The story I was thinking of was one Jules had told me late one night soon after he was brought to my territory, still battered and torn and barely clinging to life. He believed his grandchildren were ripped from their home by what he believed to be a government group. He did not know what happened to his son and his son’s mate. My pack tried to look for clues but the house had been burned to the ground by the time my enforcers got there and the surrounding area was barren of any clues. We found no bodies and when Jules found that bit of information out he requested we stop looking. He said his son was prepared, had been prepared for years to flee with his mate and the two children. He thought, if they had fled, if they had gotten away, it was better if we did not search for them. He said when it was safe his son would find him.
My mind flashes back to the night he told me that story. If the two grandchildren were females, and the government group did not get both of them, could one of them be Gabby, and could she have been on the run this entire time? Gabby said her parents were dead, and Jules had lost one son and his son’s mate in a car crash, the same way Gabby’s parents had died. The story did not add up, not entirely, yet there were a lot of similar links in the Jules’ story and in Gabby’s life.
Sighing deeply I realized I was just grasping at straws. Gabby had given us very little information other than names and last known location. That location had seemed familiar and I suddenly realized what it was about Jules that made me think he was involved. I felt as though someone punched me in the stomach as my mind connected the dots between Gabby and Jules. The address my enforcers had searched almost five years ago for Jules’ family or any clues of what happened to them was the last known address Gabby had for her family.
I did not realized I had not answered Gammon, had in fact stopped dead in my tracks until Gammon snarled. As I slowly turned my head to look at him I saw he was not looking at me but rather looking around, as if guarding me. When he noticed my attention was back on him his eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know what you just thought about, but you lost every bit of color you had and kinda swayed on your feet. I thought someone tranqed you. Mind sharing?”
I snorted, “I just put two and two together, Jules is Gabby’s grandfather. I am almost certain of that.”
Almost as soon as the words are out of my mouth I feel my wolf start pawing at me again.
Our pack she is our pack. Told you she belongs with us. Grandfather better than uncle. Never let her go. We mate now.
Uh oh, I had not thought about that. How my wolf got that far ahead in the thinking would be something I would sometimes wonder about in the years to come. But he had a point. A grandfather did indeed trump an uncle when it came to who was responsible for an unmated female. And the fact the grandfather was already a member of my pack meant Gabby could stay here. If Jules was in fact Gabby’s grandfather.
Gammon knew very little of Jules, if anything. He did not know why Jules was in my pack other than the little information given to him when Jules joined the pack. When someone new joined the pack a good alpha sent that information to Gammon. Not because Gammon was over the pack, but if anyone knew someone who did not need to be around females for a known reason it would be Gammon. So Gammon knew Jules had been attacked and joined my pack almost five years ago but little else. And since Gammon had no reports good or bad on Jules he did not need further information. Dealing with my pack was my problem only as long as it did not negatively affect the females.
“Gabby has been here over a week, we have had information from her for a few days and you just now claim Jules as her grandfather? How do you figure that? You know, I would say you are just trying to keep her in your territory by any means you could think of but I saw when you reached your conclusion. And I must say, whatever information you have about Jules and Gabby must be bad, you did not see your face, I did.”
I gathered my thoughts as I tried to figure out how much to say to Gammon about the pack member whose secrets I held. Shaking my head I continued to put two and two together. Jules had lost a son and the son’s mate in a car crash. That son would have been Gammon’s brother in law if I was piecing everything together right. So this Josh Gabby had mentioned, Uncle Josh to be exact, would be Jules’ other son, who must have been raising his nieces. What a confusing situation. I realize, I am going to have to tell Gammon everything if I have any hope of protecting Gabby and her family. If Donny is right the government, or someone in the government is searching for Gabby. And according to Jules, who swore his attackers had to be some elite government group, that group could already have Trina and Nanny and Josh, or any combination of the three. We were going to need help, all the help we could get.
Having reached my conclusions, and knowing I would not know more until I got Jules and Gabby together to compare stories I began to tell Gammon what I knew. I started at the night a stranger brought Jules into my territory and told him everything, including how my enforcers had searched the address where his family lived and where he lost his fight to the group he believed to be a government group. I saw Gammon blink when I gave the address my pack members had searched. The address Gabby had given us was still fresh in our minds, but the address Jules had given me so many years ago was new to Gammon and he immediately realized the two addresses were the same. The time frame matched and as he realized this he asked an unusual question.
“Who brought Jules to your territory? He could not have gotten himself from the south east coast to the rockies in the condition he was in. So how did he get here?”
I shrugged, “We never found out. We just know a stranger brought him, not wolf, but not quite human smelling. We asked him but he did not know either. We need to get to my house before Jules gets there. I am afraid both Gabby and Jules may be in for a shock and I would like to be there before that happens.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Gabriella
As David led us back to the car after the tour he seemed more somber than he had the entire trip. I saw him whisper to Stormie but I could not catch anything. Not even with my hearing. It was almost as though he barely verbalized his words. I saw the surprise on Stormie’s before she shrugged and turned back to the car. I giggled when David swung her back around and laid a kiss on her lips. This time when she turned toward us she was smiling.
