NOCB 008 - Scions 02.5 - Patrice Michelle - Perception (6 page)

“I grew up very poor and after my dad left, my mom took up with whatever man would have her,” she sobbed out. “Be—because of the booze and the drugs the men ran through our house, I was labeled that trashy, troublemaker kid—so I just lived up to other people’s perceptions of me.” Rubbing the tears from her eyes, she sniffed to calm herself and continued, “Eventual y, my mom hooked up with this guy who liked to beat her. He would’ve beaten me too, but I was in school and he knew the teachers might see the bruises, so he locked me in a closet every time he beat my mom. I had to listen to her screams and then hear her crying afterward while I sat in the dark. There was nothing I could do to help her!”

Hard, guilty sobs racked Abby’s frame, and it was al Gabriel could do to keep his wolf at bay. He pul ed her closer and kissed her forehead, as he resolved to find the bastard who’d tortured a mother and a young child. He’d rip the piece of shit apart, flay his skin from his body. “Is that why you had your friend teach you to pick locks? Not to steal, but to be free?”

Abby nodded. “I final y got out and attacked him with a cast-iron frying pan. Broke the sick bastard’s arm. He left that night and never came back. I heard he died of a drug overdose a couple months later.”

“It’s the least he deserved.” Gabriel snarled, angry he wouldn’t be able to pay the asshole back himself.

She sniffed her agreement. “That horrible time in my life set my path, defining my entire existence. From learning martial arts, to working with the troubled teens at Handle burg Hal , to teaching others how to defend themselves.”

Pushing away from Gabriel’s hold, Abby tensed. “Seeing man after man use and then leave my mom taught me that it’s better not to depend on anyone but myself.”

Her words sliced his chest open, leaving him feeling empty and torn up. Gabriel frowned. “Every person isn’t painted with the same brush, Abby.
Al
men aren’t like those men your mother chose to be with.” He realized the irony of his words, given his own feelings about humans. Abby had changed his perception of humans, not just because she was his mate, but because she showed him that humans had the ability to see al sides when she mentioned the possibility there might be at least one good vampire. Kaitlyn had certainly done that with their pack, embracing their differences and understanding the Lupreda’s primal ways. Until she’d met Landon, Kaitlyn had lived an entirely human life, yet she’d managed to make the leap of faith and join their pack with an open mind.

“My father left us, too.” Abby shrugged indifferently and looked away. “You’re the one who said everyone should have a chance to be redeemed,” he argued.
And what
of the vampires, then?
Gabriel asked himself. His pack’s alpha had recently developed a tenuous truce with the new leader of the vampires, Jachin Black. Gabriel would be a hypocrite if he didn’t fol ow the advice he was giving Abby. Going forward, he’d watch the vampire-werewolf dynamic with an open mind and consider the possibility of a peaceful future with the vampires. However, some old wounds would never heal. At least one vampire would pay if he ever ran across him again. There was nothing redeemable about the sadistic bastard who’d enjoyed torturing him al those years ago. His eyebrow was the only scar that hadn’t healed. Gabriel stared at Abby’s profile and the stubborn set of her jaw, identifying with her deep-rooted prejudice better than she might imagine. She’d given him a reason to scrutinize his own long-standing perceptions. Now it was his turn to convince her to look closely at her own. “If I’m to be judged by the same criteria of
al men
, would you not give me a chance to redeem myself in your eyes, Abby?”

Hooking his finger on her chin, he turned her face toward his. “Would you not let me see for you in the darkness?”

Chapter Nine
Gabriel’s desire to al ay her fears shot right to Abby’s heart, burrowing deep. The morning sun warmed her bare shoulders and was probably melting the ice outside, but the cold darkness from the recurring nightmare she’d had since childhood stil gripped her psyche with its relentless claws. The loneliness she experienced during this dream felt even more pronounced than it had in the past; like her fear knew she wanted to leave it behind, so it had upped the ante in her subconscious, refusing to be shrugged off or forgotten.

Abby stared into Gabriel’s beautiful blue eyes, so ful of sincerity and intense conviction, and her closely guarded heart softened. This man was trying to get close. He was worth letting in. New tears rimmed her eyes. “How are you going to help me see in the darkness?”

Gabriel cupped her jaw. “Because I wil see for you.”

