Gabriel watched her patiently. He didn’t want to push her. Just watching her facial expressions he knew that it was something painful for her to talk about. While he wanted to know what had happened to her, he didn’t want to cause her further mental stress. Marin had already been through enough just with the accident. Asking her to relive the events that had led up to that accident might be asking too much, but he wanted to know as much about her as possible. The more she told him, the more he would be able to help her.
“I didn’t realize where we were going at the time; I just thought I was helping my baby brother. When we got to the drug dealer’s place, my brother hit me on the back of the head with something. I passed out for a few hours. When I woke up, I was handcuffed to a bed.”
Marin paused, remembering her fear and uncertainty of what the future would hold for her. The memories were still painful, but the worst ones were yet to come. She wasn’t sure why she felt so comfortable sharing this with a stranger. Marin usually was very reserved around people she didn’t know, but there was something about his eyes. When she looked into his eyes, she felt like she could tell him anything. Gabriel’s strong, quiet presence comforted her. A man of his size should terrify her, but for some reason he had the opposite effect on her.
“A few days later, the drug dealer sold me to the highest bidder. Because of having to care for my younger brother, I worked so much that I didn’t have time for a social life.” She paused, looking thoughtful and a little embarrassed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I was a virgin so he got a high price for me. It didn’t hurt that I had no friends or family to miss me, except the brother who had betrayed me.”
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Gabriel didn’t want to upset her, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear anymore. He could only imagine what the man had put her through. Gabriel had noticed that she had she had been a virgin, which meant she had probably been raped. He was disgusted and wished that he could wipe the horrible memories from her mind, wished that he could give her peace again.
“No, I want to tell you. I don’t know why, but I feel like I can trust you.”
Gabriel smiled at her. His legs were starting to cramp so he sat on the edge of the bed and continued to hold her hand. She didn’t seem to mind his close contact. For that matter, he wasn’t minding it either, which took him by surprise… and unbeknownst to him, irritated Cole to no end. Had he looked at his brother right then, he might have rethought the hand holding. Cole was staring at Gabriel’s hand as if he wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of it.
Marin continued her story. “The man that bought me kept me locked in a small room. It didn’t have any windows and only had a small bed and dresser, which were both bolted to the floor. He … he raped me several times. After three days, I managed to escape.”
She stiffened at the memory. She had felt so free until he had caught up with her. Beside her, the wolf growled low in his throat. It was almost as if he had understood what she was saying. It was comforting to think he would protect her.
Marin continued her story. “He came after me and caught me less than an hour later. He chained me to a wall in the basement and whipped me with one of those long leather whips. I could feel the blood running down my back, but he kept doing it over and over. I couldn’t stand anymore when he was finished; the handcuffs were the only thing holding me up. I just hung from them. Eventually, he unfastened them and tied me to a table. That’s where the rope burns on my wrists came from.”
Tears started to slide down her cheeks. Marin wanted to tell him everything, but she just couldn’t say anymore. What came next was too horrible to speak aloud. Living through it once had been bad enough, but going through it again was unthinkable. Not only had Stefan found more ways of torturing her, but he had invited his friends to join in the fun. She started to feel nauseated just thinking about it.
Gabriel pulled her into his arms and let her cry. He could only imagine what else the monster had done to her. It was a miracle she was still alive. No matter the risk, he would make sure that she was safe from now on. No harm would come to her if he had any say in the matter.
“You’re safe here, Marin. I promise that I won’t let anything happen to you. Neither will my brothers,” Gabriel told her.
Marin sniffed and dried her tears. She leaned back to look into his eyes. “Are your brothers as nice as you are?”
Gabriel smiled. “Much nicer. I’m the mean one of the bunch.”
She smiled at him. It was hard for her to picture him being mean to anyone. Gabriel had been very gentle and kind to her. She kissed him on his cheek and immediately wondered if she should have done that.
Gabriel caressed her cheek. “You can stay here as long as you want. This is a spare room that no one uses. It can be yours if you’d like to stay here.”
Marin looked around the room. It was far nicer than anything she’d had in the past four years. She wasn’t quite sure she understood what he was saying though. After all, nothing in life came free. What price would he ask for such a nice room?
