We were twenty minutes away from entering Blood Walker's Territory and to say I was a nervous wreck was an understatement.I was apprehensive, my nerves and anxiety raised at the thought of Gabriel meeting my family. They didn't exactly have an outstanding opinion of him or a favourable view on his character.I had phoned them ten minutes ago, informing Reed that we would be within the border soon. He had sent wolves to help guide the car through to Julian and Grace's house even though I knew the route, he was taking extra precaution.Reed had invoked our alliance with Blood Moon days after my rejection, Dylan was insistent. I knew that both Dylan and Reed were going to be the toughest to calm down, to reason with.I hadn't forgiven Gabriel in the slightest, but I wanted to be open minded to the idea. To move on, holding onto hurt and anger wasn't going to change anything. It wasn't healthy for me or Kennedy."You realise how awkward this is going to be? You're not exactly my families
Days had passed since I arrived back on Nightshade Valley territory and the news of Eli and Taylor being mates.I was elated for them both, and even more happy that she would be coming to California with us. Taylor had always been open and assertive when it came to the idea of having a mate. She had always expressed her excitement in finding him or her, the instant connection and unconditional love.It wasn't as common to find your mate in your early twenties; you would usually find them within the first three years of your shift. The Moon Goddess always planned the meeting of mates, who she picked for you was deliberate and usually not far from you and if they were, she would make sure you crossed paths.Eli and Taylor had been spending all their time together, they had their own private time when Jace would accompany me to library to finish my studies.I found out that Jace was only eighteen years old but had already been chosen to be high ranked warrior.I was impressed with his sk
Gabriel had driven us back to Black Moon territory, I had shortly expressed that I needed to speak to him about something private, he looked curiously at me but nodded.It was also his twin sister's birthday party this weekend and Kennedy, and I had been invited.By the time we arrived at the pack house, Kennedy was fast asleep. I was slightly thankful for that as I was tired myself, wanting to have a restful day. I was looking forward to relaxing on the couch.After we said our goodbyes to Taylor, Eli and Jace we walked up the stairs towards Gabriel's floor. Kennedy clinging to Gabriel's neck as she closed her eyes, still sleepy.I waited in the living room, turning the television on for a moment while Gabriel carried Kennedy to the bedroom.I scanned through the channels before settling on one. Gabriel walked in, taking a seat near me. He smiled and I smiled back, he had purposely allowed his leg to touch mine wanting contact. "Kennedy missed you, and so did I."I smiled at his admi
"Jace and Eli should have notified me on what happened with Nate in Texas. That wasn't information that they should have left out. When I request updates, I expect to get them." Gabriel growled; his tone clipped.I shook my head at him. "It's not their fault, it's mine. I told Jace that I didn't want to tell you until we were back, he wanted to inform you, but I stopped him."His eyes narrowed, this wolf flickering between his eyes. Despite my reasoning his wolf didn't appreciate that his pack members wouldn't disclose something as important as my ex rummaging through my belongings.I clenched my jaw, my teeth biting down hard as I copied his stare. "Don't blame them Gabriel, it was me."I also didn't want Gabriel to bring it up to them as Eli didn't know, he had been slaking on his duties while we were away to be with his mate.I didn't mind covering for him, but I couldn't deny it if Gabriel questioned it. He would know immediately that I was lying.Wanting to defer the conversation
"You look nervous." Gabriel stated, his words speaking truth. His eyes examined mine as I continued to fiddle with my fingers, obviously biding time as I took time brushing my hair out and applying make-up.Apprehension and fear ruled me, I was afraid that his parents would feel resentful and bitter towards me for keeping their grandchild a secret.I had been tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep from overthinking the situation, how the evening could possibly go, considering both good and bad.Not only that, but at the thought of our kiss last night.His parents had already met Kennedy, they had been around her a lot while I was in Texas. But they were yet to meet me and I didn't want our first meeting to be full of hated and awkwardness.Kennedy was always happy when she spoke about them, they seemed like good grandparents.The type to spoil their grandchildren in every way they possibility could."I kept Kennedy from you and your family, I could have told them, but I didn't
Four days had passed since the twins birthday celebrations and thankfully, I hadn't seen nor heard from Olivia. Gabriel had commanded her to stay away from Kennedy and I, that she was to keep her distance if she wanted to remain part of the pack.I couldn't help but feel unhappy with the situation but at the same time I could understand why Gabriel didn't want to exile Olivia from the pack. It wasn't in our nature to abandon our pack members so easily especially when you're an Alpha. He felt a responsibility to her and made it clear, it was her last chance.I almost felt sorry for her, she had concluded in her own mind that Gabriel wanted her, that he viewed her as his mate, his chosen one.Their relationship had been a sexual one but nothing more, she had obviously caught more feelings than he had.But continuously causing a drama between Gabriel and I was unacceptable, she needed to be put into her place. The audacity of inviting herself to Gabriel's sisters birthday party while lyi
