🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 37
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Meet Your New Alpha
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Minutes later, we were approaching the others, my heartbeat increasing with every step. I peeked around Gabriel’s broad shoulder to see their faces. Many were confused, several were fearful, and others were just downright angry.
Gabriel st©pped and I stepped out beside him, feeling the heated gazes on me. My Mate eyed the pack, staring them down. It was absolutely silent and I was worried that everyone could hear my thudding heartbeat.
I glanced around, ma-king eye contact with Maria. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked worried, her father’s expression mirroring her own as he stood next to her. I searched the crowd again but could not locate Will anywhere. Was he on patrol?
“As you know, your former Alpha intruded on my territory and issued a challenge.” Gabriel’s eyes were unfathomable black pits that seemed to almost absorb the moonlight, giving him a hauntingly ethereal appearance.
He continued, his tone cli-pped. “He lost.”
Nob©dy looked surprised. I was sure they had been pre-warned.
“If it were entirely up to me, I would have killed him. He acted rashly and disrespectfully and it would have been my right. However….” He trailed off, giving me a significant glance, and I felt my pack members staring at me again. “One of your pack members convinced me otherwise. I Purged him, which now means I am the rightful Alpha of your pack.”
It was a testament to my pack’s fear of Gabriel, for they remained stonily silent.
“I cannot mind-link with you until the ceremony is completed tomorrow night. Until then, we will work on plans for integration.” He shifted position, crossing his muscular arms in front of his che-st. “I know most of you hate me and my pack. But we are facing a bigger, more powerful threat now. We have to work together to rid this territory of those blood-su-cking monsters.”
There were a few murmurs in the crowd now. I saw a few wolves who seemed to reluctantly agree with his statement, while others still looked angry.
“I expect obe-dience and collaboration from all of you. Punishments for disrespect will be severe. We don’t have time to fight amongst ourselves.” Gabriel’s gaze was ha-rd and roved the crowd, causing many wolves to flin-ch away from his pene-trating eyes.
“However, I will lead all of you as if you have always been members of my pack.” He indicated Eva, standing on his other side, with a j£rk of his head. “This is Eva, our strongest Pack Doctor. She will tend to your Pack Doctor to as-sure you all can take care of yourselves. For now, our territory is spre-ad out. We will nee-d a Doctor in each location.”
I had stared at him quizzically when he said “strongest” Pack Doctor. So did they have others, then? I had never met any others, but many packs had two wolves with the Affinity at one time.
With a few more words, Gabriel dismissed the pack and turned away. I noticed Gabriel specifically addressed Jack, indicating that he wanted to meet with him later. It was still strange and foreign, seeing him talk to my pack like that, when we were all p@rt of the same unit now. I couldn’t quite wra-p my mind around it. My Wolf liked it, but I could only hope we would all get along, especially until Cain was gone.
“Take us to your father, Skylar,” Gabriel said quietly. I tried not to shiver when he said my name and, ignoring Eva, indicated the direction we would go with a j£rk of my head.
They followed close behind me, Gabriel’s husky scent invading my nostrils as I led them to the infirmary. When we walked in, my mother jo-lted upright in her chair, a look of pure shock taking over her features as she registered just who I was with. She had still been looking over my father. Her bright eyes were bleary, and I could tell she’d been crying. I could ba-rely look at her. Even after all of these years, she still felt the same about my father. That was the magic of the Mating bond at work, I realized bitterly.
“This is Eva, our Pack Doctor. She’ll be seeing to him,” Gabriel indicated my father with a j£rk of his head. My mother looked between the three of us, utterly confused.
“Alpha Brett challenged him and lost. Gabriel Purged him. He’s our Alpha now,” I said tiredly, giving her the shortest possible version. My mother looked taken aback but she didn’t argue, instead moving a bit backwards for Eva to have room. I was sure she was struggling to cope with everything as it was.
“Will…will you be able to help him?” My mother stammered out.
Eva glanced at her and shrugged. “We’ll see.” As usual, her tone was cli-pped and I tried not to growl at her rudeness. My Wolf didn’t want her so close to my family, but I knew I had to trust Gabriel here. It was the best chance my father had. I stared down at his peaceful face, trying not to cry. If only I hadn’t been such a disappointment and gotten my Affinity…
“Skylar. I nee-d to talk to you outside.”
I nodded tiredly, having no clue what this was about. I just wanted to sleep for the next three days. Was that too much to ask?
I followed my Mate until we were outside the infirmary. The darkness was thickening, crowding in around us, and I clutched my rosary abs£ntmindedly. Gabriel still had the sack with the Stone of Jacob slung over his shoulder, and I hoped it would work as well as Raziel said. I was tired of being afraid of the dark.
Gabriel turned around about five feet away from me, shoulders tense. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
I blinked stupidly at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I can feel your strongest emotions when we are in such close proximity,” he replied coolly, and I looked down at the ground. He was talking about all of my jealous episodes earlier. He must’ve thought I was completely pathetic.
“Sorry,” I muttered, the word coming out a bit more petulantly than I intended.
