The Lost Werewolf's Mate

Painful memories

Gabriel tensed up. What was she going to tell him? Zeus was on high alert. “I’ll do my best, Lila.” He kissed her. What he meant to be a light kiss turned into a passionate kiss. They eventually came up for air. He repositioned Lila closer to his knees than his chest to avoid embarrassing her. Now was not the time for that.

“One day, they summoned me to the Alpha’s office.” She started. Gabriel tensed up.

She started rubbing circles on his arm.

“I took a deep breath and tried to steady my nerves as I approached the Alpha’s house. I had never been here before. I pushed open the large wooden doors and stepped into his office, feeling small and insignificant in comparison.

“Good morning, Valerie,” the Alpha greeted me warmly. I forced myself to return the greeting and sat before him in one of the plush chairs. I couldn’t help but feel nervous and unsure of what he wanted from me. I wondered what his end game was.

“Please, call me Victor,” he said kindly, but his eyes betrayed him. He was all business.” She paused.

“What did you just say?” Gabriel almost jumped off the sofa they were both sitting on. “Victor of the Blood Moon pack held you captive?” He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to take a deep breath. “The bastard was looking for you, and you're the escaped prisoner... It makes sense that you escaped from his pack. It's the nearest pack, even though it's far from us. Amazingly, you made it onto our pack’s lands without them finding you.”

Lila started rubbing Gabriel’s temples and peppered him with kisses. He looked at her, feeling ashamed. “I should be the one to take care of you, not you taking care of me.” He bowed his head and sighed.

“Gabriel,” she cupped his face again to make him look at her. “Do you want me to stop?”

He took in a deep breath, inhaling her sweet scent. “It’s OK, pretty one. Zeus is calming down.”

Lila continued, “Victor wanted to know about my wolf. My heart started racing as I quickly tried to come up with an answer to his coming question. I lied, trying to control my heart rate and breath, feeling the weight of the guilt in my stomach. I told him I had not had contact with my wolf. I didn’t know why but I knew I needed to keep Venus a secret.

He looked disappointed and wanted to be informed if she had made herself known. He used the excuse that it was his responsibility to oversee his pack members’ first shift as Alpha.

The guilt and fear almost suffocated me, and I couldn’t help but wonder how long I could keep this up. When I returned to my room, I asked Venus how she remained hidden. She offered little. She had been distant and quiet. She told me she needed to stay hidden from the Alpha.”

Gabriel’s hand moved in soothing circles on Lila’s back, but inside, he and Zeus, his wolf, were seething with anger. Hearing Lila’s past and struggles tore at their hearts, filling them with fierce protectiveness.

“As time went by, he tried summoning my wolf with the help of shamans. No one could sense her. I don’t know how she stayed hidden from all of them,” Lila spoke softly, her voice laced with pain but also with relief. She never entirely understood why her having her wolf was so crucial to the Alpha.

Gabriel clenched his jaw, his grip on Lila’s back tightening. The injustice of it all made him furious as a man and a wolf. He wanted to howl in anger, to tear through the forest and seek justice for Lila.

“Also, as I mentioned earlier, I never ventured out of the village until the day I ran. Suddenly, something was calling me, and Venus told me to run. And well, you know the rest of the story,” Lila stopped there. Her eyes were searching Gabriel’s face for any signs of understanding.

Gabriel’s topaz eyes, usually so calm, were now swirling with silver, a sign of his inner turmoil. He struggled to contain his emotions, to stay composed for Lila’s sake, but his wolf was clawing at the surface, demanding vengeance.

Lila took a deep breath, gathering her courage. “And there’s one last thing... it’s not so much a memory. It’s the lack of memories. I can’t remember anything before they found me in the forest.” She looked up at Gabriel, taken aback by the intensity in his eyes.

Gabriel trembled with emotion, his control slipping. Zeus was roaring inside him, urging him to take action, to protect Lila at all costs. He couldn’t hold back any longer, his calm facade crumbling. Lila’s vulnerability had stirred something primal in him, awakening his wolf's fierce, possessive instincts.

With a growl, Gabriel let go of his restraint, his eyes glowing with silver as Zeus surged to the forefront. He couldn’t contain the protective rage any longer. Lila was his, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Gabriel felt the relentless onslaught of Zeus, his inner wolf, pushing to break free from the tenuous hold he had on him. He knew he needed help, and he needed it fast. With a sense of urgency, he opened a mind link to Matthew, Thomas, and his father, struggling to form coherent thoughts amidst the turmoil within him.

“My quarters, NOW,” he conveyed through the mind link, his voice strained and desperate. He could feel the three men’s worry and concern in response.

Carefully, Gabriel slipped out from under Lila, gently positioning her on the sofa and taking a step away from her. He couldn’t risk letting Zeus take over and shift into his quarters. Lila watched with growing concern as Gabriel’s eyes turned silver, a sign that Zeus was dangerously close to taking control.