Chapter 2 - Going back home!

Gabriella

“Dammit! Has anyone seen my keys?” Melody rushed through the house turning every cushion upside down in the process. Venus was snuggled up to her cup of coffee while Gabriella yawned as she walked out of her room and they both frowned at Melody. “My apartment keys, girls. I’m going to be late!” She squealed as Gabriella walked over to the key holder near the front door and held out Melody’s keys for her. “You are a lifesaver!” Melody squealed. “Your coffee is in the kitchen and I’ve left lunch for the both of you in the fridge. BYE! Wish me luck!” She shouted as she ran out the door as Gabriella walked to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.

“How’s Bradley?” She grinned and Venus rolled her eyes. Her besties seemed to think something was going on between the two of them, but there was nothing. Bradley would have been the perfect guy if Venus had any feelings for him. He was sweet, kind, and overly generous and loved to show off his assistant at every possible function he had. Like Gabriella, he was born with money and when his parents passed away, he inherited their entire fortune. Unlike Gabriella, he was a human first off, and secondly, he suffered from a horrible disease that was slowly but surely killing him.

That was one of the main reasons he loved having Venus around. He told her once or twice that he didn’t want to leave a girlfriend behind crying when he died, but he wouldn’t mind having Venus as his girl. His special girlfriend, as he called her made sure to make that distinction. Now that they were living in the city and Venus had finally finished her degree, he was even more excited to have her around so she could accompany him to even more of his ridiculous charity functions.

“How are things at home?” Venus hit back and Gabriella rolled her eyes. Things at home were becoming troublesome for Gabriella since she was the rightful Alpha of their pack, but she wasn’t ready to move home and live that kind of life yet. She still wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a world-renowned journalist or author. She hadn’t entirely made up her mind about which one just yet, and since she had money, she always thought she had time, but her uncle was slowly starting to put pressure on her to return home.

“What would you two do if I leave, huh?” Gabriella scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue at Venus. “Where would you live? No, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left the two of you up to your own devices.” She huffed and walked to her room.

“I have a job, you know?” Venus yelled after her. “And by tonight Melody will have one too!” She added and listened as her friend laughed on her way to the shower. Venus was right, by that evening Melody arrived home with the amazing news that she passed her interview with flying colours and she was offered the job she wanted on the spot which had Gabriella rolling her eyes at Venus double time when her friend stuck her tongue out.

Over the next couple of weeks, they settled into their new routines in their new apartment and life seemed to be going smoothly. That was until Gabriella’s uncle showed up on their doorstep unexpectedly.

“So? What’s up?” Gabriella made herself comfortable on her chair as she stared at her uncle who seemed to be more nervous than normal. He knew that her friends were supernatural but he didn’t know what they were and the girls preferred to keep things that way.

“Gaby, the council has voted. You need to come back home.” He frowned and she began to shake her head. “I’m afraid you have no other choice. You are the Alpha and the pack needs you.” He shrugged and sat back looking happy with himself. Gabriella remembered the day she left. Her mother was so happy that she had gotten into the human school she so wanted to go to. Her parents promised her that she could lead the life she wanted until it was time for her to take over, but then they died in a mysterious accident. She convinced the council back then that it would be best for her to finish school and then return home and has since been able to play for time, but it seemed as though her time was up.

Living in the middle of the forest in the house where her parents lived was not the life she wanted. How did she tell her people they weren’t important enough for her to go back to? It seemed as though the time had really come. She would have to leave her two friends behind and go back home. She agreed with her uncle that she would go home for a week and feel things out. She was on a flight back home in the late evening, leaving her two friends behind and feeling as if suddenly her life wasn’t going to be the same ever again.

When Gabriella arrived home, she was greeted by the pack who all seemed to be overwhelmingly happy to see her and she wondered if it was just because they were happy, or if something else was going on. The moment his eyes made contact with hers she felt her body shudder and her lips formed the word “Mate” at the same time he did.

