Chapter 10
Standing next to his cousin, Gabriel looked out over the clearing where the Alpha’s pack was having a party. It was strange, but being here felt like coming home. Not in the same sense that he felt with the Stavros pack, his pack, his family. But there was a sense of normalcy being here. And he hadn’t expected it.
The clearing had a dozen picnic tables set up and a gazebo that was new. Lights and colorful lanterns were strung up everywhere, on the tables, the gazebo and trees. Food was plentiful, covering half the tables because…wolves. One of the packmates was even acting as a DJ with his gear set up on the gazebo.
“So you’re mating with your Alpha’s daughter?” Judoc asked, watching the wolves in front of him as well.
Gabriel snorted. “We’re not mated yet.” And unfortunately never would be. He locked up that thought, refused to let the pain through. Judoc couldn’t get a hint of his underlying emotions.
“She doesn’t seem like your type.”
Gabriel looked at Vega as she talked to one of Judoc’s newer packmates, one Gabriel didn’t know. With her hands shoved casually into the pockets of her jeans, her long dark hair pulled back into a braid showing off her cheekbones, and nearly electric violet eyes that she normally hid with contacts, she was…stunning. “I don’t even know how to take that.” Because Vega was perfection. Even if he was holding back from courting her, from literally chasing after her, he couldn’t understand his cousin’s statement. And his wolf was getting testy at the thought that his cousin couldn’t see how fucking perfect she was.
Judoc raised an eyebrow. “Your wolf is in your eyes. I didn’t mean that as an insult. She’s incredible. But she’s young.”
“Yes, she is.” But she was also strong, smart, and would one day grow into an incredible power all her own. Not wanting to talk about her anymore but having no choice, he said, “How did you know who she was?”
His cousin gave him a look that said get real. “I kept tabs on you after you left. About once a year, I have someone check in. She was in one of the last files.”
Okay it was definitely a good thing that they hadn’t lied about her identity. “Why do I smell Carson on the property?” Gabriel asked, changing subjects. It was a smooth enough transition.
His cousin’s expression turned surprisingly dark. “He’s visiting for a bit. He’s holed up in the library right now.”
“Is everything okay with him?”
His cousin gave a short laugh. “I didn’t know you cared.”
Gabriel lifted a shoulder. “We never got along, but he is still family.” He nearly choked on the last word. Carson wasn’t his family. Not in the way that mattered. The Stavros pack, they were his family in every way that mattered. Those wolves—and demigod, dragon, half-demons and everyone else—he would die for. They were his tribe.
Judoc said, “I think he might have gotten into some trouble. He asked if he could stay here and lie low. He asked for protection without actually asking for it.”
Gabriel simply nodded once, having nothing else to say. He couldn’t pretend as if he was worried for the other wolf because his cousin wouldn’t believe it and it would look suspicious. “What else is bothering you, cousin?”
Judoc looked surprised. “Why do you ask?”
“Come on, we grew up together. I can easily read you.” Not exactly true, but he knew his cousin well enough that something was on his mind.
“We did grow up together and then you left as soon as I became Alpha. Why?” The question was harsh, brutal, the wolf peering back at Gabriel.
Gabriel hadn’t expected the question. They’d never talked about why he left. He’d simply told Judoc that he needed to go roaming, that he needed to find himself. Then he’d left and never come back. Now he had to answer and it would be tricky because there was more than one reason and he couldn’t lie to Judoc. “Do you want me to be brutally honest?”
Nodding, Judoc crossed his arms over his chest and turned to fully face Gabriel.
Gabriel looked right in his cousin’s eyes and didn’t turn away. He continued staring, not challenging but also not backing down. Almost any other wolf would have lowered their gaze. Any wolf not an Alpha or possessing certain Alpha qualities. Gabriel wasn’t an Alpha but…he wasn’t submissive to Judoc either.
After a moment his cousin let out a low curse.
