Shadow of Twilight: Book 1 of Fated Darkness Series | SAMPLE

Chapter 4: Wolf's out of the Bag

Gabriel growled deeply, stepping forward with the robe, enclosing it tightly around her body.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked her. His voice deep. His aura grew red around him.

Her mate's chest was puffed, biceps flexing as they crossed in front of him. She could see the black pupils of his eyes widen, his wolf clawing at the surface, desperate to come out. Apparently, man and beast agreed on one thing. They did not like their mate naked in front of others.

"We're wolves, Gabriel. Nudity is nothing new," Amelia stated, tying the robe around her.

"You are my mate. You will conduct yourself accordingly," Gabriel growled once again.

"Or what?" she asked, challenging him.

Gabriel and Amelia continued staring at one another until they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Amelia noticed her father standing before them. His green eyes were flitting back and forth between the two of them.

"What is going on here? Alpha Gabriel?" her father asked looking between them for an answer.

She knew her father. Knew him extremely well and right now, he was wearing his scary calm face. On the outside he looked concerned given the fact that a stranger was in fact gawking at his daughter, but she could feel his energy shifting between anger and suspicion. She knew he would be having words with the new Alpha of the Twilight Moon Pack, and soon.

Amelia stepped forward in front of Gabriel. "It's nothing, daddy."

"She's my mate."

Amelia swiveled her head. Her mouth hung open. Did he seriously just announce to everyone present that he was her mate? He came up to stand beside her, his stance dominating and ready for a fight.

"Mate?" Thomas gasped. "Amelia, is this true?"

Amelia rolled her eyes, now thoroughly annoyed. "Yes. We have the mate bond."

"And you chose not to inform me? Why?"

"It's kind of new, dad. Not exactly something I wanted to blurt out," she hissed, gritting her teeth.

Gabriel ignored her outburst, his gaze strictly on her father. "She will be leaving with me tomorrow. Back to my pack."

"The hell she will," Damon growled, going to stand beside his father.

"Now, just wait a minute there. We haven't discussed anything," Thomas said.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbled to herself, huffing aloud, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You men are ruining a perfectly good party. In case any of you forgot, it's Damon and I's birthday, so you can shut up, or leave," she shot her mate a glare. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go get changed."

Amelia left the Alpha males to their posturing. Almost the entire pack gathered around, listening and talking amongst themselves. Great. That's just what she needed.

Her fellow pack members parted, allowing her a direct path to the Packhouse.

"Amelia!"

She turned to find Cordelia chasing after her. "Hey."

Cordelia fell into sync, walking alongside her up the flights of stairs. "So, a mate, huh? How come you haven't told me?"

"I've barely had a chance to process, let alone speak about it."

"Hmm. Still, you could have ended up with a worse mate. That Alpha is a fine-looking specimen."

Rey growled defensively. Amelia hadn't realized she'd done so aloud until she noticed Cordelia's eyebrow raised. "I don't want a mate," she said gruffly.