Chapter Six
Alpha, we need to convene and discuss what has happened this past week, said Beth through mind link.
I agree, are the other Sentinels there?
We are in fact waiting outside your office door.
Zeta ...
Caphy as well.
I’ll settle my Luna and be there shortly.
“He said ...” Beth tried, but every else had already heard their conversation.
“We heard”, Caphy said dryly. “Anyone else feeling suspicious? Maybe this has all been planned out, some elaborate plan to ensnare our Alpha”.
“Three times in one week, fifteen rogues and now one human female”, added Bart.
“Then explain the vehicle. It is so overgrown with vines, tree roots and greenery, it’s impossible to move until the area is cleared”, added Tristan with Tyler nodding in agreeance. “There are no roads that lead in, a pure mystery. Go see for yourself, I shall be taking Gabrielle there as soon as we finish in his office”.
“I doubt that! He will want to go back to the infirmary before we waylay him with any other duties”, Beth said slumping against the wall.
“Was there anything down the cliffs?” Tristan asked the others.
“We found broken pieces of a boat or two, not enough to determine. If it was theirs or just some driftwood. The coast is still our most vulnerable border, facing the open sea”, Caphy added.
“Another issue to discuss. Plus, the one about the ‘Promised’. Could that be the mystery female? She could have been shredded to pieces, but the three rogues kept her alive, for how long...?”
“Hmmm”.
Gabby had to admit the tall man in the room smelt divine, Gabrielle Quade was all male and he knew it. He dominated the room with his presence, and the way he kept looking at Gabby had her bare tush getting wetter by the second.
“Gabby ...” he breathed slowly. “Melissa, she is not hooked up to any machines, I presume you have given her adequate pain relief?”
“Of course brother!” Melissa huffed, adjusting her white coat and the stethoscope around her neck.
“Then I shall bring her with me. She can stay on the top floor in the spare room. I’ll have some clothes brought immediately, food and whatever else she needs”, Gabe said looking pleased with himself.
“I’m not leaving. Here? I don’t need all this fuss, I am quite proficient at looking after myself”, Gabby said, trying to cross her arms but the heavy bandages stopped her action quick smart.
Gabrielle smiled; it looked almost triumphant if Gabby didn’t know better.
Slowly, very slowly he approached her bed and then leant down so his face was within inches of hers, not quite nose to nose.
“You cannot walk, your right arm is injured...” he said growling again “... and your petite little left hand is still weeping little one and as I am in charge here, I shall be bringing you with me now”.
With that Gabrielle scooped Gabby into his arms and lifted her easily against his chest.
Melissa went to say something, but she knew better. She sensed Devon and he was still the bully he had always been.
He may never have hurt Melissa when Gabe became a man at eighteen, but Devon was never kind either. Always the protective beast for his Alpha, any and all were to heel if Gabrielle commanded it.
That was the pack mentality, how they paid respect to authority and allowed the natural order of things to flow, and Deep Water’s hierarchy was part of that flow. It was paramount!
Any disorder, threat or challenge was taken with immense seriousness.
A prospective Luna, even if she was human, without a wolf and against the whole idea of staying, was immensely serious!
“I’m not dressed”, Gabby gasped as Gabe easily wrapped her up like a cocoon, tucking the sheet and thin blanket around her behind and back.
“I’m well aware of what you are not wearing little one”, he said struggling with their closeness, her scent wafting up his nose once again.
Devon was pacing back and forth, howling with delight.
Gabby’s loose hair was swishing against Gabe’s muscly forearms, when she tried fruitlessly to create some distance between herself and Gabe Quade. He just held her more firmly and stood to his full height.
“My clothes, at least I can put on my clothes?” she asked breathlessly. “And this spare room. Where may I ask is this spare room?”
“Next to mine”, he said smiling again even more triumphantly this time which made Gabby shiver, again!
Melissa bloody bowed.
‘What the ...!’ thought Gabby, now fully encased and immovable.
Gabe strode from the building, watching as one person after another opened doors for him, bowed as well, muttering something under their breaths which sounded a lot like Alpha.
“No, no, no, no, no, no”, she said, not realising she had again voiced her thoughts, little Johhny, her seven-year-old darling would be standing like a statue if he saw her now.
“No? ...” said Gabe taking great strides.
Gabby chanced a look around and was gob smacked. The grounds were impeccable, freshly mown lawn, stone paths leading in different directions.
