Gabriel leads me into another small office filled and relief floods my body when I see Dad sitting in one of the chairs. “Daddy!” I exclaim as soon as I see him. I can’t stop myself from running to his side and throwing my arms his shoulders. I may be upset and confused, but knowing that he’s safe is all I care about right now.
“Avery, honey, I’m so sorry.” He whispers into my hair as his arms hold me tight to his side, “Are you okay?”
I nod, “I think so. I’m so confused though. Why didn’t you guys tell me?” I ask, feeling anger and confusion bubble up inside me.
“I think it’s best if we wait for your mom and Jamie to get back.” Dad says, a sad look coming to his face.
I shake my head, “Jamie’s in the medical center right now, Dad. It’ll take him a while to be able to walk or move again.” Doesn’t Dad even care that Jamie was seriously injured?
A voice behind me makes me jump, “Nothing a little Were gene can’t fix, Sis.”
“Jamie?!” I shriek, latching my arms around him. He doesn’t even groan. “Why are you suddenly okay?” I ask, worriedly checking him for missing limbs or anything else that might have occurred while I was being taken away.
“Ave, this is why I haven’t been home in a while.” Jamie says softly, moving his arms above his head when I motion for him to. There isn’t even a scratch where Gabriel clawed him.
“This is impossible.” I whisper, touching the seemingly perfect area of skin. Not even a bump.
“Avery, let’s sit down.” Mom says, stepping out from behind Jamie. There’s a couch in the room so we sit down on that, her hand grasping mine as she looks at me with a remorseful expression.
“I don’t think you guys will be able to come up with an excuse for this.” I tell her, troubled by my conflicting emotions. Part of me is angry at them and hurt that they’ve been lying to me for my entire life, while another part of me is questioning how I can be upset with the people I love most in this world, who have always been by my side and promise to love me for the rest of my life.
“You’re right. We have no excuses for this, only explanations.” She says softly. “When Jamie turned three, your father got transferred to Arizona. You were born about half a year later, so you never got to meet the alpha or be officially welcomed to the pack. We think that’s why you didn’t shift when you turned sixteen.”
“Wait, so does that mean that Jamie shifted when he was sixteen?” I ask, looking at my brother hoping his answer won’t be what I think it is.
“I never wanted to keep this a secret from you, Ave.” He says quickly, sending me a sorrowful frown.
“But you did.” I respond, feeling almost numb inside. I don’t know why I didn’t connect everything before, but actually hearing from them that they’ve honestly lied to me and kept secrets from me my whole life hurts more than they will ever know. “You all did. You all laughed at me when Twilight came out, thinking it was hilarious when I asked if you thought werewolves could be real. You all told me how silly I was for believing in magic and supernatural beings. You all made me stop believing in the things I thought could be true, just so I wouldn’t find out your secret. What was the point?” My voice is barely above a whisper as I stare at the wall ahead of me.
“We didn’t do this to hurt you, honey.” Dad says.
“But you did!” I yell, unable to stop the tears that fill my eyes. Everybody is silent as my mind floods with questions. One question stands out the most, so I ask Gabriel, “What are the children like?” I know it probably sounds random and unimportant, but I feel like I need to know.
The man who claims to be my mate has been standing in the doorway this entire time. I don’t know how I know, since my back is facing him, but I can just tell that he’s near me. “Uh, I guess you could say they’re hyper? I have no idea how their parents manage to get those kids to sleep at night. They’re like balls of energy in the form of a child.” He answers.
I let out a shuddering breath, “So they kind of act like they have ADHD?”
“Avery, what were we supposed to do?” Mom cries, “Your teacher called us in for a meeting and recommended you get put on medication. We couldn’t tell her that you were just a pup.” She speaks quickly, squeezing my hand harder. I yank it from her grasp and stand, moving to one of the empty chairs.
“I came home from school every day crying because of how the kids made fun of me. It was so humiliating to have to take those pills every lunch period, knowing that everybody thought I was a freak. And now I find out that I wasn’t a freak at all, but instead I’m just a normal werewolf?” I can’t keep the accusing tone from my voice.
“What’s going on here?” Gabriel asks, confused by what we’re talking about.
I look at him and send him a teary smile. In this room, he’s the only person who’s been wholly honest with me so far. “When I was eight, my teacher arranged for the school psychologist to meet with me. She diagnosed me with ADHD and I’ve been on medication to calm me down ever since. Growing up in a small community where everybody finds out everything about their neighbors made it so everybody knew about me. They thought I was a ‘disabled miscreant’ as one teacher described me.”
