Sacrifice

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

                As Gabriel watched wolf after wolf walk into the room, he started to grow uneasy. He looked over at Sophia, wondering if she would protect him. Even though he had almost expected Sophia to kill him when he first arrived, he really wasn’t ready to die. Especially with Sophia having been so surprisingly nice to him.

                He looked down, staring at his feet when he noticed several wolves starting to glance at him. Not liking the attention, he pressed himself more into the couch, wanting to disappear into it. Earlier, he had tried to ask Sophia if he had to be present for the meeting, but he had been too scared to talk to her, and so, he was stuck with the wolves.

                “Okay,” Sophia said once the last wolf was in and the door was closed. “The short version of things is that the lions are trying to kill wolves and are targeting us. They sent in a damn spy to gather info on us, and over there on my couch is the lion’s leader’s son who says he wants to help us.”

                “What?” asked one of the wolves.

                “It wasn’t that damn confusing,” Sophia growled. “How much simpler can I put it?”

                “It’s a lot to dump on them,” Jason said. “Let’s focus on one issue at a time. We can worry about Shane later. It’s the lions I’m worried about. While we do need to worry about their planned attack, right now, we need to figure out what to do with this one here.”

                Everyone in the room turned to look at Gabriel and he glanced to the door, wondering if he could run out or if someone would stop him first. He was certain he would never make it, and even if he did, he didn’t think he could outrun them. He looked briefly at Sophia, and felt a little calmer, and also remembered he had a reason to stay there. She would protect him. He hoped.

                “We have no need for his kind here,” one of the wolves said with a growl.

                “It’s not safe to keep him around,” said another.

                “So you’re all just going to assume he’s a liar?” Sophia asked, looking between the seven others in the room. “Patrick? Valerie? Ollie? Lukas? Any input here?”

                Gabriel watched and listened while the wolves discussed what to do with him. He hadn’t expected any of them to believe him, and from the first part of the discussion, he thought he was right. The first two wolves that spoke, who Gabriel had gathered were named Troy and Quinton, along with the only female besides Sophia, Valerie, were definitely against the idea of trusting Gabriel or even letting him stay with the pack. Valerie even suggested killing him, which made Gabriel even more uneasy than he already was.

                The other wolves hadn’t said much of anything at all. The three most outspoken were older wolves, and there was a fourth wolf who was at least in his fifties. Gabriel had heard the others call him Patrick. He didn’t seem to like the lion either, but he wasn’t as outspoken about it. One of the younger wolves, Oliver, had been entirely unsure. Jason hadn’t said much either, and the last wolf had been completely silent.

                It was the last wolf that really made Gabriel uncomfortable. He felt the wolf’s golden eyes staring at him, and every time Gabriel looked up, he saw that the wolf had not taken his gaze away. He didn’t know why the wolf was watching him so carefully, but he really wished he would stop.

                Finally, out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw the wolf turn his head, looking away and he felt like he could relax a little. He glanced up quickly, glad to see that all the wolves were looking at Sophia. Not wanting to attract their attention, he held as still as possible.