Chapter Five

Gabe’s POV

I have spent weeks avoiding Lottie, but now that she is back there is no way I can go on like this. The very moment I set eyes on her again in the forest my wolf started going crazy inside my head. He has been on the verge of losing it ever since we realised what she is to us, that day we saw her heading towards the cabin to meet Liberty for the first time, and he is done waiting.

My wolf, Ezekiel, prefers to go by Zeke. He says Ezekiel sound too old timey and he needs to change with the times. From the first time he spoke to me on our sacred day I knew there was something different about him. The way he talks is not like anything I have ever heard, and his overall demeanour is un-wolflike, for want of a better word.

During our first weeks together he went through all the usual things, helping me learn how to control my shift, getting to know each other and solidifying our bond, the same as every other wolf before and since. The ways of the goddess are unknown to us, and that is how it has always been. We have faith in it’s most true form. No proof is necessary, we don’t question her will and we accept the hand dealt to us.

Zeke had other things on his mind though. On an evening perimeter run we stopped to rest near the river border, and Zeke made a remark that changed everything.

“I remember sitting in this very spot with Gwyn, feels like life times ago, I guess it was.” He sighed forlornly.  

When I asked what he meant he tried to change the subject and when that didn’t work he outright ignored me. I was like a dog with a bone and couldn’t let it drop, so I pestered him for days until he finally gave in and spilled secrets that I sometimes wish had stayed secret. I still find myself yearning for the simpler days, where I didn’t have to keep such knowledge from the people closest to me, even after so long, the weight of what Zeke confided in me has not lessened.

My intuition tells me that our bond with Lottie is not a traditional one, and when I saw her controlling that fire, her soft pink lips uttering words she had no business knowing, it confirmed my suspicions that there is more to this than meets the eye. Zeke went bat shit at me for grabbing Zander and walking away. It was the only thing I could think to do at the time. Liberty was obviously gravely injured, Lottie and Marcel were the only ones keeping her from returning to the Goddess. I just had to get out of there and get my head together before I fucked everything up in front of everyone. My body burned for Lottie, it still does, the pain of separation grows every day. It has been like living through hell and the irony that our reunion took place in a fiery hellscape, has not gone unnoticed by me, irony is not in short supply around here.

Be careful what you wish for.

That’s what they say isn’t it?

This is not Zeke’s first time on earth. He has lived in more men than I’ve had hot dinners. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. His soul was one of the first, he walked these lands before records began and he has been sent back, time and time again, in service of the Moon Goddess. The humans call it reincarnation, and they have no idea how close that theory is to the actual truth. I could tell you much about the workings and politics in the heavens thanks to Zeke, but now is not the time.

I hear my name being called just as I round the corner on my way to check in on our Luna. I know Lottie will be here, and now that I have had time to get used to the fact that she is back, and vented some of my frustration, I feel prepared to confront what I’m expecting to be two very pissed off, overprotective brothers who also happen to be my Alphas. What I actually find is more like a circus. Lottie looks like she has been crying, her eyes are all puffy and red, but now she is laughing, sprawled on the floor at Doc Woods’ feet. The poor old guy almost steps right on her and stumbles into the door in his attempt to avoid the unexpected obstacle in his path. The tray of instruments he had been carrying, flies out of his hand and clatters to the floor behind me. Zander shakes his head and walks around everyone, carrying a sleeping Arly as he heads over to his mate.

I hold out my hand to help my own mate to her feet. When her hand falls into mine I feel it. Recognition. That’s the only word I can think of to describe the emotion that swamps my body and mind. It’s like coming home, a feeling of familiarity, safety and peace. I have known Lottie her whole life, but this is something else, one soul recognising another. Zeke’s soul, not mine, although I feel everything he feels, and now that I have experienced the intensity of their connection, I understand why he has been so difficult to live with.

‘It is her. I knew it was.’ Zeke exhales with disbelief then he forces one word from my mouth and the room falls silent.

