34. Brinley
Chapter 34
Brinley
B rinley woke to the sound of voices in the next room. It took her a moment to register where she was through the pounding in her head. The last thing she remembered was collapsing in the street… after nearly killing that rogue with her magic. She’d been so consumed with rage that she hadn’t been able to stop.
Until she heard Gabriel. Until she knew he was safe.
He must have carried her back here. Again.
She slowly sat up, and a wet cloth tumbled from her brow. Grabbing it, she held it to her temple for a moment longer as she listened.
Gabriel and his friends were in the study, talking about what happened. She set the cloth aside and crept to the doorway, not wanting to interrupt but needing to know. Then, she heard the shift in conversation. They were asking about her, about how he’d been able to stop her when no one else could.
“What did you mean when you told her that she’d saved you so she could stop? Why did that work?” Darren asked.
She walked out, but none of them noticed. All eyes were on the alpha standing near the other door with his back to them.
Taking a deep breath, she uttered the words she’d been scared to voice for days. “Because he’s my mate.”
Four gazes snapped to where she stood by the desk. But she stared at Gabriel, watching as he slowly turned around to face her. She feared for a brief moment that he would deny it, but then he moved, and she wondered how she could have ever doubted him. He quickly closed the distance between them and took her face in his hands as he kissed her. His tongue brushed the seam of her lips, and she opened for him, wanting more. She slid her hands up his hard chest. Too soon, he broke the kiss but didn’t release her, meeting her gaze as their breaths mingled.
“You really remember?” Gabriel whispered, almost as if in surprise. “You feel it?”
“Yes.” She had tried fighting it before she got her memories back, denying that tug. But even before she remembered, she knew who he was to her. And when they were in that courtyard and she realized her dreams about him were true, it was as if the lock on her heart busted wide open. She’d remembered standing by that glorious pink tree, fighting with Gabriel before they talked about being mates.
It was why she’d needed to destroy that rogue. She could no longer pretend not to care, and she never wanted to again. Not with him.
“Wait,” Darren said. “How? She’s a witch; that’s not possible.”
It was Paxton who answered, “She’s half-witch.”
“Half-DeLoup,” Gabriel said with a smile just for her.
She returned it, but it didn’t stay. Everything she thought she knew of her family had been a lie. As if reading her thoughts, Gabriel swept his fingers through her hair and pressed his lips to her brow. He then turned to face his friends, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her to stand in front of him, her back to his chest. Gratefully, she leaned against him, needing his strength after using too much magic earlier.
And because she wasn’t ready to leave his arms yet. She wanted— needed —his touch.
Darren tilted his head, skepticism clear on his face. “I thought you were just fucking her?”
Shouts rang out against the man, and Paxton jokingly covered Rosalyn’s ears. She elbowed him in the ribs. Brinley chuckled at the scene, and her eyes burned with tears. How could she have ever doubted these people were her friends? How had the sorcières convinced her so thoroughly that they were all monsters?
“What?” Darren shrugged, batting off Joel’s hand as he smacked the back of his head. “It’s not like anyone in this room was unaware. They’re not good at hiding it.”
Gabriel’s chest rumbled behind Brinley, and it took her a second to realize he was laughing too. She didn’t know when she’d last heard him laugh like this…
“It started off that way,” he said.
“I think that’s my cue to leave.” Rosalyn pushed to her feet.
Or rather, she tried to. She stumbled, and Paxton quickly steadied her. Gabriel stepped out from behind Brinley, but she grabbed him after seeing the way Pax looked at the younger woman. His worry and fear were almost palpable.
“How long have you known?” Darren asked, also standing and drawing Gabriel’s attention away from his sister.
Gabriel glanced at Brinley, the corner of his mouth curling up in a smirk. “I’ve known for a while.”
“Six years,” Paxton said. Both looked at him, and he raised a brow. “Am I wrong?”
Brinley shook her head.
Paxton shifted on his feet, putting an arm around Rose’s back to hold her up more as she turned toward them with wide eyes. “Six years ago.”
It wasn’t a question, but he nodded. Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Brinley wasn’t sure she was breathing as the others continued talking.
“We talked about it six years ago, before… everything happened,” he said.
