She would have to confront him about it before he started feeling like he was responsible for her financially. There was nothing worse to her than feeling like a burden, and if he was to begin acting like this, doing these things without even consulting her first, she wasn’t going to tolerate it. Not only was it insulting, but surely, it was hard on him. He had his own life to worry about. She had to clear things up.
“You got any cigarettes?”
Val cringed, locking her apartment door and trying to ignore the man on the corner who always tended to ask her for things. He lived just a few apartments down from her, and when she had first moved in, she had given him a little bit of money just to appease him. At first, she thought it would be a good idea to keep the scary shifters off her back, but now, she saw what a mistake it had been. Roger, and a few of his friends now, thought she was a pushover, and now they felt comfortable asking her for things all the time. Sometimes, she obliged and sometimes she didn’t; and right now, she wasn’t in the mood.
“You already know I don’t smoke, Roger,” she said, walking briskly down the sidewalk.
“Will you just help me out? You got you some money? Because I do smoke,” he shouted after her.
Val shook her head without looking back, and she heard Roger mutter and curse under his breath. His habits weren’t her responsibility, though, even if she didn’t have to pay off her student loan any longer. She was tired of feeling like she had to bend over backwards just to stay safe in a dangerous community. Especially now that she knew what it felt like to have someone on her side who cared about her safety and well-being. Whether or not Gabe wanted to do it. And even if she didn’t want him to.
“I don’t have anything for you.”
She said this more to herself than to Roger, because, by then, she was turning the corner and heading toward the bus shelter. She never felt as anxious during the day as she did in the bus shelter outside of the dingy apartment complex. It was so low income that all the riffraff in Stonybrooke managed to find their way there and stay public fixtures. They spent their days asking other people for money so they could support their habits and then retreating into their rooms to have obnoxious and loud parties and high-intensity fights, often full of racist and prejudice slurs against humans and other shifters. In a way, she was glad she was too busy to be home for long. All she needed was somewhere to sleep and to keep her few possessions. Even if she didn’t feel safe, at least she had that much. She knew what it was like to have nothing, and that was worse.
“Let me give you a ride.”
As usual, the deep rumble of Gabe’s voice was warmly shocking, but she wouldn’t let herself be fooled by her physiological reaction.
“You’ve already done more than enough,” she said, glaring at him. His eyes narrowed in confusion, and then realization.
“You can’t be saddled with those loans forever. And how hard you’re working isn’t good for you. Not only that, but living somewhere like this? You could get killed even if you’re keeping your head down. None of these people would ever do anything for you. All these people are dangerous.”
Val’s face grew hot. She hadn’t wanted him to see where she lived. In fact, she had never told him. Seeing him there had been a major surprise.
“How did you know where to find me? This is my home,” Val said, trying to keep her voice low so her neighbors wouldn’t overhear. “Don’t you find that a little bit invasive?”
Gabe shrugged halfheartedly. “You know where I live. Fair is fair. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to help smelling you if I tried. Don’t blame me. The wolf brought me here. I was just going to go to work.”
“Ugh,” Val grumbled. “You know, you’re really an impossible man.”
Still, it was nice to be able to be back inside the safety of Gabriel’s car and avoid the watery, unsteady gaze of drunks and addicts as they watched her ride away instead of being stuck sitting next to them on the bus all the way to school. He smelled a lot better too.
“I’m going to pay you back for this, you know,” Val said, jutting her chin in determination. “I can’t be having you sweeping in to save me all the time.”
“Why not? That’s my job now. I brought it on myself, and you might as well just let it happen. There is nothing more I can do about it. Even the Elder said so.”
“Don’t you guys take human needs into consideration too? Why is it that all you shifters are able to do is worry about what your culture says? You guys are guests on earth as far as the research I’ve found has told me. Maybe you should be taking my needs into consideration more than your own. Because this is really stressing me out.”
Gabriel seemed thrown off by this, and turned to look at her, an angry and wild look in his eyes. “If you don’t like the laws here, you didn’t have to stay in Stonybrooke. This is our turf now. The planet had to make way for the shifters somehow, and wherever there are portals, the earth belongs to us now. You’re the one who chose to come here. And now you have to live by the laws of the land. Whether you like the way we do something or not.”
Gabriel gripped the steering wheel, the anger visible beneath his handsome features. “And really, I’m never going to see just what makes you feel so bad about having someone who wants to take care of you. Most people never have that. They’d consider themselves lucky to. And if they do have it, it’s taken away in an instant.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but I know for a fact that we can never be together. You will never love me. Everything that we are doing is a waste of time, and you’re only doing all of this out of some sense of stupid obligation that doesn’t need to exist. It’s just stressing us both out. Stop coddling me. I have always made it on my own. Always. For my entire life. And the last thing I need is someone hanging around all the time because he thinks I’m not doing a good enough job of being independent.”