“Gwyn.”

“Ezekiel.” Her one word response sets Zeke alight and he damn near bursts out of me with the need to embrace his one true soul mate. The same soul he has bonded with in more previous incarnations than anyone could ever hope to live.

The silence lasts no more than a few seconds before the room explodes into action. An alarm blares as Zander smashes the big red button on the wall. I look at where Liberty lays, unconscious, her body is rigid like she is having some kind of seizure. Christian peels the sleeping child from his brother’s arms and hands her to Gerald, telling him to take her to his sister. Hunter walks in, sees the chaos then immediately turns and calls down the corridor for the Doc.

Marcel is powerless to do anything other than sit and watch from the odd looking chair he is perched in. It is taller than any other chair I have seen, and I notice the tube carrying blood from him to Liberty. Gravity, I get it. It takes four attempts for Marcel’s voice to get everyone’s attention, and when it does, he puts us all in our place with stern words about acting like a pack of animals. He probably could have chosen a less controversial phrase, but that is not Marcel.

“Lottie, did Rosaline teach you any energy magic?” Marcel asks a stunned and silent Lottie. She shakes her head and steps towards the bed and rests her hand on the blanket which is tented by Liberty’s toes.

“No, not enough anyway. Only elemental magic. We didn’t have much time together.” She looks at Liberty with remorse. No doubt feeling guilty that she can’t help.

“Alright. What is happening, is her body adjusting, rewiring, so to speak. Bring Esme, she will be able to help her whilst the change happens. There is nothing your medicine can do for her, she needs to ride it out, then she will heal.” He sounds so calm. It’s unnerving. I have seen and heard about some messed up shit, the kind of things you would have to see to believe, and none of it ever ends well. I find it hard to believe this will end any differently.

“Did you know this would happen?” I demand an answer from Marcel as I close the distance between us with three long strides. I might not be the smartest person in the room, but I can read between the lines, and I’m not as placated with his careful wording as everyone else in the room.

“Esme is on her way.” Hunter announces. I feel him step up beside me, I see him open his stance, ready to restrain me if necessary. I’m sure he would try his best, but we are too evenly matched. Then Uriel steps up to the other side of me, ready to defend the Vampyre. Well shit. I don’t stand a chance against the two of them.

“Your Luna is changing right in front of you, and you are going to stand by and protect the man responsible?” I question Hunter, shocked that he is okay with what’s happening.

“And you two,” I continue, turning to my Alphas, “you have nothing to say about this?” I accuse them both.

“What, exactly, do you think is happening?” Marcel’s calm and measured tone agitates me and for a split second I think maybe I’m wrong about what’s going on.

“Exactly what you said. She is changing. You forget, I have read your chronicles from cover to cover. Twice.” I spit the last word, turn, and leave the room, before my actions force my friends and comrades to act in his defence.

“Gabriel.” Lottie calls after me. I hear her jogging down the corridor behind me, her light footsteps echo off the wall and I pick up my pace until I can’t hear them any longer. I run. Right out of the hospital, past the pack house, over the training ground, all the way to the river border. My feet pound the earth, carrying me to the same spot I sat in all those years ago.

The ground is covered in a thick mossy carpet. You can’t see it due to the layer of mist that ripples and rolls just above it, but I can feel the sponginess underfoot. The river narrows at this particular spot, and is more like a stream. It is shallow enough to wade in, which many of us do in spring and summer. The familiar sound of the water as it flows over the flat, exposed rocks, is soothing to me and I often come here to reflect or escape.

‘Those rocks used to stand a foot above the water when Gwyn and I would come here’ Zeke tries to take my mind off Marcel’s betrayal. It works, but only shifts my focus from one fucked up situation to another.

“Gabe.” A hesitant whisper comes from behind me and my heart momentarily stops beating. I want to turn around and fold her in my arms. I don’t care that she is half my age, or my Alphas’ little sister. She is mine. I know it, she knows it, so why is it so hard to accept?

