28. Gabriella
Gabriella
So, this is what happiness feels like.
I’m smiling despite the smell of burger grease clinging to my hair and the huge ketchup stain on my shirt courtesy of a toddler who apparently thought my boobs were the perfect place to wipe his hands earlier.
And you know what?
I don’t even care.
Because tonight, we finish moving.
Not just me.
Us.
Mine and Matteo’s things are going to Rowan’s cabin permanently.
Swoon.
And yes, because my mate is the best, he’s already started building an addition that includes two more bedrooms and a playroom.
Calling it moving in at this point is kind of ridiculous considering we haven’t slept at my apartment since Gia’s birthday party.
Three weeks.
Three whole weeks of waking up beside Rowan.
Three weeks of watching my son slowly take over that man’s cabin one dinosaur at a time.
There are crayons on Rowan’s kitchen table. A plastic T-Rex lives permanently on the bathroom counter.
Matteo’s sneakers sit beside Rowan’s enormous work boots by the front door. My sneakers are on the other side.
And two nights ago, I walked into the living room to find the terrifying True Alpha Wolf asleep on the couch with my son sprawled across his chest, both of them snoring.
My heart still hasn’t recovered from that one.
Three weeks.
Which reminds me...
That’s enough time.
Enough time for us to find out whether that night—our first night as fully claimed mates—bore any fruit.
I glance at the clock. It’s almost time for Rowan to come get me. I’m so impatient these days. Being with him is just... everything.
I’ve never felt so complete. So seen. So taken care of as I do when I’m with him.
God, I love that man.
My hand drifts toward my belly. I bite my lip.
Could I really be pregnant? A strange combination of hope and fear twists through me. I love my son.
Lord knows I do.
Matteo is the best thing that ever happened to me.
But my pregnancy with him? Pretty fucking miserable. There was no excited father pressing his hand to my stomach, waiting to feel the baby kick.
No nursery.
No arguing over names.
No late-night runs for whatever weird thing I suddenly decided I needed to eat.
I spent most of that pregnancy in chains and afraid.
Afraid of Ethan.
Afraid of the Wake.
Afraid of what would happen after Matteo was born.
I never got to enjoy carrying my son because I was too busy trying to survive long enough to save him.
And no, I wouldn’t change any of it because those trials got me my son. And he is worth it all.
My throat tightens. Because, what if I get another chance? What if this time I get to be excited?
What if I get to watch Rowan completely lose his shit the first time he hears his baby's heartbeat?
A smile pulls at my mouth.
Because he absolutely will.
He’ll probably turn the entire mountain into a fortress. Wreck will encourage him. Justin will pretend they’re both being ridiculous while secretly installing some kind of Dragon-level security system.
Gia will probably call the trees to construct an au natural jungle gym for our kids to enjoy so they can grow up as besties.
And Matteo?
My heart squeezes.
Matteo would be a big brother. I stare down at my belly.
“Maybe,” I whisper.
And for once, the possibility doesn’t terrify me. Because with Rowan, everything is different.
Everything.
Tonight is another first, too. We made a deal.
We’re showing each other our other natures.
Technically, I’ve seen his Wolf.
Sort of.
I woke up early one morning to Rowan coming back from a run, and by the time my sleep-addled brain registered the enormous blondish-gray Wolf outside the cabin, he was already shifting.
It happened so fast I barely saw it.
One second, Wolf.
The next?
Very naked Viking.
Not exactly a hardship.
But tonight he wants to show me Monster. Really show me. And he wants to see her.
The part of me I’ve hidden for years. The creature Ethan called a freak.
My smile fades slightly. There’s still fear there. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t.
But Rowan asked. He didn’t demand. He didn’t tell me I owed him proof of what I am.
He simply told me that whenever I was ready, he wanted to meet all of his mate.
How the hell am I supposed to deny the man anything after that?
I check the clock again. Almost four.
Rowan’s picking me up, and then we’re both going to get Matteo. He has soccer right after school, which is why we’re picking him up so late.
Then we’ll grab the last few boxes from Mrs. Donnelly’s place and head home.
Home.
Funny how fast a place can become that.
I lived in my apartment for more than a year, and I don’t think I ever once called it home without having to think about it first.
Rowan’s cabin? Home.
Just like that.
The mountain.
The trees.
Those three ridiculous Alpha males.
Gia.
My son running around the clearing like he’s lived there forever.
Rowan’s arms around me every night.
I can’t imagine wanting to live anywhere else.
“Gabby! There’s a phone order. You take it, will ya?” Frank yells from the kitchen.
I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
Look at me. I’m too damn happy to even fight with that miserable fucker.
I walk over to the phone and pick it up.
“The Joint. This is Gabriella. What can I get started for you?”
Silence.
Something crawls across my skin. My smile disappears.
“Hello?”
A breath, followed by the clicking of someone’s teeth.
“Well, well, Gabs. Looks like you landed on your feet, didn’t you, whore?”
Everything inside me stops.
No.
My fingers tighten around the receiver.
No.
No, no, no.
I know that voice. I would know it if I lived another hundred years.
My other nature slams against my skin so violently my knees weaken.
“Who—” My throat closes. “Who is this?”
A low laugh comes through the phone.
“You know who this is, Gabriella.”
Ethan.
The restaurant disappears around me. I don’t hear Frank yelling.
Don’t smell burgers cooking on the grill.
Don’t feel the counter beneath my hand.
For one horrifying second, I’m young again.
Trapped.
Chained.
Listening to Ethan tell me exactly what will happen to my body because he believes it belongs to him.
But I’m not that girl anymore. I force air into my lungs.
