by W. H. Vega
“Agreed.” Zane stood up. “Good night.”
Michael nodded, and Zane left the house.
It wasn’t a restful night, but Zane managed a few hours of sleep. He was up not long after the sun, and he showered and dressed, trying to take his time. He wanted to speak with Gabby immediately, but he knew it was far too early to go over to Alicia’s.
His blood boiled as he thought of Grayson comforting Alicia in the wake of Liam’s death.
Zane padded around his house, trying to pick up. One of the older clan widows, Mila, cleaned his house, and he was grateful for it. He was not much when it came to domestic tasks, and sometimes Mila was kind enough to leave him food in the fridge.
He pulled open the fridge, and sure enough, there were three Tupperware containers filled with chicken, sausages and spaghetti. She had also left a large plate egg and bacon casserole. If she had been standing in front of him, he would have given her a hug and a kiss.
Gratefully, he heated up the casserole, forking the delicious food into his mouth and washing it down with a container of orange juice. He really should pay Mila more, and ask her to stock his fridge once a week. Then he wouldn’t spend so many nights eating Ramen Noodles and protein bars.
When he was nearly crawling out of his skin, he decided that he couldn’t wait any longer to see Gabby; it had to be now. He jumped into his Hummer and drove the mile to Alicia’s house. He could have walked it, but he wanted to see Gabby as soon as possible.
Before he could knock, Alicia pulled the back door open.
Damn. She looked like shit.
Zane didn’t think she had slept one bit. Her blonde hair was knotted and messy, and there were dark circles under her red-rimmed eyes.
“You know that she doesn’t want to see you, right?” Alicia asked bluntly.
“Yes, I know.” He paused. “Alicia, I am so, so sorry about Liam.”
Alicia nodded, and Zane knew she was struggling not to cry. She held the door open and Zane walked in. His bear growled when he saw Grayson sitting at the kitchen table, looking smug.
“Good morning,” Grayson greeted him.
“Morning,” Zane muttered.
“She’s still sleeping,” Alicia said, coming in behind Zane. “Coffee’s hot if you want a cup. You know where the mugs are.”
He helped himself, hoping it pissed Grayson off that he knew his way around Alicia’s kitchen. He looked over at Grayson, who did seem to be miffed.
Good.
Stupid fucker.
Zane made up his coffee and leaned against the kitchen sink as he drank it. He looked out the back window as Grayson and Alicia spoke in low tones. Just when Zane didn’t think he could take it anymore, he heard a toilet flush upstairs and the sounds of someone moving around.
He put his cup down and headed upstairs, not waiting for Alicia or Grayson to say anything. The door to Gabby’s room was closed, and he knocked.
“Just a minute,” came Gabby’s muffled voice and Zane wondered if she was getting dressed. The thought aroused him and he tried to push those feelings away. Walking into her room with a hard-on would not go over well.
“Alright. Come in.”
Zane opened the door, and the first thing he noticed was that Gabby was squeezed into one of Alicia’s tops.
Holy shit.
Her tits were practically falling out, and he knew he was staring like a creeper.
Gabby’s face turned red and twisted into a scowl; she quickly crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I need to explain.”
“You don’t need to explain anything!” she said, her voice raising an octave. “I heard everything I need to know on your porch last night!”
“Please, Gabby,” Zane heard his voice crack. “It’s alright if you never want to speak to me again. I don’t blame you for hating me. I hate myself for what I’ve done, and have since before I even met you or developed feelings for you.”
There.
He said it.
He had feelings for Gabby.
Gabby seemed surprised by his admission too, but she still turned away from him. “You killed my father,” she accused, a sob caught in her throat. “I basically have no parents, thanks to you. My father’s death is what turned my mother into an alcoholic. At six years old, I had to grow up. By the time I was nine, I was practically raising Lucy!” She whirled around, fixing an angry stare on him.
“Christ, Gabby, I’m sorry,” he said, sinking down into a chair in the corner of the room. “I was just a kid! I was fourteen. I didn’t understand where the boundaries stopped and started, and I was late to shift.”
Gabby stared unfalteringly at him, tears running down her cheeks.
“The later cubs shift, the more power they have. I didn’t know my own strength. And I didn’t realize that I was outside our lands. Your father must have thought I was trespassing, so he came after me. I—I thought he was attacking me.” He hung his head in shame. “I defended myself. I didn’t know what to do. I had never been in my bear form before.”
He stared at the ground, wanting to pour out every last detail of that terrible ordeal, but he knew that Gabby didn’t need or want all of that information.
“Have you known all along?” she demanded, and Zane looked up at her.
“No,” he said hoarsely. “I didn’t realize it until the other night. The day that you had ordered Mick to leave you alone, and everyone felt the power in your order. That night, one of the elders in the clan made the connection between you and your father.”
Gabby’s face twisted in disgust. “The night that you came to my apartment? Before I was brought to these lands against my will?”
He hung his head in shame again. “Yes.”
