Chapter 16
Derek’s POV
Last night, after I felt Gabi reject the pack and leave, I felt bad that I hadn’t protected her, or had made someone protect her better while I was gone. I blamed my dad and the Alpha command that he placed on me about Gabi. I was in this situation totally because of him, he wanted me to mate Piper, and yea I was greedy and wanted a bigger pack too, but now that I have seen Gabi and our connection was so palpable, I don’t want anyone else but her. The feelings that I felt through our bond are like nothing that I have ever experienced before, and to be honest, I never thought that they would feel this way. I thought that I could just push them back by sheer willpower and mate Piper, and have Gabi as my secret on the side. I know Gabi would never agree to that when we were children. Gabi used to pretend that we were getting married sometimes and I went along with it because, at 8 years old, it was just playing. Maybe she was aware of our connection this whole time, maybe she knew that I was her mate and that we belonged together.
I never in my wildest dreams thought that my connection to a lowly Omega could be like this. I thought that it would have to be a high-ranked wolf for the connection to be this combustible. I hadn’t slept well all night and it was because I didn’t know if she was OK or not, or where she was. The need to see her is so strong and I am really frustrated. It is now 1 pm and I am wandering around the packhouse, and it is in chaos. We all had to eat cereal for breakfast, and we ran out of it pretty quickly. The rest of the pack members had to go out and either buy their breakfast or go to the store to buy some groceries. Mom is gone and will not answer me. Justin is with her, but under Luna command not to tell me, or dad, where they are. I know this because we have both asked many times.
At 5 pm I got a message from my mother to meet her at Emerson’s cottage with some warriors as there was something that we needed to do. She told me that she would be here in an hour, with Justin, and reminded me to not waste my time asking about Gabi. That as far as I was concerned, Gabi was dead. Her saying that was very upsetting as I still held out hope that Gabi’s love for me would override her anger at my rejection of her. She should be happy that I would even consider her my mistress, my only mistress, and happy with all of the accommodations that I was going to provide for her. I was going to build a home for her and our children to live in. She and the children would be well taken care of with their own Omega to take care of them and their needs in the future. She would want for nothing, and she just needed to be available to me when I wanted or needed her.
I mean we are mates. She will have to feel the pull of that as she passed out and never accepted my rejection of her. Yes, Piper would be my mate, there is nothing that can change that now, everything has been signed and if I back out of it now, we will lose our own pack, and that cannot happen. But Gabi will always have my heart. I am so worried about her and where she is, and she is so beautiful, someone is going to want her. She is naturally gorgeous. That is not the mate bond talking, she is naturally gorgeous, and I think that is why Heather hates her so much. Because even in clothes that didn’t fit her, and no makeup or getting her hair done, she was a stunner. I cannot imagine what she would look like made up. I need to make my mom tell me where Gabi is. As soon as she gets back to the pack, I am not taking any chances about losing her, she needs to come back to me, even if I have to Alpha command her.
I got to Gabi’s house at 5:50 with 5 warriors. I made sure to bring Jack and his little buddies in case there was some dirty work that needed to be done. As soon as I get there, I smell death and decaying bodies. I held up my hand to tell the warriors to wait and I entered to see what had happened inside the little house. As soon as I hit the open door, the smell almost knocked me over and I saw flies swarming around two bodies. I went over to make sure that I didn’t smell Gabi’s blood spilled too. She wasn’t hurt in this incident, it was her parents, and they had been killed in the Rogue attack. I saw where the couch had been shoved over and a hatch in the floor, so I lifted it and saw a little basement-like area under the house and realized that they had saved Gabi, as I could smell her faint scent down there, and I was filled with relief. But she was gone now, and my mother took her away from me.
I instructed the warriors to get some tarps and take the bodies to the cemetery to be buried and instructed them to make sure they made a headstone for them as well. For Gabi, because when she comes back, and I am positive that I can charm her into coming back, she will be able to go and pay her respects to her parents. I know that will make her happy. I mindlink two Omega’s to come out and deep clean the house and to bring some chemicals to get out blood. I will fix the cottage back up for her. She won’t want to stay here, but she will be happy that I made the effort to make her happy.
