Chapter 6: Now That was Alpha Behavior

Gabriel POV

That evening after a long day at the clinic, Gabriel pulled into the compound waving to a few strays who were admiring his blue wheel wells.

See Sam… they ARE cool, he thought, puffing out his chest as he saw his adoptive father standing out on the porch watching him pull into the garage.

"Gabriel. A word," Samson called out across the driveway. Uh-oh. Sam sounded tense. What had transpired at the compound? Usually, it was quiet and peaceful.

Gabriel hurriedly made his way over to the porch and groaned to himself seeing another figure puffing a cigar with his legs widely crossed in a comfortable dominating position.

"Uncle Fennick. Another visit. Sara joining us soon?" Gabriel asked cautiously, trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

"She's not the priority right now, Gabe. I figured it would not be appropriate to ask you at the coffee shop, nor at your place of work. Did I happen to see you with a human female today at the Holy Grounds Cafe?" His face was lit by his puffing on the cigar, and Gabriel avoided breathing in the secondhand smoke.

"Yeah. And?" Gabriel could feel himself getting defensive. So… he did hear right. His uncle did say, "Too late," out loud at the coffee shop.

"I could hear your thoughts… we are still linked as shifters you know. So, you think she is your mate," Uncle Fennick said bluntly and Samson, who had been quiet in the corner, gasped.

"You met your mate? Who is she?" Samson's voice was filled with joy.

"She isn't a mate. She's an imposter. A human," Uncle Fennick remarked coldly, stifling his cigar in the ashtray.

"She's MY mate. Don't speak about her like that," Gabriel growled low, surprised at himself because he had never challenged his uncle this way.

Uncle Fennick's head spun toward Gabriel in anger and he stood rapidly. "Humans and wolf shifters do not mix, nephew. You know this. A shifter cannot have a human mate. Humans bring illegitimacy to the pack. You yourself are a spawn of a taboo relationship that involved my brother and his human wench."

"Those are your rules Uncle, not ours. Contrary to popular belief, what you think doesn't matter. As a 'hybrid' do the rules even apply to me anyways?" Gabriel growled low, questioning the laws and ideologies of the shifters.

"You … dare defy these rules? These rules are the way of our people and have been for a long time to preserve our werewolf shifter roots. Your own father swayed from the rules and the Moon Goddess saw fit to judge him and your mother in the fire." Fennick's tone in his voice sounded wrathful and his face contorted in anger.

"Get out. You are no longer welcome here. Not only do you try and disrespect my mate, but you disrespect my parents? Out!" Gabriel aggressively turned on his uncle and pointed toward the front gate. "There's the exit."

Before his uncle could quip a remark, Samson said, "This way Fennick. Gabriel has spoken."

"You'll realize I'm right. I am not wrong. You will see!" Fennick shouted, walking to his car and slamming the door. He sped off into the night, and Gabriel felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Why hadn't he done this long ago?

"Can't believe that guy, thinking he can just come in here and disrespect your Luna," Samson said, hands against his hips.

"Dang! Fennick flew out of here faster than a bat out of hell, man," another voice came from the shadows.

"Vance, hey you saw that?" Gabriel greeted his old friend.

"Oh yeah, figured I'd come check on you guys," Vance said, shuffling next to them on the porch.

Vance and Gabriel had grown up alongside each other under Samson's care. Vance Skeen had been orphaned at a young age and Samson had taken him in. Then, when Samson was banished from the Moonlight Pack, Vance went with him. The three had worked closely alongside each other, building their own safe compound away from the others.

"Now that was Alpha behavior, Gabriel," Samson said. He had always been rooting for Gabriel, the true successor and son to the previous Alpha of the Moonlight Pack.

"I agree. That jerk deserved what was coming. He thinks he's doing the world a favor when he just causes more chaos wherever he goes." Vance nodded and said, "Good riddance."

