THE STOLEN PIECE

CHAPTER 08 - ADAPTING

GABRIEL

I’m not going to lie, I was worried sick for Maria, since the day Lucas left she didn’t leave her room or spoke to anyone. Every time I went to see her she looked at me, but it was as if I wasn’t there, her eyes were empty, even Eva that literally talked with the walls felt like talking to air when she spoke with her. Lucas… He was also absent-minded, my dad taught him how to make the serum that he consumed, but Lucas had it with food and not with alcohol. He was having trouble without his wolf, as future Alpha, he knew he wasn’t able to do a good job without him, so he had been depressed. I saw Sam entering the room looking like a clown. I looked at him and ignored it. I just wasn’t up for the story.

    -I know you are wondering why…

    -I’m not interested.

    -I tried to make Maria mad or at least make her feel something I even used her favorite makeup. She didn’t even look at me.

The situation was so critical that even Sam that lives in his own world is trying to help. I was sad, I was exhausted, Zeus missed Nova, I missed my sister, I missed my best friend and his jokes… I know I thought about this, but I wasn’t the one to accepted it, it was Maria’s choice, but I was now not sure if it was the right one… But now Sam looked like a clown to try to make Maria laugh and she didn’t even flinch... I really couldn’t do it more…

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SAMUEL

I was taking the makeup off and it wasn’t getting off with the water… “What is this makeup made of? how is it supposed to come out!” “Why do you ask me, I had never used makeup.” “You were the genius that came with the idea of trying to make Maria angry or laugh!” “I thought that she would like that! but I’m a wolf, I don’t use makeup.” “I will ask Gabe.”

    -GABE! YOU THE ONE WHO KNOWS IT ALL...!

I opened the bathroom door and Gabe was gone. He is always there when I don’t need it, and now he just disappeared?... “Now is the time!” Finn screamed in my head. I understood what he meant and immediately went to my closet and took the bag that I had hid and started packing stuff, so it could be ready for my next opportunity to leave the pack. I was concentrating on checking that I wasn’t missing anything out. Then I noticed I hadn't packed the money that was hiding in my underwear drawer. I turned and saw Gabe looking at me.

    -So you are planning to do that now?

I went pale… He is so against me leaving the pack, and now with Maria, he has his feelings more at the edge than ever.

    -Great, I will start mine too.

What! is he leaving the pack? but he is the future alpha! And Maria, mom, dad, all of the pack count on him!

    -Did you pack the toothpaste?

    -Yes, but Gabe I’m not sure what is the pack going to do without you?

    -Dad will handle things don’t worry.

    -What about when he is gone.

    -Why would he go?

Gabriel was just packing as nothing mattered anymore… “Our brother finally lost it.” “We need to make him understand Finn, he can’t leave the pack!”

    -Gabe what about Maria?

    -She is coming.

    -We are taking her? In that state of mind?

    -Let’s face it, Sam, being in the packhouse is not helping her at all.

    -WHAT WOULD MOM FEEL WITH THE THREE OF US GONE?

    -Mom? She knows it, in fact, she is packing Maria’s stuff.

    -WHAT, YOU ACTUALLY TOLD MOM AND SHE IS MAKING MARIA’S BAG?

    -Yes… why are you repeating everything that I’m saying…

    -ISN'T SHE GOING TO MISS US? IS SHE REALLY OKAY WITH ALL OF THEIR KIDS GONE?

    -Relax Sam, it’s going to be fine, they can manage.

    -YOU REALLY LOST IT GABE!

    -Why?

He kept packing as nothing! He always speaks to me like this, it drives me crazy! But not this time!

    -NO GABE! ONE THING IS ME LEAVING THE PACK AND ANOTHER THING IS YOU AND MARIA LEAVING ALSO!

    -Stop screaming.

    -NO! YOU CAN’T LEAVE THE PACK? WE CAN’T ABANDON EVERYONE?

    -Abandon? 

    -YES!

He looked at me as if he was proving a point… I hated that look more than anything. 

    -So you were making your runaway bag…

    -YES AND IF WE THREE…

I felt a hard punch on my face, the punch was so big I fell to the floor and as I tried to adjust my sight I saw Gabe, his hair looked longer and his cat ears were out.

    -YOU WERE THINKING OF LEAVING US WITH YOUR SISTER IN THIS STATE!

I touched my face and sudden pain appeared.

    -YOU DARED TO TRY TO GIVE YOUR BACK TO YOUR FAMILY IN THIS AWFUL TIME!

I was scared, the aura Gabe was giving was so threatening I couldn’t say a word. but he was right… I was thinking of leaving, but when I thought he was leaving I tried to stop him because he had responsibilities… I tried to leave without responsibilities… but I handed all of the responsibilities to him, and I just wanted freedom… Gabe has always taken all of the extra classes, the hardest training, and sometimes even helped me get out of things I didn’t like… and even when mom sent me to the dungeons he always came down and gave me food. He is also trying to convince my parents to let me go, with some guards and a schedule but still, he was trying to help me in his own way. I looked up and saw his eyes, he was crying.

    -Gabe…

    -What am I doing wrong, Sam…?

He knelt and cry. I was still afraid, but the aura in the room changed and I didn’t feel that threatening as I felt moments ago.

    -I’m the worst big brother… My little sister is walking like a zombie… my little brother just wants to get away from this… and my incompetence I also damaged my best friend.

