Fates Must Be Kidding

Moving on

We pack everything quickly, since we are not moving out completely. This time saying good bye is tougher  than ever, it just has some finality to it. Like I am turning a major page of my life. It needs to be done, even though I'm not entirely ready for it. I promise the Alpha and Luna to call them if I need anything, and everyone else - to keep in touch. 

We are on our way to Texas, the Council headquarters is located near Austin. Since we are driving there, instead of flying, they should have enough time to prepare for our arrival. I told Gabriel that we need a separate secluded house with a gym and a training area nearby where no one will bother us. We aren't in a hurry to get there, right now we are just enjoying some peace and quiet. We make stops on the way, even do some sightseeing, and spend two nights in motels. As a result, we arrive at the location we were given on the third day of our journey. Having put my disguise on, I exit the van and approach a group of people standing next to an SUV.

"You must be the Vipers," one of them says. I nod and he continues, "I am here to escort you to the Council building for a short meeting. Please, follow me".

We do as he says. We drive though a cozy looking modern town surrounded by hills and woods. There are a lot of people and guards walking around. It looks pretty lively. Our tour is cut short when we approach a tall building with columns in a town square. We park the van and let the guide leads us to a spacious office. There are two people waiting for us inside, Gabriel and an older looking guy.

"Welcome to the Council! I am Council member Calder Moura, we are all very happy that you accepted our invitation," he starts.

"We are happy that the Council is finally expressing interest in this matter," I remark, I can't help it! In the corner of my eye I see that Gabriel is struggling to contain his smile. "May I ask why the sudden change?"

"I appreciate your candor. We started receiving reports about pack and coven members missing, more than usual. They disappear without any trace. We think it might be connected to the Facility. Especially since you were able to confirm that they are indeed active". I see, Gabriel was right, this information might be of use to us.

"What do you expect from us?" I ask.

"We will provide you with all our findings and reports, look through them, maybe you'll see something we missed. Also, when there is another disappearance, we'll let you know, so that you can look into it yourselves," he answers.

"When?"

"Unfortunately, yes. In the past month we've been informed about 15 cases, 45 people are missing".

"Okay, we'll do what we can," with those words I get up letting them know I'm done talking.

"I hope you will be happy with arranged accommodations. If you need anything else, tell Gabriel". Gabriel gets up as well and gestures for us to follow him. 

"It went well," he snorts when we exit the building.

"As well as it possibly could have," I shrug my shoulders. We get in the van, and he drives us to our temporary home. It's a spacious-looking two-floor house with big windows sitting next to a lake surrounded by dense greenery. It'll work.

"Everyone has been instructed that this area is off limits. Only your housekeeper and her assistant are allowed to come here. They will bring you food every day and clean the place when you need it".

"Cleaning isn't necessary, we'll do it ourselves," I say earning a groan from Ricky.

"Okay, I'll tell them. There is food in the fridge, and the training area is right through those trees. If you don't mind, I'd like to join you for the training tomorrow morning". Oh, so he wants to play.

"You think you can handle it?" I smirk.

"I'll give it my best shot," he winks and hands me the keys to the house.

"See you at 6 am then!" He waves and leaves us alone.

"Ew, were you two flirting?" Ricky whisper-yells.

"Maybe," I reply unlocking the door. At least I think we were.

The house is jaw-dropping, it has a functional modern kitchen, a spacious living room with a huge TV and a fire place, and two bedrooms downstairs, they share a bathroom. There are four more bedrooms upstairs, all of them with en suit bathrooms. I choose a master bedroom at the back of the house, it has a balcony overlooking the lake, so it was a no-brainer. Knox and Ricky choose one of the downstairs bedrooms, "for privacy reasons". The rest of us will be upstairs. Once we get unpacked and settled, we enjoy one of the most delicious meals ever - extra cheesy lasagna and a chocolate cheesecake we found in the fridge. The person who made this is a magician!

The next morning we step outside at 5:55 and find Gabriel sitting on the steps. Someone is an eager beaver!

"Good morning everyone! How do you like the house?" he asks with a bright smile.

"It's amazing! And the bed is so comfortable, I wouldn't mind living here," Rose gushes.

After a 5-mile run and a thirty-minute warm-up session, we start sparring. Rose vs Teddy, Knox vs Ricky and me vs Gabriel. Forty minutes later we are all sweaty and tired.

"Are all your trainings this intense, or are you trying to tire me out so that I don't have the energy to challenge you to a fight?" he teases.

"Nope, you're just out of shape," I respond with a deadpan expression.

"Oh, is that so?" he asks amused. "Do you want to show me how out of shape I am?"

"Why not," I accept his challenge. "Rose, you're the referee".

"No broken bones and kill strikes, if you don't want to continue the fight - tap out, you win if you keep your opponent on the floor for fifteen seconds," she sets the rules.

We shake hands and step away from each other. Before getting in position I take my top off, remaining in my sports bra and shorts.

"Are you trying to distract me?" Gabriel smirks.

"Don't need to," I smirk back.

"Ready? Go to war!" Rose yells, and we circle each other. Gabriel makes the first move, he launches a rapid succession of punches at me. I duck and block, and then front kick him when I see an opening. He stumbles a bit, but doesn't go down like I expected. I go for a side kick, but he catches my leg and uses it to pull me towards him. I smash into his chest, and use the momentum to bring him down, by tripping him with my free foot. He lands on his back, and I end up straddling him. I catch him checking me out, so I throw a punch to the side of his face. "Stop ogling me and start fighting!"

