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Ella wanted Neil, but she wanted Gabe, too, and that hurt like hell. But he needed to be strong and shelve those feelings.If- no, when- I figure out how to remove Neil’s claim, Ella’s attention will be all mine, and she’ll hunger for my hands on her body, he promised himself.
His wolf howled. He agreed wholeheartedly with that plan.
For now, scratching her beautiful wolf behind the ears would have to be enough.
“You’re a good girl,” Gabe whispered.
Her tongue lolled out one side of her mouth, giving the distinct impersonation of a grin. Gabe walked into the bathroom and collected Ella's discarded clothes. They weren't torn, so her wolf hadn't forced a shift. Maybe Ella needed to stay in this form. Maybe it was making things easier for her.
He took one last drink from the now-cold coffee cup and led the large she-wolf outside.
“Come on, let’s get back to Flagstaff. We still have a long drive ahead of us," Gabe said. "Hopefully, anyone who sees you thinks you’re just an oversized house pet."
He opened the car door, and the large wolf leaped inside, happy to be out of the oppressive motel room. He started up the engine, and they hit the road. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the desert landscape as theydrove on the highway past smaller towns.
They stopped a few times at a deserted exit to let his mate stretch her legs. Gabe was nervous when she didn't want to return to the car right away.
"We've got to leave," he pleaded. "We're still a few hours from home, Ella, and I want to start researching before the library closes."
Sensing his distress, she trotted back to the car without further complaint. His mate was much more compliant in this form, it seemed. As a wolf, she could be free without the worries and restrictions that she usually placed upon herself. She didn't have to be the responsible one, for once. She let Gabe take care of all that.
In return, his wolf's dominant nature was peaking. The creature was smitten with her creature, just as Gabe was with the woman herself. The moon goddess had definitely not made a mistake. Hopefully, Ella would come to feel the same way.
The final leg of the trip was the longest, but at last, they were driving through the streets of Flagstaff, mere miles away from the Tumblewild pack lands. Gabe silently debated whether he should take Ella's wolf back to his apartment. If she remained as a wolf, she would probably be most comfortable there, but he was worried that her human might try and force a shift. The Ella at the motel was ready to run away in search of Neil, and even now, Gabe couldn't be sure this Ella wouldn't try something like that.
After weighing all the options, he decided to bring her to the alpha's house. Trace had the resources to keep her safe while he conducted the necessary research, and the spacewas already familiar to her. It was the most logical solution to a variety of complications.
The drive to the alpha house had him feeling slightly nostalgic as he remembered the night of their first date. "I'm not as frustrated with you this time," Gabe said to the wolf beside him. "Although that can change quickly if you try to give me the slip again."
Her ears twitched in response as though she understood each word.
Gabe slowed to turn into the long driveway, knowing that his mate would be happy to get out of the car. She was more than a little charming, scenting the air with her nose upturned in the wind. Mariam met them at the door, welcoming her sister’s wolf and her human mate without batting an eyelash. Gabe had called her a few times on the road when Ella was napping the night before to explain what had happened in Dark Claw.
Now, hours later, he followed the large she-wolf up the front steps, stopping just short of entering the home. As much as he wanted to relax after the long drive, there were other things he needed to do.
“If she decides to shift before I get back, she'll need these." Gabe handed Ella's clothes to her sister. "Fair warning, the whole mess with Neil has her jumpy. She tried to get away from me earlier, probably to go find him."
Mariam gave him a sympathetic look. "That had to be difficult for you.”
Gabe shrugged, not wanting to let on how much the situation still stung. "I'll just be glad when this is all over and Ella's mine." Her wolf nudged his hand in agreement.
"Don't worry about anything. After you called, Trace sentover some extra council members to help keep the place secure. Although, I think he was more concerned with Neil trying to get in than with Ella looking to get out," she said, her tone turning somber. "Neil was always an asshole, but I never thought he would do anything like this. I guess we should all pay more attention to those gut feelings that something's wrong, you know?"
Yeah, I knew all about that. If I had just told Ella to stay away from him or insisted on picking her up from work, none of this would have happened.”
Mariam shook her head. “You’re assuming she would have listened to you, which isn't a guarantee.”
Gabe had to admit, she was right about that. And if he didn’t know better, he would have sworn Ella’s wolf looked a little guilty. She licked his hand and trotted away, leaving him to do what he must.
He said goodbye to Mariam, praying to the goddess that nothing would go wrong while he was gone. The only nice part about leaving in his mate's car was getting to enjoy her scent that lingered inside. Gabe inhaled deeply, trusting that she would be waiting for him when he got back.
He would have to be quick if he wanted to do any meaningful research before closing time. To the average human, the library looked nondescript, with a circulation desk that housed a kind older librarian who just happened to be one of Gabe’s favorite members of the Tumblewild pack. He nodded to Ms. Lewis as he walked toward the inconspicuous side door that led to a room filled with werewolf books and scrolls. The recent annuals of pack and werewolf law gleamed, but many of the editions hadbeen untouched for years. The musty smell of aged paper filled his senses, and he immediately felt the same overwhelming sense of awe he always did when looking upon the vast collection.
Gabe combed through the stacks, pulling out books written by master shifters on topics like advanced mating rituals, ancient remedies, and more. Ella's situation was complicated—but not impossible, he told himself— so it would probably take me hours, if not days, to find something, anything that could help us.
When night fell, and Ms. Lewis came to lock the library doors, he was still no closer to finding an answer than when he started. Gabe thought back on the days leading up to this one and how it was basically a rivalry between two males over the same female. He had spent most of his time looking at herbal remedies, hoping some potion could dissolve the mating bite, but maybe he should try to find information on how werewolf packs had originally split apart. Maybe one of them had dissolved over a disagreement between a chosen versus a true mate.
His wolf was itching to break free and run back to their mate at the alpha’s house, but Gabe refused to hand over control. Right now, all he wanted was to make sure Ella was still safe, have a shower, and eat a good meal. In that order, specifically. He was too drained emotionally to go for a run and delaying how quickly they would get there was out of the question. So, back in the car he went.