I heard a vehicle pull up outside and went out to greet my mother and Justin. I stepped up to my mother and told her, “I command you to tell me where you took Gabi, mom. I need her to come back, I need her with me, I am stronger with her. So, tell me where you took her so I can get her back”. I looked my mom dead in the eye to show her how serious I am about this.
“Are you taking her as your mate, son? Or do you just want her to have as your sidepiece? Like your dad likes to do?” my mom responded, and I was shocked that she knew, as I just found out when I spoke to dad about changing my mind about taking Piper to mate.
“I cannot take her as my mom, the treaty had been signed. I spoke to dad about this last night, and he told me that we would lose the pack if I went back on it now. There is nothing that I can do about it now, mom, but I love Gabi. I didn’t realize that it was going to be so strong a bond. I thought I could just reject her and move on, but I cannot do it. I want to take my rejection back, and I want her to live here in our pack. I am willing to build her a nice house for her and our children to live in. I am sure if I could just speak to her, I could convince her that this is the best for all of us. Piper will be my mate, and Gabi will be my love. Just tell me where you took her, and I will go get her right now. I can protect her, I will have Justin be her escort and no one will touch her again”, I pleaded to my mother, who looked at me with disgust all over her face.
I will not condemn her to a life like I have been forced to live, Derek. Your father is not a good man, and I didn’t realize how just like him you are. I had a mate, a warrior, in my parents' pack. I loved him and wanted to be with him. Your dad had visited my pack, but I told him I would not be his chosen mate, as I had a mate. He was mad but accepted it and left. He just wanted me because my parents had a very strong and successful pack. My mate was killed in what looked like a rogue attack two days later. He was the only one involved or hurt in this alleged attack. I was heartbroken. Your father returned a week later, saying that he had heard of my mate’s passing, and wanted to again offer me to be his chosen mate. I didn’t care anymore, my mate was dead, and I went ahead and agreed. I should never have agreed to be with him. I should have waited to see if I had a second chance mate. Your father is not a good man. He is a liar and a deceiver. He wanted a friend of mine to be his mate. He pined after her, he loved her, but she had a mate. A strong mate who was also an Alpha. He had been attacked from behind the day before my mate got attacked, but he managed to fight the attacker off, and he wasn’t hurt. I now believe that your father is the one who killed my mate, and who attacked my friend’s mate as well. I don’t have proof now, but I will get the truth. When I get the truth, you may not want to be here when it all comes crashing down. I cannot believe the lengths that he went to, and just how low your father went. You can Alpha command me and Justin all you like. I stopped by a friend of mine, who did me a favor and cast a spell on both of us, so we cannot be compelled to tell anyone where she is staying.” I am shocked by what she just told me, and the small smile on her face lets me know that she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing we do can get the information out of her. I was furious. I knew if I could just get to Gabi, I could convince her to give me another shot.
“Mom, please, I would make her my Luna, but I can’t. It is done, and I have to follow through with what the treaty says. I am not dad; I would love her completely”. I tried one more time to get mom to know that I loved Gabi.
“If you loved her, you wouldn’t want her to live in shame here in the pack as your dirty little “secret” that everyone would know. While you continue to live your life with another woman, who would treat Gabi badly. While you paraded Piper around as if she was your actual mate. You couldn’t protect her from Heather and her friends, any more than you could from Jack and his friends. Gabi deserves to be happy, and I believe that she will find her second chance mate. I tell you what I do know, when she comes to accept your rejection, let her. Do not try to offer her that disgusting consolation package that you just spouted out to me that you want so badly to give her. Because she will know, just like I do, that it is all because you want her so badly physically, but NOT badly enough to give her the title and position that belongs to her. Gabi would have been the best Luna, and I believe that she will actually be a Luna, just not for this goddess-forsaken pack” Mom finishes and heads back to her truck. I am stunned. What mom just said, I believe that she really 100% believes, and my mom is very good at guessing, it is like she is clairvoyant. I am not letting this go. I will graduate and take over this pack and Piper's pack and when I get the added resources, I WILL find Gabi and bring her back. Even if she really doesn’t want to come back to Red River.