There was an exercise field, netting for football or soccer, a trampoline, and ... “Weapons?” she managed to squeak out.
“Yes little one. We take our safety seriously. A chosen few are trained as warriors, but I can explain that later. For now, I want you near me, if not always until you have healed”, Gabe said looking down.
‘Oh.my.goddness.he.is.gorgeous.and.completely.bonkers’, she thought, her legs swinging back and forth as Gabe cradled her head snugly against his throat.
“You’re frightening me a lot Gabe Quade. How do I know you won’t harm me? Keep me here against my will?” she asked terrified. “These warriors, did they kill those wild wolves? Did you watch? How did the other wolves react when they saw their own kind being ... not alive anymore?”
Gabrielle kept walking, so many questions he thought taking it all in.
“I would die than let anyone, anything, natural or otherwise come and harm you Gabby no name. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon. As I am a man in your eyes, Trust me when I say, you are Mine to protect”.
There was that word again, Trust.
Was he subliminally trying to coerce Gabby?
What he had stated was true. The soles of her feet were too raw to stand, her arm had been crunched on by some sharp teeth, her lower leg was heavily wound in bandages as too was her left hand.
She was mummified and, so far, looked after rather well.
“I saw human remains you know. I’m not that stupid”, Gabby mumbled.
“What you saw was your truth and I won’t argue, but will you allow me to explain when the time is right? They were in my eyes; rogue wolves and they harmed you”.
“They were, but I stood on other people’s grave site. They had been burned, even burned alive”, she gasped, her legs swinging back and forth as they neared an enormous stone building.
“Did you hear my words when I said I would die for you. You are most beautiful and that you are Mine?"
"I did, and it's not normal to speak so boldly, truly you seem a bit overly excessive to be honest. You know nothing about me. Nothing! I know enough that ..." should she say? "... this all seems very unnatural".
"Then you would be right", Gabe said taking the biggest gamble he had ever taken in his whole life. He just confessed a truth to a human.
Walking up the front steps of the main house, the doors were held open once again. This time by his two sentinels, Beth and Tyler.
"Ladies, let me introduce you to Gabby".
"Ahhh! So the little human has a name? Pleased ot meet you, I am Tristan", said this striking woman with long raven hair.
"And I am Beth, we've met before ...", she went to say but received a stern look from her Alpha, so she corrected her sentence "... when you were unconscious of course".
"You were there, when all of those mean wolves were going to eat me?"
"Rubbish!", said another, a huge giant of a man who came and stood in front of Gabby, blocking Gabrielle's path.
"Enough!" roared Gabe. "Step aside. I shall settle Gabby, then return for our meeting. Until then, no-one discusses the incident without me being present. Understood?"
"Yes", seethed Caphy. He looked back at Gabby and gave her a very unpleasant nod, his eyes seemed almost, black!
Gabby snuggled in closer to Gabrielle's neck and breathed in his manly scent, for some odd reason it soothed her.
"Goddess", Gabe said trying to control his wolf, his arms holding Gabby were suddenly squeezing a bit too firmly.
"You're hurting me and they are scaring me", she whispered in his ear. If she needed an ally, now was the time and Gabe Quade was her only ally.
The hairs on the back of his neck rose instantly, Devon howled again with glee, Gabe felt his member stirring behind the zipper of his new jeans and his heart, well that just started beating at an astronomical rate all of a sudden.
"Best you settle your Gabby ..." Beth said knowingly "... before you drop her somewhere on purpose".
"Hmmm", Gabe said walking around Caphy. "These two are Tristan and Bartholomew. You will be meeting them later when you are feeling better".
Gabby nodded, her cheeks bloomed again and then was whisked away up many flights of stairs.
"Aren't you tired of carrying me around?" Gabby asked when she was placed in the centre of a magnificent King size bed.
"Little one, you are merely a feather. A cute feather whose hair tickled my arm on the way here. Please rest. I shall have my meeting and return with some food and drink. If you need anything just ask and I shall come immediately", Gabe said settling a heavy layer of bedding across her legs.
She was still wrapped up as a cocoon which she found frustrating and slightly amusing.
"Ask? When you are down three flights of stairs?" she questioned, wriggling her way out of the tight confines.
"Breathe and I will hear you", was all he said when he left her alone, closing the door behind him.