“That’s why,” Gabriel said, without having to explain at all. But he continued anyway. “I’m not an Alpha in the sense that you are, but our wolves grew up together, we fought as pups and there was never a sure winner. It was a back and forth between us. I don’t know that my wolf would have ever fully recognized you as an Alpha. I respect you and I would have followed you into any battle, and would have died for you. Hell, I still would.” There was truth in his words because despite all the years separating them, he loved his cousin. “It would have caused too much friction down the line if I’d stayed.”
His cousin nodded and looked out at the partying wolves. The scene wasn’t much different than the wolves of the Stavros pack. If there was one thing his kind knew how to do, it was to have a good time.
“I’m surprised you chased a female so far,” Judoc said.
Now Gabriel laughed. When he did, Vega looked across at him from where she was still talking with a few females. He was too far away for her to hear, but as she stared at him, he felt the heat of that look straight to his core. Damn, that female was going to be the end of him. “You’ve never fallen for anyone, then,” he murmured. “Because if you had, you’d give up your entire pack if she requested it.” Continuing, he said, “She’s a strong female. Would you expect any less?” It wasn’t actually a question even though he phrased it as one. Right now he was toeing the line between truth and half-truth.
Now his cousin laughed. “They are definitely the smarter sex.”
“Amen to that.”
“Speaking of females, I do have a problem. Not the same kind as you but… There’s been an incident on my land.” Now he turned away and motioned for Gabriel to follow him.
Gabriel didn’t like being separated from Vega, even if he knew she could take care of herself.
“She’ll be fine,” his cousin said, sensing Gabriel’s concern. “While on my land she’s under my protection.”
That would be good enough for now. “Where are we going?”
“Cabin about a mile from here. We can run in wolf form or I can grab one of the four-wheelers.”
“Running is fine.”
As they headed toward a dense thicket of trees, Judoc said, “Did your wolf recognize Finn as Alpha?”
“Immediately.” He had to be honest, even if he worried that his response would hurt his cousin. “I’m his Guardian.” Not something all packs had. But his wolf had met Finn and something had shifted into place. Finn, his pack, they were Gabriel’s to protect. Time and distance wouldn’t ever affect that.
To his surprise he felt nothing but a warm contentment roll off Judoc. “Good.”
Once they cleared the line of trees, they both stripped, and after bundling their clothes into little balls, they both shifted. As always, there was a bite of pain with pleasure as magic flowed through him. Before Gabriel had even picked up his bundle of clothing in his teeth, his cousin playfully growled at him, grabbed his own clothing in his mouth and raced off.
Though he hated leaving Vega behind, a sense of freedom flowed through him as he chased after Judoc. Just like old times. It was chilly outside, with a light dusting of snow that would probably melt away in the week to come, but he barely felt the cold as he flew across the soft earth. Being in this forest, the one he’d grown up in, his wolf wanted to run and run. Too soon they reached their destination, a cabin in the woods. One he didn’t recognize so it had to be new.
There were plenty of houses and cabins across this vast expanse of land. As he stopped next to his cousin, he scented an unfamiliar being. Definitely a shifter. It took all of two seconds for him to decide that he scented a dragon. Well that was very interesting.
They both shifted and changed clothes in silence.
“Is your female in the cabin?”
His cousin snorted. “She’s not my female. But she is a problem.”
“You know she can probably hear you.”
This time his cousin laughed, the sound echoing across the clearing. “She can definitely hear me. And she knows she’s a problem. Come on, let’s go see her.”
Before they’d made it halfway to the house, the front door opened and a tall, striking female with dark hair stepped out.
Gabriel met her gaze and was immediately struck by a sense of, one, ancient power rolling off the female, and two, she looked eerily similar to his friend Drake—and Drake’s father Dragos. She had the same grayish-silver eyes, dark hair, and Celtic skin coloring as the two of them—and the familial resemblance was clear in her build and facial similarities. “Shit.”
His cousin looked at him and he realized he’d spoken out loud. Double shit.
As the woman reached them, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Gabriel as if he was a bug. Then she looked back at Judoc, her expression neutral. She didn’t avert her eyes and it was clear that this female was Alpha herself. “Who is this puppy?”