“The curse on the pack,” Brinley whispered. He took her hand and laced their fingers together, squeezing gently.
“Does this mean you both accept the bond?” Rose asked. “Did you accept it back then?”
No one said anything for a long moment. Gabriel looked at Brinley, but she still wasn’t sure what to make of all this. It was a lot to think through, especially while her head continued to throb. She’d just started getting her memories back, and most were still fuzzy.
“I, uh, think we should give them some privacy to talk about it,” Joel said.
Once again, Brinley was grateful for her new friends. She turned her attention to him with a smile and mouthed, “Thanks.”
He and Darren left first. Rosalyn hesitated though, watching her brother in clear concern. When Pax leaned in to whisper something, she bit her bottom lip and nodded with a smile.
Gabriel tensed. “What?”
Rose snickered, shaking her head. “Nothing. We’re going to the courtyard.”
“So, be as loud as you want,” Pax added.
Brinley couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped, even as her cheeks flushed again. The two left before he could respond, the door closing behind them with a soft click.
But Brinley and Gabriel still didn’t speak. He silently fumed beside her. She turned and grinned at him, putting a hand on his arm. That seemed to bring him back to the present. Sighing, he rounded the desk to one of the shelves and searched its contents. He grabbed a small vial, uncorked it, and gave it a sniff. Nodding to himself, he offered it to her. “For your headache.”
“How did you…” She trailed off when she noticed his intense stare.
“I feel it,” he whispered. “I can feel your pain. Not the intensity of it, but it’s like?—”
“You can feel that I am in pain.” She lifted her free hand to the side of his neck. “Just like I felt when that man had the knife to your throat. I didn’t feel the sharp prick against your skin, but I could sense that you were hurt. That’s why…”
Gabriel covered her hand with his. “That’s why you lost control and almost killed him.”
She nodded. Pulling away, she downed the contents of the vial. It was as disgusting as she remembered. Thankfully, the moontime herb Brighid had been supplying her the past couple months wasn’t as bad. She suspected the woman sweetened it, which made her wonder if maybe she was coming around to trusting Brinley after all. Before she could get lost down that trail of thoughts, she set the empty glass on the desk. The desk where she and Gabriel first connected. She’d felt the bond then, the tugging of her soul that needed him, but she hadn’t wanted to consider what it could mean.
She wrapped her arms around herself and walked toward the tall paned windows overlooking this town that had dealt with too much.
Because of her.
“Brinley, I… I know that you hate the DeLoup, but… please don’t reject this. Not yet.”
The words nearly broke her. Tears brimmed her eyes, and she realized it wasn’t just his physical pain she could sense, it was his emotions too. She placed a palm over her aching heart. “I don’t hate you.”
A beat passed before he asked, “What?”
She didn’t blame him for needing her to repeat it. Slowly, she turned to face him. Something in her features, or perhaps it was her tears, made him move to her. He folded her into his arms, and it amazed her how comforting it was for him to hold her. She didn’t know how she could ever pretend it wasn’t.
“I tried,” she whispered, her words muffled against his shirt. “I tried so hard, but even before I remembered, I couldn’t keep hating you… I’m not sure I ever really did. It was because of what they did to my mind.”
His fingers tangled into her hair as he cradled the back of her head. “You have no idea how incredible it feels to hear that.”
As he held her, she let herself cry again. She cried for her people and her parents who’d been ripped apart by this endless war. For the life she might have had. For the love she’d tried to fight away.
Pushing back, she looked up at Gabriel. “I believe you. I know you didn’t slaughter my people and that you weren’t part of that attack. I know you didn’t kidnap me or want to keep me prisoner. And I realized all this before the courtyard.”
“Brinley.” He said her name on an exhale, sighing in clear relief.
“You saved me.” She remembered the DeLoup who’d wanted to make her his plaything—the one she hadn’t seen since coming to this village. “That night, the man you stopped… You found me because of the bond, didn’t you? That was the tug you felt.”
Gabriel nodded. “I was looking for you. I’ve been looking for you the past six years, bijou.”
More memories began flooding in. She closed her eyes as they bombarded her one after another. Like a dam had broken, letting the river rush through.
Starting with what happened six years ago that led to all of this.