“I don’t want your apologies, Skylar,” he replied impatiently. “But I can’t have you wanting to tear Eva’s eyes out every time you’re close to her.”
My Wolf growled at the mention of her name. “Wouldn’t want that, would we?” I replied sardonically, which was completely out of character for me. I really was on edge, I realized. My patience was worn thin and I was running on empty.
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Hall Of Supernatural Stories
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Gabriel growled softly and I realized he did not appreciate my snippy replies. “St©p acting like a child.”
“St©p patronizing me!”
It seemed like the old, condescending Gabriel was back. Was he deliberately trying to push me away? Or was I just so edgy that I was getting pissed off at every little thing? My skin felt h0t and I shifted position, ignoring the unplea-sant s-en-sations that had increa-sed tenfold when I had Shifted back into human form.
He growled again, louder. “Like it or not I’m your Alpha now and my Wolf doesn’t like being disrespected like that, even from you.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “So I get jealous one time and now I’M the bad guy? As if you didn’t act the same way when I was saying goodbye to Will? I CAN’T control when my Wolf gets jealous. She didn’t like the sight of a n-ked female so close to you,” I bit out, not even caring what I was saying. “Just because you’re practically incapable of emotion doesn’t mean we don’t feel anything for you!”
I realized belatedly that I had said “we” instead of “my Wolf”, but I didn’t care at this point. My anger and frustration was continuing to build. It was like we were back to square one all over again. I knew I was being unfair because Gabriel did feel emotion, at least sometimes, but my rarely-seen temper was dangerously close to emerging. Lack of sleep and a burning fever will do that to you. As my anger grew, I could feel the heat un-derneath my skin rising. I vainly tried to control myself.
Gabriel was completely taken aback by my outbur-st and he stood there a moment, silent, before his eyes ha-rd ened. “That’s what you think of me, then. That I’m incapable of feelings,” his words were ha-rd , bitter, but I thought I could see the thinly disguised hurt in his expression. “If you recall Skylar, YOU were the one that asked to return home. YOU were the one who couldn’t stand being around me!”
The heat and sizzling un-der my skin increa-sed to a nearly unbearable level. “That’s not what I-“ Suddenly, a wave of dizziness overc@m£ me. I staggered backwards in surprise, catching myself on the outside wall of the infirmary, as Gabriel’s expression morphed into one of worry and he took a few steps towards me.
My throat suddenly felt constricted, and I took a de-ep breath, closing my eyes. My skin was practically on fire and I tried to calm myself. Somehow I knew the argument with Gabriel had made everything worse. I sagged against the wall, attempting to keep myself upright.
“Skylar?” Gabriel’s voice was softer now and he stepped even closer. As if he could s-en-se what was wrong, he reached out a hand and placed it on my forehead. I felt a rush of plea-sure and an electric spark from the contact, but it was nearly drowned out from my searing-h0t skin.
Gabriel swore. “You’re burning up!” He hissed, withdrawing his hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I didn’t reply, taking a few de-ep breaths. After a minute, my heart rate slowed and the burning s-en-sation abated slightly. I continued to lean on the wall, trying to control my b©dy’s reactions. As I calmed down, the feverish s-en-sation continued to less£n.
“I’m getting Eva,” Gabriel said after a minute, ma-king no attempt to hide his worry, and strode towards the infirmary.
He didn’t get a chance to walk in, though, for the redhead in question strode out.
Instantly I f0rç£d my b©dy upright, momentarily forgetting my symptoms in eagerness to hear what she had to say about my father.
“Is he going to be all right?” I choked out, my voice raspier than intended. Gabriel stared at me, as if waiting to see if I would coll@pse.
Eva glanced at me, expression unfathomable before she turned to her…our…Alpha.
“I used up as much Affinity as I could. It wasn’t enough to wake him up but…” She ru-bbe-d her temple with one hand, and it was then that I realized how tired she looked. Her vivid red hair was in disarray, a light sheen of sweat on her skin, from mere minutes of using her Affinity. I p@n-ted slightly at the effort it took to stand up without the support of the wall. Her next words, though, temporarily drowned out all of my worries.
“I think he’s going to be okay.”
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As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
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I sagged against the wall, my relief profound. Even with that single s£ntence, I felt a lot of the tension leave my b©dy. I placed my hand on the side of the building, letting the coolness of the brick seep into my skin. The feverish s-en-sation was more bearable now but I could only hope I wouldn’t get another dizzy spell like the one a few moments ago.
“How much more healing will he nee-d?” I managed to say, the relief palpable in my voice.
Eva glanced at me out of the corner of her eye but directed her words to Gabriel. “I will nee-d to rest for a few hours but I’ll try again later,” There was an odd note in her voice as she spoke about my father and I couldn’t quite figure it out.
I sighed heavily. Now that I had that small amount of stress off of my shoulders, all I wanted to do was sleep until my dad woke up.
I began to walk towards the entrance of the infirmary, thankful that I could stand. “I think I’ll just stay here tonight. I want to be with him.”