“So that’s why!” she raged. “I knew you were acting funny that night at my apartment! It was because you knew! And you knew how angry I would be!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Just—just get out! I can’t even look at you!”
“Gabby! Please!” He grabbed her arm to spin her around, desperate to kiss her, to touch her, to feel her warmth.
He felt the electricity between them.
And he knew Gabby felt it too.
They stared at one another, heat coursing between the two of them, until Gabby wrenched her hand from his.
“Fuck you, Zane,” she spat. “Now get out.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gabby watched Zane leave, looking more broken then she had ever seen a person look. It just didn’t seem right. Zane was always so confident, so sure of himself, almost to the point of arrogance, so to see him so dejected just seemed, well, wrong.
But she let it go.
He had killed her father!
She sat down on the bed, staring out the small window. Beyond Alicia’s property line were trees for as far as Gabby could see.
The forest.
Filled with other freak show shifter bears, as well as other clans who wanted to get their hands, or paws, on her.
She shuddered as she thought about how close she had come to death the previous night, and how foolish she had been to put her sister and mother in danger. Gabby knew now that she had no choice but to accept her fate.
The thought depressed her, and she burst into tears.
How could she ever be happy here?
How would she ever learn to feel comfortable around these people?
But a small voice inside her head told her that it might be nice to have a community, a family.
Gabby had always been a bit of an outcast thanks to her mother’s drunkenness. She had never been able to have friends over to the house, and as she got older, it was harder and harder to maintain relationships. Her two closest friends had gone away to college, and then remained in those towns, vowing to never return to Russet Falls. Other than Paul and Lucy, who else did Gabby interact with?
It was a depressing realization, and it made her feel even worse about hers
elf. She did her best to focus on Lucy instead. She needed to find out what Quentin had done to help her, and she needed to find out when and how often she could see Lucy. She could live without a lot of things, but she couldn’t live without her sister.
Determined, she stomped down the stairs. She was going to give Alicia and Grayson a piece of her mind and get some answers. But all the hot air went out of her when she caught sight of Alicia’s face.
Wow.
She must not have slept at all last night, and suddenly Gabby remembered about Alicia’s nephew.
Crap.
No way was she going to make a big fuss in front of Alicia while she was dealing with her own issues.
“Good morning,” Alicia said, sounding as if she had been crying all night. “Want me to make you some breakfast?” She moved toward the cabinets, but Gabby quickly jumped in to stop her.
“No! I’m fine! I don’t want you to go out of your way to do anything for me. You’re dealing with enough.”
Alicia gave her a sad smile. “Thank you. But I know that you’re dealing with quite a lot too.”
Gabby nodded. “It’s fine. Really. I’m sure you don’t want me in your way.” It was so uncomfortable. She missed the privacy of living alone. She wanted her own space back.
“Well, help yourself to whatever you want,” Alicia said, just as Grayson came walking into the kitchen. “We’re going to spend the day with my family, so you have the place all to yourself today.”
“Err, thanks. Umm, can you tell me where I can find Quentin?”
Alicia nodded. “He lives two doors down.” She pointed in the right direction.
“Thanks.” Gabby didn’t recall the houses being close together, so she assumed she would have a nice long walk to get to his house.
“Oh, and some of your stuff is in the living room,” Alicia said.
She and Grayson left, and Gabby settled in and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She also needed to talk to Michael and to find out more information. She knew that Zane could give her the answers she needed, but there was no way she was going to deal with him.
Gabby decided to check out the living room, and she was shocked to see the entire contents of her closet packed nicely into four large cardboard boxes. When had that happened?
Relieved to have some of her things, she rifled through the clothes, pulling out a pair of her shorts and a t-shirt that actually fit her. Since she would be walking, she put on a pair of her sneakers and threw her hair up into a messy bun.
She hurried out the door and headed in the direction Alicia had pointed. The houses were definitely not built close together, and she made her way down the street. It was a bright, sunny day and it felt good to be out in the fresh air. She finally passed the first house, a tiny brick home, and then continued walking toward a large stone house in the distance.
When she reached Quentin’s house she realized that it looked much older than she had originally thought. She knocked on the door and Quentin answered, looking tired, which seemed to be the look everyone had today.
“Oh, Gabby, hi,” he said, clearly flustered. “Umm, come on in.”
Gabby wasn’t sure why he was being weird, but when he pulled the door open, she saw why.
Zane was sitting at his kitchen table.
“Seriously?” she muttered.
“I think the two of you had the same idea,” Quentin said kindly.
“I’ll be going,” Zane said, standing up, looking painfully at Gabby.
“Good idea,” she snapped.
“He means well,” Quentin explained.
“I really don’t need your input,” Gabby said, a little more harshly than she had meant to.
Quentin nodded.
“Gabby, you can’t ignore me forever,” Zane said as he passed her.
“Watch me.”
Gabby thought it was an accident though she couldn’t be sure, but Zane brushed against her as he passed. She felt her body spin with sensation, and her breath caught in her throat.
Damn Zane and his ridiculous body! She refused to be attracted to him! It had to stop!