“Are you going to reject me?” her voice falters and she lays her hand on my shoulder. A heat spreads from her palm and it flows through me, soothing my mind, calming the thoughts that threaten to lead me away from her. I could never do that to her. Even if she and Zeke didn’t have the connection they do, this is Lottie. I have protected her since the day she was born. I am not about to be the one to destroy her with a rejection. I tell myself I’m being honourable because it’s easier than the truth, and the truth is, I want her.

I want to feel her skin on my skin, her lips on my lips, I want to claim her and keep her and never let another man anywhere near her. She is mine.

I reach up, take hold of her hand and in one swift move, pull her around me until she falls right into my lap. “I could never reject you. For the love of the God’s woman, can’t you feel what I feel? Don’t you know how crazy being apart from you makes me?” I hold her close with one arm, her chest heaves with her rapid breaths. Her head fits perfectly in my palm, the curves and dips of her body mould perfectly into my own, and her wide blue eyes swallow me whole.

This is why I stayed away. I knew the moment I held her I would be lost to myself forever. What’s worse is I don’t care, I’m hers and she is mine.

‘And don’t you forget it.’ Zeke mutters sternly before retreating to give us some privacy. In his day a bonded pair would mate and mark each other within hours of meeting and the wolf would retreat, knowing the human side needed to feel a physical bond to seal the deal. The Goddess gifted bond for our wolves requires no such thing.

“Did you just say ‘for the love of the God’s’?” she murmurs against my chest, where I have her head pressed, needing to feel her close and make up for my weeks of ignorant stupidity. I feel her suspicion as she eyes me quizzically.

“Yes.” A slip of the tongue. Werewolves have only one God, Goddess, the Moon Goddess. Zeke has told me different, and on occasion I forget what I should and should not know.

“What has Zeke told you about me?” she pushes herself back with both of her hands flat against my chest for leverage. That’s a loaded question. I don’t want to lie to her, but I also don’t know how much she knows. It is obvious this Rosaline, whoever, has been teaching her things she really shouldn’t know.

“That you are an old soul, he has bonded with you before, and there is more to you than meets the eye.” I leave it at that. He didn’t tell me the last bit, but I know Lottie isn’t what we all think, there is something different about her, and I hope my leading statement will shine a light on whatever it is.

“Yeah, he got that right.” She sighs and looks down at her hands which now rest in her lap. Her legs dangle over my thigh and her feet rest on the smooth rock I’m sitting on. There is hesitation in her voice, and I steel myself for what she is about to say. I’m not the best at receiving unexpected news. My reactions are usually emotional, not thought out and to be honest, a little over the top. I can’t be like that with her though, I don’t want to scare her off.

“I learned some things whilst I was gone. The truth about myself, who I am, where I came from. Well… not so much where I came from, but how I came to be here.” she pauses and looks up at me. I nod. It’s best to let her say what she wants to say and get it all out before I start in with the questions.

“My parents found me near the lake when I was a few days old. Imelda was there too, she sensed my power and followed it to me. When she agreed to leave me with my parents, she left the witch chronicles with them so I could learn about my people and when the time came that her binding spell would lift, I would be able to learn about my magic too. Only they were killed before they could tell me the truth, nobody here knew what I was, so when I didn’t get my wolf, my brothers just assumed I was a late bloomer.” She stops again. I have no words. How? This entire time she has believed herself to be one thing, only to find out she is something else. I don’t even know where to begin.

“There is more.” She takes a deep breath. “My mother was a witch, but my father is…” she swallows the word. I half expect her to say Vampyre, that would be the icing on the fucking cake. But no, what she says is far, far, more unexpected.

“A dragon. I think the same dragon who fathered my new niece.” She looks away with tears glistening on the rims of her eyes. I can feel the waves of confusion and fear as they roll off her and slam into me.

You have got to be fucking kidding me right now.