Dark Desires ✔

Chapter 7: Pink Frosting

"I guess it's too late to see the Institute today?" Sabrina asked seated in the back of the car with Gabriel and River.

"I can always show you tomorrow," Gabriel said. "There's no rush, is there?" He glanced at her side.

"No. I suppose not," she replied.

Eventually, their car came to a halt at large metal gates. River rolled down his window when the gates didn't open immediately. River honked at the gates or the cameras watching them from every angle. But still, no response came. He honked once again, and then, he irritably raked his hair.

"Open the gates," River demanded.

Sabrina guessed he was communicating directly to the cameras. There was a speaker on the scanner at the front of the entryway.

A voice broke the silence over the speaker. "First, I would like you to state your identification?" The other side of the intercom calmly requested.

Sabrina almost burst out laughing when she saw Gabriel and River simply gaping at the intercom. "Seems like you two aren't following the rules correctly," she mocked.

"Open the goddamn gates... Azura," gritted out River.

A snicker rolled in through the speaker. "Ooh, how scary," the woman named Azura said.

Gabriel itched the nerve pulsing on his forehead out of irritation. "Azura..." his deep voice cut through from the back seat over to the speaker. "Open the gates while I'm asking nicely."

And just like that the metal gates opened on cue. River drove the car inside the gates, which closed right after. They drove through a lone path before the property opened up to a massive chunk of land.

Sabrina snickered in the back seat at them. She hadn't realized it when it had happened, but her nerves had lessened from this small encounter. She wondered that maybe the Centauri pack wasn't as intimidating as everyone set them out to be.

River parked the car in front of a beautiful manor. That had a long white porch looking over the acres of fields and cabins. Sabrina guessed that's where the pack members resided. Her eyes scoped the area and she lingered on the lake. Sabrina absolutely adored the glimmering lake, that resembled liquid gold as the sun set right over it. Lavender and pink clouds hid the orange sky, and the massive forest trees darkened for the night.

"Wow," she mumbled under a cool breath. It was even better than she imagined.

Gabriel came beside her after he closed the car door. "The Institute's that way," he pointed to their left.

Sabrina followed his finger and found a massive building. The school resembled a castle, with turrets and lots of arched windows. Although, it had steel glass doors and industrial security fences for protection.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said River when he came around towards them.

"At least eat before you go home," said Gabriel.

River shook his head. "I'm not hungry," he said and then his gaze turned to her. "Goodnight, Sabrina."

She smiled. "Goodnight, River," she said. River sauntered away from them and made his way back to his own cabin for the night.

Gabriel laid his hand on the small of her back "Come on," he said before leading her towards the manor.

She climbed a few steps and sauntered onto the cozy porch, that had lots of chairs and a coffee table. Gabriel pushed open the unlocked double doors and a warm, beautiful home was unveiled. Sabrina swallowed back the butterflies that were making her nervous. She followed him into the house, that was quite rowdy, but that was no surprise. The kitchen was directly on the right side, where Sabrina found Hailey with Hunter. The whole family had already arrived from the hospital and settled back into their home.