I woke up the next morning on a muscular chest that was moving in and out slowly with the deep breathing of someone who was fast asleep. I tried to stay as still as possible, but my change in breathing woke Gabe up and he started to shift in his sleep, unconsciously pulling me closer to him and tightening his hold on my shoulders. I let him, silently snuggling closer into the side of his body for a few seconds until a wave of nausea forced me over to the other side of the bed to lean over a bucket and empty the contents of my stomach. I cringed mentally when Gabe sat up and started rubbing my back. This was probably the least attractive I had ever been, and Gabe had to see it.
"Gabe I'm fine. You can go take care of other stuff. You don't have to be here," I managed to say. He responded with a growl, which I took as a 'Hell no.' Gabe reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a hair binder to hold my messy black hair back from my face and gently tied it back into a bun on my neck. I sighed deeply and spit the bad taste into the garbage can as Gabe rose from the bed, padded over to the bathroom and wet a washcloth. He came back over and slid into bed, and placed the washcloth back on my forehead. I sighed in relief at the feeling of the cool cloth and closed my eyes, resting my head on his shoulder. He simply wrapped his arm around my shoulder. We sat in silence for a few minutes, until he broke the silence with one question that made my heart race and my palms break out into a clammy mess.
"What happened to you?"
I swallowed hard, "What do you mean?"
Gabe growled, a deep low sound that rumbled through his chest and sent a shiver down my spine. "Don't give me that shit Evan. I have lost my head worrying about you too many times in the last week for you to do that to me. I need some answers, and I would like them now." He was trying to remain calm, but his voice sounded strained and tight, like he was a rubber band stretched tightly. Instinctively, I wrapped my hand around his, and he relaxed slightly.
"Gabe... It's not a happy story. My life is something that I wouldn't wish on anyone, not even enemies. But the whole point is that I moved on and I'm here now, with you. I need you to prepare yourself, because you aren't going to smile a whole lot after this. I certainly don't," I laughed wryly. He just tilted his head at me and I took a deep breath.
"Well, I was born in North Dakota to a single mom and a father who was put in jail for drug dealing when she was about 5 months pregnant with me. My mom died when I was born, leaving me in the care of my grandma. My grandma was a wonderful person, but when I was 6 she suffered a heart attack and died on the kitchen floor. She was making me a grilled cheese sandwich. The last thing I remember is her telling me to call 911." I was trying to talk around the growing lump in my throat, but it was challenging. Gabe must have sensed my distress because he started rubbing my shoulder in small circles. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "After she died, I was put in foster care. There isn't any happy stories from those homes. The people who were supposed to take care of me didn't even want to acknowledge that I was there. People used me like a hired maid, or even more commonly, a waste of space. So, I ran away when I turned 15." Gabe's hand on my shoulder tightened, and I could feel the worry and tension seeping off of him in rolling waves. I squeezed his hand reassuringly, then sliding back to the headboard, I pulled his head down onto my lap and started stroking his hair. If he was getting upset at this part of my story, I couldn't imagine his reaction for the next part.
"Gabe, I want you to understand that I regret everything that happened in the next few years. I know you might hate me after this, but I can't leave anything out," I took a deep breath. "After I ran away, I had been homeless for about a year before I was picked up by a man named Floyd. He was a pimp. My pimp." At this, Gabe shot straight up with fierce eyes and a snarl.
"Who touched my mate? I'll rip them all to shreds! I will find every single one of those assholes who took advantage of a poor defenseless teenager and I will kill them all." His eyes were glowing yellow and I was cowering from him.
He turned to me and pulled me into his chest tightly, dipping his nose down to my neck and taking a deep inhale, trying to calm down. He kissed my mark, sending a shiver of pleasure down my spine before he raised his mouth to mine and crashed his soft lips onto me with a fierceness that I didn't mind one bit. Immediately all rational thoughts escaped me and I was swept into the motions of our mouths moving in sync and the warm roar that had taken place of the lump in my throat. His hands were warm and large and sliding everywhere on my body, pulling me closer than I thought was humanly possible. I don't know how long we laid there, but eventually Gabe pulled back enough to rest his forehead against mine and breathing heavily whispered, "Sorry. My wolf took over."
"It's okay babe," I said rather breathlessly. The 'babe' slipped out on accident, and from Gabe's startled gasp, he wasn't expecting it either. He looked at me with such loving eyes I could almost believe he loved me even with everything I just told him.
I shook myself a little and said, "Gabe I have to finish what I started telling you. I'm sorry but I feel like I can't stop yet. Please just prepare yourself."
He nodded mutely and I continued, "Floyd found me trying to sleep on a park bench in the middle of January. At that time I hadn't had anything to eat for about a week and I was desperate. No one would hire a 15 year old with no home address and when Floyd offered me a chance for food and shelter, I took it. I 'worked' for him for about 3 years, but I had to get away. But it was harder than I anticipated. I tried to escape about 15 times, and the last time he gave me the scar on my back. But I got away, and I'm alive and I survived and I'm so sorry."
Gabe looked horrified, "Sweetheart why are you apologizing to me?"
"Because I'm not whole, I'm not clean and I can't be perfect for you." I wiped a tear off of my face that appeared unexpectedly.
Gabe leaned down and looked at me with the emerald orbs that I loved so much, "You are the most perfect thing I have ever seen in my whole life." And then he leaned in and kissed me.
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Well Evan's past is now exposed entirely! Or is it? You know what to do! Vote, comment, share! Thank you so much!
kath
YOU ARE READING
Stalked by the Alpha
Werewolf"Switch clothes with me!" Paige whispered to me. "Why?" "Because he's following your scent." Evan Madison has had more shit happen to her in one year that most people have had in their lifetime. So when an Alpha starts following her, she does the o...
