Dinner was a quiet affair. I was more nervous than anything to be alone with Gabriel that night and ended up picking at my food like a child. I caught him sending me worried glances throughout most of the meal. As soon as he finished eating, he slid his chair closer and placed his hand on my thigh. The heat radiating from his palm made me press my thighs together as a jolt of excitement ran through me.
"Are you alright?" His voice managed to deepen as he leaned in to whisper in my ear. I had no doubt that at least Athena could still hear us across the table if she wanted to. By the love-struck look on her face, as she watched my sister nervously jabber on, I knew she wasn't listening to us.
"Yes, I guess I'm just a bit shocked is all." Lying to him tasted like poison was being poured on my tongue. I wasn't shocked at all. I had known his kind existed for the past decade. Every night, I had dreamed of the man before me. We had a connection, and I had been aware of it for the majority of my life. I wasn't just obsessively searching for him for no reason. I was being pushed to find him.
"Everything will be okay. Adjusting will just take some time." His hand squeezed my leg comfortingly.
When we had finished eating, Gabriel and Athena made quick work of moving all of the dishes into the kitchen, assuring us that they would take care of it in the morning. It seemed that they were just as eager to be alone with us as we were with them.
"I'm going to go with Athena tonight. Will you be okay?" Elena's excitement was easily visible, and I quickly nodded to assure her that she wouldn't need to worry about me.
The sound of footsteps as the two wolves approached us had the butterflies returning to my stomach. I walked behind Athena and Elena as they made their way to the front door, arms wrapped around the other's waist.
Reaching the door, Elena pulled herself away from her mate to approach me. She wrapped me in a tight hug before placing a kiss on my cheek. She seemed so confident and sure about everything that I couldn't help but admire her. The difference was that she had past girlfriends. She had experience.
Gabriel wrapped his arm around my waist as he leaned over me to close the door. I felt myself tense with nerves and excitement when he bent down to place a gentle kiss on my shoulder. "Do you have any more questions for me tonight?"
My tongue dried in my mouth at the feeling of his chest pressed against my back. I could feel his heart pounding rapidly.
There was one question that I needed to ask him, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for the answer.
"No, I think I am more tired than anything. Maybe we can talk more tomorrow?" A smile stretched across his face, and he nodded eagerly in answer to my question.
"Of course, come with me. I will show you to our room." It didn't escape my notice that he said our room instead of his room or a guest room. Giddiness overpowered my nerves, and I eagerly followed behind him as he guided me by my hand. The hallway we had gone down before split into a T, and he turned down the unexplored area and passed several doors.
The white painted wood seemed to make him pause. He stepped to the side, letting my hand drop, and pushed open the door. There was a beautiful king-size bed in the middle of the room with a plush, grey duvet on top but minimal pillows. On each side stood two oak nightstands with gold lamps, but only one had a half-empty glass of water.
There were two open doors on the left side of the room. One led to a bathroom where I could only see part of a tub from where I stood. The other was a closet, where I saw men's clothes hanging neatly. It was very spacious and brought a smile to my face.
"This room is beautiful," I started as I walked to the center of it. When I turned back to look at Gabriel, I noticed a large flat screen mounted on the wall by the door so that it could be visible from the bed.
There was a look of pride on his face as he watched me. "I can't tell you how long I have been dreaming of the day that you would be here. Having you in this house, in our room, is better than I thought it would be." He stalked toward me slowly with confidence and power. I couldn't move or speak as I froze with anticipation.
There was no hesitation in his movements as he reached me. His right hand gently caressed the side of my face, his fingers entangling in my hair. Sparks shot through my hip at the feeling of him gently stroking the skin where my shirt had ridden up with his thumb. I wanted to feel him too. All of him.
Placing my hands on his firm chest, I felt him inhale deeply.
There was a moment of peace. My eyes dropped down to his lips, and I watched hungrily as his tongue peeked out to wet them. Stepping up to my toes, I greedily pressed my mouth to his wanting to taste him.