Gabriel tried to hide a laugh but didn’t do a good job of it. He knew he should be insulted, and under normal circumstances he would be. But…fucking dragons. That was all that needed to be said. They were all insane and arrogant, as far as he was concerned. He could waste time getting riled up and insulted or just accept them for who they were.
The female looked back at him and raised an imperious eyebrow.
“This male is my cousin. He’s in town for a visit.”
The woman leaned forward and actually sniffed Gabriel. Just inhaled deeply, not even being subtle about it. “No, he is in town for a female.” Her head tilted to the side slightly and she looked at him, her expression almost alien. “Your female smells delightful.”
Gabriel didn’t step back because it would be a sign of weakness, but he wanted to put some space between them. “Seriously, personal space, learn what it means.” His voice was dry.
The female laughed, the sound rich and throaty. Then in a move he’d only seen one other female dragon do, she patted his cheek. “I think I’m going to like this puppy.”
“Sweet baby dragons,” Gabriel muttered.
Now the female narrowed her gaze at him. “What do you know of dragons?”
“I know they’re a lot of damn trouble,” he muttered.
The dragon looked at him now, her eyes all beast. “You know my kind?”
“I do.”
Judoc lifted an eyebrow. So apparently Judoc hadn’t kept close tabs on him. It was just as his cousin had said, that he’d checked in once a year. Otherwise he might have known of Drake’s existence. Or Ian’s, for that matter, even if he didn’t live directly with the pack.
“Is he a trustworthy male?” the female—whose name he still didn’t know—asked his cousin.
“Yes.” No hesitation and pure truth in that word.
She looked at Gabriel again. “You say dragons are trouble. Are you friends or enemies with my kind?”
“My best friend is mated to one, and my pack…” He glanced at Judoc before looking back at the female. “My pack has an alliance with two dragon clans.”
Dragons had started “officially” coming out to other supernaturals in the last seven years or less. But it wasn’t a secret that his pack was allied with two clans. They didn’t go around broadcasting it, of course, but apparently his cousin had no idea. He looked back at the female. “So what’s the problem here?”
“I am.” A simple, succinct answer she seemed to think he should understand completely.
Which, since she was a dragon…he kind of did.
Judoc sighed. “Mira showed up on my property one day out of the blue. Just appeared as if out of nowhere. Claimed she was sleeping under the earth here for many years.”
Mira snorted but didn’t interrupt otherwise.
“She’s apparently been asleep here for centuries. Speaks a lot of languages and now she won’t leave. But she’s also not challenging my authority.” His cousin sounded beyond frustrated.
Gabriel could understand his frustration. Alphas didn’t go out of their way to start fights with people but there were pretty hard and fast rules about not infringing on another Alpha’s territory. That didn’t seem to be the case here, however. “So you were hibernating in his territory?”
“Yes. And I was here long before Judoc. Not that I’m trying to take his territory.” She let out a haughty little sniff that could be interpreted a myriad of ways. “I just can’t leave yet.”
Can’t, not won’t. Interesting. “Why?” Gabriel asked.
Judoc gritted his teeth. “She won’t say.” He sounded as if he was chewing on glass at the moment.
“If you need help finding your family, I can help you,” Gabriel said. Because he was pretty sure he knew some of her relatives.
The female’s eyes went pure dragon for a moment and as she watched him, he felt the weight of centuries in her gaze. Maybe millennia. “Who do you think I am related to?”
“You look exactly like my friend Drake. But…prettier.”
She jerked back momentarily. “You know my brother?”
“Brother…” Oh hell, she was related to Dragos senior. Because Drake only had one brother and one sister as far as he knew. “I do know your brother. I was actually referring to his son…one of them. But yes, you look like him as well.” And come to think of it, she looked like Conall, Drake’s other brother. They all had the same gray eyes and build.
She went preternaturally still in the way only supernaturals could be. With her it was eerie. “My brother has children.” It was said as a statement but sounded more like a question.
Gabriel wondered exactly how long she’d been hibernating if she didn’t know that, because Dragos was pretty ancient himself. So was Drake. The male had been born before the fall of the Roman Empire. Holy fuck.
