Chapter 19
Valarie
The side door shut behind me and I spun, surprised by how loud the sound was. Wasn’t the whole point of coming out this way was to not get caught?
When I turned again, he was only a few feet away, standing in the shadows. Even with his face darkened, I could see the cool glint of his eyes, softer now as he looked at me.
Gabriel wore a simple outfit, something one of his betas would wear—well-tailored trousers and a button-down shirt, the first few top buttons undone to expose a light sprinkling of chest hair.
“Hi,” I said, immediately feeling like an idiot and wishing I’d come up with something smoother or more charming.
He grinned, the shadows giving him a wolf-ish look. “Hi.”
I walked stiffly to his side, feeling strange now that we were alone together but fully clothed and calm.
Well… maybe not entirely calm. I was definitely nervous and unsure about what exactly was happening, but Gabriel seemed on edge as well. It was strange to see my King and Alpha so unsettled, frowning to himself as we walked down a cobbled pathway toward a grid of streets lit by streetlamps.
“You’ve never been to the city before?” he asked, glancing at me.
I shook my head. We were cutting through some kind of residential area, the houses close together but very obviously high-end, with ornate windows and beautiful cars in the short drives.
Gabriel was smiling at me. “Have you never left the Autumn territory then?”
“No. I don’t know that I ever would have, without Sophia.”
He stayed close to the fences and stone walls, but his eyes were on me.
“You’re very loyal to her?”
“Of course. Yes. We were friends, sort of, growing up. And she got me a place in the Autumn palace. If I wasn’t her maid, my family…
” I trailed off, feeling my face heat up and hoping he wouldn’t notice.
It was embarrassing discussing my low standing in the pack with the one person who held the absolute highest title.
What was I doing?
“Your parents are both omegas?” He asked it casually, with no judgement, but I still cringed inside. Why did he have to follow this line of questioning.
“They are. But they’ve always… wanted more.
” He looked interested enough that I continued as we strolled down back streets, which grew wider now, pairs of people appearing nearby, chatting as they, too, walked around.
“My mother came here as a girl. A little younger than me, I think, but it… it didn’t work out. ”
We had stopped near a small copse of trees just outside a beautiful townhouse. This neighborhood was more what I admired—not rich, exactly, but well-off. The house was well maintained, and gardens spilled over the short stone walls into the walkway. I reached out to touch a few flowers.
Gabriel reached into his back pocket and pulled out a baseball cap, putting it on deftly. I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me and clamped a hand over my mouth.
He raised an eyebrow. “Something funny?”
“I just… didn’t know the Alpha preferred hats,” I said, laughter edging my voice.
Gabriel swayed closer to me, his eyes bright with humor, but his smile dangerous.
“And you know a lot about my preferences?” he asked in a taunting voice.
I felt desire pull at my navel and forgot for a moment that we were exposed, in public, with other couples and groups making their way down the street.
“I’d like to know more,” I said quietly.
He looked mesmerized for a moment, trapped, leaning toward me, before he pulled away and seemed to shake it off.
“Your mother,” he said, tilting his head to the right to indicate we were turning. Small shops were beginning to appear between the houses. Cafes, mostly. “Was it bad, whatever happened to her?”
My throat tightened at the thought of my parent’s obvious worry for me. I didn’t know the details, but I knew enough. I nodded.
Gabriel looked serious, his hands shoved in his pocket. “That’s unfortunate. Things have gotten better, but unfortunately, any city has its dangers. It’s no wonder your family decided to stay in the north. It’s safer there.”
I made a face at this, and he smiled softly.
“Boring, you mean.”
“Safe. Consider what you’ve gotten yourself into, little one, after only a little over a week here.”
I licked my lips at his words and thought of the last night we spent together—his head tilted back, biceps bunched as he held my hair and guided me over him.
A few people nearby turned, looking around, and I hoped they couldn’t smell my lust.
The streets were opening up now into four-lane roads, some of them lined with busy restaurants. The lamps poured light onto the walkways in golden pools, but Gabriel seemed comfortable with just simple clothing and a hat to disguise him. Did he do this often?
“I wanted to show you this,” he said as we turned the corner, and he took me by the forearm.
Before us, the main street was closed off for quite a few blocks. People milled about in the middle, in between large tents that lined the edges, shop keepers calling out prices and attractive wares.
My breath caught in my throat. I hadn’t seen anything like this before—not so many people in such a tight space, so much sound, so many new things!
“This is perfect.”
I slipped through the crowd, looking for anything Jason would find interesting. I had promised him a few gifts, after all, and was happy I’d taken the little money I had with me.
“You’re looking for something?” Gabriel asked, voice raised as he followed me along the tents.
“Yes. My brother—he likes mechanics. Looking at the way things work. I promised him I would bring him something back.”
We walked the length of the street, and then turned back on the other side, pausing at tents that were particularly interesting. For Gabriel, this was anything involving art. For me, anything involving metal—especially intricate little things I didn’t understand.
