15. Havoc
Havoc
I climb into my truck.
Gabby gets into that beat-up piece of shit she calls a car.
My mood immediately deteriorates.
Fuck, I hate that car.
I fixed what I could without her knowing the last time I got near it, but every rattle still makes my teeth grind.
Monster growls as she pulls out.
Unsafe.
“Working on it.”
Mate needs better.
“I fucking know.”
I start the truck and follow her.
Not too close. But close enough.
Is it ever close enough?
Her taillights stay directly in front of me as we leave Dick's behind and wind through Ember Hollow. And suddenly my mind has way too much time to work.
This is happening.
Gabriella invited me home.
To her home.
The place she shares with her son.
That means something. Right? It has to. I know it fucking does to me.
My hands tighten around the steering wheel.
What if she changes her mind?
Fine.
Then I leave.
No questions.
No attitude.
I'll probably drive home and shift so Monster can tear around the mountain until we're both too exhausted to think, but she'll never fucking know that.
What if she regrets kissing me?
That one hurts more.
I don't want to be another mistake in Gabriella's life. Something tells me she's had enough of those.
I want—fuck.
I don't even know what I want.
That's a lie.
I want everything. I want to know what she looks like first thing in the morning. I want to know how she takes her coffee.
I want to hear her laugh when she isn't worried about money or work or whatever secret keeps making her look over her shoulder.
I want to see Matteo's dinosaur backpack thrown on the floor and hear Gabby tell him for the fiftieth time to pick the damn thing up.
I want to fix her fucking car properly. Then replace it.
I want—
“Jesus Christ.”
This isn't just sex. Not for me.
Maybe it should be.
God knows, it would be easier if it was.
But somewhere between smelling her at The Joint and watching her son eat half my fries, this female got under my skin. And tonight she's about to let me closer.
The thought terrifies me.
Monster is completely fucking calm.
Mate.
“Don't push.”
Mine.
“Not until she says so.”
The Wolf doesn't argue.
That surprises me. Maybe because even the monster understands.
Gabriella isn't something we take. She's someone we need to choose us.
Her brake lights flare.
We're here.
I pull in behind her and put the truck in park. Then I sit there.
Like a fucking idiot.
My hands remain on the wheel while I watch her climb out.
This is her last chance to chicken out. Maybe I should give her a minute.
Maybe—
Gabriella marches straight toward my truck. My eyebrows rise. She reaches the driver's side. Yanks open my door.
“Come on.”
I stare at her. Her cheeks are pink. Her hair is wild around her face, and there's nervousness in those amber eyes.
But there's desire too.
So much fucking desire.
“Now who's bossy?”
“Havoc.”
“Coming.”
“Not yet,” she sasses.
I grin.
Then I move to follow her.
Immediately.
Like a fucking puppy.
Pathetic.
Don't care.
I am so fucking lost for this woman I'd probably follow her straight into hell if she crooked one finger at me.
Mine.
Monster's growl rolls through my skull.
My eyes stay on Gabriella. She leads me inside. The second the door closes, the air changes.
No bar.
No audience.
No kid.
No excuses.
It’s just us now.
Gabriella turns the lock. Then she faces me. For a moment neither of us moves. We face off—predator and prey—only I’m no longer certain which one I am.
I hear everything.
Her breathing.
Her heartbeat.
Mine.
The soft hum of the refrigerator somewhere deeper inside the apartment.
I can smell her everywhere.
On the furniture.
In the air.
Her shampoo.
Her soap.
Matteo too.
This is their sanctuary.
And she let me inside.
Something in my chest goes tight.
“Gabby.”
“I know.”
“You don't know what I was gonna say.”
“You were going to ask me if I'm sure again.”
Well. Yeah.
“Are you?”
She crosses the distance between us.
“Yes.”
Her hands slide up my chest. I hiss when her fingers brush too close to one of the burns. She freezes.
“Rowan?”
“I'm fine.”
“You're hurt.”
“Healing.”
“Why did you come here instead of resting?”
