I didn’t getto see Gabriel on his own.
He and Max stayed at the cottage to help Axel with the transfer of Blake and the Blue Alhuirn, while Talis and I escorted my dad and Lady Sarhin back to the gateway.
After delivering the vial of antidote to Falon on Max’s behalf, I finally pulled up outside the pack house. It was dark, the moon almost full in the night sky.
“It’s been the longest fucking day.” I rested my hands on the steering wheel, reluctant to move.
“It has.” Talis had been unusually quiet on the ride home, and I glanced over at him in concern.
“You okay?” Maybe asking him to ride with Axel had been a mistake. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable by sending you with Axel.” I needed to pay more attention to my pack.
Talis let his head bang against the back of the seat. “That’s just it…” He turned to face me, a resigned sadness in his eyes that I wasn’t used to seeing. “It didn’t. At all. And that’s the problem.”
Oh, Talis.
“You like him?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “Fucking stupid, I know.”
Gripping his shoulder, I gave him a gentle shake. “You’re not wrong.”
He laughed, like I was hoping for, then rolled his eyes. “Some alpha you are.”
All joking aside, I wanted him to remember I wasn’t only his alpha. “Sometimes I can be your best friend too.”
“Thank you.” He put his hand over mine and gave me a smile, small but genuine. “That goes for you too.”
“I know.”
He reached for the door handle, then paused, giving me a knowing look. “You’re not coming in, are you?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
He patted me on the shoulder this time. “I hope you get the outcome you want, Rys.”
“Me too.”
Now if only I knew what outcome I was hoping for.
GABRIEL
“You okay?”Max asked as we pulled up outside my cottage.
I sighed, not sure how to answer. “It’s been a strange day.”
He snorted. “You can say that again.” Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “I know he’s my cousin, but the offer’s still there. If you need to talk to someone about what’s going on, I promise to listen with an open, unbiased mind.”
“Ugh.” I groaned and closed my eyes. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Max cleared his throat, and when I turned to look at him, he pointed out the windscreen to my front door.
A second ago, there’d been no one there. Now Rys leant against it, dark and mysterious in the shadows and also as casual as you like.
“Want me to ask him to leave?” Max offered, quietly.
I licked my lips, already reaching for the door handle, heart rate kicking up. “No, that’s okay.”
Max laughed and shook his head. “For the love of the Goddess, get out of my car before I have to drive home with all the windows open.”