I bought a few small things, a manual, and had a canvas bag hanging off my elbow as I stood on tiptoe to find the King.
He was at a woodworker’s table.
His hands ghosted the top of the small figurines and goods as the quiet man behind the counter watched.
He ended up purchasing a box a little larger than his palm that the woodworker showed him opened by solving a puzzle on the side.
He asked the name of the man and promised him more business, and I wondered if he meant he would come back like this—like a regular beta allowed to roam the streets—or as the King, sending servants to purchase for him.
My eyes lingered on the table as we left, Gabriel rubbing a thumb over the box.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, glancing at me. I met his eyes and looked away into the crowd, watching all the people.
“I’m thinking about my dad. How he could do any of that, really. The things he makes are beautiful.”
“He hasn’t tried for a business in the Autumn territory?”
I frowned, not knowing the answer. “I don’t know if it would pick up, there. The pack—they’re practical. We have to be. Even our betas, they’re well-off, but not excessive.”
Gabriel grinned, recognizing that I was comparing his subjects in the Alpha pack.
“But a place like this. Even if we lived a territory over, I think he could make it work. If he had the chance.”
We continued to the end of the street, which was quieter and clustered with food carts. Gabriel bought fried dough and I watched him cover his with powdered sugar, eyebrows raised.
“What? I like sweet things.”
I was so focused on balancing the paper plate of dough and my bag that I didn’t realize he’d turned us gently so that we went down a short side street, and when I looked up again, we were just walking onto a small bridge.
Below us was a canal. Looking left and then right, I saw that it paralleled the street we’d been on. I just hadn’t been able to see it because of the tents.
“This is beautiful,” I said, meaning it. The streetlights played off the water and couples were stationed far apart, whispering, and leaning into one another. The intimacy filled me with a longing and awkwardness that made me frown.
Gabriel snapped up the rest of his fried dough and licked his lips messily.
“You all right there?” I asked with a grin as he tried to thumb off some of the sugar.
“It tastes good,” he said simply, and I laughed.
Then, without warning, he reached out and pulled me into him by the waist.
It wasn’t like any other kiss we’d shared before. This was slower, hesitant, and Gabriel’s lips ghosted over mine as if he was still thinking about going through with it.
Then he was all in, and so was I, his hand at my throat and thumb brushing just under my ear. The kiss was long and slow and sweet, literally sweet. He tasted like sugar and cinnamon.
My tongue gathered the sweetness on his bottom lip, and he did the same before pressing a little more insistently until I parted my lips. Then his tongue met mine, slid gently against it, and I couldn’t help the moan that slipped out.
The hand he had on my hip tightened. He moved away to nuzzle my ear and I sighed, licking my lips again for a last taste of sugar.
Then my gaze landed on the box he’d placed carefully on a bench nearby, with my bag. I thought of my family and pulled back a bit.
“Gabriel,” I said, and he hummed into my neck. “Gabriel. We have to stop this.”
That got his attention, and he pulled back too, still holding onto me lightly.
“What?” he asked.
Ana’s words came back to me; how he’d supposedly said tonight was about letting me go.
If that was true, why did he seem so surprised by my suggestion?
“The Hunt is getting more serious,” I said, removing his hands. His eyes were wide, and I could actually see them growing colder as I spoke. “Sophia told me that she’s been speaking with your mother more. And thinks she has a good chance. I can’t let this go on if that’s true.”
His face had changed completely now, hardened. He nodded. “She’s right. My mother does like her.”
“It’s not just that. It’s… I can’t betray her, Gabriel. You have to understand. She really has done so much for my family. And on top of that… she seems sweet. She is sweet. But she’s exacting, too. If she found out…”
“She won’t find out,” he said in a hard voice. “If you don’t want to keep seeing me, Valarie, that’s your decision.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to see you—”
“It’s very clear where your loyalties lie.”
The guilt buried itself deep in my stomach and I had to look away from him, instinctively pulling my arms around my waist.
“It just isn’t sustainable,” I insisted, feeling like I was trying to convince myself now more than him. “I’m… I’m nothing, and you’re the Alpha. The Alpha, Gabriel.”
“You seem awfully concerned with pack hierarchy.”
I scoffed. “And you’re not? You’re literally in the middle of looking for your mate. Among other alphas. And I know all about your reputation, but I also know that if we were caught doing this during the Hunt—”
“It’s fine,” he said shortly, turning back toward the market. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have stooped to this, especially not during this time.”
If he’d meant it as an insult, it hit home.
I knew he was slumming it by being with me. I knew if I was any other omega, he would’ve used me and left me, but instead, he’d brought me here tonight.
We didn’t speak any more after that. I gathered my things, and he grabbed the box, and led me back through the streets. Further into the wealthier neighborhoods, the streetlights growing few and far between, until we were at the side entrance of the palace again.
I slipped inside, willing myself not to look back at him as he stood out on the path. This shouldn’t bother me as much as it did. But I had to let it go.