12
Gabriel
Icouldn’t sleep.I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my head. Memories of Stoneheart pack and thousands ofwhat-ifsran through my mind a mile a minute. What if I hadn’t left? Easy. Then I wouldn’t have the love of my life and the baby of my dreams. I’d be dead, or worse, at the hands of human raiders. It wasn’t even a question ofleaving.
But yet - I couldn’t stop thinking about Stoneheart pack. I remembered Otis and Marlowe, and every other shifter living in fear, banishing those that rebelled outside while existing like mice in a cage. Not like the powerful wolves we were supposedtobe.
When Dante was fully asleep, I snuck out of bed and onto the floor where I pulled the book back into my lap. I found the Stoneheart pack section and glued my eyes to the page. So far, all of it was true. Our customs and rules, the banishment of omegas who didn’t adhere to the rules, even the height of the wall wascorrect…
I stopped at the section about the human raiders, where they were depicted in an artist’s rendition. The resemblance to the ones who had attacked me was uncanny. I frowned, trying not to think about thatnight.
I pressed my finger to the text, squinting against the low light, and begantoread.
The major threatto Stoneheart pack is a band of human raiders who live in the nearby area. They greatly outnumber the Stoneheart pack wolves and possess a multitude of weapons for killing and capture. According to field research and anecdotes, we know that the raiders either kill the wolves due to long-standing fear of normal wolves (perhaps to cut off the competitors for food) or harvest their bodies for parts. It has been suggested that the humans study the shifters’ bodies to potentially harness the shapeshifting powers forthemselves.
My stomach lurched.Reading those words sickened me. The part about them killing us for resembling real wolves might have been true, although in Stoneheart pack we no longer had the luxury of hunting outside the walls. All of our meat came from livestock raised within the pack itself. But did the humans really think they could steal our powers by dissecting our bodies somehow?Ridiculous.
I shook my head and continued reading. But when I came across the next subtitle, I gasped. My bloodrancold.
ALONESURVIVOR
The majority of the information in this section was provided by an ex-member of Stoneheart pack, who asked to remain anonymous. We appreciate their efforts in assisting us gather the most current information possible inthistext.
Istared at the book.I blinked and re-read it a few more times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things in myexhaustion.
How could there be asurvivor?
It wasimpossible.
Unless…
My eyes widened. The person may have asked to remain anonymous, but I had a sinking suspicion I knew whoitwas.
And if they were still alive, my budding idea might just workafterall.
* * *
The days passedand I didn’t mention the book or its contents to Dante, as much as I desperately wanted to. I needed to make sure the other part of my plan would work first. I hated keeping secrets from him, but the mind-blowing sex we had in the days of rest did a good job ofdistractingme.
A few days later, my sessions with Ryu resumed. Dante dropped me off as usual. I was getting better about the whole flying thing, which he both noticed and appreciated. I was getting braver, not like the squealing mess I was the first time I flew - which was honestly embarrassing toremember.
“Are you sure you’re not gonna let me watch?” Dante muttered, throwing his arms around me and rocking back andforth.
“No,” I said with a laugh. “This ismything. I don’t need my alpha babysitting me all the time. You’re gonna be doing enough of that when the baby’sactuallyborn.”
He sighed and nuzzled my face with his cheek. “But I miss you when you’re not around,” hegrumbled.
“Tough.” I kissed him. “You have stuff to do too, remember? Thenursery?”
We’d talked about building a nursery in one of the many spare rooms of Dante’s home tower. We both agreed it was a good idea to get it done early before the baby was born. He grinned. “Yes,sir.”
“Alright. Good.” I gave him an affectionate smack in the chest. “Now get outofhere.”
“Fine.” Dante pouted. He said to Ryu, “Be nice to himthistime.”
Ryu chuckled. “I’m always nice. Gabriel, notsomuch.”
I rolled my eyes. “Alphas…”