“Ave,” Jamie starts, crouching down in front of me, “We brought you here so you could know. I’ve wanted to tell you since I first turned, but we thought it might be best to wait until you could shift too. Then it never happened. Us being here isn’t just to meet the new alpha. You were supposed to see the doctor and find out why your wolf wouldn’t come forward. We never thought you’d be Alpha Gabriel’s mate. There wasn’t even a chance to explain before shit hit the fan.”
I roll my eyes, “There was too a chance to explain! Set aside the nineteen years I’ve been alive, we sat in a car together for fifteen hundred miles and not one word was spoken to warn me.”
“Okay, but I wasn’t even there for the car trip.” He says, grasping at straws to make me forgive him.
I shake my head, “You haven’t been there for a lot of things recently, Jameson.”
“I’m so sorry.” He whispers, moving so he’s no longer crouching and is simply sitting in front of me.
“I don’t know how to forgive you guys. I honestly don’t think I can look past this and just forget that you’d been lying to me my whole life.” I say, tears flowing down my cheeks.
“Avery, why don’t you spend the night here? That’ll give you all a break and you can talk about it tomorrow?” Gabriel suggests in a calming voice. I look up at him and have an overwhelming urge to go to him. It’s like my body just knows that I can trust him and that he’ll be able to comfort me. I stand and walk to his side, pausing to look at the people who I thought would never hurt me.
Gabriel’s hand covers mine as he guides me to the kitchen and sets me on one of the stools at the island. “What would you like for dinner?” He asks, sounding as if I wasn’t just crying my eyes out as I learned the biggest secret of my life. I chuckle lightly and wipe away the last of my tears.
“What do you have?”
“Anything you can think of.” He says, “Usually a few omegas are in here but word has spread about you and everybody is giving us some space.”
I frown, “How do they know already?”
“Well a few of the people in the basement today went home and told their families that I’ve found my mate and from there it spread on. Plus, there’s the whole telepathy thing.” He adds nonchalantly as he digs in the fridge.
“The what?!” I exclaim. Surely I heard him wrong.
“Telepathy.” Gabriel repeats, a small smile forming on his lips.
“As in communicating through thoughts?” I ask, feeling the need to clarify.
He starts laughing, “I’m pretty sure that’s the general idea of it.”
“You can read people’s thoughts?!” My eyes are probably wide as saucers right now, but I just can’t help it. How can somebody be so casual about such a thing?
He nods, “Being a werewolf comes with a few privileges that humans don’t have.”
“But if I’m a werewolf, why can’t I hear your thoughts?” I ask.
“Because you’re technically not part of the pack yet. It’d be a breach of privacy if we could just go around listening to everybody we meet.” He explains.
“How exactly am I supposed to become a pack member? And when I do, do I have to shift first? Will I ever shift at all? What’s it like to shift?” I ask quickly, my words jumbling together the more I think about what could be in my future.
Gabriel chuckles, holding his hands up as he walks closer and stands right in front of me, “All of your questions will be answered in time. I promise. But first I need to get you fed, okay?” He presses a small kiss to the tip of my nose before stepping back and heading to the cupboards. “Now, what will it be?”
“Do you have pizza?” I ask.
He nods and starts getting out the supplies. “Now I’m not going to lie, I’m an awful cook, but for you I’m going to try.”
I feel like a burst of energy goes through my body at his words. How sweet is that? A guy who’s willing to cook just for me, even though he’s not good at it. All my life, I kind of figured that I’d be alone until some poor man had the rotten luck of having me as his plan B. I didn’t mind though, because I’ve never enjoyed being held down and the idea of marriage seemed like the ultimate weight to bear. Having somebody like Gabriel, who’s only known me for a couple hours and has already shown he cares, make an effort like this is astounding to me.
I hop down from my stool and move to stand beside him, feeling a little more at ease around the large man beside me, “In that case, why don’t I help?” I offer, sending him a small, slightly unsure, smile.
He grins widely and nods, “I’d like that very much.”
We spend the next hour making a horrible mess in his previously immaculate kitchen. By some miracle, our pizza turns out fantastically, but it is touch and go there for a little while. Despite his noble efforts at cooking our dinner, Gabriel is absolutely useless at cleaning it up. “Why do you not know how to wash dishes?” I ask him, amazed.
“Normally I’m busy and on the go, or people just offer to do it for me.” He says, sending me a sheepish smile.
I bite back my smile and shake my head, “Well, at twenty four I think it’s time you learned how.”
He groans softly, a scowl on his face, “There are omegas in the pack who are supposed to do this for us.”