Because I couldn't breathe right until I saw you.
Because Monster wouldn't settle.
Because four days surrounded by flames scared me less than the possibility that you'd decided I meant nothing to you.
I settle for the simplest truth.
“Needed you.”
Her expression crumples just a little.
Not sadness. Something deeper.
“What am I gonna do with you?”
Then she kisses me. Softly this time.
And something inside me breaks open.
My arms go around her.
Carefully.
I kiss her back.
The need returns almost instantly, but there's something woven through it now that wasn't there beside the truck.
Something warmer. Stronger.
I feel it moving between us.
Magic.
My Wolf surges.
Gabriella gasps and tears her mouth from mine.
Her amber eyes widen.
“What was that?”
“I don't know.”
That's the fucking truth.
But Monster does.
One word tears through me with such force it leaves my entire body shaking.
Omega.
I stare at her.
No.
But it’s not just Monster.
I feel it too.
Her scent changes.
Deepens.
Calls to something ancient inside me.
And suddenly the strange thing I've been sensing beneath her skin since the first time I met her makes terrifying, perfect sense.
“You're my Omega.”
She frowns.
“What?”
“My Omega.”
“Havoc, I'm not—”
“I know.”
“You know what?”
“I don't fucking know!”
She blinks.
Great explanation, asshole.
I press my forehead against hers.
“I don't know what you are. I know there's something you're hiding, and I'm not asking you to tell me tonight.”
Her body stiffens. I hold her gently.
“But whatever you are doesn't change what I feel.”
“How can I be an Omega?”
“I don't know.”
“I'm not a Wolf.”
“Doesn't matter.”
“How do you know?”
Because Monster has known for weeks.
Because my whole fucking body recognizes hers.
Because every instinct I possess has been screaming the same thing since she walked into my life.
Because standing here with her feels more right than anything I've experienced in decades of being alive.
“This is fate.”
Her expression softens.
“You believe in fate?”
“No.”
That startles a laugh out of her. I grin.
“Not till right now.”
Her fingers curl into my shirt.
“And now?”
I look into those amber eyes.
“Now I'm starting to think fate's a pushy fucking bitch.”
Gabby laughs again.
And right there, I know. That? That sound?
I want a lifetime of it.
The thought scares the absolute shit out of me.
So I kiss her again. And she lets me. She rises against me.
My arms tighten. And the strange magic between us surges again.
Alpha.
Omega.
Wolf.
Monster.
Whatever hidden creature lives beneath her skin.
All of it reaching.
Recognizing.
Wanting.
But underneath the magic?
It's still us.
Rowan and Gabriella.
A fucked-up Wolf who doesn't believe he deserves anything good. A stubborn female carrying secrets she isn't ready to share.
Two people choosing to walk toward each other anyway.
Tonight, that's enough.
More than enough.
She whimpers into my mouth, and I moan, swallowing the sounds we make as I peel off her beer-soaked shirt and add mine to the growing pile of clothes at our feet.
Fuck.
Every time I think I’ve got a handle on this thing between us, Gabby proves me wrong.
She kisses me like she’s been fighting the same battle I have. Like every smart-ass comment, every glare across the bar, every time she told me to mind my own fucking business was just another layer of tension building between us.
And now? It’s breaking.
So am I.
My hands settle at her waist, and for one second I just look at her.
Really fucking look.
Her dark hair is mussed from my fingers. Her amber eyes are bright and a little uncertain despite the challenge still lifting her chin. Her lips are swollen from kissing me.
Beautiful.
So goddamn beautiful it does something painful to the center of my chest.
Monster pushes forward.
Mine.
Not helping, asshole.
Because Gabby is not submissive in this—and honestly? I’m so fucking there for it.
There’s no meek little Omega waiting for an Alpha to tell her what happens next.
This is Gabriella.
Stubborn.
Secretive.
Proud.
The female who tells me to fuck off when I piss her off and then looks at my mouth like she wants to drag me back by my hair when I actually listen.
And I fucking love that about her.