Ardeur (Abbey of Angels)

by Danielle Gavan

  “Obviously.” He looked at the pile of orange peels on top of the skin from the banana I'd eaten before. “Hungry much?”

  “Consider who you're talking to Tate. You know how much I love my food.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “You're right. You do love your food almost as much as I love my Jameson.”

  The smell of sizzling garlic and butter filled the kitchen quickly as we worked in silence. I seared the steaks and put them in the oven to finish cooking while Tate chopped the potatoes and seasoned them before throwing them in with the meat.

  “You seem happy. I'd almost say you're glowing with it.”

  Another orange segment burst between my teeth and I nodded at him while I chewed. “I am happy. Things have been wonderful. How are things with you and Chris?”

  Tate cocked his head and watched Ardeur for a moment while she finished off her orange and reached for an apple. His senses were telling him there were other angels in the room but all he could see was himself and Ardeur. “Things with us are as they've always been.”

  He allowed his angelic power to peek out and knew instantly why he sensed other angels in the room. It explained why Ardeur was so hungry and he smiled with happiness. His senses scanned her to make sure everything was alright with his friend before reeling his power back in.

  Ardeur stopped chewing and cocked her head at him. “What are you doing? I can feel you scanning me.”

  “Nothing. Just checking up on you.” Tate rose from his stool. “Want some apple juice, or milk maybe?”

  She blinked at him. “Yeah, I'd love some milk.”

  Crossing over to the counter, he retrieved a glass and then filled it from the pitcher in the fridge. He plunked the nearly full glass in front of her and she laughed. “Um, thank you?”

  Tate moved back to the counter and watched as she took a long swallow before setting the glass back down with two inches less liquid in it than when he'd given it to her. “Have you been feeling okay?” He popped two thick pieces of bread in the toaster and pushed down the plunger on the machine. “Peanut butter?”

  “What?” Ardeur glanced at the toaster and nodded, “Oh, um. Sure.” She took another sip of her milk. “I've never felt better. I guess being in love and mated to Brody agrees with me.”

  The toaster gave up the goods and Tate slathered both pieces of bread with peanut butter before sliding the plate under Ardy's nose. “Eat up. You need the calories.”

  Ardeur cocked an eyebrow at him as she bit into her toast.

  “All the exercise you've been doing. You need the calories to keep your strength up.” Tate did his best to cover up his slip and turned his attention to the steak and potatoes in the oven. He used a bit of angel magic to speed up the cooking process. “Oh look. Steak is ready.”

  She eyed him suspiciously as he tried to act nonchalant about his slip and pulled their food from the oven. The smell of roasted garlic wafted out followed closely by the smell of perfectly cooked steak, mushrooms and home fries to make her mouth water with anticipation. “I don't know if I've got room for all of that after the banana, two oranges and two peanut butter toasts.”

  Her stomach growled loudly and Tate laughed. “I think you'll manage just fine.”

  Metatron loaded the larger of the two steaks onto the plate he'd taken out for Ardeur and filled it with the other items before sliding it down the counter to her. He watched expectantly until she tucked into the food before sitting down with his own plate.

  “How come you gave me more?” Ardeur scooped up another forkful of potatoes and put them in her mouth. She chewed vigorously and swallowed before quickly washing it all down with more milk.

  “You seem to be a starvin' marvin today. Guess I figured you needed it more than me.” Tate shrugged and filled his mouth with food to prevent her from asking another question he'd have to dodge. The girl clearly had no idea she was pregnant and he wasn't going to be the one to enlighten her. “Did you happen to see any beer in the fridge while you were poking around in there earlier?”

  Ardy hopped off her stool and headed for the fridge before he could stop her. “I did see a couple of them floating around in the back. I'll get us each one.” She pulled open the fridge door and jumped when Tate yelled out. “You can't have any.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  I started to get annoyed by Tate's behavior. It had been cute, funny even, at first but now it was getting to the point where he was pissing me off. “Why can't I have a beer? Hell, maybe I'll go grab the Jameson from the library and have a couple shots of that instead.”

