by Leela Ash
“I don’t know why you got yourself into this,” Val grumbled. “You’re just going to end up resenting me because you think you have to take care of me or something when you don’t want to.”
It was just what her parents had been like with her before they’d given her up to the foster care system. The idea made her sick.
“Well, maybe I needed someone to take care of,” Gabe said with half a shrug. “I don’t have anything else going for me right now, that’s for damn sure. Who knows why the wolf did what he did. It’s not like we have to do anything together. I’ll just hang around and keep you out of trouble.”
Val grew quiet and considered this. It was a relief to know she wasn’t sexually obligated to him, even if she couldn’t take her eyes off the guy. And it was true, she was attracted to him. Almost enough that it scared her when she was near him. But he was like twice her age. He probably just always wanted to have a daughter, and now that they were stuck together, he had a reason to feel like he was some kind of amazing father doing things like taking her to work and picking her up from school.
It was sweet, in a way, but it would be sweeter if there weren’t all kinds of ancient laws obligating them to each other. That was a lot of pressure for such a new relationship. And just what kind of relationship were they supposed to have, anyway? Was he like her husband now? Or were they able to simply act the way they were acting now, with him being paternal and caring and protective, with no questions asked; no weirdness or sexual tension whatsoever. Either way, it made her uncomfortable. She had never had a father before and she certainly didn’t need one now.
But when she caught Gabe’s eye from across the truck, the anguish roiling behind his brown eyes was enough to make her second-guess whether or not she was going to have to sidestep that unfortunate sexual tension. He was a ridiculously handsome man, and that meant there were things about him she was just going to have to try to ignore if things were going to be able to remain even semi normal between them.
Thankfully, they reached the record store before her mind could consider anything more about it, and Gabe parked right outside.
“Let me know if you need anything,” he said, finally holding her gaze. “I mean it.”
Val was lost in his gaze and nodded despite herself. There was an unspoken bond between them now, something she had to honor, whether she liked it or not. It was up to him to care for her, and it was up to her to tell him when she needed care. Whether she liked it or not, Valerie had been claimed.
7.
Gabe frowned. How had his numbers dropped so drastically over the past three years? He hadn’t been doing anything differently, and frankly, business had been great. He had a lot of regular clients who loved to come and go. None of them were stingy either; when they walked in, they rarely spent less than a hundred dollars on health foods and equipment for their home gyms.
So why was it that every year seemed to be harder than the last? He should be to the point where he could begin franchising his store; at least in Stonybrooke. But, somehow, it seemed impossible to get ahead. What the hell was going on?
“Hey, what are you up to?”
Gabe was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Valerie’s voice, and he frowned deeply.
“What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Do you need anything?”
Val pursed her lips at him, her entire demeanor deflated by the question. He almost regretted asking it…almost.
“I don’t need anything. I just wanted to come by and thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I could have lost two jobs if it weren’t for you. And if you want me to go to the Council with you and tell them we made a mistake, I will. Really…”
Gabe looked up at the girl, studying her briefly despite himself. She was certainly pretty; a small wisp of a thing, with her emerald eyes wide and innocent as she stared at him. For some reason, he was agitated by the reaction to her he always seemed to have. The wolf had claimed her, partly due to that reaction, and it was something he resented having so little control over.
“Actually, kid, it doesn’t work like that,” Gabe grumbled, looking back down at the books sprawled out in front of him. “We can’t just tell them we changed our minds. We’re committed. That’s for life.”
“But it’s stupid!” Val exclaimed.
Gabe raised his brow at her, shocked that a human would have the gall to shit on centuries of ancient shifter tradition, and when she seemed to realize just how big of an error it was, her face grew pale and she backed away from him, raising her hands in front of her face protectively.
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I just mean, you shouldn’t have to throw your life away for someone like me. I’m not worth it.”
Now, Gabe was pissed.
“What makes you think you’re not worth it?” Gabe asked, glaring hard at her. “You don’t think someone should be looking out for you? Why is it you don’t already have someone hanging around you? A boyfriend or something?”
Val blinked hard, apparently confused by the turn the conversation had taken.
“A boyfriend?” she asked, furrowing her brow as she considered the question. “I don’t need anything like that. I want to take care of myself.”
Gabe laughed, a short, exasperated sound, and Valerie glared at him.
“What? Just because you’ve helped me out a few times doesn’t make you my frickin’ savior! I don’t owe you anything, you know.”
“All right, guess you’ve proven me wrong. You can do everything on your own. No questions asked,” Gabe growled, raising his brow at her. “That’s why I had to come out there and get those assholes to stop pestering you.”
“I could have handled it myself,” Valerie said, her voice low and angry now. “I’ve done it long enough without you butting in and ruining both of our lives!”
