Chapter 12
“Well that was certainly interesting,” Gabriel said dryly as Mira disappeared. He’d never seen a dragon partially shift like that before. It was a little disturbing.
“I didn’t know she could do that either. Is that normal for dragons?”
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know for certain.” Gabriel wasn’t naive enough to think that dragons shared everything with their allies.
His cousin was silent as he stared up into the now empty sky.
“Why did you introduce me to her?” Gabriel asked.
“Because I trust you. Thought you might have some insight. I had no idea you would know her actual relatives, however. It seems a lot has changed since we’ve last seen each other.”
Gabriel simply nodded, because what else was there to say? They were supernatural beings and long-lived. Things were always going to change. It was the only constant in anyone’s life. He had long ago accepted that fact. The only thing he couldn’t accept was Vega’s future as he’d seen it. He simply would not.
“So you really think you can convince her to tell me why she won’t leave?”
Gabriel lifted a shoulder. “It’s worth a shot. She was very insistent that she couldn’t, not wouldn’t. Big difference.”
His cousin was silent for a long moment, his expression thoughtful. “You know I would give you anything in my power as long as it doesn’t hurt my pack. Why do you need a favor from me? Are you in trouble?” Concern laced his words.
Gabriel snorted. “I’m not in trouble.” And that was all he was going to say about that. His cousin might hate him when he asked for the favor but it had to be done. “Do you have a lot of sentries patrolling?”
“Enough that she’ll probably fly a mile or so for privacy.”
“What does your pack think of her?”
Now Judoc snorted. “Most of the females adore her and have had a good time teaching her about modern things. Mira seems horrified by reality television—and TV in general. Some of my males are intimidated by her even though they would never admit it aloud. And the other half want the chance to court her. Which personally I think is a mistake. She would eat them alive.”
Now Gabriel laughed. “Her brother’s mate, the one she apparently doesn’t care for, they’re so similar it’s scary.”
Judoc was silent for a long moment. “So, the dragons have officially come out.” Not a question but a statement. “I’d heard rumblings, but I don’t have any alliances with dragon clans.”
The only reason Gabriel’s own pack did was by happenstance. Not that he would tell his cousin that. “I believe they are officially out to the supernatural world. Not that I think you should go broadcasting that you have one on your land.”
His cousin’s expression turned solemn. “I’m allied with two wolf packs. I’ve only reached out to one Alpha about her existence and he wasn’t surprised by the existence of dragons. But he also didn’t know who she was.”
“She’s ancient.” Ancient in the way Gabriel had learned that only dragons were. There were a few wolves over a thousand years old, maybe even older, but with dragons it was different. They went into Hibernation for hundreds of years, sometimes even longer. Otherwise they would likely go mad. Too many memories and too much pain and loss would drive anyone mad. He certainly didn’t want to live forever. And if anything happened to Vega, he didn’t want to be here at all.
“Her power is a palpable thing.”
Gabriel simply nodded because he’d felt it too. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it pushed at his senses.
“I’m surprised you haven’t taken a mate by now,” Gabriel said into the quiet of the forest.
His cousin shrugged. “Being Alpha is hard. The pack is off-limits for sex and I’ve been so busy the last few years…” Now he shrugged. Gabriel understood. Taking a mate wasn’t something one did lightly. It was for life, and not in the human sense. Shifters didn’t get divorced or separated. Or it was very rare if they did. Matings were forever, and given their life span, that could be a very long time.
“How did you know Vega was your mate?” Judoc asked suddenly.
“My wolf recognized her even before I did.” It was more or less the truth. And in his vision his wolf had known she was the one, had been completely settled with that knowledge. “I can’t even look at another female with interest now.” Once he’d had that vision, he hadn’t even slept with another female despite not knowing Vega. His wolf had simply rejected the idea.
His cousin simply nodded, his expression turning thoughtful.
* * *
Vega didn’t scent Carson following her out of the house, but she swore as she stepped outside she could feel eyes on her. Which was possibly her imagination, but she trusted her instinct. The party was in full swing as she crossed the lawn toward a few females she’d spoken to earlier.
She paused as she scented Gabriel, however. A moment later he stepped into the clearing with Judoc and a female. The woman was tall, statuesque and had dark hair, but from this distance Vega couldn’t see much else.
Since she’d supposedly led Gabriel on a cross-country chase as part of their mating ritual, she needed to play things right. Act as if they truly were mates-to-be.