  Metatron nearly spewed his mouthful at my comment and swallowed quickly. “You just can't. Trust me on this one. Please?”

  “Not until you tell me why.” I crossed my arms under my breasts in defiance and faced off with him. Tate had never faced anyone more stubborn than he was about to.

  “It's not healthy and Brody wouldn't like it if you were drinking right now.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him and tapped my booted foot against the ceramic of the floor. “While I can't argue the second, the first I will.” My hand whipped out and I pointed a finger at him. “If it's not healthy for me, it's not healthy for you either. Hm?”

  “Wrong.” Tate stood and pushed his stool aside. “I'm five times your size. Hell, I metabolize it before the stuff hits the end of my throat. Besides, you should drink more orange juice. It has folic acid.” Before I could object he found another glass and manifested it full of orange juice and held it out for me.

  The smell of the liquid fruit hit my nose and I was damned if my mouth didn't water for it. “Folic acid? What the hell, Tate?” I took the glass from him and took a long swallow of the liquid sunshine. “Fine. Juice for me.”

  “Um, folic acid is good for - sexually active young women under the age of thirty?” Tate folded his arms over his chest and smiled at me triumphantly.

  I gave him a withering look as I swallowed more of the juice. “Right, and I'm Mary Poppins. You're up to something, and I'll figure it out eventually.” His behavior was making me even more suspicious as the minutes ticked away.

  “Know what you need?” He tapped a finger on his chin as he sat back down and picked his fork back up. “Vitamins.”

  The mouthful of juice I had nearly shot out of my nose with the surprise of his comment. I chocked back the remainder of my drink and wiped my mouth of my sleeve. “What? Vitamins?” My hand came up and knocked on the side of his head. “Have you been fighting with that Elf again? Someone needs to tell him to take it easy on the head shots. You've turned into a crazy loon.”

  “Nah.” Metatron cupped my face and stunned me by placing a gentle kiss on my cheek. He'd never been affectionate or touchy-feely with me before and the gesture shocked me silent. “Just glad to see you happy and healthy.”

  “I am happy and healthy, Tate. Lord, that dinner was more than healthy.”

  Tate chuckled as he rose from his bench and took his empty plate over to the sink. “Good. Finish the rest. I have an errand I forgot about.”

  “I might have another bite or two and take the rest to Brody. He skipped lunch today.” I watched him leave and sat back down to eat. Before I knew it, the plate was empty and I'd finished another glass of orange juice. “Damn. What the hell is with this appetite?”

  Azrael watched from the shadows beneath the trees as his twin ate dinner with the one woman he wanted above all else. He prayed that Metatron didn't tell her about the babies she carried and how the act leading to their conception broke the bond their mother had with Azrael.

  When Ardeur had accepted Brody's mark upon her and the tattoos had formed in her skin, the bond between her and Rae had shattered. She was no longer an Angel of Death because they could not bear children, and Ardy was very much pregnant. The golden filaments in her aura declared it for anyone sensitive enough to see the beautiful gold and blue glow surrounding her. Nothing in Azrael's wretched existence had ever been more beautiful or ethereal.


  He watched his brother leave and fixed his stormy blue gaze on the object of his obsession as she finished her meal and rose to leave the kitchen. “Enjoy what time you have with your wolf, sweetheart. In five days, he'll be gone and you'll be mine.”

  Twenty Four

  The beauty of the gardens at the Abbey never ceased to amaze me every time I entered them and I said as much to Brody as he caught up to me on the central pathway.

  “Not nearly as beautiful as you.” He took my hand in his much larger, warmer one and walked along with me over the pink, crushed stone pathway.

  Still not used to receiving compliments, I still blushed whenever Brody gave me one. I smiled at him and tugged him along toward my favorite spot in the garden - the large, white, wooden gazebo surrounded by yellow rose bushes.

  Black and yellow honeybees buzzed around from flowerbed to flowerbed as we walked along. The air was fragrant with dahlias, irises, lavender, roses and other flowers I didn't recognize by scent.