Gabriel wasted no time in responding. His warm tongue touched my lips before pressing into my mouth, moving in rhythm with mine. Heat ran through my body and down to my core.
It was as if everything in the world had disappeared, and the two of us were all that was left.
I moved my body up against his, wanting to satisfy this burning need from within me. He let out a growl that caused moisture to form between my legs as his hand left my hair to grab my ass and lift me. My legs wrapped around his waist instinctively, and he walked forward, parting from our kiss only long enough to lay me down on the bed.
Our hips began to grind together as our mouths reunited. Each movement had me moaning in pleasure. The way my jeans and his shorts pressed against me felt incredible, but I wanted more. I could feel his hardened member and felt a desperate need to remove our clothes so I could touch him directly.
He pulled from my mouth, leaving me to pant in an attempt to catch my breath, as he made his way down my throat to the junction where my neck met my collarbone. The feeling of his warm breath followed by his hot tongue as he licked the skin had my toes curling. I briefly pictured other places his tongue could go before his hips slowed against mine, and he came back up to kiss me deeply.
"My mate, I want to please you in every way possible, but I think we should give you some time to process what you've learned tonight. I don't want to take advantage of you." His husky voice had his chest rumbling against mine as he spoke. My hands slid down from where they had found themselves under his shirt. The skin of his back was smooth in most places, but scars could be felt every now and then. I moved them down to his butt, pressing him down harder, and I ground against his member, pulling a guttural grown of pleasure from him.
"I look forward to it."
We stood side by side as we brushed our teeth. Gabriel had given me a spare toothbrush that he said he had purchased a long time ago. He said he wanted to be prepared for when I was finally able to meet him again. It was a sweet gesture, but the knowing smirk he kept sending me was frustrating. "What?" I asked, my hand with my toothbrush dropped from my mouth as I spat out a mouthful of foam from the toothpaste. "Nothing." He glanced at me in the mirror again, his eyes darkening as he looked me up and down. I did the same to him, smirking back when I noticed he was still hard. "It doesn't seem like nothing." Gabriel let out a deep chuckle before spitting his toothpaste out and rinsing his mouth. He leaned his hip against the counter when he finished, staring at me as I continued to brush. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. He leaned in, his lips barely touching my ear as he spoke. "I can still smell your desire for me. It is so sweet."
Waking up wrapped in Gabriel's arms was magnificent.Waking up to him flipping me off of his chest to be underneath him while he growled furiously toward the doorway, was terrifying. His eyes were black, and his canines were extended. He held himself over me with ease as if to shield me from the intruder. I pressed myself into the mattress to stay as small as possible."Oh, calm down, you big baby." A male voice chimed from the doorway. "I heard our Luna had finally made her way to us, and I wanted to be one of the first to meet her."I didn't dare move, as Gabriel still held himself protectively over me. If it weren't for the third party in the bedroom, I would have been a very happy woman having him on top of me like that. I bit back my smile as I felt him press down against me as he relaxed his stance. He glanced at me quickly before turning back to glare at the man. I watched fascinated as his teeth and eyes went back to normal."Get out," Gabriel gro
Breakfast was a somber event, not for a lack of trying on Kate and Jack's end to lighten the mood. They were very friendly and sarcastic, always cracking jokes and telling stories to make us laugh. It was hard to be positive knowing that we had to go back home, even if it was just for a short while. Gabriel drove us back to our car on the edge of town. Much to my surprise, there was a well-hidden dirt road that led right to their community we could have taken instead of trekking through the forest. After exchanging phone numbers, a heartfelt goodbye, and several kisses, he pulled himself away and returned to his car, Athena reluctantly following after him. They waited until we were pulling away before he turned his car around and left. I didn't want him to see me looking over my shoulder like a lovesick puppy, but I did watch through the side mirror as he got further away until I could no longer see him. Our ride was short and silent as we made our wa
