The next day, Val could hardly focus on her schoolwork. All morning long, she had been bracing herself for the eventual confrontation with Ren and his lackeys, but surprisingly enough, they avoided her as if she were plagued. It was strange, if she was going to be honest, and although she did get a lot of attention from male students, she always found them easier to ignore than Ren and his gang. In a way, it was a little bit lonely to be completely ignored by the group of boys that had been giving her a hard time from the first day she had entered SU. On the other hand, she had never been more relieved.
When the end of the day finally rolled around, Val’s stomach dropped. The class had run late again thanks to a horribly timed question by one of the most obnoxious students in the class, and so she ran with all her might out the door and down the steep staircase leading to the student parking lot.
She rounded the corner, knowing she was probably going to miss the bus. Still, she was determined to try her best anyway. But just as she made it past the corner and toward the bus shelter, Val’s heart sank. The bus was speeding past and heading out toward the road.
“Shit!” Val exclaimed, kicking at the air. That was it for her job at the record store. Now what the hell was she going to do?
“You need a ride?”
Val froze at the sound of Gabe’s voice. He didn’t look particularly happy, but he was parked just outside the bus shelter all the same, his handsome features dark, pensive, and serious.
“I…you don’t have to.”
Gabe sighed heavily and threw the truck door open. “We’re going to the same place, kid. Just get in.”
Val felt a twinge of nervousness; how did she know she could trust him? But when she looked at him again, her reservations melted. He wasn’t going to hurt her. She had been looking up the ancient shifter laws all night after he had claimed her, and she knew he was doing this out of a profound sense of duty. Gabe seemed to believe it was his job to take care of her from that moment on. And if she was going to be honest, it was kind of obnoxious.
“You don’t have to keep showing up to save me all the time, you know,” she said quietly, climbing into the truck. “It isn’t your job, even if your pack makes you feel like it is.”
“You know nothing about my pack or my job,” Gabe said, refusing to meet her eye. Val felt self-conscious suddenly and looked down at her hands.
“Sorry,” she said quietly. “I just don’t like the idea that you think you owe me something. You did something nice to help me out when I needed it, but it doesn’t have to be anything more than that.”
“Actually, kid, it does,” Gabe sighed. “I already stopped by the Council to let them know about what happened.”
“Why would you do that?” Val asked, panic curdling in her chest. “You don’t even care about me! And you’re talking to the Council like we’re married or something?”
“There were witnesses, Valerie,” Gabe said, his voice frighteningly even. “It would have gotten around to them one way or another. And telling the Council doesn’t change anything. It just means I have to do everything I can to honor my word. I’m not married anymore. I’m going to honor my word. That’s all a man has.”
“I don’t know why you got yourself into this,” Val grumbled. “You’re just going to end up resenting me because you think you have to take care of me or something when you don’t want to.”
It was just what her parents had been like with her before they’d given her up to the foster care system. The idea made her sick.
“Well, maybe I needed someone to take care of,” Gabe said with half a shrug. “I don’t have anything else going for me right now, that’s for damn sure. Who knows why the wolf did what he did. It’s not like we have to do anything together. I’ll just hang around and keep you out of trouble.”
Val grew quiet and considered this. It was a relief to know she wasn’t sexually obligated to him, even if she couldn’t take her eyes off the guy. And it was true, she was attracted to him. Almost enough that it scared her when she was near him. But he was like twice her age. He probably just always wanted to have a daughter, and now that they were stuck together, he had a reason to feel like he was some kind of amazing father doing things like taking her to work and picking her up from school.
It was sweet, in a way, but it would be sweeter if there weren’t all kinds of ancient laws obligating them to each other. That was a lot of pressure for such a new relationship. And just what kind of relationship were they supposed to have, anyway? Was he like her husband now? Or were they able to simply act the way they were acting now, with him being paternal and caring and protective, with no questions asked; no weirdness or sexual tension whatsoever. Either way, it made her uncomfortable. She had never had a father before and she certainly didn’t need one now.
But when she caught Gabe’s eye from across the truck, the anguish roiling behind his brown eyes was enough to make her second-guess whether or not she was going to have to sidestep that unfortunate sexual tension. He was a ridiculously handsome man, and that meant there were things about him she was just going to have to try to ignore if things were going to be able to remain even semi normal between them.
Thankfully, they reached the record store before her mind could consider anything more about it, and Gabe parked right outside.
“Let me know if you need anything,” he said, finally holding her gaze. “I mean it.”
Val was lost in his gaze and nodded despite herself. There was an unspoken bond between them now, something she had to honor, whether she liked it or not. It was up to him to care for her, and it was up to her to tell him when she needed care. Whether she liked it or not, Valerie had been claimed.