  We reached the gazebo and I went up ahead of Brody to sit in the patio swing. When I looked up, he stood before me with a thorn-less yellow rose in full bloom which he tucked behind my ear.

  “You do the rose good, Goldie.” Brody brushed his lips against mine and sat down. The man had shoulders so broad he took up what was left of the swing and made me feel even smaller than I was.

  “You're too good to me. Thank you for loving me.” I handed him a small bouquet of flowers I'd picked along the way and presented them to him. “I know, it's silly but I wanted to give you something. Some token of my gratitude.”

  The expression on his face shifted from surprise to embarrassment and, finally, happiness as he took the flowers from me. “You don't ever have to thank me for loving you, Goldie.” Brody chuckled. “I'm a lucky bastard to have gotten your attention and nothing you say, or do is silly. Besides,” He grinned and rubbed the bare skin of my shoulder. “I'm your Puppy now. Former alpha badass werewolf, and one little golden angel turned my ass into a drooling, devoted pup. I wouldn't have it any other way.”

  “Devoted? Yes. Drooling? Ew.” I smiled at him and snuggled closer into his side. The warm musky scent of him filled my senses with the relaxing feeling of being exactly where the universe had planned for me to be all along. “Puppy?”

  Brody chuckled at her nickname for him and turned his gaze down to look at the top of her golden head. “Yeah, baby?”

  Ardeur looked up at him and he traced the delicate features of her face in his mind. He loved the slightly upturned nose and the glossy pink sweep of her lips, especially when she smiled at him the way she was just then. “Can I see your wolf?” She blinked, her eyes serious as they reflected his features back at him, including the soft glow of his eyes. The curiosity in her question had woken up the wolf and the beast was happy their mate was paying that side of him some attention.

  “Sure, in a bit.” Dropping his head down to hers, their lips met in a sweet, tender kiss. “I wish I could erase all of the shit in your life, take away all of the crap threatening to take you from me.”

  Ardeur pulled back to look at him and shook her head. “Puppy, if you took all of that from me I would never have been here to find you.” Brody's tongue ran over the swirl of her ear and she moaned for him. “I wouldn't trade any of it if it meant I'd miss out on you. You're worth all the hell in my past.”

  “Don't ever say that, Goldie. You don't know everything I've done.” He sat back, amorous intentions forgotten, and rested his head on the wooden frame of the swing. “I haven't always been a model citizen, or even a good person. I let the love for my sister destroy my pack and drive me away from my family.”

  “But don't you see how good that is, Brody?” Her hands slid up to tilt Brody's face back toward hers. “You are a good person. You gave up everything you hold dear for the love of your sister. That tells me a lot about you.” Ardy's hand caressed his cheek. “You did what you had to do. Would the outcome have been so much better if you had stayed and killed your sister's mate? Somehow, I don't think it would have.”

  Brody sighed and stood from the swing. His abrupt motion set it swinging crazily and he reached to steady it. “It's different for wolves, Goldie, for alphas. You don't just let things interfere with your responsibilities for the wolves dependent on you. Those people were depending on me to set things right once I was old enough, big enough to take care of Cal. It's what an alpha does; so what does that say about me?” He rested his head on one of the support beams for the gazebo. “It says that I'm not even a proper alpha wolf. I've tried to stay away so that I don't get immersed in that shit anymore but damn it - it weighs on my shoulders every day. I failed them.”

  Ardy wrapped herself around him from the back. The feel of her arms around his waist was more comforting than he could have imagined. “Baby, you're not just an alpha wolf. You are Brody. You're a man who values his pack, but loves his family and puts them first. I know what an alpha is babycakes, and you are one. Hands down, the biggest, baddest alpha I've ever met.” She snuggled her face into his back and he felt her breathe deeply. “What it says about you is that you love deeply, you have a conscience and will do what’s right, not what’s expected. It tells me that I made the right choice when I gave you my heart. I wouldn't trust it to anyone else.”