Just as suddenly, her eyes narrowed. “Who did my brother mate with?”
Gabriel wasn’t sure if he should answer, for a whole multitude of reasons. So he said, “Someone who reminds me of you.” And he wasn’t going to dwell on how weird that was. Dragon females were a strong bunch. Much like wolves. But…crazier.
“As long as it wasn’t Arya.” She sniffed again in that ridiculously haughty manner.
Gabriel coughed to cover a laugh and her eyes narrowed again. She let out a string of curses in a language he didn’t recognize. Then she spoke. “I would very much like to see my family again. But I still can’t leave.”
Again with the can’t.
“We’ve had this conversation about a hundred times,” Judoc said, running his hand over his hair with clear agitation. “And she won’t tell me why.”
Gabriel wanted to ask his cousin why he’d brought him to the female but decided to save the question for another time. Especially when he had an idea… Gabriel turned to his cousin. “If I can get her to tell you why she won’t leave, I need a favor.”
Judoc frowned. “I’ll give you any favor you ask for regardless.”
Gabriel knew that wasn’t true, not when his cousin heard what he wanted. So Gabriel shook his head. “I need you to vow that if she explains why she can’t leave, you have to do something for me—no matter what.”
Surprising him, Judoc didn’t add any stipulations, but nodded. “And if you actually get her to leave on top of it, I’ll owe you two favors. She’s driving my warriors crazy.”
“I’m right here and I’m not going to tell you anything, little puppy,” she snapped.
Gabriel looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you’ll talk to me. I know where your clan lives. I know who your brother is mated to. I know all of his children and happen to know for a fact that one of their mates is now pregnant.”
She sucked in a breath. “I can’t believe my sweet brother has children and is now expecting grandchildren. What a blessing.” She said it so reverently.
Calling the ancient Dragos sweet was something only a sister would do. “We can call your brother right now. You can speak to him and probably his mate.” Which, if her reaction to Dragos mating Arya was anything to go by, that might not be a good thing. “You can even see his face with FaceTime or another app.”
“I don’t trust those cell phone things.”
Judoc muttered something else under his breath.
“Your brother and his mate felt the same way when they rose from their Hibernation. Would you like to speak to him or not?”
“I’m not agreeing to tell you why I won’t leave.” The set of her jaw was firm.
“I know…I’m still going to call him for you.” With a female like this he couldn’t use anything resembling blackmail.
But if he could butter her up by connecting her with her family—something he would have done no matter what—he would be in her good graces. It was possible she might tell Judoc what he wanted. If that happened, then Gabriel had a favor from his cousin. And he would use it to have him remove Carson’s protection. It was a shitty thing to do, but he needed what Carson had and he needed Vega off this property. He needed her back home where she was safe, where his vision could never come true. Even if he burned a bridge with his cousin, the only thing that mattered was keeping Vega alive.
Reaching into his pocket, he dialed Drake as opposed to Dragos. His friend answered on the second ring. “Drake, are you in the vicinity of your parents?”
“Well hello to you too. Yes, I’m actually headed over there right now. I heard you spoke to Victoria earlier. Maybe you can get her to take it easy? My female will not listen to me about needing her rest.”
Gabriel laughed lightly. “You know as well as I do I can’t get a female to do a damn thing—especially that one. She ended up mated to you, didn’t she?” And they both knew how Gabriel had felt about Drake all those years ago.
“Damn straight. Hold on, I’m stepping inside my parents’ house now. What’s going on? Is everything okay? Is it Vega?” The dragon had a soft spot for Vega, another reason Gabriel would love the guy forever.
Not that he’d ever tell the dragon that. “Honestly I don’t know if things are okay—but Vega is fine. Look, I know that your clan and all dragons are linked to their people at least loosely. Recently did any of you feel an awakening?”
Drake was silent for a long moment. “My father felt one…strongly. The rest of us felt the trickle of an awakening, but it had to have been someone I’ve never met. An ancestor who went into Hibernation before I was born, because the link is so weak.”
Yep, that was good enough for Gabriel. “I have someone your father is going to want to talk to.”