Gabriel broke away from the others and stalked toward her with determined steps. Definitely putting on the part of a male who’d missed his female even though they’d only been separated for half an hour at most. Her heart rate picked up a notch. Vega crossed the distance to him and threw her arms around his neck, holding him tight as she pressed her mouth to his.
He jolted under her sudden kiss but quickly melted into her as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
It was hard not to be affected by the feel of his tongue teasing her lips open, and flicking against her own. So…she didn’t bother to hide how it affected her. Besides, she needed to be a female who was completely in lust with her man. Of course the fact that she actually was seriously helped their cover. When she pulled back his eyes had gone pure wolf.
“I missed you,” she murmured.
His gaze narrowed ever so slightly but just as quickly he was all charm. Slowly, sensually, he ran his nose along her jaw. “What have you gotten up to?” He asked subvocally, so quiet that only she could hear. “I smell Carson on you.”
Oops. She spoke just as quietly. “I might have gotten lost and ended up in his room,” she flat-out lied. He would scent it anyway. “And I met your friend. Charming.”
Gabriel’s grip on her tightened. She knew he would be angry with her, but wouldn’t be able to show it. Before he could respond, Judoc and the female she didn’t recognize— Holy crap the female looked exactly like Drake. But…beautiful.
The woman gave Vega a curious sort of smile as she looked at her. Then she did the strangest thing—and leaned forward and actually sniffed the air. It was a decidedly unhuman thing to do. Of course there was no way this woman was pure human, not with the vibes of power rolling off her, and definitely not with the familial resemblance to Drake and other members of their clan.
The Alpha motioned with one hand. “Vega, this is Mira. I believe you know members of her clan.”
The way he introduced them was curious, but Vega smiled politely. “You look so similar to Drake,” Vega said, assuming that was who Judoc referred to. She had to be just as tall as Drake too.
Her head tilted to the side slightly. “Do I really look so much like my clan that you know who I am on sight?”
“Ah…well, yes if you’re related to the Petronilla clan.” She also resembled Drake’s father and brother.
Mira’s head did that tilt thing again and she appeared to be assessing Vega. “You care for Drake.” Not a question.
“I adore him. He is one of the best males I have ever met in my life.” They’d been stuck in a shitty prison cell the first time they’d met—and he’d saved her life.
Next to her Gabriel growled low in his throat but she just ignored it. He knew she had no feelings for Drake. And it didn’t matter anyway. It wasn’t as if she and Gabriel were truly getting mated. Maybe he was just laying it on thick for their audience to prove they were in the mating dance.
“I’ve been told I’m not supposed to say this as it’s not polite, but you have the nicest scent. It’s unique.” For just a moment the woman’s dragon was in her gaze as she stared at Vega.
Vega didn’t scare easily. She was a hybrid wolf-vampire, she’d been shot before and had been trained not only by her pack, but by serious professionals. But when this female looked at her, she felt as if she was under a microscope, as if she was being assessed by a sort of greater being. It reminded her of Arya, in a way. Not in the way they looked, because the two couldn’t be more different in appearance, but the mannerisms.
“Are you visiting friends for the holidays?” Vega asked, not sure how else to respond other than to laugh.
The woman blinked as if confused by the question but then nodded. “Sort of.”
Okay, then. This had been a weird conversation and she really needed to talk to Gabriel alone. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said, taking Gabriel’s hand. “I’m going to steal my male for a little bit, but we’ll be back to join the party later.”
Taking her by surprise, Gabriel hoisted her up and actually tossed her over his shoulder—caveman style. “We probably won’t be back,” he growled.
Everyone would assume he was going all possessive and taking her back to his bed, but she knew he was angry at her. Oh well. She was here to do a job.
When he smacked her butt once, heat flooded between her thighs. Dammit, why did she have to like that so much? Gabriel stumbled but kept going, and only once they were inside the house did he pause. It took her only a moment to understand why, because she scented the other male too. Carson.
Ugh.
“Gabriel, what the hell are you doing here?” the male asked even as Gabriel put her on her feet.
Turning to face him, she wrapped an arm around Gabriel’s waist as he slid one around her shoulders. “I’m visiting family,” Gabriel said, his voice neutral.
“Well I would say it’s good to see you, but we both know that’s not true. Tell your female to stay the hell out of my room,” the male snapped.
Before either of them could respond, the door opened behind them and suddenly the venom on Carson’s face was gone, replaced by a charming, civilized wolf.
A female said something flirtatious to Carson before passing by them.
As soon as she was gone the asshole face was back in place. Well that was very interesting. Gabriel had told her he’d never liked Carson even though the male had been well-liked in the pack. It was clear Carson didn’t bother putting on a front for Gabriel.