They stared at each other, angry sparks flying between them. Gabe hadn’t asked for something like this to happen. It was all thanks to the damn wolf inside of him, telling him she was apparently desirable; that she needed him somehow. That was a laugh. And that had nothing to do with the way he had been planning to spend the rest of his life. What the hell were they going to do now that they were stuck with each other for the long haul?
“If you maybe took your head out of your ass for a second, kiddo, you would see that you’re the one with the better end of the deal here. You’re new to Stonybrooke. I can tell. I know you just started over there at the record store and you also work at the gas station. You go to school. You’re fucking swamped and you’re a human, alone, in a town full of shifters. You’re going to need an ally sooner or later, and if you’re so quick to dismiss our claims and customs, then you’re not going to have what you need when you need it. Do you get me?”
Valerie glared at him, her green eyes flashing as the storm behind them grew. “I told you, I’m not going to be beholden to anyone, and especially not a man like you who thinks he has everything figured out about everybody. Just leave me alone.”
Gabe scoffed and looked back down at his books, and Valerie turned on her heel, heading toward the doorway. She left the store with a slam of the door and Gabe sighed heavily to himself. All she had done was come into the store to thank him. To tell him she was willing to let him off the hook for putting himself in such a stupid situation. So why was it he had reacted so adversely to the idea? Why had he defended his right to protect her? He must be a bigger idiot than he originally thought.
Gabe couldn’t help but follow Val with his eyes as she stormed across the street and back into the record store, where she proceeded to have an animated conversation with Randall, who laughed and shook his head as she apparently told him everything that had happened between them.
But Randall was a shifter. He knew exactly how these things worked, and maybe he would be able to talk some sense into her.
And that was all well and good, but Molly was gone. Without his wife around, Gabe didn’t know who was supposed to talk sense in
to him.
8.
The next week went by without any interference from Gabe, and Val couldn’t be happier about it. After their last confrontation, she couldn’t imagine facing him again. Not only had she insulted his heritage, but she had completely lost her cool. That was abnormal. She had to be more careful; living in a shifter community meant there were different rules for them to follow.
She had to take care of herself, not make enemies. Val didn’t have anybody to help her and she didn’t need anybody to feel like it was their job to do things for her. Burning bridges seemed like a bad idea, but that was also what she had to do to maintain her independence. If she didn’t manage that much at the very least, then she would let her guard down and her entire system would crumble.
She wouldn’t let that happen, not for any man, for any reason. Even if it was an insult to his heritage. There was always a way, and Val would continue to remain ambitious and independent without letting someone like Gabe talk her into thinking she needed help of any kind.
In fact, all that had happened since she arrived in Stonybrooke was that she had been practically killing herself to pay for school and make rent and pay the bills. She couldn’t even afford her car payments anymore, so she had been stuck using public transportation ever since she’d arrived. She was getting sick and tired of being affected by the ancient shifter customs that had inserted Gabe into her life. In fact, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.
She had the day off at school and at the record store, so Val braced herself to confront Gabe and caught the bus to Wayne Avenue, where the record store and Shifter Fit were located across from each other on the small strip, often full of foot traffic. The bus ride was long right from her apartment, so she had time to prepare herself. As hard as she had been working to make ends meet, it was futile. She had to bend over backwards for every hard won credit, and now that Gabe had gotten himself involved in her life, she couldn’t take two steps without worrying he was going to show up and make her feel like she was helpless.
What she was going to do was simple. She would drop out of school, give up on the pressures of trying to receive her degree in a place where she clearly didn’t belong. Then she would leave Stonybrooke and let Gabe move on with his life without feeling like he owed her something. It was a simple, practical solution. The kind that had always helped her land on her feet when everything around her seemed to be falling apart.
When the bus finally turned down Wayne Avenue, Val’s stomach knotted. The idea of facing Gabe again made her nervous beyond belief. Nothing seemed to go right when they were together. Still, she was relieved to have a solution she could live with, whether the confrontation was going to be hard on her or not.
“Gabriel,” Val said, her voice ringing through the storefront.
There was a woman standing in the front aisle, looking at protein powders, who gave Val a dirty look, but she ignored the woman and continued through the store in search of Gabe.
She found him in the back, restocking the fresh fruit with a pensive, serious look on his handsome face. Val almost had second thoughts about leaving Stonybrooke when she saw him hard at work, his mysterious eyes narrowed as he did what had to be done to make his business thrive. There was no doubt he was a hard worker. He had probably been working like this since she had been born.
And yet, she couldn’t live knowing she was a burden on anybody. She worked hard to carry her own weight and make her way in the world, and if anybody thought she couldn’t do it alone, that insulted her to the depths of her core.
“Gabe, we need to talk,” Val said, taking a deep breath and stepping forward.
She wasn’t sure he had even noticed she was there, but he continued along his way as if he wasn’t surprised in the least.
“What else is there to talk about?” Gabe said gruffly, standing up straight and heading toward her, carrying a box full of apples in one arm and an empty bag in his other hand. “I’m pretty sure we covered everything the last time, right?”