Abby laughed and tears spil ed down her cheeks. “You’re one of a kind, I’l admit, but total darkness wil always hold its nasty grip on me. No one can change that.”

Gabriel’s expression was resolute. “I can. I’m not like other men you’ve encountered, Abby.”

He spoke so calmly, Abby sobered. “What are you saying? That you can see in the total absence of light?”

He nodded, his face solemn as he brushed a tear from her jaw. “You know those books you were looking at downstairs in the office?”

Abby heart rate kicked up a notch. “The books on wolves and werewolf lore?”

Gabriel slid off the bed and stood, stunning in his nakedness. “You know vampires exist. Why not werewolves?” He glanced toward the chaise lounge with smoldering eyes, before he turned and walked toward the doorway, cal ing over his shoulder,

“Meet me in the bathroom.”

Abby let out a half-hysterical laugh as she watched his broad back and nicely muscled butt disappear into the hal . He was talking crazy, saying he could see in the dark and that werewolves were real. Yet he seemed to truly care for her and they’d had the best sex she’d ever experienced—she glanced toward the chaise lounge and her heart jerked. Something had ripped the fabric in four perfect slits. Something like…claws.

Her mind began to race, along with her pulse rate. She hadn’t registered what she’d seen in the dim light last night before he’d walked away and gone downstairs to find a candle, but now…in context, she realized she’d seen the flash of long teeth, four canines, before he’d turned away.

Kaitlyn knows the truth
, Gabriel’s voice whispered in her mind, making her gasp in surprise. She was real y losing it if she’d just imagined that he’d walked right inside her head, speaking in that deep, steady voice of his. Abby began to tremble al over. Could it be true? Was that Gabriel in the woods last night when she was looking for the key? She gulped. He was enormous!

Abby scrambled across the bed and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. Her hands shook as she dialed Kaitlyn’s cel .

“Hul o—” a sleepy female voice mumbled.

“Kaitlyn!” Abby whispered into the phone, her heart pounding. “Al those books in your office about wolves and werewolf lore? Are they true? About werewolves, I mean.”

“Abby?” Kaitlyn suddenly sounded very alert. “Is everything okay?”

Abby noted the wariness in Kaitlyn’s voice and that her friend didn’t immediately ask: “Have you been drinking, Ab?”

“Gabriel told me werewolves exist and that you know. Is it true?”

Kaitlyn didn’t say anything for a second, making Abby even more tense. She held her breath and pressed the handset tighter to her ear. “Is it true, Kaitlyn?”

“Yes.”

Abby’s breath rushed out and she tried to remain calm, even though her insides were a quivering mass of disbelief and shock.

“Abby, are you there? Let’s meet for dinner and talk.”

Abby swal owed the lump in her throat.

“Ab—”

“I just want to know one thing. Good guys or bad guys?”

“Huh?” Kaitlyn asked.

Abby huffed her frustration. “You know, vampires are bad. And werewolves are…”

“Ah, I see. Good. Very good. But not al vampires are—”

“I want to hear
every
detail later, Kaitlyn,” Abby said quickly.

“But—”

“Later.” Abby hung up the phone and stared at the empty doorway. The strange markings she’d noticed on the front door, she realized they matched perfectly with a hand…his hand around her neck, slamming her into the wood. Ha! That explained his freakish speed when they’d fought, too. And yet, with al that power vibrating inside him, oddly she wasn’t afraid. Heedless of her nakedness, she hopped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Gabriel stood in the shadows of the room, his powerful body leaning casual y against the counter, arms crossed. “Did you get the answers you wanted?”

“Not al of them.” Abby took a deep breath, stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. The room was now pitch-black and her anxiety grew by the second. Straightening her shoulders, she forced herself to breathe evenly. She wasn’t alone. She could deal with the utter blackness for a few minutes. Holding up three fingers, she said, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Three.”

Her heart tripped, then she opened her hand completely. “Now how many?”

“Five,” came his assured reply.

Abby narrowed her gaze. Maybe he was just lucky. She held up four fingers and crossed her eyes. “And now?”

“Four. Isn’t there an old wives tale that if you do that too long your eyes wil get stuck?”

