabriel sighed. “Fine. Good night.”
He kissed my forehead and left the room.
As soon as the door closed, Nick came to stand behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He kissed my mark and I moaned, leaning on him.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you did,” he said, kissing up and down my neck. “Threatening to leave me to get your way.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I managed to say, my voice raspy from lust.
“Liar,” he chuckled. “That was mean.”
I smiled and turned around in his arms. I kissed his chest and looked up at him. He had a smirk plastered on his beautiful face.
“Well, when a girl is dealing with two stubborn alpha males, a girl has to do what a girl has to do,” I said with a smile.
“Hey, he’s not an alpha,” he said, frowning playfully. “I am alpha.”
I laughed. “You sure are, my big, strong wolf.”
He smirked and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him. He groaned and placed me down on the bed. He positioned himself between my legs and wrapped his arms around me. I broke the kiss and cupped his cheeks.
“I love you, Nick,” I said quietly.
“I love you too, baby,” he smiled and kissed the tip of my nose.
I smiled and pecked his lips.
“Are you tired?” he asked me, moving so he could lie down next to me.
“Exhausted,” I sighed.
I really was. Between the battle and helping Zack, I reached my limit for today.
“Sleep, baby,” Nick said.
He kissed my forehead and got off the bed. He turned the lights off and came back. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest.
“Do you know that Jake and Cassie will be moving to Moon City?” I said with a sleepy voice.
I felt him tense underneath me. “Really? Why?”
“They want to be closer to me,” I explained.
I was so excited when Cassie told me. She wants to go to university as well. I was really glad that they decided to move. I was not ready to say goodbye to them.
“That is really great, baby,” Nick said as he kissed the top of my head.
“It is,” I mumbled with a small smile on my face.
“Sleep, love,” Nick said and started running his fingers through my hair.
I got comfortable and closed my eyes.
