Kai wasn't really sure how it had gotten to this point. The last few months with the love of his life had been full of nothing but bliss. He spent countless hours a day with Gabriel, watching the sunrise, then going for walks at the park, or spending the day at the pack manor and just relaxing in each other's arms and watching movies. They had date nights every Thursday, since that was Gabriel's day off from work and Kai's day off from pack activities. Both wolves were full of love and happiness.
How then, did they end up in this situation? It all started on the scheduled date night. Gabriel had taken Kai out to dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant. Both men were happily chatting away with one another as Gabriel nursed his steak and pasta while Kai munched happily on his chicken marsala. It was the perfect evening, until a rogue wolf thought it smart to run his fingers across the back of Kai's neck as he passed by the table.
It all happened in a flash, Gabriel had risen from his chair so abruptly that it fell to the ground and he lunged for the wolf, slamming him down against the table opposite the one Kai had been sitting at with his rather enraged boyfriend. Kai's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet, "Gabbi, stand down," he commanded firmly, but he knew it was a lost cause. The larger wolf's eyes were glowing with anger as he wrapped his hand around the throat of the rogue wolf. The wolf was trembling in fear, and Kai felt his heart lurch as he noticed two other wolves approaching his boyfriend.
Without any other idea in mind, the tiny alpha ran forward and grabbed ahold of Gabbi's arm, tugging on it, "Gabbi, come on. Just let him go. Let's go home," Kai whispered to his boyfriend, his eyes scanning the room and landing on the two other rogue wolves still rapidly approaching, "Gabbi, now!" Kai shouted urgently. What happened next ran a shock through his system.
His loving, caring boyfriend, who had never dared to lift a hand against him before that night, reached a hand out and shoved him away. The push was filled with so much force that it sent Kai flying into a table that broke beneath his weight. It didn't hurt, but it did surprise him. It also seemed to have brought Gabriel out of his rage-filled stupor as his eyes widened, obviously realizing what he had just done. He lifted his head and met the wide, frightened eyes of his Strawberry. He looked down to look at the rogue he still had pinned against the table, and quickly released him. He stumbled backwards away from the wolf, releasing him quickly.
Kai was quick to move towards his Gabbi once he had gotten to his feet, grabbing his hand and looking up at him, "Let's go home," Kai whispered to his boyfriend, knowing that it would be safer for everyone if he got Gabriel out of there and to the manor.
After leaving the restaurant, and once arriving at home Gabriel had taken off into the woods leaving Kai behind at the house. That was a week ago, and Kai hadn't seen him since. Not until that next Thursday. Kai had been sitting on the couch, his time spent between lazily watching some movie his brother, Dante had put on for him and staring at the door to see if Gabriel was going to walk through it or not.
Kai had been a wreck all week. He was worried for his boyfriend, afraid that he had been hurt or worse. Kai couldn't imagine his life without Gabriel. It didn't seem real. Dante had tried to assure him that Gabriel would be okay, but nothing worked. No one could help Kai with his anxiety except for Gabriel, and Dante knew that. Dante swore that if Gabriel didn't come back soon, he would kill the wolf himself. It hurt his heart to see his brother so broken.
It had gotten so bad, that Kai couldn't even work with the pack properly anymore. Dante had to take over. All his brother did was sit in the sitting room and watch the door waiting for Gabriel to come home. At times, he would fall asleep in the armchair and Dante would have to carry him upstairs to his bed. He heard his brother cry himself to sleep on numerous occasions. Dante had watched his brother look at the door for the fiftieth time since he put the movie on, and he had enough.
"Kai, will you please relax? He's not just going to walk through the door because you are staring it down," Dante said, and he watched as his brother turned his head to look at him.
"I just need to know that he's okay," Kai mumbled weakly, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. Dante frowned deeply as he watched his brother, and he opened his mouth to say something but then the front door opened. Both Kai and Dante's heads jerked upwards to look at the door, and Kai was out of his seat in a flash once he saw the familiar face at the door, "Gabbi! You're okay," he instantly launched into the arms of his boyfriend. Gabriel looked down at the pink haired boy clinging to him so tightly that if he weren't a wolf, he was sure it would have hurt.
His arms didn't wrap around the tiny alpha, and Kai pulled his head away from Gabriel's chest to look up at him. Gabriel felt a pang in his heart as he saw the usually vibrant blue eyes of his Strawberry were now a dull gray. He had done that. He knew it, and it broke his heart to see it. He couldn't hurt this beautiful angel again, not anymore.
A throat cleared, and Gabriel lifted his head to see Dante glaring at him from across the room. The taller wolf's face remained blank as he stared at the brother of his Strawberry, "I'll leave you two alone, but after you and I are going to have a serious talk, Gabriel," Dante said before he turned on his heels to make his way upstairs to his room.
Gabriel watched him go, and waited until he heard a door close before he returned his gaze to Kai. At this point, Kai had fully removed himself from Gabriel, staring up at him with his arms crossed against his chest and his eyes narrowed dangerously, "Where were you? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
Gabriel frowned as he processed Kai's words. He was worried about him? After what he had done in the restaurant? Gabriel shook his head silently, "I needed to get away, and clear my head."
"For a week?! You didn't even bother to call me. Or even shoot me a text saying 'hey babe, I'm going to be gone for a whole fucking week,' I deserved something. Anything."
