Gabe gripped the steering wheel tightly as he rolled to a stop in front of the gas station. He and Val hadn’t spoken a word since he had explained his claim on her, but now she turned to him, her agitation turning into a small smile.
“I thought I was going to be late, but since I didn’t have to take the bus, I’m early.”
Gabe nodded, afraid to open his mouth to speak. He was feeling angry and volatile, more at himself than at her, but it wouldn’t do either of them any good for him to take his frustration out on her. Val seemed to understand the tension between them and took a deep breath.
“Thanks for the ride…and everything,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands. “I’ll pay you back somehow.”
Gabe scoffed, turning his head away from her and staring out the window, and Val climbed out of the truck and went inside.
What in the hell would Molly have to say about all this? He knew she would be furious if she were still alive, but now that she was gone, what would she think? Would she be happy that he had someone else to take care of now? Or would she think he was a horrible pervert, inserting himself into the life of the first young girl he felt a twinge of attraction toward? He wouldn’t blame her either way, but the fury he felt for himself was mounting. How could he have let himself lose control to such a huge extent?
He would never forgive himself. And now, according to the laws and customs of the pack, he was obligated to serve her, to protect her, to give her all the comforts and pleasures that life had to offer. He might as well have married her right then and there. It was a totally insane thing to do right in the heat of the moment. What the hell had he been thinking?
The problem was, he hadn’t been thinking at all. Not even a little bit. Everything he had been stressing out about had resulted in this small explosion; this ridiculous, self-destructive act that gave the wolf the satisfaction of taking control of the situation in its own rash and impulsive way, no matter what the hell the consequences of that might be. He had brought this all on himself.
And now that he had staked his claim, he was going to have to go and register it with the Council. Gabe growled, punching his steering wheel hard. A sharp honk echoed in the parking lot of the gas station and he gritted his teeth, ignoring the confused and offended looks of the bystanders.
Gabe tore out of the gas station and headed toward the Council’s building in the center of town, where all the most important events were always held. His stomach sank when he parked his truck, remembering how happy he had been the first time he had staked his claim on a mate; the deep pleasure on Molly’s face when, hand in hand, they had walked into the council’s building and told them they were going to make their relationship official. He had told everyone there that he was going to protect her for all time.
A lot of good that had done for her. Gabe hadn’t been with her the morning she was driving to work and some dumb kid, still drunk from the night before, slammed into her car out of nowhere. He hadn’t been there when she breathed in the last sustaining breath of life, and let it out for the last time. And he certainly hadn’t been there when the doctors declared there was nothing more they could do, and left her lying cold on the gurney in the emergency room.
Nothing he had done that day had helped her. He had been in the office, working on his checkbook. He hadn’t kept his promise, and in return, he had lost his wife and would never have her back.
Gabe got out of his truck, unable to prevent his legs from shaking as he moved slowly forward through the parking lot and toward the huge, heavy oak doors. He didn’t have a hand to hold this time; a woman who thought the world of him smiling beside him as they prepared themselves to make their joyous announcement. No. All he had was regret.
“Gabriel Black, what are you doing here today?”
Gabe pursed his lips and swallowed hard, barely able to believe what he was about to say.
“I made a claim today.”
“You’re kidding!”
Leon had been one of the men that Molly went out of her way to help; she had been just as beloved in the Council as she had been everywhere else. Leon’s elderly father had needed care, and Molly had gone out of her way every day to check on him after she got off work. She would make him dinner and then come home to do the same for Gabe.
Nausea crept through Gabe’s stomach and he looked down at the ground, more ashamed of himself than he had ever been in his life.
“I wish I was kidding… but the wolf…”
“I understand,” Leon said, holding his hand up to silence Gabe. “Sometimes, these things happen without our own permission. That just means that it is somehow meant to be, whether we know the reason or not.”
Gabe had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at Leon, but the fastest way to dishonor within the pack was to fight with an Elder when they were supporting you through the unpredictable twists and turns of life. There wasn’t much you could do to come back from something like that.
“Well, all right then,” Leon said, sighing heavily. His pen scratched across a sheet of paper and then he held his hand out for Gabe to shake. Gabe took it reluctantly, refusing to meet Leon’s eyes as his claim was officially registered with the council.
Gabe returned to his truck, unsure of how to feel. Just since he had woken up that morning, he had suddenly become saddled with a new responsibility he was going to have to deal with for the rest of his life. That was something he wasn’t going to be able to escape from. No matter what he did, no matter where he was, he was accountable for the human’s safety. What the hell had he been thinking?