“That’s not what I think,” Gabe growled.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway,” Val grumbled. He was such a stubborn asshole sometimes. He refused to see her perspective on the whole thing. He was so blinded by what he thought his duty as a wolf was that Valerie and her needs were completely overlooked.
“You’re right,” Gabe growled. “What’s done is done. And maybe we can’t be together. We already know that much. But the least you can do is respect ancient shifter laws when you’re living in our territories. You don’t want to find out what happens to people who disrespect my culture.”
A wave of fear chilled Val and she turned away from Gabe. They spent the rest of the car ride in an icy silence. He dropped her off in front of the school, not even bothering to drive her to the building where her first class was. She was eager to get away from him, and hurried to class, doing her best not to cry. She hadn’t asked this man to come into her life like this, and now that he had, she was feeling very overwhelmed. Maybe it would be better if she did leave after all.
But once she got to class, all thoughts of Gabe went out the window and she was consumed by curriculum. Just because things had been stressful didn’t mean she had to give up on doing what she had come there to do. She would get through this just like she got through everything else, and she would be all the stronger for it. She was never going to let anybody get in her way. Not even Gabriel.
***
Val tossed her backpack over her shoulder and headed down the hallway. She had to stop by the library before she left, and in a way, she was glad. She was dreading going to the record store. Even though they had spent the night cleaning up after the robbery, she knew Randall was going to be full of questions, and she wasn’t sure she knew exactly how to answer them. Gabe had said he would take care of it all for her, but she was tired of him inserting himself into her life. She would deal with Randall without him.
Val turned the corner and stopped suddenly. The group of boys that constantly harassed her had congregated in the hallway, and were talking in hushed whispers amongst themselves. For some reason, she felt compelled to li
sten, and hid herself behind the doorway of the classroom nearest to them.
“It didn’t work,” Ren said. “Apparently, Hacker didn’t find what they were looking for, and then he got slaughtered in the alley. We know where it is. We just have to be more careful next time.”
“Who would have thought that sexy little bitch would have such a pair of balls on her?” The tall dark-haired guy said, causing everyone else to cackle wildly.
“It’s not funny, you morons. This is important. If she interferes again, you know what we have to do.”
“It’ll be a waste of a nice piece of ass,” the dark-haired guy said.
Val trembled in rage, but she couldn’t do a thing about it. What were they talking about? Did they have something to do with the break-in of the record store? They hadn’t been there. She would have recognized them immediately. So what was going on? They hadn’t even taken anything. They were looking for something.
“It doesn’t even matter,” Ren said, waving his hand dismissively. “We are just going to have to be more careful. And the next time we see her, just leave her alone. We don’t need any confrontation right now. We’ll deal with everything as it comes; no more no less.”
His lackeys reluctantly agreed, and they went on down the hallway, leaving Valerie with more questions and confusion than she had to start with. As much as she had to admit it, she needed to tell Gabe about this. Only he would know what to do with the information.
She sighed heavily and made her way to the bus stop. She didn’t want to skip class, but the idea of staying there with Ren and his men lerking just around the corner made her feel a little sick. The sooner she told Gabriel about this the better. Whether she liked it or not.
13.
Gabe studied Val’s sincere green eyes, until she became uncomfortable and looked down at her hands.
“I wasn’t sure whether I was being paranoid or not, but it makes sense now,” he said slowly, more to himself than to Valerie.
“What makes sense?”
Gabe’s chest burned. He was angry, yes, but he was struggling with being so near to the young woman again. It was easy for him when he was by himself to get angry and say he was never going to deal with her again; that he was better off without her and that he was going to love his wife and his wife alone until the last of his days on Earth.
But when Val was right there with him, beside him, looking at him like that, it was nearly impossible to fight his feelings for her. The wolf had staked its claim for a reason. She was his. And he had to fight tooth and nail to keep from making that claim on her physical. He refused to let his wolf take over. The only woman he wanted in his bed was Molly, and that was the end of it.
“Not every shifter in Stonybrooke is good, you know. Some of them come here with their own agendas. There have been a lot of rumors going around about a group of power hungry men who want to harness all the magic in Stonybrooke so they can use it toward their own ends, whatever that might be. I usually just blow off that kind of thing.”
“Yeah,” Val said, her gentle voice like a balm on Gabe’s soul. “It seems unreal that anyone could be so selfish.”
“Yeah…”
Gabe was captivated, once again, by the beautiful, flawless features of Val’s face. She was ridiculously pretty. He looked away, frustrated both at himself and at her.
“So, why aren’t you dating anybody anyway?” Gabe grumbled, standing up from his kitchen table and running his hands through his thick hair. “You’re a pretty girl. You deserve a nice young man to spend some time with.”
“Why am I single?” Val asked, looking suddenly very put on the spot. “I don’t know…I just have my own thing going, I guess.”