Lucienne was the leader of their warriors. He was also the one guy she had the biggest crush on when she was small, but she thought that she’d outgrown it when she lived in the city. Her eyes fell to his lips as he said the word and everyone around them went silent half expecting them to rush into each other’s arms and that would be that. Gabriella would make peace with living in the territory, wouldn’t she? But that wasn’t that. Her brow furrowed and she growled softly telling her uncle to send everyone home. She was tired after her trip and would speak to the pack in the morning. As if finding out her mate was here wasn’t enough, she had a total blast to the past the moment she walked into her childhood home.

The last time she had been inside was the day after her parents’ funeral. Everything was still exactly where she remembered it to be, but everything was clean which meant the omegas had either been working really hard to get it clean recently or her uncle kept his word and had someone come in to clean once a week in the hopes that she would come home sooner. Her mind drifted to his full red lips as she walked through her mother’s office and her fingers slid over the rows of books on the shelves. Her father’s old office was just next door and it was decorated similarly to her mother's. She walked into the kitchen and found a snack and milk waiting and she knew Mrs. Black had left it for her.

“Wow!” She breathed in and closed her eyes for a moment. “What a damn homecoming!”

“You can say that again.” Lucienne’s voice echoed throughout her kitchen and it made her jump.

“What the hell are you doing in here?!” She growled and got angrier when he smiled at her.

“Well, since that is clear, I won’t be answering that question.” He took two steps closer and she stepped back. Her back was pushed up against the fridge.

“Get out, Lucienne!” She tried her Alpha tone, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on the man! Where the hell were her guards when she needed them?! Oh, yeah! She sent them home! Dammit!

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite you. Not yet, at least.” He smiled and took a seat behind the counter. “How about some coffee and we can talk.” He winked still looking amused, but Gabriella was just about ready to murder him.

“I don’t know how the machine works and I haven’t bought groceries yet.” She thought that would get him out of her house, but he stood up, pulled a packet of coffee out from the cupboard just off to her left, and moved past her to switch on the machine. How the hell did he know where her coffee was?! Okay, so she liked things to be in their place. No matter where she went. Everything always had to be in the same place. She rolled her eyes at her own OCD tendencies and quickly moved to the other side of the counter. At least, the counter could keep him away from her as she studied him while he made their coffee. She hated that the mate bond was physically pulling her to him.

Lucienne’s arrogance was the last thing she wanted in a mate. He always seemed to think every girl in the world would just fall at his feet and adore him … No, he probably thought the women worshipped him!

“You are very quiet over there. Cat got your tongue?” He smiled and Gabriella felt her knees go weak and she huffed at her own body for being so pathetic.

“No, I was just wondering when you learned how to be such a good omega. I should consider perhaps demoting you and sending you to work in the kitchen. By the way, I don’t drink coffee at this time of night, it keeps me up. I was actually on my way upstairs …” She got up just to find herself walking into his brick wall form!

“Woops.” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. “Okay, if we aren’t going to have coffee at least let me carry your suitcases upstairs for you.” He winked and looked around.

“The omegas took them up already. Probably unpacked as well.” Gabriella frowned. She really just wanted to take a hot bath and crawl into bed, next to his beautiful Greek god-like body … She bit her tongue to stop her current train of thought and when she looked into his eyes, she knew that he was probably thinking the same thing. Taking a step back, she glared at him.

“This is not going to work for me.” She sighed but before she could say anything else, he pulled her into his arms and his lips crushed down on hers. Her body went rigid for a moment and then she found herself melting against his body. Her hands softly touched the sides of his arms and she immediately felt his muscles twitch underneath her touch. She had the same effect on him that he had on her and it gave her some peace of mind to realize that. Which brought her back to reality and she pushed away from him slapping him clear across his face.

“DON’T you ever do that again!” She growled feeling her wolf push to the surface before she stormed off upstairs. Lucienne stood there stunned for a moment then shook his head. He knew the moment they both realized they were mates that this wasn’t going to be an easy ride, but he also knew that come hell or high water, they were meant to be together and no matter what he had to do, he was going to make sure they ended up together.