As she got into the car with the rest of us she told us what David had said. Apparently something had happened at the plant and Trey was concerned. He had requested we all return to his house so he could discuss it with us. Why in the world anything going on at the plant would remotely concern me or Mia was beyond my comprehension. I even thought of arguing in favor of just returning me to my cabin but looking at Stormie’s face convinced me it would be a pointless argument. That was one woman who could not contain her feelings without expression. And right now her expression conveyed worry and concern.
As we traveled the short distance to Trey’s house I noticed the guards who usually followed Mia were again right behind us, but a couple of other cars were behind them and seemed to be following us. Neither car was one I had seen at Trey’s before. Maybe it was just a shift change at the plant and they were just returning home. Somehow I doubted that was going to be the case though. Something was wrong and again no one was telling me anything. I snuggled a little closer to Mia and could feel her worry across my skin. All the females in the car seemed worried except for Stormie’s grandmother, she seemed concerned but I did not feel worry from her.
By the time we got to Trey’s house I was more than a little scared. I did not know what was going on but all the women in the car were scared, even Tamia had gone from concern to fear. It was not just worry I was feeling, it was fear. I could almost taste it in the air. Which, if I thought about it was scary in itself so I tried hard not to think about the fact I could almost taste the emotions in the car. I am sure that was going to be a rabbit hole, don’t go there situation.
When we got out of the car Mia’s guards were waiting and so were
a few others who seemed to fill a similar position. The addition of several more guards was not helping my fear level which I could feel ratchet up another notch. As we starting into the house I realized everyone had pushed me toward the center of the group and I seemed to be the one being guarded, even the women had taken up positions around me. I may have my go bag on my back, I never left home without it, but that bag was not going to do me a bit of good the way I was surrounded. I tried to hang back but Stormie and Mia just grabbed my hands and hustled me into the house. I did not miss the way their heads swung from side to side as though looking for threats.
I was surprised when the guards did not follow us inside but rather began to surround the house. Looking out the window I saw the guards, rather than watching the house, where I was, were instead spreading out and watching the surrounding area. When I saw a few wolves trot up to the area and spread out facing away from the house I knew my rabbit hole had not only just gotten bigger, but I was pretty sure I was about to fall in. I just hoped someone would pull me back out. Time to start asking questions.
“Would someone, anyone like to tell me just what in the world is going on? And don’t say nothing. I am not blind. This is not a normal something went wrong at the plant day. Even if something was wrong at the plant, I did not touch anything so it should not concern me. We did not break anything, we did not tear anything up so what is all this fuss about. And why is everyone suddenly so scared? And the guards, and the wolves and what is going on?” The last bit, said more shrilly than I intended had the other women twisting their heads and rubbing their ears. Ok, so maybe I was beginning to panic but really no one could blame me.
Stormie had started pacing which had me pacing right along with her. Her grandmother had taken her cell phone out and left the room and Mia was wringing her hands and seemed to be having some internal conversation with herself. These people were crazy. I had to find a way out. Looked like it was time to run again. The only problem? No way was I getting out of this house and past all the guards and wolves surrounding the house. Even if the guards suddenly disappeared, the wolves were still there and I am not trying to run around wolves.
Before I could formulate a plan, any plan I saw Trey and Gammon pull up to the house. When they got out a couple of guards approached them and after a short discussion both men turned to come in the house. Before they got there David pulled up at the house. Trey, after waving Gammon away turned toward the car and I watched him and David helping someone out. Someone they placed in a wheelchair David had pulled out of the back. I did not get to see what the person looked like because just about then I heard Mia give a small sob at the same time Gammon barked at me to get back from the window. Who did he think he was to give me orders? I squared my shoulders and turned to give him a piece of my mind, guy in wheelchair forgotten. Later I was glad I had not gotten to see the wheelchair bound man without an explanation first.
Chapter Twenty-four
Trey
I had been composing what I was going to say to Gabriella all the way from the plant. Bouncing ideas off Gammon to see what he thought. Most of my ideas he vetoed. Not surprising really, she was my mate and even I could tell I was not able to be rational concerning her. It did not help a bit that my wolf was shredding my insides up, figuratively speaking. Until we could get more Intel from the men at the plant we were operating blind. What little we had was speculation based on what I had learned from Jules five years ago and what little Donny had been able to tell us when everything hit the fan earlier. Gammon had requested the right to speak with Gabby, with me there of course, before she saw Jules.
From what I was able to tell him about Jules he was pretty certain he was going to turn out to be her grandfather also. I was finding out Gammon was a stickler about some things. Since it looked like Jules was her grandfather, and Gammon only her uncle by mating, and Gabby had never been sent to his school he not only accepted Jules outranked him with Gabby, he insisted upon it. Assuming Jules was indeed her biological grandfather, which we could not know yet. Gammon still wanted Gabby safely in his compound until she turned twenty-one, and had every intention of requesting that of Jules. He also requested I come to his compound for training at the same time. I don’t really think the last bit was exactly a request though no matter how he phrased it.