  “Thank you, Goldie.” He sighed deeply and felt himself, and the wolf, calm down. Brody turned to face her and cupped the beautiful, angelic face of his mate in his hands. “I'm so grateful that I met you.” Unsure what more to say - Brody pulled Ardeur against his chest and held her. The sweet tangerine smell of her skin filled his senses and worked its calming magic on him.

  “Puppy, if you need some time to wolf-out… “ Ardeur let the sentence trail off before starting again. “I'm a big girl. I can put in some me time while you take care of what you need to do. There's a book and a bathtub calling my name.”

  He pulled back and looked down at her, the love she felt for him shining on her face, clear as day. Lifting her hands to his lips, Brody kissed each of her delicate knuckles before looking back at her again. “I have something to show you, okay? Don't be afraid. I'll be right back.” He kissed her, stepped back and whispered “I love you” before running off into the woods.

  The trees bordering the gardens were dense enough to afford some privacy and Brody headed for them. He had peeled off his jacket and shirt before the first bushes and shrubs encircled his booted feet. Jeans, boots and socks followed in the undressing portion of his transformation and all were neatly folded at the base of a large, moss covered oak tree before Brody finally crouched low and let the energy that had been buzzing under his skin loose.

  Muscle by muscle, from his feet up to his ears, bones, joints and cartilage began shifting and popping. His skin rippled and flexed as the thick pelt of his fur pushed through and covered his nakedness. It felt like his body was being torn apart from the inside out and took everything in him to keep from crying out or moaning with the pain of having gone too long since his last shift. Months had gone by since he'd last let the massive animal loose and now he was paying for it.

  As the change neared completion, Brody's wolf senses came online and he took a minute to stretch muscles that had forgotten what it felt like to be in their current formations. The entire process had only taken a few minutes, but felt like an eternity of agonizing pain. Shit that hurt. I need to remember to shift more often.

  Thankful he was able to change as quickly as he did because of his strength, Brody took a moment to sniff around and explore his surroundings. The warm summer breeze brought a familiar scent to him and the man behind the wolf remembered the woman they'd left waiting in the garden.

  The massive wolf, the color of storm clouds, was so happy to have new territory to explore that it took everything he had for Brody to reign it in and turn it back toward the garden and Ardeur.

  He spotted her as the trees gave way to the brush and shrubbery surrounding the forest. Ardeur had moved into the clearin
g beyond the gardens and he stopped as his paws stepped onto the grass, twenty feet from her. Her eyes had widened at the sight of him and Brody dropped to his belly. He waited for her to adjust to what she was seeing and make the approach in her own time.

  The shift in energy coming from the tree line blew over me like a warm wind and I realized what was going on behind the screen of greenery. I scanned the break in the trees and gasped as the biggest charcoal gray wolf I'd ever seen emerged. He was enormous and the sight of him took my breath away.

  Thick, gray fur sleeked over his muscles as Brody trotted toward me and then stopped to crouch in the grass as if waiting for me to make the next move. Familiar amber eyes shone out from the wolfish face as he waited for me to decide whether to approach or run for the hills. In the end, my feet made the decision for me and I crossed the field to kneel in the grass beside the man, and wolf, I'd pledged myself to forever.

  “Hey, Puppy. You're frickin’ huge.”

  Brody chuffed in the wolfy version of a laugh and made me smile.

  “Wanna come sit with me on a blanket? We can sit out under the sun and have some quiet time or you can run for a bit - if you want to.”

  He nudged me with the wet tip of his nose. I took that for a yes and rose to walk at his side. His head bumped my shoulder and I smiled as I sank a hand into the warm, silky fur at the scruff of his neck.

  Brody watched Ardeur like, well, a wolf as they walked toward the center of the clearing and settled on a blanket she materialized for them. He stayed beside her as she relaxed beneath the warm rays of the sun and settled against his side. Every so often, he felt her hand absentmindedly stroking his fur and finally, she left it buried deep within the warmth of his coat.

  His first thought as she stroked him was that the feel of her hands on him would bother the wolf, but it didn't. The soft stroking was actually soothing to him and he relaxed, his eyelids growing heavier with each touch of her hand.