“I don’t think that’s good enough for me,” Val said, butterflies throwing themselves around in her stomach as he passed; he smelled fresh, like the outdoors. The longer she looked at him the harder it was for her to tell him what she had decided. The idea of never seeing him again almost made her panic. Maybe she was starting to like him more than she had thought.
“Well, you’re probably not going to think anything is good enough for you,” Gabe said with a casual shrug. “But I’m bound by my pack to protect you, and if I don’t, that’s my dishonor. You kind of have nothing to do with it.”
“I know…that’s my problem,” Val said flatly. “That’s why…”
“See you, Gretchen!” Gabe shouted over Val’s head to the woman who had been in the front of the store. The bell rang as she left, giving Gabriel a small wave, and then they were alone in the store.
“That’s why I want to leave.”
Gabe froze, his dark eyes narrowing.
“What do you mean, you want to leave?”
Val’s voice froze in her throat. She had made the decision on a whim, a frustrated, angry whim, and now that she was forced to say the words out loud, the truth of that felt heavy in her heart. And yet, it was the only way to rid Gabe of these shackles.
“I’m going to quit school. I can’t afford it anyway. And if I’m not in school, there’s no reason for me to stay here. So I’m going to leave. Maybe go out to the coast and live by the ocean…”
Gabe’s eyes flashed, and Valerie found herself captive in his gaze, his strong hands gripping her shoulders passionately as his face contorted with an emotion she had never seen him display before.
“You don’t have to do that. I don’t need you to leave. I just need you to be okay.”
Gabe searched her eyes and Val’s heart drummed heavily in her chest. She was overwhelmed by the intensity of his handsome features; the sincerity of his deep brown eyes.
And suddenly, their lips met and Val’s body was shocked into an awareness unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She closed her eyes, furious at herself for her forwardness. She had kissed him, not the other way around, and they were both electrified by the power of it.
Finally, Gabe pulled away and dropped his hands from her shoulders. He pinched the bridge of his nose and refused to look at Val, and her stomach sank. She had made a huge mistake.
“Could you please leave now?” Gabriel asked, his voice low and dark and menacing. “The store, not Stonybrooke.”
Val was too stunned to speak and turned around on her heel. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. What was she supposed to do now? The idea of leaving was unconscionable. She was drawn to him despite herself. Not only did she find it impossible to reconcile the idea of being with a shifter who felt obligated to take care of her, but he was old enough to be her father. Or at least a much older, very handsome uncle or mentor of some sort.
She closed her eyes and tried to shake the thoughts away. Maybe it was stupid to leave school so close to finishing the semester. She would see it through until she received her credits, at the very least. Maybe then she would know what the best move to make would be. And until then, she would just have to do her best to avoid Gabe entirely. Even if she had to quit her job at the record store, it would be easier than dealing with his stupid claim for the rest of her life.
9.
The wolf inside Gabe was thrilled by the kiss and couldn’t stop obsessing over it, but Gabe himself was furious. He felt physically sick. The only woman whose lips had been on his had died. The last person he had kissed, before Val, had had her impression on his lips erased by some human he had gotten himself stupidly entangled with.
Gabe closed the store early and went immediately home. What had that girl been thinking, ambushing him like that? Just because he had claimed her didn’t mean they had to act like a couple or something, did it? She was saying one thing; that she wanted to leave and stop being a burden on his life, then the next
minute, her lips were on his and she was trying to push the importance of his wife right out of his life. But she would never replace Molly. Never.
The more Gabe thought about it, the more furious he became, until he was passing by his house and on his way downtown. He parked outside the Council’s building, his chest tight and his heart angry. The wolf was warning him against going inside; it was against his nature to refuse the role he had accepted within the pack, even if he was unhappy about being tethered to a young woman who, despite being very attractive and sweet, neither wanted his help nor respected his devotion to his late wife. He just couldn’t let that go on any longer.
“Gabriel, what do you need?”
“Leon, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
Leon was alone behind the check-in desk, but glanced behind him and gave a mysterious nod to someone Gabe couldn’t see.
“All right, Gabriel. Right this way.”
Leon stood from the desk and began walking, leading Gabe to a small conference room off to the side. It was opposite the room where Gabe and Molly had been married in so long ago. The memory made his stomach churn. Why had things gone so horribly wrong? There was no way he could continue on the path he was on; not with an unpredictable young girl who made him angry and confused about everything.
“So tell me, Gabriel, what is it that brings you here today?”
“I need to take back my claim. I can’t live like this anymore. The whole thing was just a huge mistake.”
The wolf inside whimpered, angry at him for turning his back on the pack, but Gabe set his jaw, determined to take care of this problem once and for all. It would be better for both of them. If he didn’t believe that, he wouldn’t be there, begging the Elders to give him his life back.