Gabe nodded. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if he had heard her say anything else about it. He knew he wouldn’t be happy to hear about her dating someone else, but he also wasn’t happy knowing she seemed to blow off male attention regardless of the fact they were continually drawn together, for one reason or another, as if the universe had made its decision. Didn’t he have any say in who he spent his time with? Why did it have to be this girl?
“Well, I guess it’s not your fault that SU is full of idiots like those guys you overheard talking. I didn’t realize how valuable the land is that my store is on. I haven’t completely paid off the mortgage yet, so it’s not technically mine. That must be why they have been trying to fuck with my business. If business is bad, I can’t afford the payments and then they can swoop in and steal it right out from under me.”
“But what do they want with it?” Val asked, her pretty brow knitted in confusion. “What’s so special about this area?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Gabe said, though the wheels in his head were turning now. “It could be anything, but I have a theory…”
Val sighed and stood up, carrying her empty coffee cup to the sink and washing it. She did it so naturally, as if she were fully at home in his kitchen. And for some reason, it didn’t even bother him. It sent a surge of heat through his body; the wolf was pleased.
“Is it a theory a human can hear?” she asked, glancing back at him from over her shoulder as she dried the mug and placed it carefully back in the cabinet she had seen Gabe retrieve it from.
“Well, it’s kind of stupid. I don’t even think they’re real; just myth. But I can’t help but wonder if what these guys are after doesn’t have something to do with the portals.”
“Portals?”
“Right. When the shifters came to Earth, it’s said that each group landing created a portal back to the world where we’re from. But that’s just myths and rumors that probably have no standing or any basis in reality whatsoever.”
“You think those guys are looking for a way back to the world where the shifters came from?” Val asked, turning to face him.
Again, the wolf longed to take over; he could take her right then and there, against the kitchen counter. And he knew she would want him just as much. He had already been able to smell it for himself…the memory haunted him in the dead of night, when all he wanted was a peaceful night’s sleep. His longing for her tortured him.
“I don’t think it’s as innocent as all that. The portals are rumored to be a source of great power. If you were to find their location, anything could happen. It depends on the person who located it. Maybe it would take you back to the original world where the shifters came from, or maybe they would use the portal to harness the power there and use it to serve their own twisted agenda. It could be dangerous.”
“We should tell the Council,” Val said, her beautiful face serious and determined. It took all he had not to kiss the firm line of her lip as she stared at him, her fists balled at her sides; ready and willing to do whatever it took to protect Stonybrooke right alongside him.
“We won’t do anything, kid. No humans are allowed at the Square without a formal invitation. But you’re right. I’ll let them know what’s going on. It’s better than being ambushed.”
Val’s defensive stance relaxed a bit and she sighed, nodding slightly.
“All right. If they think there’s something magical in this area, they aren’t going to stop looking until they get it.”
“You’re right,” Gabe growled, a sudden fierce urge to protect the girl consuming him. “I can’t let you go anywhere until this is resolved. You’re in danger. They already know your face.”
“What?!”
Val’s beautiful face changed from determined to outrage in less than a second, and Gabe nearly laughed.
“I’m serious,” Gabe said, shaking his head. “You’re not safe. Especially not in that shitty little apartment complex of yours. I’m going to drive you up to get whatever you need, but you aren’t going to stay there another second longer. Not until we know what’s going on.”
“You can’t do this to me,” Val said, shaking her head wildly. “That’s like kidnapping or something.”
Gabe sighed, locking his eyes on hers and mustering the most seri
ous expression he could. He had to make her understand the urgency of the situation. She had nearly been abducted and raped, and now he was starting to figure out why. He had to protect her, no matter what the cost.
“It isn’t kidnapping if you can just see the damn sense in it!” Gabe said, his voice a low growl. “You know that place isn’t safe. And there isn’t anything in this house that’s going to hurt you. All you have to do is lay low. I won’t even charge you rent. Is that really so hard for you?”
Val glared down at the ground, her face proud and flushed. He had never been more attracted to anyone than he was to her in that moment. She was so young, and yet, she had the soul of a wizened warrior. To top it all off, damn was she attractive.
“Look, it’s just temporary. I’m not going to do anything to you. We’ll stay out of each other’s way. You can talk to your professors about finishing as much of your coursework from home as possible, and on days you need to go to lectures, I’ll go with you. Be your body guard. Just until we figure out what the hell is going on and how to make it stop. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, and that’s final.”
Valerie’s fierce eyes turned to him, her expression impossible to read. Her energy was all over the place, and when she opened her mouth, Gabe was convinced it was going to be so she could more easily bite his head off.
He was stunned when she finally spoke, and her words hung in the air between them as if stuck there by Velcro.
“All right,” she said quietly. “But we’ll have to protect each other.”
14.
RANGER Page 15