Only Human

3.0

"Have you gotten any new leads?" I asked Gabriel, interrupting the silence of our car ride back to his house.

"What?" He looked at me in confusion. I smiled at the way his brown eyes glowed with the sunlight, before shaking my head and focusing.

"You know... Civil war, traitorous pack members..." I trailed off.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, sobering up. "We know that one of the leaders is a man named Garrett. We know all the members as well. We just have to figure out how to resolve this peacefully."

"Does Garret have a mate?" I asked curiously.

"I believe so," Gabriel replied. "Why?"

"No reason, just curious," I explained. I slid my hand over his that was resting between us. I relished in the sparks and took a deep breath in, closing my eyes. Mint and Pine. I would always love his scent.

"We're only about thirty minutes away now," Gabriel informed me. I nodded.

"Hey!" I sat up straight in my seat and turned to look at Gabe.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked, his eyes lightening. I knew that he was partially shifting to sense danger and I tried to calm him down.

"Nothing! Just... I just remembered that you had told me once that you built your house," I said, looking over at him curiously. The beams of setting sunlight streamed through the window, making his dark hair glow. His strong nose and jaw were perfectly sculpted. I wouldn't ever be used to how handsome he was.

"I did," He answered simply. I smacked his arm and he let out a short bark of laughter.

"Liar! That house is humungous! How on earth did you build that?" I demanded, aching to learn everything I could about my mate.

"It's a hobby. I started building it when I turned seventeen and it took me almost five years to finish it. I wanted to have a home that my mate and I could live happily in. Raise a family there. And I didn't really want to always be living in the packhouse. I love my pack, but it's definitely hard to feel love at 2 am," He explained shyly. I blushed as well.

"I love it. I love it even more now that I know why you built it. You big ole softy!" I teased. He laughed with me as we continued our drive. "Oh my gosh! Shawn!"

Gabriel glanced over at me again. "Well you're just remembering everything right now, aren't you?"

"Haha, very funny. Seriously! What happened to him? I didn't see him on the flight home!" I worried. The poor guy would be stuck in Indiana for a little longer. 

"I sent him home as soon as I learned that you would be returning with me. There was an earlier flight, and no need for him to protect you when I was around," Gabriel explained. I let out a sigh of relief. 

"I like that guy. He isn't a talker, but he sure was good at protecting me," I commented. 

"You only like me!" Gabriel grunted. I rolled my eyes. 

"No, I only love you. I can have guy friends," I snorted. I kicked my feet up on the dash of his car and he ignored them. 

"Fine," He consented. 

"How is your Grandmother?" Gabriel asked after another stretch of quiet.

"She's fading," I replied sadly. I felt tears forming and I swallowed thickly. It was hard to think about someone I loved so much going through so much pain.

"I'm sorry about that," Gabriel whispered, his hand squeezing mine tightly as we pulled off the highway and began the winding stretch up into the mountains.