Gabriel felt conflicted. On one hand, he knew his uncle was the only blood-related family he had. On the other, his uncle had told him he didn't belong in the Moonlight Pack because of his half-human half-shifter heritage. He didn't want unnecessary tension between the Moonlight Pack and the strays.

After all, weren't they all just trying to survive and enjoy life?

"Samson, do you really think the Moon Goddess didn't like that my father married my mother? I have nothing but good memories of them, how could they have incurred her wrath?" Gabriel huffed sitting down on the porch swing.

"The Moonlight Pack follows some very old-school ideologies, Gabriel. I think you'll find most packs have swayed from this arbitrary and ancient belief. It isn't going to start the apocalypse if a human and a werewolf shifter are mates. Your mother would be thrilled to hear your mate is human like she was. Don't let Fennick's words get beneath your skin." Samson breathed deeply, shuffling from one side of the porch to the other. He gave great advice, but he too seemed bothered by what the Moonlight Alpha had said.

"His words always irritate me that way, Samson. I cannot understand why he would think the Moon Goddess would punish my parents like that."

"No shifter can say he or she knows what the Moon Goddess does or why she does it. She is a free spirit and we do not answer for her. She answers for us." Samson shrugged and looked up at the moon forlornly.

Vance started to spin ideas at a rapid pace. "So, do we have a very real possibility of the Moonlight Pack becoming a problem? Do we need to add more training days to the calendar here at the compound? We could fortify our defenses, to make sure no one can get in without first going through the gate, and we could even build automatic traps in the road leading up to the compound in case we needed to slow their arrival."

"Vance, those are all great ideas. We can use them to prepare for the worst… but it's my hope we never have to use them at all." Gabriel stretched in his seat. It had been a long day at work, and he just needed to shower. He couldn't get Lucy out of his mind either.

"So, does your human mate know about werewolf shifters? What's her name?" Samson asked, happy to change the subject.

"No, she doesn't know. I am willing to do everything in my power to take it slow with her… I think something may have happened to her. I do not want to unintentionally scare her away." Gabriel pondered in thought for a moment before he continued. "She's gorgeous, she's everything and more I could have dreamed for… her name is Lucy Carrigan. Samson, she's Gertrude's niece."

Gabriel made eye contact with Samson with an all-knowing look etched across his features.

Samson cleared his throat. "Huh, you don't say? Does she have strawberry blond hair like Gertie?"

"They look very similar. Definitely related and Lucy is staying with her," Gabriel commented.

"Maybe I should send Gertie a text, to check-in. She mentioned something about a niece… quite ironic, isn't it?" Samson remarked with his hand on his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

Gertrude and Samson had grown up together and were still very close. Having gone through grade school, middle school, and high school together, they were even close friends in college. They had helped each other through life events and were always by each other's side. They had been through thick and thin together.

It was honestly no wonder that the two had become even closer still as they grew older. Their tales of fate were more entwined than they were willing to let on right now. Gabriel couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Samson finally admitting he and Gertrude should get hitched.

"Ooooh… so Gertie's niece is your mate? Gertie doesn't have the house to herself anymore," Vance remarked and then looked at Samson. "Looks like hang time with Gertie will have to be at your place for a while, eh?" Vance then elbowed Samson in the ribs.

"Oof! Vance! Knock it off!" Samson groaned and tackled him, giving him a noogie to the head.

Gabriel laughed as he watched the two of them tussle on the porch as the night sky became darker and the stars started to shine. He felt much better knowing he put his uncle in his place, now able to take control of his own destiny. He would not be swayed or kept from his mate any longer.

He said his goodbyes and goodnights to Samson and Vance and walked over to his front door. He felt his phone vibrate as he shut the door and locked it.

He looked down at his phone and his heart skipped a beat. Lucy was thinking of him too? His eyes were glued to the phone reading her text asking if he'd like to accompany her on a hike early in the morning.

He couldn't type out a reply fast enough!