My toes brushed my carpet as I swung my feet back and forth. My desk chair creaked in protest from my constant movement, but I ignored it and continued to stare across the room at the open window. My pajama shorts and tank top left little to the imagination, and I had picked them out just for that reason. Unfortunately, I was beginning to regret that decision as it got colder as the night went on. Gabriel had not messaged me since I had returned home, and I had assumed he was busy. I knew my mind was my enemy, but the longer I waited, the more I began to second guess whether he was real in the first place. I had read our messages over two dozen times. I needed to ensure that they existed, and so did Gabriel. Alpha Gabriel. A werewolf. Oh, God. I dropped my head into my hands and let out a sigh of frustration. Crazy. I am absolutely crazy! After all this time, I finally lost it. The orange bottle sat atop my dresser, laughing at me as if it knew just how insane I was. It was one
Elena ran around my room, trying to clean up the mess that I had made while I clutched the phone to my ear. I could hear her ruffling around in my closet as I listened to the steady breathing coming in through the device in my hand. He was real, and he was on his way. All of the loudness in my mind steadily began to quiet. "Liv?" He asked, and I let out a deep breath at the sound of my name coming from his lips. "You're real," I whispered. My back pressed against the side of my bed as I pulled my head from between my knees. The light thud of something hitting the floor sounded out from behind me, and I turned my head to see what Elena was moving. She didn't need to clean up my mess. It was bad enough she had to deal with my deranged mind. Instead, I watched as Gabriel stood up from his crouched position. Despite the chilled night air, he was barefoot in a pair of basketball shorts with no shirt. I could only assume that he had run here
I didn't need Elena to tell me for me to know that Athena had been over the night before. When I walked into her room, Elena was passed out face down on her mattress completely naked. Thankfully the blanket was covering most of her butt. "Oh, god," I muttered in disgust before reaching over to grab a half-empty water bottle from her dresser. The plastic crinkled when it hit her leg. Elena cracked one eye open and glared at me. "That's not a nice way to wake someone who was up late helping you last night." She groaned before reaching down to grab her comforter and pulling it up and over her shoulders. "Oh, please. You may have helped me, but from the look of it, you were up late on your own. How's Athena doing?" I smirked before plopping down on the edge of the bed, hoping it would keep her awake. My nose wrinkled as I pulled my hands off of the blanket and settled them in my lap. No telling how clean her bedding set was. "Shush, we both had visitors l
"Until then, you are with me," Kate exclaimed as she rounded the corner. Her enthusiasm was infectious. Just by seeing how excited she was, I was ready to take on whatever was thrown my way over the next few hours. Gabriel pressed his lips to the top of my head before gently pushing me toward Kate. I reluctantly moved away from him, surprised when I saw the smile drop from Kate's face. "Everything will be fine, Alpha. I won't let anything happen to her. They will both be in great hands!" Kate saddled up next to me and Elena. I turned to look over my shoulder to thank Parker for getting us here, but he was nowhere to be found. "Where did Parker go?" I asked, but Gabriel just shook his head at me. That seemed to be my cue not to talk about it, but I made a mental note to ask him later when we would get to be alone together. "We have a lot of ground to cover. I'll say we should start this way." She said as she nudged her head to her right. I glanced over
The dining hall was across from the packhouse and was filled with people eating and talking. My stomach grumbled when I smelled food. I looked around to see a buffet-style display set up for people to make themselves sandwiches with multiple different side options. It did not escape my attention that the room noticeably quieted when we entered. Gabriel stood at my side, his arm wrapped around my waist. I tried to refrain from pressing myself into him as dozens of eyes turned to inspect us. A glance up at him had me in wonder. His strong jaw looked tense, and his eyes held no emotion. Yet, he stood strong, as if he were proud. It was like looking at a reflection of him from an alternate universe. When he was alone with me, he was warm and loving, but in front of his pack he seemed so cut off from his emotions. He led me to the food and dropped his hand from my waist to put together his plate. I followed next to him closely, still feeling uncomfortable with the eyes of the many borin