I was confused. Why is he blaming himself? He is not responsible for any of these incidents. He didn’t choose Maria’s mate, he didn’t force Maria to take the serum and he didn’t have anything to do with my desire to leave and explore. But the boy that is now crying in front of me really thought all of this was his fault? How did he end up thinking that those things could be his fault! He is just trying to be there for everybody! “But no one is with him.” Finn’s voice made me notice it. Dad had been really busy lately, Mom was absorbed with Dad and Maria, Gabe had been taking part of Dad’s responsibilities in the royal pack, he goes into Maria’s room every day, he actually cooks for Maria and stays until he even feeds her sometimes. For Lucas, he calls every day, and he is also getting in touch with Xavier, giving him tips about how to lead the pack and help Lucas to gain his confidence back.

    -Those problems are not your fault Gabe…

    -They are Sam! If I want to rule the pack I’m responsible for the members and their wellbeing, if I can’t protect the ones that are closer to me what would I be able to do for the ones that are not in this pack?

    -Gabe but you can’t control everything…

    -I don’t want to control everything I just want to protect the ones I love! And as you see I’m doing so bad… My sister is a zombie, my best friend is a zombie, and you… You are sick of this and just want to get away from it all. 

    -Gabe…

    -The worst is that I don’t blame you! I’m screwing on everything I do, if I was you I would also run as far as I could from me. 

That was it, my brother has been working so hard and no one would talk bad about him! Not even himself!

    -That's it, Gabe! If you say anything else I would lose it!

I stood up.

    -You are strong! Smart! And have the biggest heart! I know that you care for everyone more than you like to say, you are the one that is there for everyone every time so the pack is there for you! And you are right! I was selfish. I just think about myself and I didn’t think that I was leaving everything in your hands and it’s not fair.

Gabe was still on the ground crying, I broke my brother and my selfishness finally tore him apart. I took his hand and forced him to stand and I laid my forehead on his and made him look into my eyes.

    -We are in this together, and I’m not leaving you or our family, we are getting out of this together and stronger as ever!

Gabe was looking at me and the spark in his eyes was coming back. “Are we really staying here?” Finn’s voice was sad. “Finn, they need us, we need to be here.” “I know but..” “I get how you feel, and I feel the same thing, but please.” “They are our pack Sam, I get it.”

    -Let me help you with your bag Gabe.

He nodded and sat on the bed. I know helping him with the bag is no big deal, but I needed to start with something. The next morning my mom saw my black eye and acted as if nothing happened! I even said that I would help more, and she still didn’t react. She continued taking food and stuff without even looking at me. Finally, she looked at me with a smile.

    -You said you were going to help more right?

    -Yes!

Finally, I had recognition for my new attitude.

    -Then…

She opened the door that led from the kitchen to the backyard.

    -Go out and shift.

I was confused, but who was I to say no to my mom. I just went outside and shifted. My dad came out with Nelson carrying a huge bag… It was a strange bag, They put it around Finn and I started carrying the bag, it fit perfectly.

    -You like my new backpack designed for wolves? This backpack is good for training or travel. For training, I will add weight to the sides and for the travel, we will use them for things, like bags, clothes, and food.

    -” And you added weight or stuff on this one? Is so heavy.”

    -Of course, it's a heavy baby, the three bags and food and all the stuff you are going to need.

    -” Mom this is just too much we can just sleep out, and we don’t need that many clothes, or food, we can hunt.”

    -Maria can’t do that stuff, Sam, she will die in this cold in his human form. One of you needs to be always with her.

    -” We know mom.”

    -Please support Gabe and help him, Sam.

    -” That’s what I’m trying to do!”

    -I know baby, and I’m really thankful to you.

She kissed Finn on the forehead. This was a new feeling for us. She was letting us go and kiss us goodbye… I like this! Finally, Gabe came down and had Maria in his arms, she was wearing a jacket, gloves, a hat… Gabe had just a short on. He passed Maria to my dad, he took her with extreme caution, then kissed her forehead. Gabe shifted and then Nelson and Mom started putting Gabe something like the bag I had, but it looked different, and she is really planning to send us more things… Did she pack the whole kitchen? Then Dad walked and started to put Maria in the bag. It was not a bag but like a baby carrier but on a bigger scale. When Maria was fully strapped to Gabe he walked towards me and we started walking, he was in no position to run, and with the weight on my back, I was glad for the slow pace. Then I noticed that we were walking but we weren’t leaving the pack territory.

    -” Aren’t we going farther?”

    -” With Maria in this condition it would be really dangerous to leave the pack territory.”

    -” If we aren’t leaving why didn’t we just stay in the packhouse.”

    -” We need to reconnect with our sister and she is being overwhelmed in the packhouse, we need to introduce her into a new environment, so she can learn how to interact again.”

I didn’t understand the logic behind Gabe’s explanation, but if he found sense in that we could try it, we couldn’t lose anything, and if it didn’t work I just hope it makes Gabe feel better. We walked until Gabe stopped, I didn’t ask more questions. I shifted back into my human form and then searched for my back and put some clothes on. I took Maria out of the bag and then Gabe shifted back and dressed. Then he took a tent and started to look at the instructions. Maria was sitting near a tree, she had her sight loss. I sat next to her, I followed her sight and she was looking at some birds, I could hear their sounds and when I looked carefully I identified a nest and two small heartbeats were flying in the air.

    -Are you looking at the mama bird and her two babies?

She looked at me.

    -I was trying to see if it was a bird or not, I couldn’t possibly see the two babies.

“You are making her feel bad!” Finn’s voice made me realize she indeed was sad.

    -No I didn’t see them, I heard them!

    -Are they singing? 

She closed her eyes. “You really are dum Sam! Now she is trying to hear them but they are not making noise!” “What do I do?” “It’s your own problem!” I felt his presence disappear, great now he is ignoring me. I know! I started whistling and trying to imitate the bird's sound. Maria looked at me with tears in her eyes.