Sacrifice

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

                As soon as the call to Gabriel’s father had ended, Sophia kicked everyone else out of the room. She knew that Lukas and Jason wanted to discuss what had happened, but Sophia growled at them before they could say a single word, and they, along with all the others, left quickly. Talon had been the only one who seemed reluctant to leave, but even he left after she snapped her teeth at him.

                Once alone with Gabriel, she trotted over to him, wanting to make sure he was okay, but as soon as she came close, he immediately tried to get away. With his hands still secured behind him, he couldn’t move fast, but Sophia didn’t go after him. Instead, she backed away, not wanting to scare him. When he had settled down again, she approached him slowly, ears back and tail down, but even that didn’t seem to help. He still tried to move away from her, but he had backed himself into a corner.

                Sophia continued inching closer, focusing her attention on his wrists. As she reached for the zip tie, Gabriel lashed out with his feet, trying to kick her away. Sophia had to struggle with him until she managed to get on top of his legs to hold them down. Once she had him under control, she grabbed the zip tie and bit it off.

                As soon as his arms were free, he swung at her, knocking her off of him. She expected him to run, but when she sat up, she saw he was curled up in the corner. Once more, she approached him, watching for any sign that he might try to hit her again. But he only flinched when she placed a paw on his arm.

                Taking that as a sign he was feeling better, Sophia pushed her way onto his lap. For a brief moment, Gabriel’s arms were around her, but he dropped his arms quickly and placed a hand against her, weakly trying to push her off. Sophia ignored that and touched him gently with her head. As she did that, she caught a strong whiff of his blood, and she then took a look at the wounds she had inflicted on him.

                He was still bleeding, although not a lot and Sophia was certain he’d be okay. At least physically. As she glanced up at his fearful face, she wondered if she had permanently damaged their relationship. She didn’t think she could forgive herself for what she had done to him. But he was her mate, and she had to hope that somehow, they could move past it.

                She gently flicked her tongue out, licking his neck and cleaning him of blood. While she knew she would have to ensure his wounds were properly cleaned later, she wanted to do something at the moment. She continued to lick his neck until the blood stopped flowing. When she had finished, she realized that Gabriel was no longer trying to push her away, but instead just had a hand resting in her fur.

                For several moments, Sophia stayed on top of him, pressing herself into him. She didn’t want to shift back until she knew what she was going to say to him, or at least until she knew she wouldn’t cry.  She knew that she probably would have ended up in tears had she shifted earlier, and even though he was her mate, she didn’t want him to see that.

                Finally, she began to shift back into her human form. As she shifted, Gabriel pulled his hand away from her, realizing it would be rather awkward positioning. Once she could speak, Sophia opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words she had planned on saying were forgotten. Instead, she only wanted to kiss him, but she had the feeling he wouldn’t like that.

                She stood up, and then offered a hand out to help Gabriel up. For several moments, he looked at her, but finally, he reached out and took her hand. Once again, Sophia found herself fighting the urge to kiss him.

                “I’m sorry,” she said, turning away from him. “I…” She planned on explaining why she did what she did, but it didn’t matter. She had hurt her mate, and there was no good reason for doing that. “I don’t blame you if you hate me and never want to see me again.”

                Gabriel remained silent, and for a while, Sophia was okay with that, but as his silence drew on, she felt herself growing impatient. She wanted him to say something. Anything. She risked a glance at him and saw that he was looking down at the floor.

                “Gabriel,” she said, reaching out and touching him on the arm. “You’re my mate.”

                She hadn’t planned on blurting it out right then, but she didn’t know what else to say and she wanted to tell him. She had wanted to tell him later, once he was in a better mental state, but it was something that she couldn’t just keep to herself. He had to know.

                “I know,” he mumbled.

                “What?” Sophia asked, completely surprised. “You knew? How? For how long?”

                Gabriel looked up at her, looking in her warm, brown eyes. He didn’t see anger or hatred, but concern and caring. “I… I don’t know. I just knew. Ever since that first night.”

                “That long? And you never said anything?”

                He shook his head and looked away. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

                “It’s okay,” she said softly, reaching out to touch his cheek. He didn’t pull away, so she continued touching him gently. “But if you knew, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

                At first he only shrugged but then he started speaking, very quietly. “I didn’t think you felt the same way. I… I thought you’d laugh at me. Or tell me to leave.”

                “You were the one who tried to leave,” Sophia reminded him.

                “I didn’t think you could ever love me. I thought I’d be better off away from you.”

                “Well, you were wrong. You’re my mate, Gabriel. And now that I know that, you’ll always belong with me. Even if you can’t forgive me for what I did today, I’ll always be your mate.”

                She pulled him into her arms and held on to him, wanting to hold him forever. At first, she could feel  that he was tense and she thought he would try to get away from her, but then she felt him relaxing and leaning against her.

                “I never wanted to hurt you,” she said, pulling away from him. She touched the bite marks on his neck, wishing she had thought of another way.

                “I know,” he said. When she had unexpectedly attacked him, he had been scared, worried that she would be just as cruel as his father. But he knew she was better. She actually cared. He could see it in her eyes.

                “Gabriel, are we okay? Are you going to leave?”

                “No,” he said. “Not unless you want me to.”

                “Never,” Sophia said, a small smile forming as the realization that she had found her mate set in. “You’re my mate. And I’m never letting you go.”

                Gabriel felt a little nervous about the way she was smiling, an almost predatory grin. But he knew she was his mate. Feeling confident, he reached out and touched her on the arm and pulled her close to him and kissed her. Sophia eagerly returned the kiss, but when she found herself reaching for his pants, she pulled away from him.

                “I don’t believe this,” Sophia said.

                “What?”

                “You. You’re my mate. I get you as my mate. How did I get lucky enough to get a fucking perfect mate like you. And you’re all mine.”

                Gabriel didn’t know how to respond to that. While her possessiveness was a little alarming at first, he realized he felt the same way about her. Of course, he wouldn’t dare say that out loud to his alpha, but there was no doubt in his mind; she was his just as much as he was hers.