I no longer feel like smiling as I narrow my eyes at him. “Are your hands broken?” He shakes his head no. “Are your arms too weak to hold the dishes?” Once again, he shakes his head no. “Well your brain functions correctly, right? I mean, you know how to control your body movements?”
He sends me a small glare and mutters the word “Yes.”
“Hmm, then I just can’t see why you can’t do your own dishes.”
“You know, as Alpha of this pack, I don’t have to let you talk to me like that.” He says, sounding irritated.
I raise an eyebrow, “Well as your supposed mate, I think I should be able to talk to you how I please. Besides, an alpha should at least know how to clean. It seems like the least you could do to show your pack they’re in capable hands.
“First off, you’re not my ‘supposed mate’ you’re my actual one. Second, I’m not incapable of washing dishes. It’s just beneath me.” He replies hotly, scrubbing the pan harshly. I don’t think he even realizes what he’s doing.
“Well I grew up doing the dishes every night. Does that mean that I’m beneath you, Gabriel?” I ask, honestly curious and just a little hurt by the thought. Does he look down upon me because I was raised to clean up after myself?
He freezes, “Avery, that’s not what I meant.” His voice is soft as he speaks, “I’m sorry it sounded like that.”
I send him a half smile that’s only partially real, “Don’t worry about it. I think we both have a lot to learn about each other.”
We’re both still and staring at each other, his hands remain in the soapy water while mine hold a plate and dish towel. Slowly, he moves his face closer to mine, not breaking eye contact, until we’re only inches apart. “I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings.” He whispers, his breath brushing against my lips. I’m sure he’s about to move closer and kiss me, but I’m not sure how I feel about that. I only just met him, and something feels so perfect when we’re together, but maybe it’s too soon.
I finally decide that, if he kisses me, I won’t pull away.
I’m about to move forward when I hear a loud female voice from the front door, “Yo Romeo, I heard you found your Juliet!”
We spring apart instantly, the moment broken by the person walking closer to us. “Mind your own business, Clem!” Gabriel shouts back.
I frown. Clem. For some reason that sounds so familiar. I just can’t place it though. I look to the entry way of the kitchen and my eyes widen when I realize why I know that name. “Holy crap, Avenue?!” The girl exclaims, her eyes as wide as mine.
“Avenue?” Gabriel asks, confused.
I smile at him, “I met Clem today at a café in town.” I gasp, remembering what she said to me, “Oh my god, you knew I was a wolf.”
She nods, “I totally thought you would’ve known too, but you didn’t and I didn’t want you to think I was crazy or something if I told you.”
Gabriel cuts in, “So wait, you two know each other?”
Clem rolls her eyes and gives his arm an affectionate pat, “It’s okay, Gaby, don’t hurt yourself by thinking too hard.” He looks annoyed by her insult, but his lack of response makes it clear that he’s used to it.
“How do you guys know each other?” I ask.
“She’s my cousin.” Gabriel explains. “Her parents went rogue when we were young and since then Clem’s practically been a sister to me.”
“What’s a rogue?” I frown, feeling more confused than earlier when he started telling me about Were’s. I mean, I just learned that Werewolves are real and now I need to learn about a whole new species called a Rogue? Just how many supernatural beings are there?
“Going rogue is when a wolf denies their Alpha. Some are harmless, but more often than not a rogue can be careless and harmful to the whole Werewolf species.” Gabriel explains.
My nose scrunches up as I try to understand, “Wait, so a rogue is still a Were?” I ask for clarification.
Gabriel nods, “Most Werewolves prefer living within a pack. They enjoy having the connection to those around them. Most Were’s also respect their Alpha and value whatever they say. Others fight it though, and end up on their own. Rogues tend to be more danger to society and threaten to reveal our existence to the human community; which is forbidden.” Just talking about it seems to make him upset.
I close my eyes and shake my head. Today has been a complete information overload. “No more Werewolf stuff tonight, please?” I ask Gabriel, looking at him hopefully.
His eyes soften and he nods, “Of course, Avery.”
Clem squeals from beside us and we both turn to see her practically jumping in excitement, “You two are just so cute! I can’t even handle this!”
I laugh and shrug my shoulders, not even sure what she thinks is so cute. “Your cousin is kind of odd.” I tell Gabriel as we turn back to the dishes. He’s no longer fighting with me about it.
He chuckles, “Yeah, but she’s kind of adorable, so we keep her around.”
“I’m right here!” Clem exclaims, unable to keep herself from laughing.
I’m glad that this crazy day has managed to end on a relatively high note. Now I just wonder what tomorrow will bring.