We had fallen into a steady routine. Miesha was wallowing in self-pity and did everything possible to avoid me. Adrienne, whilst still staying overnight, was no longer around during the day, and Neve had resumed her duties in supporting James with training and corresponding with our allies about Rogue movement. I knew Miesha was pissed with my decision to limit her reliance on them, but it was the push I think she needed whether she saw it or not.
I decided to call James and arrange some training for her. It was time to move forward.
"Neve will bring her down to train in about an hour. She needs an outlet to focus on James, a chance to reignite some confidence."
"No problem Gabe, I won't push her beyond what she is ready for."
As far as I was concerned, Miesha wasn't someone to be pitied. Although still recovering, I knew that being in close proximity to me as her mate had assisted in her healing. I wasn't expecting huge strides in her progress, but I also knew she needed to start being proactive, for both her physical and emotional wellbeing. Sulking all day accomplished nothing.
After hanging up the phone with James, I knocked on her bedroom door,
"Coming, just a second..."
Answering the door in her pajamas, her obstinate nature was on full display as she huffed in annoyance at my intrusion. Adorable.
"Gabriel... Is everything okay?"
"James is going to be setting up a training program with you to build your strength. Neve will pick you up in about 45 minutes, and take you to the pack house for your first session."
Her reply was terse, "Not happening."
As she tried to close the door to retreat back into her room, I stopped it with my foot.
"Miesha. Don't make me out to be the asshole here. I am trying to help you."
"I don't remember asking for it Gabriel. I'm not going!"
"For fucks sake..." I snarled in annoyance. This woman was going to be the death of me. "Stop being so fucking melodramatic and get your ass in the gym... Not everything has to be a battle of wills."
If looks could kill, I'd have been done for but this wasn't about pleasing her. She could hate me all she wanted, but she wasn't born to be a damsel, she was born to rule. It's time she fucking remembered it.
Seething with contempt she held my gaze, eyes interlocked... unflinching as her anger filling the air.
Good.
I didn't care that her anger was misdirected at me. I was secretly satisfied. Satisfied, because her comfortability at being angry with me, proved to me she felt secure in my company. Whether she admitted it or not, she knew I wouldn't hurt her. I provided a safe space for her to grieve.
"Fine. It's a waste of time, but if you say so Alpha." Her exaggerated petulance only goading me further, but I refused to play along.
Stepping closer to her, I stalked across the threshold of her doorway. "You're cute when you're angry... Now get dressed."
Like the crack of a whip, she quipped out "Bite me" before slamming the door in my face.
If only she knew how many times I had pictured that very thing...
~
After Neve picked up Miesha, I decided I needed to really piece together how it was possible for Jacob to have been able to get away with everything he had so far.
After his initial attempts to overrule my position as Alpha two years ago, he then managed to build a small but capable following of other Rogues to secure the Shadow Moon Pack. The more I thought about it, the more I believed that finding Miesha was purely coincidence. At the time, he simply needed a pack... he killed their Alpha, Miesha's mother, as being with child meant that she was in no position to fight him. Heroic as always...
I knew Jacob was aware that Miesha was not his mate, but was mine- he'd have felt the pull through our own connection as brothers. I also knew that he convinced her that what she felt was the mate bond, despite the hatred she'd have felt towards him. But by keeping her under his control, he was able to become Alpha through her... he knew he needed her alive in order to draw me out.
One thing I could breathe a sigh of relief over was the fact that he didn't mark her. His refusal in doing so only because it would end the chance of him being with his real mate one day. It was a saving grace, in that marking Miesha would have also denied her the chance of a completed bond with me... It was fucking hard to believe it given everything, but perhaps it was the will of the Moon to lean in my favor, a small token gesture for all she'd taken.
The only thing I couldn't put together was how he knew we were going to Shadow Moon when we did... The fact that he'd left Miesha there to die served to prove he wanted me to bear witness to his masochism, knowing that I couldn't face a life without her light. He was so close to getting his wish...
Someone. Someone had to have warned him of our arrival. Finding out who wasn't going to be easy but it was something that I knew I had to do alone. They couldn't be within my own pack could they? It couldn't be someone I trusted?
The eerie quiet of the past few weeks indicated to me that it was the calm before the storm. He was almost ready to strike. If I didn't find out who the snake in the grass was there was a chance he could still succeed...
Leaning back in my chair I tapped my pen nervously before throwing it across the room, who the fuck was it and why?
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