My Dark Knight (COMPLETED)

Chapter 14

                 

((EDITED 5/18/2016. Some dialogue changes – also changed the timeline of this chapter a bit, but no significant events were changed. Chapter is 700 words longer now, but I didn't add anything substantial.))

(The song is not the usual type I put up, but it's stuck in my head sooo...yeah. Goes well with the most depressing part of the chapter if you want to listen to it at that point. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there ;) If you don't like dance-ish music, don't listen!

Also, another pic of Skylar, same actress.)

The next several days were absolutely miserable.

Strangely enough, my misery wasn't solely due to the violent images of Riley's death assaulting my mind every time I closed my eyes. While this was definitely an issue, the main cause of my agitation was Gabriel himself.

My stubborn, antisocial, over-protective Mate kept me locked in his house with no means of escape. He refused to let me leave for any reason, even during the day, and he kept two of his wolves constantly on guard at the front door with the Alpha Command not to let me leave. This was worsened by the fact that Gabriel was hardly at his own home during the day.

I was going stir-crazy, and my mood had steadily worsened as the days passed by. The first few days after Riley's funeral, I knew Gabriel and the others were trying to work out the logistics of defense against the vampires, as well as trying to get things settled, so I tried to be patient. I knew they had to organize patrols at all hours of the day. But after that, my patience began to wear thin.

I contacted my family a few times to talk with them (Shifting in the middle of my bedroom so it was easier to speak to them across the great distance, which I was sure looked comical), and I told them there'd been another attack on Gabriel's pack, but I did not supply them with the details. They would go out of their minds with worry. I also conveniently did not tell them that I was basically a prisoner in Gabriel's house.

I also read a couple of books to pass the time, but eventually my thoughts would always wander to Gabriel and I'd get distracted.

The one bright light of the miserable experience of being kept inside was the woman who cooked for Gabriel, Evelyn. She showed up every evening to cook dinner for me (and leave the leftovers for Gabriel, as he didn't get home until the middle of the night.) Gabriel had given her a few days off when I first came back to the pack with him, but clearly he realized that the amount of food was getting scarce, or perhaps he was worried I would start talking to the walls because I was so lonely, so every evening she showed up to cook dinner. She was wonderful at it. A tall woman in her mid-60s, Evelyn was one of the only wolves in the pack that treated me kindly. As the days passed after the funeral, I got to know more about her and about the Black Mountains Pack.

The fifth day after Riley's funeral, I tried to ask her more about Gabriel and his past. For the first time since I'd met her, she looked acutely uncomfortable at the questions and gave very evasive answers, so I didn't press. I didn't want to anger her and lose one of my only friends in the pack.

My determination and optimism about retrieving much-needed answers from Gabriel was beginning to fade. He was very rarely alone in the house, and the few times he was, I got the sense that he was avoiding me. We had very short conversations when we did speak. He knew I was determined to find out what secrets he kept and he was dead-set on hiding them from me as long as possible.  My Wolf was almost as agitated as I; while our Mating bond was strengthening because of our proximity with Gabriel, it was not the natural order of things to resist the pull for so long. Most wolves consummated the bond as soon as possible. Our behavior was unnatural.