He catches my fist headed to his face and turns us over. He uses his weight to press me to the ground, "Why would I stop? I can multitask," he whispers into my ear. This is turning into a foreplay fast! I can hear Rose start counting. I snake my legs around his waist and turn us over again. Before he can grab me I jump off. He aims a kick at my ankles, so I back flip to avoid it. As soon as I land on my feet he goes for a tackle, I notice it in time to side step him and send him to the ground with a back kick. He rolls avoiding my stomp kick and sweeps my legs, so I join him on the ground with a thud. f**k, that hurts! I can feel the bump on the back of my head growing. I get back on my feet and rotate my shoulders to compose myself. Gabriel is up too, and moving closer to me. When he is in range, he fakes me out with a punch to my face, landing a blow to my ribs instead. As he throws his next punch I catch his arm and throw him over my shoulder. He flips to his stomach, and before he can push himself off the ground I jump on his back. I get him in a headlock, but my sore muscles don't allow me to keep it tight enough. He manages to grab the back of my bra and throw me off. In a matter of seconds he is on top of me caging me with his body. However, before he has me completely immobile I somehow slip my left arm out and uppercut him hard. He rolls off me with a groan, and now the two of us are laying side by side panting.

"I call it a draw, before you two kill each other," Rose declares. I don't have the energy to argue, even if I wanted to. So I just give her a thumbs up. Teddy brings both of us some water which we accept gladly. After downing the full bottle, I lay back down with the words, "I think I'll just sleep here tonight!"

"So who is out of shape now?" I hear Gabriel's tired voice from my left.

"Oh shut up!" I roll my eyes. He gets up and pulls me up as well. 

From then on Gabriel is my regular morning training partner. We have settled into our new routine quite well. It allows us to focus on our mission. We have gone through the piles of paperwork provided by the Council twice now. I think they are right, the Facility has something to do with it. Prior to each incident a group of humans was spotted nearby. Rumors of this reached us at the Blood Moon too, but we were told it was hunter activity. Now we know that's not the case. I can't help but think that we could have prevented at least some of these disappearances, had we looked into them before. These thoughts aren't letting me sleep tonight. At 2 am I give up, throw a hoodie over my tank top, put on my sneakers and go for a walk. I find a big rock halfway in the water and sit on it.

"Are you going to keep standing there like a creep?" I ask when I feel his presence behind me. I don't need to turn around to know that it's him.

"I didn't want to startle you. I was worried you'd fall into the lake," he jokes coming closer.

"You can't sleep either?" I ask. He simply nods, leaning against my rock. We stay like that for a while, staring at the water in front of us.

"I was actually on my way to my favorite spot. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure," I respond.

"The trail there is quite rough, so you'll have to ride me," I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "In my wolf form," he clarifies. That's going to be interesting. He steps behind a big tree to undress and shift. I'm actually really excited to meet his wolf, I've never seen it before. In a minute I see a big silver wolf emerge. He is magnificent, I can't wait to touch his fur! He approaches me slowly, as if not to scare me. I roll my eyes at him, jump off the rock and jog up to him.

"Hi handsome! May I touch you?" I ask just in case. He starts wagging his bushy tail, and I take it as a yes.   I run my hand through his fur, it's almost silky to the touch. He starts purring which makes me laugh. He lays on the ground and looks at me and then his back. I climb on top of him, and hug him around the neck. After that he takes off running. Well, to me it feels more like flying. I enjoy the cool wind in my face so much that I close my eyes. I open them only when I feel him slowing down. I look around and see that we are in a little meadow covered in tiny flowers. The moon is right above it, making everything look magical. I get off the wolf and lay on the ground. He plops down right next to me and starts licking my face.

"Ew, stop it! It's disgusting," I giggle. I get up and take off running with him hot on my heels. He nips at my foot and I fall down. I roll onto my back and whine, "That's cheating!" He lays on top of me unfazed. I guess both he and Gabriel enjoy being on top. I look into his beautiful stormy grey eyes and scratch him behind his ears. "Okay, get off me, I can't breathe!" I lie. He moves a little to the side, leaving his head on my chest. I'm drifting off to sleep when he nudges me awake and points to his back. Time to go home.

We are back at the lake in no time. The wolf goes to shift, while I decide to wash my face in the lake to get rid of his saliva. I am wiping the water off with the bottom of my hoodie when I hear "Sorry about that" behind me.

"You wolf is very friendly," I chuckle and turn around. I can't help but notice how close we are to each other.

"Not with everyone," he responds. I feel like he is hinting at something, but his low voice, burning eyes and the warmth of his body are making it difficult for me to think straight. So I do the only thing that comes to my mind, I stand on my tippy toes and kiss him on the lips. It's more of a smooch really, after which I take a step back and lean against the rock I was sitting on earlier. It takes him a while to process what just happened. I almost give up waiting when he steps forward, presses his body against mine and captures my lips with his. I open my mouth inviting him in. I wrap my arms around his neck and run my hands through his hair, as silky as the wolf's fur. His hands aren't wasting time either, first he moves them up and down my sides before moving them under the hoodie. His fingers skim the naked skin between my top and shorts, teasing me. His hands move up my back under my top and then down, resting on my ass. He squeezes it hard, making me gasp in surprise and pleasure. I don't want this kiss to end, but he pulls away. He leans his forehead against mine for a couple of seconds, then removes my arms from around his neck. I frown, not really sure what's happening.

"I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow," he says without looking me in the eye and leaves, just like that. What the f**k? Did I come on too strong? Is he not interested? Why did he kiss me then? Why did I feel his erection? I might have imagined that kiss at my birthday party, but I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine anything just now!