“See you around,” Carson said before stalking past them and shoulder-bumping Gabriel.
Vega nearly rolled her eyes. What a jackass. She wanted to say as much but Gabriel grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the end of the hallway.
* * *
Once they were in the privacy of his room, Gabriel resisted the urge to raise his voice at Vega for a multitude of reasons. He didn’t have any authority over her. They were teammates right now. And while he might be Guardian of her pack, there was still a different dynamic between the two of them, especially because of their attraction to each other. Besides, he knew that if he tried to go all heavy-handed on her, she’d bite his head off.
Because…she-wolves.
“How insulated is this room?” she asked.
“It’s secure,” he said. They still needed to be careful about what they said in general, however. He took her hand again—ignoring how right it felt—and pulled her toward the bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, he immediately turned the shower on. The sound of the water was always a good deterrent for anyone trying to eavesdrop, or if there were actually listening devices in here. He’d looked earlier, and hadn’t found any—and didn’t truly think there were any—but still. They needed to be smart.
“Did you find anything in his room?” Gabriel asked.
Vega mainly looked surprised. “No… You’re not going to read me the riot act?”
“You should have waited for backup, or talked to me first.”
“You mean how you talked to me when you disappeared with your cousin?”
He gritted his teeth. “He won’t hide the information in his room. And I seriously doubt he saved it anywhere online that could be hacked. He’ll keep it on a flash drive somewhere safe. Likely on his person.”
“You ever thought about simply telling Judoc what his cousin is planning? Because he’s threatening all of our kind, essentially. Maybe not technically, but I can’t imagine Judoc being okay with that.”
Gabriel had thought about it, and perhaps he would ask Judoc. But not yet. “If I asked and he says no, then we’ve given away the element of surprise. I don’t think we should risk that just yet.”
She nodded once, her expression contemplative. “August told me not to try and infiltrate his dreams. He said that Carson is a powerful psychic.”
Gabriel froze at that. He’d only scanned Carson’s file because he thought he’d known everything he needed to know about the douchebag. “Psychic?”
Vega nodded once. “I assumed you knew.”
He shook his head, his mind racing. August would have known because Carson had once worked for him. It would have been one of his tools—and likely a weapon he used against enemies.
“Does anyone in this pack know?” Vega asked.
“I don’t think so. And I find it very interesting that he’s kept it from everyone.” Those with psychic powers could infiltrate dreams, influence thoughts or decisions of others. It was rare, especially when it came to other supernaturals, to be able to influence them. “How powerful is he?”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I was going to ask you if you had any advice, because I know what August said, but we need to get that information. If I could get inside his head—”
“No…not yet anyway.” Not ever, but he kept that part to himself. If Carson was psychically gifted, it could explain why the pack had always loved him. It could definitely explain why Judoc had never been able to see what Gabriel saw when it came to Carson. Because Judoc was normally good at seeing through bullshit.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
“Judoc said that Carson was using the library earlier. Maybe he was reaching out to more contacts.”
“If he was, I know that August is monitoring his actions online. He’s got eyes everywhere, I swear.”
“The fact that Carson saw you in his room isn’t good for us. He might chalk it up to you telling the truth and getting lost, or he might assume that my ‘bitch girlfriend’ was just being sneaky for me.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She let out a short curse. “Maybe I shouldn’t have searched his room.”
“No, we had to do it. Did he have a laptop with him when he returned to the room?” Gabriel asked suddenly.
She paused, then shook her head. “No. He didn’t have anything in his hands.” Maybe Carson had used one of the pack’s computers, then. Before he could voice that thought, she said, “Should we head to the library?”
He shook his head. “I’ll use my ability to blend into the shadows and check it out myself. I doubt he did, but I’ll see if he didn’t erase all of his tracks.”
“So…what happens if we can’t find that flash drive, or whatever he’s keeping the information on, in the next day or two?”
“I’ll talk to Judoc, and if he rejects my request to ‘escort’ Carson out of the territory…we’ll have to try and extract him by any means possible.” Not Gabriel’s first choice, or even second choice, but they’d do what they had to do.
“That’ll get messy,” she murmured.
He simply nodded and turned the shower off. “I’ll be back.”
Giving him a speculative look, she turned the shower knob back on. “I’ll shower while you’re gone.”
The sudden image of what Vega would look like standing under the shower jets, her lean, lithe and very naked body bare and begging for his touch…
Fuuuuuuck.
He turned on his heel and left the room.