Eli, Taylor, Gabriel and I had been painting Kennedy's bedroom all day, the room was practically finished when I decided to make everyone lunch. We had taken two days to finish it, the rest of the house was already decorated.Kennedy had also taken part in helping decorate, she had been messing around with Gabriel for hours until he decided to pour pink paint over our heads which took hours to remove, his action caused Kennedy to giggle, while I screamed and chased after him.Eli didn't help the situation when he dipped his hands into a paint pot, purposely grabbing Taylor on the ass, pink handprints ruining her jeans.We found ourselves in the paint shop, having to spend more money on paint since it had been wasted on us rather than the bedroom walls.We had even moved in all our belongings over the past two weeks, the first week I was going through heat. The process after mating, where your body goes into overdrive, only the touch of your mate able to cool you down. Heat was there t
Gabriel's POV:I was scanning over paperwork that a pack member had asked me to review, he had proposed a business deal and wanted to know if I would be interested in investing. My mind could barely focus, I had been working for the past seven hours straight with no break.It was then that my office door creaked open, Kennedy wrapped tightly in a blanket as she walked towards me, I lifted her up, sitting her down on my lap, her body leaning against mine as she laid her head on my chest. "Not tired baby?""No, I don't want to sleep anymore." She replied, her eyes looking down at the mess that occupied my desk."Want to colour for a little while? I have a few things I need to finish and then we'll watch a movie?" I suggested, already grabbing some plain paper from the drawer along with some coloured pens.Kennedy nodded excitedly, moving from my lap and running towards the couch, pens and paper in hand. She stayed there for a while, silently colouring as I continued to work.My phoned b
Nates hand flung out, grabbing me roughly by my hair causing a loud screech to exit my mouth. My hands instantly flew up to his grip, trying to pry his hands off. He kept the tight grip while his other hand covered my mouth, muting my screams.I clawed at his throat, my nails digging in deeply at the sensitive skin and he growled lowly at me, pulling me backwards as he dragged me across the woods towards the back of a warehouse.My legs were buckling from beneath me; I moved my hand back to my hair where his hands were, trying to loosen the tight hold he had while my other stayed on my stomach. Nate could not find out about my pregnancy, if he did, we would be in mortal danger.As we grew closer to the warehouse, he shuffled himself, so his arm was around my neck, his arms crushing my throat making it difficult to catch a breath. He held me hostage as he yanked the back door open to the warehouse."Nate," I croaked, my breathing hard and low from his crushing grasp. "I can't breathe."
I felt my heart physically stop when those words left that man's lips. I wanted to cry out in pure joy and excitement, but I also didn't want to get my hopes up. I wouldn't be able to cope with another dead lead.Gabriel's voice echoed through the pack mind link, breaking me from my thoughts. 'All pack warriors and trackers are to meet me outside my home in ten minutes.'Dan and Eli were in the office within minutes, both ready and prepared. Gabriel had provided them with more information and him and the guys were extracting all the information they needed from the tracker who had discovered Kennedy's location.Gabriel and Jayden were both scanning through maps on Gabriel's desk with Jayden pinpointing Kennedy's exact location. "Me along with Kellan had both caught a scent from a rogue, we decided to follow it on a hunch. Turned out he was a member of Marcus's rogue pack. It led to an abandoned warehouse a few towns away, it is three hours from here.""How sure are you that Kennedy is
Nate had taken her.He had kidnapped my daughter and had killed two of our pack warriors.The feelings and sensations that I was feeling were immense. It was fear, terror, anguish and pure murderous.Gabriel grabbed my shoulders harshly, pulling my body to his. His mouth moving, trying to communicate with me, but his words were mute. His lips were speaking but no words were coming out.All my senses had disappeared, fear disabling me.Gabriel shook me roughly, the movement waking me, pulling me out of my shocked state. "Lara!"I closed my eyes, squeezing them tightly, my hands reaching up and into my hair, tugging at it tightly. He wouldn't hurt her; no Nate could never hurt Kennedy. He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. I kept repeating to myself, trying to convince myself of the fact.My wolf was pacing around my mind, begging to be released. She was pushing herself out as I held her down, needing to concentrate instead of allowing her to explode, to let a bomb off that I needed
