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Suddenly, the wind shifted directions, and I caught a whiff of Gabe's scent. He was getting closer! Instinctively, my wolf picked up her pace, pushing her body faster than before. What had begun as a silly prank turned into a fight of wills. Would he be able to catch her?
The answer came in the form of a loud growl that vibrated through my chest. Gabe's wolf had finally caught up to her, and he wasn't happy. Instead of yielding to him, my wolf just kept running, too proud to stop now. Gabe's wolf let out another throaty sound, and suddenly it seemed like the forest around us had stilled.
If there were other wolves nearby, I was no longer aware of them. The only thing that mattered was the connection between Gabe and me, and the way our wolves were drawn together.
Before I could process what was happening, Gabe's wolf tackled mine to the ground. He straddled her body and sunk his teeth into her neck without warning. My wolf howled in delight as she felt his teeth dig into her. She threw control back to me, allowing my human form to return. Gabe's wolf relinquished control to him at the same time.
The bite stung, and I could feel blood running from the puncture wounds, but the desire coursing through my veins was much more overwhelming. Wrapping my arms around his neck, we kissed, exploring each other's mouths with a hunger that had been slowly building all day.
Gabe moved one of his hands to cup my breast while the other trailed lower, pushing gently against me until he found what he was looking for. His fingers stroked and teased my sensitive flesh until I was breathless with need.
Gabe must have felt it, too, because he pulled away from our kiss to look into my eyes.
"You're mine, mate."
Slowly, he thrust into me as I gasped at the pleasure of having him inside of me again, feeling every inch of him as he held me in place, forcing me to take all of him again and again.
He moved faster, harder, deeper until I couldn't think straight. His deep, baritone voice was the only thing I could hear. He was promising never to leave me, never to let me down.
My wolf was right.
I was Gabe's mate. I was his.
And that meant he was mine, too.
Chapter 20
I handed Gabe the packing tape, taking a moment to look around the sparse living room. It felt so wrong to see it without any furniture. My parents had lived in the house forever. It had always been home. Now I was preparing for a new home and future in a completely different pack. I finally have what I always wanted: a mate and a future with him. So why did it feel so wrong to leave?
"You okay?" Gabe asked, straightening to stand beside me. The mating bond gave him access to my feelings, but he probably didn't even need it to know I was depressed about the move. I'm sure I had bad vibes radiating off me.
I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Gabe put his arm around me and squeezed. "Spend some time with Heather in the bakery before we go," he suggested. That seemed like a great idea, one last day of normalcy before everything changed forever.
So that's what I did. I spent my last day at the bakery with Heather, baking bread and pastry treats for the morning crowd. We laughed and joked as if nothing had changed, but it felt more like a goodbye than anything else. The hours flew by in a blur until it was time to close upshop.
Heather hugged me tightly. I was getting better with the whole hugging thing, and it felt right to give one to her. "I'm going to miss you so much," she said softly.
"I'm going to miss you too," I said. I gave her a small squeeze before stepping away. "You have to come and visit me, and I'll come back to see how things are going with you, too. Promise?"
Heather nodded, but I knew it would be a long time before we would visit again if it ever happened. Gabe was needed at Tumblewild, and after what happened with Neil escaping custody, he wasn't open to me traveling so far on my own.
We said our last goodbyes before I quickly made my way to my car. Gabe was loading up the last few boxes when I pulled up at the house. He hitched my car to the back of the truck so we could ride together in the U-Haul cab. I packed the bag of snacks and water up front, and we began our drive to Tumblewild.
I stared out the window as we drove away from my old home, a mixture of emotions running through me. An unfamiliar feeling of homesickness had already crept in. I forced it down, determined to focus on the positives of moving.
I'd be with Gabe, of course, but I'd also be able to spend a lot of time with Mariam. Maybe we'd have a chance to actually have a closer relationship.
The thought of being closer to her made me smile, knowing it would mean the world to our parents. I drifted off to sleep, Gabe's hand in mine, listening to the hum of the wheels on the highway.
__________
Two weeks later, I was moved and settled into Gabe’s apartment. We were able to mesh our furniture and decor, donating what we didn’t need to other pack members. My house in Dark Claw had some new tenants, too. They were a young family, thankful to find a house available on pack lands so they could move out of their apartment. Giving the place up was hard, but it was the right thing to do.
Even though Mariam only lived down the road, we weren’t seeing much of each other. As the alpha female, she had a lot of responsibilities and often worked around the clock. Gabe had a lot of work to catch up on, too, after taking off all that time to be with me. Trace had hinted more than once that Gabe would soon be offered an official place on the pack council, which was exciting, even if it meant his workload would increase again. Gabe wanted to really help the pack and make a difference. Being on the council would allow him to do that.
I was excited for him but felt a massive loss after leaving the bakery in Dark Claw. I had no job living in Tumblewild, and it felt like I never really fit in with the other pack members like Mariam did. She meshed with them so well it was almost like she had been in Tumblewild her whole life, and I couldn’t help feeling jealous of her once again.
