Chapter 23
Gabi’s POV
I go to leave the office and Heath slams his hand down onto the desk. He looks furious and I know he is about to blow up. I have never seen him this mad. From the looks of it, Alan had never seen him this mad either.
“Gabi is like a daughter to me and Von. We never had children and her parents were killed the same day that she was brought to us. Her parents were killed by rogues when her pack was attacked. I wanted her to try out for the team because she had been physically and emotionally abused by her former pack. She needed to gain confidence and be able to protect herself if the abuse were to ever happen again. She had gotten better, and she did an excellent job. She earned her spot on the team. She worked her ass off to get on the team, and frankly to see you cheat Alan, and that is the only definition of what you did, as you had not one, but three kills on you, and you still came after her and broke three of her ribs with that punch. I know what you are trying to say, that you got some bad intel. It wasn’t your fault, but getting up and coming after her like that, WAS your fault. You made a conscious choice to do that to her. She reverted to her old self, hiding behind the other men for protection because she was scared again. I have never been happier to see someone decide to come out of hiding. I saw her face, she was going to finish, no matter the consequences to herself. She knew I was there and would stop it if you went too far, but as far as I am concerned, Alan, you went too far. I cannot believe that you seriously believed with how much you know I dote on Von, that I would do something so despicable to her. I would never cheat on her. I know the character of Gabi. I have seen her with the team. She is good friends with Easton’s mate. If she were trying to get with Easton, do you think his mate would be friends with her? You didn’t even check with them about it, and they are your team members. I think I made a serious misjudgment, making you the team captain. I cannot express how disappointed I am in you right now. I have banished Tatum and her family from the pack. I will be considering it for Vera and Halle’s families too. I don’t want people like that who try to get innocent people deliberately hurt with the lies that they are telling, to be allowed to stay here in my pack. We are defenders and protectors. How can I allow what happened to stand? I will calm down before I make my decision, Alan. I cannot tell you how angry I am at you right now. Gabi wanted on the team to help other women who had been through what she had, to help them be able to protect themselves. That is all she has talked about while she trained the whole three months, and you have ruined it for her, as she no longer wants to help them because that means that she will have to work with you. How can she trust you now? You know you have to be able to trust your team, to be successful. You are dismissed Alan, I will speak to you in a few days”, Heath told Alan, and I am now fully crying because he knew. He knew why I didn’t want to be on the team anymore, because I cannot trust Alan.
Alan looked sadly at me and said, “I am sorry Gabi. I made a mistake. If you give me another chance, I won’t make the same mistake again” and then left the room. I know he feels bad now, he got caught and that is why he feels bad. He didn’t look like he felt bad when he was taking the suit off to try to kick my ass. I know he fell for it; I know he gets hit on a lot. I wasn’t one of the ones who did it. He took his advice from three of them that had done it to him. It didn’t even make sense. I don’t know what I want to do. I did earn my spot on the team, and the other three were trying to stop Alan, and Alan does seem like he is sorry. I didn’t want the whole pack knowing that I got hurt in my previous pack, but I had let it slip earlier when they were questioning how I knew my ribs were cracked.
I sat back down next to Luna Liz, and I was drained. Today started out so good, and I was doing so well. I was so proud of myself too. I did it, which few have done. But you have to be able to trust your teammates with your life as you go in and fight rogues for them and help train them. We have to have each other’s backs. I would have to sit down with them and discuss it, maybe when I have calmed down too.
“Gabi, I know you are stressed, but we need to talk. I reached out and got us 5 tickets to the Crimson Shadow packs birthday ball for their daughter Taylor, who is turning 17. It is coming up in two weeks. That means next Saturday, you need to come to Red River pack and accept Derek’s rejection. I need you to be free of him, and I will get you onto and off of the pack grounds myself. I will have him in the kitchen, and I will park there, near the kitchen, and we will have Justin with us. We will be in and out in less than ten minutes. I was also thinking that since she is on the team, but they don’t know who the team is, they could come in with me and run interference. Bring your own SUV. I will follow you back to the gates and get you back out if Monty happens to find out that you are there and tells the guards to stop you. But you need to be able to find your second chance mate, and you can’t with you still being attached to Derek. It needs to be done. It will stop the heat problem and the problem with you feeling it every time they sleep together. I will leave my SUV parked blocking the gate so no one can follow you to find out where you are” Luna Liz tells the group. “But won’t he try to hurt you, Luna Liz?” I asked her, as she is the best thing about the Red River pack.
“Derek won’t let him, plus I speak to my dad and Von once a week. My dad has always hated Monty and would be happy to attack if he didn’t hear from me and, believe me, dad would level Red River to the ground. Plus, Heath and Von would swoop in as well. Justin here would help me as it is the Beta’s job to protect the Luna”, Luna Liz tells me.
I smiled over at Justin, and he smiled back. “Gabi, I have to tell you how great it was to watch you in action, you are really impressive, and they were tough on you. They didn’t make it easy to join the team, and they shouldn’t, as you have to depend on your team members. You have grown so much and really flourished here. You stepped out and you took the shot he gave you and then you finished him. You didn’t hesitate and you knew what to do even though you had been hurt. I am really glad that you have learned so much from Heath and Von. I am glad you are doing so well. Much better than in our pack”, Justin tells me, and I blushed because I knew he is being serious and had seen me at some of my lowest moments with Jack.
“Thank you, Justin. It was all Heath and Von helping me. I couldn’t have done it without them. Just knowing that Heath was there gave me the confidence to step out from behind the other guys and finish it. I had to, or Alan wouldn’t have respected me at all. I do want to be on the team, but I don’t fully trust Alan yet. It was kind of low what he did. I know the girls are always after him, but I was not one of them, so I don’t know why he would have believed them at all. But they have taken such good care of me here. I love it here and even if I do find my biological parents in the Crimson Shadow pack, I think I would still like to live here with Heath and Von. I don’t know the story of what happened yet, and I hope I get it when we go in two weeks, but as far as I am concerned, this is my home”, I told the group and I heard crying and looked to see Von getting up and coming to me with her arms out towards me.
“You can stay with us forever, my precious Gabi. We love you so much and are proud of you every single day. We would love nothing more than you to stay here with us”, Von tells me, and I see Heath right behind her, a giant of a man with tears running down his face.
“You will always have a home with us, Gabi, always. We will discuss the Alan thing together and then meet in here with the whole team tomorrow and clear the air completely. I will have a town hall meeting tomorrow as I have already decided to ask Vera and Halle’s families to leave. You could have been killed by their actions. They can all go live with the humans in Redding like Tatum’s family did. But I don’t want them to stay here. People who would do such a thing do not belong in my pack. You, my little one, are special and I couldn’t be more proud of what you have accomplished in such a short amount of time. You are a little machine, with your single-minded focus. I have your nickname now. I have been thinking of one for three months now. You, my dear Gabi, are my little Terminator”, Heath tells me, and that makes me smile. I am not dangerous like the Terminator. I cannot see where that is even plausible.
I heard laughter behind me, and I saw Justin and Luna Liz laughing, and then Justin said, “That is perfect. She is, she is unstoppable”. Their agreement makes me smile wider and Von laughs as well.
“It is settled, you are our little Terminator,” Heath said and gave me a big hug.
We all headed to our rooms. I needed a shower and a nap before dinner, this little Terminator needed some rest and downtime. I had just gotten through with my shower and dried off when I felt the familiar pain, and I hit my knees on the bathroom floor, waiting for the pain to end. I will do what Luna Liz said next weekend. I will accept Derek’s rejection and I will do it with my team with me. She is right, I cannot keep living like this.