unconditional (BOOK #2) [TO BE PUBLISHED]

Chapter 6

A/N: Sleepy as hell but wanted to put this up. I'm promising some mistakes in his one lol - Enjoy! 

Chapter 6 (Gabriels POV)

"I'm not sure your girl understands what we're doing here," Marx pointed to Ava with his chin as we plucked apples off the tree. Apple pies. Hmmm. I could taste them already. It had only been 40 minutes when Ava had Casey pick an apple she pointed too.

"For Mama," she said in her small sweet voice, holding onto that one apple, a shy grin on her face. 15 minutes later she saw another one that she liked or approved of and claimed it for herself, requesting that I put her down. She walked over to a tree and sat in the shade, watching the rest of us picking apples. No amount of coaxing from anyone, Casey included could make her put those two apples down. I thought it was fucking funny as hell; I wouldn't try to force her. My little girl was a leader. I chuckled to myself at his comment.

"You're different...." Marx said walking away from Casey, Jack, Greta, Moon-star and Ava.

"Relaxed. Calm even," he noted, "happier."

"Chelseas' doing," I said instantly, longing to see her.

 No disagreements here human, Max thought. The changes were all there, but it was more than that. Chelsea was the catalyst for my sudden happiness as well as its reason.

"Huh," Marx snorted.

"What?" I was on the defensive.

"It's only been an hour and half Gabriel... and she's only two or so miles away..." he teased me, "with my mate, I should add."

I scowled, "Yeah but you've had Aunt Cami for ten years, I've not even had Chelsea for ten months," I snapped but using this opportunity to discuss my fears. "It feels like I'm already going to lose her without even having her for that long." I tried to describe my foreboded skin crawling feeling.

Not making eye contact but nodding, he asked, "your father?" Marx tried to form it as a question but clearly it wasn't. Was my father a threat to Chelsea? Big fuckin' yes. Would he be stupid enough to act on his biases? Another fat fuckin' yes. Would he do something directly? No.

"Among others. Rians father specifically, other people from her own past. Whatever the deal they have I doubt he's going away just because Maggie is dead. There's still Madeline of my brothers..."

"None of the have an Alpha gene though," he replied but that brought little comfort.

"You think I'm doing the wrong thing?" I asked, something I would never do. Not since Chelsea arrived.

"Mama and Camilla are the two wisest women I know and they approve of your Chelsea. If your father wasn't so clouded by selfishness he would see the benefit of you having your true mate," Marx said vehemently, but never stopping from his tasks.

"I mean as a father... if Iris ever had a mate with your history," he sucked his teeth, "I'd tell him what I'm telling you. Your mate is a gift, a precious gift and you will treat her as such." Not everyone has a father to say that to him, I certainly don't. I snorted at the idea that my father would ever say those words to me, or my brothers.

"You think I'm joking'?"

"No. That's solid advice. My father told Chelsea –when he first met her – that she would only be my goomah," I spit out still angry he said that too her.

"What?" Marx turned around; his body is no longer relaxed, but tense and his face filled with an emotion that I couldn't place.

"Yes. I stood up for her, too him but then I got scared and did some shit that hurt her. I'm not one to go around fucking claiming regrets or nothing but I will regret what I did to her. It's the one thing I'll never forgive myself for, even though she has." I said reaching for an empty bucket.