“What do you want?”
“Now, this is what you're going to do if you want to see your bastard son alive again.”
My heart stops.
Matteo.
“No. He’s safe at practice.”
The word barely makes it out. My gaze flies to the clock.
Soccer. He’s supposed to be at soccer.
“Do you really think there’s any place on this earth where you and that abomination can be free from me?”
My fingers go numb around the phone.
“You can’t touch him!”
“I can.”
Ethan pauses.
“And I did.”
My entire body starts shaking.
“No. No, he has soccer. You’re lying.”
“Listen.”
There’s a rustling sound. Then, I hear the phone being passed to someone.
“Mommy? Mommy?”
My world fucking ends.
“Matteo!”
“Mommy! I’m scared—”
His voice sounds frightened.
My baby. My sweet boy.
“Matteo, baby, Mommy’s here. Are you hurt? Tell me if you're—”
Someone else hushes him.
A male voice. Familiar. Painfully familiar.
I freeze.
No. It can’t be.
“Nando?”
Silence. Then a muttered curse.
My stomach drops.
“Oh my God.”
My hand flies over my mouth.
“Nando, did you give us up? Did you fucking sell me and your nephew out?”
The betrayal hurts almost as much as the fear.
My brother. The one person from that life I kept trusting.
The person I’ve been sending money to month after month because I believed he was the reason Ethan hadn’t found us.
A harsh laugh comes through the receiver.
“Your brother is a fucking degenerate. Of course he gave you up, Gabby.”
My eyes burn.
All that money.
All those nights at Dick’s.
All those double shifts.
Every aching footstep.
Every dollar I sent him because I thought I was buying another month of safety for my son.
I wasn’t paying Nando to protect us. I was paying him not to betray us. And apparently my money stopped being enough.
“Please.”
I hate the word the second it leaves me.
But for Matteo?
I’ll beg.
I’ll crawl.
I’ll fucking bleed.
Anything.
“Ethan, I’ll do what you want. Just please don't hurt him.”
“I know you will, bitch. Now, listen carefully. Meet me at the end of the western trail.”
My mind races.
Western trail.
Mountain.
“Leave your freak fireman behind.”
My heart slams against my ribs.
Rowan.
Ethan knows about Rowan.
Oh, God. He’s been watching us.
“Come alone. Or the boy dies. Do you hear me?”
My mouth is so dry I can barely speak.
“Y-yes.”
“Say it.”
“I hear you.”
“Alone, Gabriella.”
“I’ll come alone. Just don't hurt him!”
“That’s up to you.”
“No, wait—Ethan!”
The line goes dead. I stare at the receiver.
“Ethan?”
Nothing.
“ETHAN!”
Dial tone.
Every fear I have ever carried comes roaring back at once.
Matteo screaming as a newborn. Running with nothing but a diaper bag.
Ethan’s chains.
Nando’s demands for money.
The Wake.
The threats.
Years spent looking over my shoulder.
All of it.
And this time, my worst nightmare has finally happened. He has my baby.
The phone slips from my hand and clatters against the counter.
I can’t breathe.
“Oh God,” I gasp.
I can’t fucking breathe. My lungs are working, but no air is getting inside them. I grab the counter.
Move.
I have to move.
Western trail.
Alone.
I need my keys.
I need—
“Gabby?”
I don’t hear him come in. Don’t feel the matebond screaming his arrival.
Nothing registers until a huge body vaults over the counter. Then my knees give out. But Rowan catches me before I hit the floor.
Good mate.
“Gabriella!”
His arms lock around me.
Home.
For one insane second, instinct tells me to push him away.
Come alone.
If Ethan sees Rowan—
If he hurts Matteo because I—
“Gabby. Look at me.”
Rowan catches my face between his hands.
I’m hyperventilating.
“Breathe.”
“I—I can't—”
“Yes, you can. Eyes on me.”
Gold flickers around his irises.
Monster.
The matebond surges.
Rowan’s fear hits me first.
Then concern.
Then something feral as he scents my terror.
“What happened?”
I shake my head. Ethan told me to come alone. I should lie.
Tell Rowan everything is fine.
Get in my car. Drive away. Save my son.
But I spent too many years surviving alone. And Rowan has spent the last three weeks showing me what it means not to be.
He chose me.
He chose Matteo.
And I will not build our life on a lie.
“He—”
My voice breaks.
Rowan goes still.
“Who?”
“Ethan.”
Monster rises so fast the air around us seems to change.
“What about him?”
“He has Matteo.”
Rowan’s eyes turn completely gold.
“He what?”
A sob rips out of me.
“He has Matteo. He wants me to come alone.”
For one terrible heartbeat, my mate doesn't move.
Then his face changes.
Not panic.
Not fear.
Something far more terrifying.
Purpose.
The True Alpha rolls off him in a wave so powerful my other nature goes completely still.
His hands remain gentle on me. His voice doesn't.
“Where?”
“Rowan—”
“Where, Gabriella?”
“The end of the western trail.”
His jaw clenches.
“He said alone.”
“I heard you.”
“He'll hurt Matteo if you come.”
Rowan leans down until those burning golden eyes are level with mine.
“No.”
The word is absolute.
“He already made his first fucking mistake when he took our pup.”
Our pup.
My breath catches. Rowan wipes a tear from my cheek with his thumb.
“His second was thinking my mate would ever face him alone.”
The matebond burns between us.
And for the first time since hearing Ethan’s voice, I manage to drag a full breath into my lungs.
Because Ethan thinks he found the frightened girl who ran from him years ago.
He has no fucking idea what I found while I was gone.