A cold chil rushed over her body, raising the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. He real y
could
see in the dark, which meant…he saw everything last night. He saw her look of terror, saw her struggling to scream but not being able to. He watched her shaking uncontrol ably and trying not to fal completely apart. He’d witnessed it al . Ashamed heat shot across her cheeks, quickly fol owed by annoyance. She felt like Gabriel had taken a peak inside her mind without her permission. Until that very moment, she never realized how much she’d come to depend on the very dark she feared to also hide her weakness from others.

Abby stuck her middle finger straight up and cocked an eyebrow. “What about now?”

“You have no idea how much I want to, sweetness.” Gabriel’s husky voice was right in front of her, making her picture that sexy barbel elevated high and a cocky smile on his face. Before she could react, he grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her against his hard, naked chest. Arms of steel encircled her waist and he whispered against her ear, “As long as you’re with me, you’l never have to fear the darkness again.”

The wal around Abby’s heart began to crumble when Gabriel ran his lips along her throat. “As far as werewolves are concerned…” He kissed her jaw with such tenderness, her stomach bottomed out and her breath hitched. “Not al wolves are lucky enough to find our perfect mates.”

Perfect mate?
“Are you a wolf or a werewolf?” With her mind reeling, she tried to focus on the facts and not let her heart hope for more.

“I can be both, though we cal our werewolf shape our Musk form,” Gabriel’s sexy voice made her skin prickle as he gripped her hips and pressed his erection boldly against her. “When we do find our mates, Lupreda mate for life.” His warm lips brushed across hers, seducing her senses.

You won’t find a man more committed than that.

Abby gasped and cupped his face, enjoying the sexy stubble brushing her palms. “Did you just speak in my mind?”

Male satisfaction carried in Gabriel’s chuckle.
There’s so much I have to share with you,
he said in her mind right before he slanted his lips across hers in an aggressive kiss. Abby wrapped her arms around his neck and twined her tongue with his. He tasted of outdoors and musk and male determination.

Gabriel slid his warm hands lower and palmed her butt. Lifting her against his muscular frame, he stepped forward and set her back against the wal . His erection teased her sex, sliding slightly inside and making her crazy. She wrapped her legs around his hips and her heart raced, while her body throbbed with the need to feel him fil ing her completely.

“Yes.” She begged with that one word, digging her nails into his shoulders. When he thrust deep inside her channel, Abby cried out in blissful satisfaction. But instead of moving inside her, Gabriel held her there, pressed against the wal , suspended in the air. He fil ed her up and stole her ability to breathe, let alone think. His warm breath slid down her throat and his fingers flexed on her ass, squeezing her muscles in a possessive hold.
Do you trust me, sweetness? Wil you give your heart
to a wolf, who wil cherish you for the rest of your life?
Abby had never been so profoundly caught up in another person. She slid her fingers into his thick hair and tugged, answering honestly. “I’ve never al owed myself the freedom of trusting another.”

Gabriel growled low in his throat and thrust deeper, pushing her slightly higher along the wal . “It took one human female to turn my distrust of humans upside down. Finding my mate has only appeased my restless wolf. He wants this mating, but I won’t do this without your trust.” His voice sounded hoarse, his emotions on a raw edge.

Trust started with a leap of faith. Gabriel had set aside his wariness of humans because of her, and now he fought his primal instincts, waiting for her answer. From the protective concern he’d shown for her wel -being, to his dogged desire to not let her hide her past, to his vow to assuage her fears, he’d proven he was worth the risk to her heart. She had to laugh that she’d spent al her life avoiding emotional attachments and long-term relationships, only to find the one relationship she wanted more than anything with an intensely perceptive man whom she shared an instant emotional connection from the first moment they touched. Abby locked her legs tight around him, kissed his cheek and whispered, “You’ve given me more reasons to share my trust than I thought possible. If there’s such a thing as commitment, I want it to be with the one person who wouldn’t let me lock him out and who cared to dig deep enough to
see
the real me. It doesn’t matter if you happen to be a wolf.”

“I love every part of you, Abby Brooks.” Gabriel withdrew from her and as he slowly slid back inside, his words washed over her, ful of intemperate sincerity. Your strong right hook and stubborn pride impress me while your compassion continues to intrigue me, but your sexy, pouty lips hold the power to undo me. In every respect, you are my perfect mate.”