The last few weeks had passed quickly, the days had been merging as time flew by. We celebrated Gabriel's birthday last week before him and Eli left to visit a bordering pack yesterday morning.Gabriel had informed me that the Alpha wanted to discuss a potential share of land which we owned between the border of both packs.Gabriel was debating the idea since it would bring in business for our pack wolves as the land that he wanted a share in was part of our town. Where many of our wolves owned restaurants, shops, and cafes.Gabriel was still indecisive about the prospect of mixing two packs together; wolves were very territorial creatures and having two packs merge in one area can be explosive. It could also make some of our wolves uncomfortable or wary of the outsiders on their territory.The benefit of it was the revenue it would provide; we did also have a very secured treaty with Alpha Kane. One that had never been betrayed or broken. It was the same pack that Gabriel had trained
Taylor and I both looked up horrified by the intrusive voice, not expecting anyone to have heard our confidential conversation. One Taylor wanted to keep a secret between her and I.Gabriel stood in the doorway, his hand gripping the door handle as his gaze followed to both of ours, his attention landing and staying on mine.Confusion flashed through his eyes as if the information he had heard, sounded incorrect. A frown appeared soon after, the room surrounding in an awkward silence as we all went into a state of shock.Wanting to speak to Gabriel in private and knowing that Taylor needed to rest, I gently squeezed her hand. Rubbing my thumb across her knuckles reassuringly. "Why don't you go to bed and sleep on it. You don't have to make any rash decisions and it will make you feel much better."She agreed before giving me a small smile and heading out the door, brushing past Gabriel as she gave him a respectful nod.Gabriel copied her gesture as we watched her leave our bedroom in
I woke up with a headache, my neck and shoulder in agony from the position I was lying in. Gabriel laid next to me fast asleep, his chest rising and falling. I sat up and yawned, manoeuvring myself off the bed and towards the window.Looking out only to see darkness. It must have been the early hours of the morning, the events of yesterday suddenly invading my mind.Taking a step back, I see Gabriel sitting up, his back leaning against the headboard. "How are you feeling? Michael said you should have healed fully by the morning.""I feel exhausted, but my mind is wide awake." I admitted, walking back towards the bed.Gabriel pulled my body on top of his, his eyes scanning over my injuries, his demeanour protective and possessive as he held onto me tightly. "You can't go for runs on your own any longer, not after today."I frowned, raising my eyebrows. "Why? You killed Olivia; she was the problem. Why would I now need a protective detail?""Because we've still got rogue problems, and t
Gabriel's POV:I was scanning over paperwork that a pack member had asked me to review, he had proposed a business deal and wanted to know if I would be interested in investing. My mind could barely focus, I had been working for the past seven hours straight with no break.It was then that my office door creaked open, Kennedy wrapped tightly in a blanket as she walked towards me, I lifted her up, sitting her down on my lap, her body leaning against mine as she laid her head on my chest. "Not tired baby?""No, I don't want to sleep anymore." She replied, her eyes looking down at the mess that occupied my desk."Want to colour for a little while? I have a few things I need to finish and then we'll watch a movie?" I suggested, already grabbing some plain paper from the drawer along with some coloured pens.Kennedy nodded excitedly, moving from my lap and running towards the couch, pens and paper in hand. She stayed there for a while, silently colouring as I continued to work.My phoned b
Eli, Taylor, Gabriel and I had been painting Kennedy's bedroom all day, the room was practically finished when I decided to make everyone lunch. We had taken two days to finish it, the rest of the house was already decorated.Kennedy had also taken part in helping decorate, she had been messing around with Gabriel for hours until he decided to pour pink paint over our heads which took hours to remove, his action caused Kennedy to giggle, while I screamed and chased after him.Eli didn't help the situation when he dipped his hands into a paint pot, purposely grabbing Taylor on the ass, pink handprints ruining her jeans.We found ourselves in the paint shop, having to spend more money on paint since it had been wasted on us rather than the bedroom walls.We had even moved in all our belongings over the past two weeks, the first week I was going through heat. The process after mating, where your body goes into overdrive, only the touch of your mate able to cool you down. Heat was there t
Four days had passed since the twins birthday celebrations and thankfully, I hadn't seen nor heard from Olivia. Gabriel had commanded her to stay away from Kennedy and I, that she was to keep her distance if she wanted to remain part of the pack.I couldn't help but feel unhappy with the situation but at the same time I could understand why Gabriel didn't want to exile Olivia from the pack. It wasn't in our nature to abandon our pack members so easily especially when you're an Alpha. He felt a responsibility to her and made it clear, it was her last chance.I almost felt sorry for her, she had concluded in her own mind that Gabriel wanted her, that he viewed her as his mate, his chosen one.Their relationship had been a sexual one but nothing more, she had obviously caught more feelings than he had.But continuously causing a drama between Gabriel and I was unacceptable, she needed to be put into her place. The audacity of inviting herself to Gabriel's sisters birthday party while lyi