Gabriel opened his mouth to say something but, to my surprise, it was my mother’s voice I heard. She had come to stand in the doorway, and for once there was a glimmer of hope in her blue eyes. “Sweetie, that won’t be necessary. You nee-d to sleep in a comfortable be-d; you look exhausted. These infirmary be-ds are not great to sleep in, I can tell you that.”
I frowned, getting re-ady to protest, but she cut me off. “Skylar, I won’t take no for an answer. We only live a block away and I can contact you as soon as he wakes up. He wouldn’t want you slee-ping here.”
“He wouldn’t want you slee-ping here, either,” I retorted.
“He’s my Mate, Skylar. He has nee-ded my soothing t©uçh.” Her delicate brows were furrowed as if she was trying to convince herself that her pres£nce had been helping, somehow.
I looked down at the ground. Hearing the word ‘Mate’ just put me on edge all over again. My mother didn’t seem to notice my expression, but I caught Gabriel examining me out of the corner of his eye.
“Besides, Eva here alre-ady told me she nee-ds her space next time. I’ll be waiting outside the infirmary when she goes in to use her Affinity again. There’s no s-en-se in both of us staying up all night out here,” My mother’s tone was ringing with finality. I sighed in defeat. It really would be quite a relief to not be slee-ping on one of the infirmary’s rock-ha-rd mattresses.
“Fine,” I muttered. “But I’m going to see him before I go to be-d.” Before anyone could argue, I did just that. Stri-ding in the large room, I sat by my father’s side for a few moments as I reas-sured myself that he did in fact look better. When I felt more secure about leaving him, I k!$$£d his forehead before ti-ptoeing out of the infirmary as if I was actually at risk of waking him up that very second.
Upon returning outside, I noticed that the wolves Gabriel had brou-ght with him were gathered around. I wondered if they’d been lur-k-ing nearby the whole time and heard Gabriel and I’s argument. My cheeks felt warm as the thought crossed my mind.
Gabriel was giving them some sort of muttered instructions and I caught Jack’s and Brett’s names among the hushed words. As my thoughts turned to Brett and the former Luna, I hoped they were okay. I wanted them to receive medical attention from Eva, too, but I knew Gabriel would only get angry at the suggestion. Therefore, I remained silent. I prayed that they would be up and around within the next day or two. Anne deserved a proper funeral. I had not the slightest clue where the blonde’s b©dy was right now, and the image of her corpse disturbe-d me, so I mentally scrambled for anything that could possibly distract me from the depressing cogitation.
“Where are you all going to sleep?” I blurted out. It was customary for guests to stay in the Alpha’s house, as he had numerous extra be-drooms, but at this rate I knew that wasn’t happening. I glanced up at the sky, realizing just how late it was. It was practically early morning by now. I wondered if the others would even sleep at all. We’d left Gabriel’s pack when it was evening and it was a very long run. My sleep schedule was definitely going to be messed up.
Gabriel turned and examined me, looking preoccu-pied. I realized he probably hadn’t had time to think about it.
“We have a guest be-droom. And a couple of couches downstairs. You all could…er….stay at my place,” I muttered, glancing at my mother out of the corner of my eye. She didn’t look overly plea-sed at the idea but she also didn’t argue. No doubt she realized the Black Mountains Pack members couldn’t stay at Brett’s.
Truthfully, I didn’t want Eva anywhere near my house, and I didn’t feel comfortable with the others either. However, they were technically my pack now. Also, Eva was helping my dad. Whether it was against her will or not, that didn’t matter to me. Despite my strong dislike for her, I certainly owed her one.
Although admittedly, the thought of Eva and Gabriel slee-ping in the same house threatened to make my blood boil.
Gabriel’s packmates, especially Eva, looked acutely uncomfortable but Gabriel nodded stiffly. “Thanks,” was his gruff reply. I was faintly surprised he was thanking me at all. My Wolf was stirring as she pondered the concept of her Mate slee-ping in our house but I brushed her aside before her thoughts took a turn for the inappropriate. I honestly didn’t nee-d that right now.
Or maybe I did nee-d that. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it.
Catching my mother’s stern look, I waited for a break in Gabriel’s words before I spoke again. “Do you um…nee-d me for anything else? I’m exhausted,” I prayed Gabriel would say no even though some p@rt of me wanted to spend time with him. I also fervently hoped he wouldn’t pursue my whole ‘fever’ thing.
However, judging by the intensity of his stare I knew Gabriel was inspecting me for more symptoms. I probably couldn’t get away from him for long. As soon as he’d taken care of all of his duties, I was sure he’d bring it back up. After a long moment, he shook his head. “No, but I will nee-d to talk with you when you wake up.”
I tried to keep my face blank as I nodded. I wasn’t surprised that Gabriel suspected something was up. Sooner or later I’d have to tell him about the sick feeling I’d had for the last couple of days.
“I’ll get some pillows and blankets out,” I said quietly, ignoring all of their stares as I hvgged my mother goodbye and headed home.
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#Tobecontinued….