I had been communicating with David some during the drive back and he knew what was going on. He had told Jules very little, only that I had invited him to meet my mate and that she was skittish. Which, being as he was in the last pack meeting he already knew she was running scared from something. Not everyone knew she was my mate yet. That had not been shared with the pack before today and was only slowly filtering though the pack. David had explained to Jules that before meeting new people Gabby had to be prepared and so they would be waiting in a room off from the main room until Gabby was ready to meet him. David said Jules never so much as blinked at the name Gabby. I thought that more than a little odd and although it made me question if I was right in my assumption that Jules was Gabby’s grandfather I did not mention this to Gammon. David did not think to say her name as Gabriella, and it never occurred to me either. It may not have mattered if we had, we were going to find that despite the fact Gabby had given us all the information she could about the rest of her family, she had not been exactly forthcoming with her real name.
As I opened the door, pushing Jules in ahead of me I heard voices, muted but still loud. The room the others were in had good soundproofing so things must not be going well. I left David and Jules in the sitting room and headed toward the others, just before I entered the room where everyone was I had another thought occur to me. Gabby had given us information about her sister, aunt and uncle, but not one word about a grandfather. She had never mentioned having one and I found this more than a bit concerning. If Jules was her grandfather why had she not mentioned him, and if he was not, who was he really and why did he send my enforcers to that particular address five years ago. The longer I thought the more questions I had and only two people, at this point, could answer these particular questions. Squaring my shoulders I entered the room and walked right into a shouting match between, of all people, Gammon and Gabby.
“I said I don’t give a rat’s ass who you are, if you were so important to my family you would have been there when we were born. You know what, if you were so all fired important, if my mom and dad had trusted you I guess we would have all been living safe on your little compound all these years so don’t you dare start trying to order me around. If my family did not trust you I have no reason to trust you. If I want to look out the window I will. If I want to jump off a bridge I will. You are nothing to me so don’t try to suddenly be somebody.” Gabby’s face, red from her screaming did not hide the fear wafting from her.
I could tell Gabby had struck a nerve with Gammon, his voice rose with each word, “Don’t you dare stand there and tell me your family did not trust me. You don’t know what has been going on in the world, little pup you don’t have a clue about the real world.” Gammon’s voice dropped to a low menace and his alpha power filled the room, causing my wolf to twitch more than a little and everyone else in the room to cower. “You will sit down, you will shut up and you will listen. We have a problem and her name is Gabby. You little pup are going to listen and then you are going to answer some questions and then we are going to figure out how to protect you and keep you safe with or without your cooperation, do you understand me young one?”
I had to give her credit, she barely bowed her head, despite the power surging through the room. But she did bow, though I could tell she fought it. Gammon had enormous power and it was taking all my strength to not bow my head. Her fear increased and it was already substantial from the smell in the room. I was pleased to see that she was slowly inching her way toward me, fighting Gammon’s power the entire way. He had given an order and she was probably only able to fight it because her wolf had not yet been called forth. I was going to have to remember to ask
Gammon how that worked later. My wolf was beginning to whimper when Gammon finally eased up the power, swallowing hard I gently eased Gabby toward one of the couches and sat down beside her. Everyone else in the room had found places to sit down leaving Gammon the only one still standing. He gave me a brief smile and a slight nod and I don’t think it was because I got Gabby to sit down. I think he was pleased that my wolf had not bowed to his. If he knew how close I had come to breaking I do not believe he would have been so pleased but that was a secret I planned to take to my grave.
As Gammon looked around the room he rubbed his face, I swear he looked like he was trying to buy time, but for what I did not know. We had agreed he would take the lead on this and even agreed where he should start but if I had to guess Gabby’s outburst had caused him to rethink his approach. I was not displeased at the outburst though, not when it led to her practically sitting in my lap. I have no idea if she had noticed she was so close to me and I did not intend to point it out. Her reaction to everything going on was to snuggle up to me for comfort and that suited me just fine. I had my arm around her and my wolf was practically purring in delight as I rubbed her arm. My wolf had never been so content in my life and I did not want this moment to end. Unfortunately Gammon chose that moment to start talking and the more he talked the stiffer Gabby’s body became and the closer she tried to wiggle under and behind me. I tried to coax her body around where I could hold it in my arms but all that happened was she got even stiffer. By the time Gammon paused in his explanation of what we were, and what Gabby would become, she was almost completely behind me and not in a comfortable way, for either of us. She still had that damn backpack on for one thing, for another she seemed to be trying to get behind me in the fetal position. This was not going well and I could not see it getting better anytime soon. From the amount of whispers coming from Gabby, consisting of ‘nononono’ and ‘lies no, you’re lying’ I do not think the discussion was going well at all.
Gabby (Safe Haven Wolves Book 1) Page 16