He smirked and then left.
“What an asshole!” she exploded.
“Did I miss something?” Quentin asked confused.
Gabby sighed. “No, nothing. I’m sorry. And I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just wanted to see how Lucy was doing. And I guess my mother. And,” she rambled on, “I was really hoping that someone around here could tell me when I can see my sister again and how often I can see her. Because this is complete and utter bullshit if I can’t see her!”
Quentin nodded, perfectly calm as always. “Lucy is doing fine. I left her early this morning. She doesn’t have any serious injuries, though she’s definitely going to be bruised for a bit. Her lip didn’t need stitches—just going to need some time to heal.” He frowned. “Your mother seemed fine too. I got her upstairs to her bed and told her she needed to sleep it off.”
“Yeah, well I’m sure she slept it off only to start a new bender this morning,” Gabby huffed.
“Maybe. But it probably isn’t going to be that easy.”
Gabby gave him a funny look. “And why not?”
“Because I dumped all the liquor after I helped your sister to bed.”
Gabby’s jaw dropped as she stared at Quentin. Then she burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”
“Yep. Your momma was as drunk as a skunk. Nothing good can come from being that drunk. She’s not doing either of you any damn good wasting away because of the bottle.”
Gabby was seriously impressed. “Wow. I really can’t believe you did that.”
Quentin shrugged. “Just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Well, thank you. For everything. For helping Lucy and for taking care of my mother.”
“It was nothing, really. And your sister was very sweet, even though she seemed to be in pain.”
Gabby winced. “Do you know if I can see her?”
Quentin frowned. “It’s not up to me. You’d have to take it up with Michael.”
Gabby rolled her eyes; she had figured as much.
“But Michael’s a good guy,” he said quickly, “And he would never keep someone from their family. He’s all about family.” He paused, as if debating on saying something. “And hey, look. Zane is a great guy, too. He’s got a bit of a big head to go along with all those big muscles, but he means well, and I know he feels awful after learning what he did to you. I know it’s hard, but try to cut the guy some slack.” He looked at Gabby’s face. “If you can,” he added quickly.
For some reason, Gabby let her guard down. “I just don’t think I can. He killed my father. My whole life was one big shit pile because I had to grow up without a dad and with a mother who turned into a drunk after she lost her husband.” Angry tears pricked at her eyes, but she refused to cry over something that had already brought her so many tears and so much heartache. “It’s just not possible.”
She took a deep breath, gathering herself. “I really appreciate your help with my family. I’m going to head over to Michael’s and see what I can work out.”
Quentin frowned. “Michael probably won’t be able to see you today. There’s a lot going on with the clan since the cub was killed.”
Oh. Right.
Gabby sighed. “Crap. I knew that.” As much as she wanted to see Lucy, she knew that her troubles were not as bad as the family grieving the death of their young son. “What is going on with that if you don’t mind me asking? I keep hearing people talk about cubs being killed.”
Quentin nodded. “You should be informed, since you’re basically one of us now.”
Gabby wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that, but she let Quentin continue.
“Someone has been sneaking onto our lands and killing our cubs. We’re not sure who it is, but we have a strong feeling it’s the Atrocitas clan.” He saw Gabby’s confused looks. “There are three bear clans around here. The Atrocitas, the most b
loodthirsty, the Cruentus—definitely the cruelest.” He paused. “That was your father’s clan,” he added apologetically.
That didn’t really matter to Gabby. She knew that her father had been anything but cruel and that he had hated bears, which made her think that he had probably hated what he was. That would explain why no one else knew about it, including her mother. Her mother would never have been able to keep that quiet, especially after all her years of drinking.
“And then, us—the Virtus. Anyway, we think it’s the Atrocitas killing the cubs, just as we were certain it was the Cruentus coming after you.”
“But why would they kill kids?” Gabby asked.
“Because we’re already a dying breed. All the clans are, but our tribe is suffering the most. The more we mate with humans, the more we dilute our blood, and the less shifters we produce. When my parents were growing up, the clan was filled with cubs! But now barely a quarter of the children born to this clan are shifters. Soon, we’ll be non-existent.”
Gabby made a sour face. “Which is where I come in.”
Quentin shifted uncomfortably. “Sort of. Your blood is rare and powerful. You would produce shifter children if you mate with a bear. That would help our clan in more ways than one.”
Gabby didn’t want to think about that just yet. “But you think the other clan is killing the cubs so that they can hurt the Virtus?”
“Sure. Fewer cubs means less bears. Fewer bears means less competition. Personally, I think they want to diminish our tribe as much as possible, and the bastards will move onto the Cruentus tribe next.”
Gabby swallowed. It didn’t sound good.
“So you see, Michael has his hands full.”
She could certainly see. “Yes. I suppose my needs can wait.” She looked around his kitchen and uncomfortably realized there was no other reason for her to stay. “I guess I’ll be on my way then,” she said, moving towards the door.
“I know this can’t be easy, Gabby,” Quentin said kindly, walking her to the exit.