"I was trying to protect you..."
"Protect me from what?" Kai asked, his tone was sharp and firm. When Gabriel looked away from the tiny alpha, Kai felt true frustration with the elder wolf for the first time since he and Gabriel had become a couple, "No. You don't get to look away from me. Answer me," Kai commanded. Gabriel returned his gaze to the smaller male, unable to disobey the alpha command.
"I hurt you..." Gabriel spoke softly, and Kai's brows furrowed in confusion, "At the restaurant. I threw you across the room. You...the one person I swore to myself I'd never hurt."
"I would hardly call that hurting me. You were upset, and not in control..."
"But I should have been!" Gabriel shouted angrily. Kai quickly stumbled away from Gabriel, his heart dropping into his stomach. Gabriel had never raised his voice in front of Kai before. Everyone knew that Kai hated it when people shouted around him, and Gabriel had always been one of the only people to never scream around him. Gabriel immediately regretted doing so when he saw how quickly Kai had moved away from him. He turned his head away from the young alpha, too afraid to see the fear in his Strawberry's eyes, "I should have been in control...but I wasn't...and now I see," Gabriel took a breath, "Now I see that I could hurt you. I won't hurt you again. I can't...I refuse to. And so, I am going to do what I think is best."
"What do you mean?" However, Kai was pretty sure he already knew that answer to his question. He felt a pang in his heart at the thought. He hoped he was wrong.
"I'm leaving..."
"No," the crack in Kai's voice almost brought Gabriel to his knees. Gabriel closed his eyes to keep himself from losing his will, "No, y-you can't just leave..."
"I can and I will," Gabriel turned his head to look at Kai, and when he met the eyes of the small wolf, it really did take all of Gabriel's willpower not to take it back. The tears that fell from his angel's eyes made Gabriel's heart clench and his soul feel as if it had been torn apart, "I don't mean to upset you but-."
This caused a bitter laugh to escape from Kai, "Upset me? I am beyond upset. I am in pain! And you did mean it! Otherwise you wouldn't be leaving! You put me here! The person who was to love me more than anything! You promised me! You promised to never walk out on me like everyone else in my life! You promised to love me? Do you remember that, Gabriel? Was that a lie?"
"It wasn't a lie, Kai..."
"Then why? Just tell me the truth, why are you leaving?" Kai was trying not to let his tears fall anymore, but it was uncontrollable. He was breaking with every minute, and soon every dam would burst and he'd feel empty.
"Because...you're so perfect, Kai. And I've never been good enough. I'll never be good enough for you," Gabriel's voice had cracked as he spoke, and he hoped to God Kai didn't catch the crack in his voice.
"You are good enough for me," Kai took a step towards Gabriel, "You're perfect for me," he reached to take Gabriel's hand, but the taller wolf quickly jerked away.
"Can't you see?! Can't you see that I am bad for you! I hurt you! You! Because I can't control my anger, I hurt you. You need to get away from me and stay away from me. This," Gabriel motioned between Kai and himself, "was never going to work and we were fooling ourselves into believing that it would."
It was quiet in the room, and the silence hung in the air between the pair. Neither wolf was sure how long the silence had lasted. Maybe a minute, maybe five. Gabriel decided to use this silence as the time to leave. He turned his back towards Kai and made his way to the front door. He was at the door and had reached his hand out to grab the doorknob.
However, Kai chose this as the time to speak again, "I see what you're doing..."
"What?" Gabriel froze at the door. He didn't dare to turn around and face Kai, he kept his head down and merely waited for the alpha to speak.
"You're coming up with these excuses....the lies. You are looking for any reason you can to push me away, and I know why," Kai said softly, and it almost had to hear the catch in his voice as he spoke, "You're freeing yourself. You and I, we could have been happy together if you had just believed, trusted that someone could want you. But I see now that you're too much of a coward. You couldn't even bother to give us a chance," the last sentence was spoken in a whisper, and Gabriel had to clench his eyes shut tightly to keep from crying. He took a deep breath and turned his head to look at Kai, his hand still on the doorknob.
"Strawberry..." Gabriel said softly, and Kai shook his head silently. The tiny alpha reached a small hand to wipe his eyes.
"Don't call me that. You lost every right to call me that," Kai said as he looked at Gabriel, "I used to think of you as someone who would never, ever hurt me. You think you hurt me at that restaurant, but this. This is the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Because it hurts me here," Kai placed a hand over his heart, "And if you choose to walk out that door...I don't want you to ever come back."
Gabriel looked at Kai silently for a moment, and Kai had thought he had finally gotten through to Gabriel. Gabriel looked away, casting his gaze down to the ground, "This is for the best..." then he pulled the door open and slipped out into the night, shutting the door behind him.
In that moment, Kai felt as if his heart had been torn out of his chest and soul ripped from his body. He let out a gasp of pain as he dropped to his knees. He didn't cry. No tears fell, no sobs escaped. If this was a normal situation, he would have cried. But he couldn't. He couldn't cry. He felt numb. This pain was different. This pain made his whole body feel as if it were on fire, and his brain shut down.
It amazed Kai at how in just a split second, his life had been ruined. He not only lost his best friend, his boyfriend, his soulmate. He lost the other half of himself, and now all he felt was empty.