“I don’t have a way to pay you.” Marin admitted with a blush.
“You don’t have to pay me for the room. Knowing you’re safe is payment enough.” His reasons weren’t quite that altruistic. Since she was part of the pack, he wanted to make sure she stayed nearby.
The wolf next to them groaned and shook his head. Cole was starting to worry that his brother was already falling for Marin. Apparently, the pack’s alpha was going to get his mate before Cole or Michael would. Not that Cole begrudged his brother a chance at happiness, nothing could be further from the truth. Cole was just tired of being alone. He hadn’t had a serious relationship for over five years and he had felt a special kinship with Marin, almost as if they were connected. The moment he had seen her, he had wanted to protect her and take care of her. Surely that meant something.
Gabriel looked at Cole. Marin reached over to pet the wolf again. His fur was much softer than she had thought it would be.
“Is he your pet?” she asked, looking at Gabriel.
Gabriel wasn’t sure how to respond. Cole looked at his brother. If Marin was going to stay here, they would have to find a way to explain three different wolves running around and a lack of men during those times.
Gabriel looked at Marin. “Something like that. He’s unique.”
“Does he have a name?” Marin asked.
“Cole. His name is Cole,” Gabriel replied softly.
Marin looked at the wolf and back at Gabriel. “Do your brothers look like you?”
“A little. They’re two years younger than me and a little shorter. They’re twins, but one has blue eyes and one has gray eyes.”
“Will I get to meet them? Do they live here, too?” Marin asked.
“They both live here. You’ll get to meet Michael later, but I’m not sure about my other brother,” Gabriel said as he looked at Cole. Technically, she had already met him, but he could hardly tell her that the wolf was his brother. “The three of us have rooms upstairs so you will have the whole second floor to yourself.”
“What happened to my clothes?” Marin asked looking at the black t-shirt, wishing she had something more feminine to wear.
“Cassie said they wouldn’t come clean. She was going shopping this morning to get you a few things. Essentials I believe she called them. With that woman, there is no telling. You’ll probably end up with a whole new wardrobe.”
“Oh! I can’t let her do that! I don’t have a way to pay her for the clothes,” Marin said, looking overly distraught. The last thing she wanted was to feel like a charity case.
Gabriel smiled reassuringly at her. “Don’t worry about payment. Cassie and Matt have more money than they know what do with.”
“But…”
“No buts. If you offer to pay Cassie, you’ll end up insulting her. Just let her buy stuff for you. She loves shopping more than most other things in life. Matt’s always try
ing to get her to spend money, but she won’t unless it’s for someone else,” Gabriel said.
Marin sighed. She was apparently going to lose this battle. “Okay.”
Gabriel smiled at her. “Are you hungry?”
Before she could answer, her stomach growled. “Um, yeah. It seems I am.”
“Do you want anything in particular?”
“No. Were you planning on fixing something for yourself?” she asked, not wanting to put anyone out.
“I figured I’d make some spaghetti and garlic bread. Sound okay to you? I’m afraid you missed breakfast by a few hours,” he said, glancing at his watch.
“That sounds more wonderful than you could ever know,” Marin responded with a shy smile. It would be heavenly to have real food again. Stefan hadn’t exactly been worried about her health so she hadn’t had much to eat, and a lack of money had kept her from eating very much since her parents’ death. Her top priority had been her little brother, who had depended on her to keep a roof over his head and food on the table. She felt a twinge in her heart as she realized that she had failed him. If she had paid more attention, he would have never become addicted to drugs. If only she had been around more… but it was a little late for ‘if’ at this point.
Gabriel headed downstairs to start on lunch. Cole remained in his wolf form and stayed close to Marin. He had stayed close to her since the first night they had brought her home. He had called his boss yesterday and asked if he could have the whole week off. Dave, his boss, was a little concerned since Cole never took time off, but he didn’t ask a lot of questions. Cole promised to explain everything when he returned to work on Monday. He figured it was the least he could do since his boss was being so accommodating.
The doorbell rang downstairs. Cole got up and stuck his head around the edge of the door to see who it was. Gabriel opened the door and Cassie came in with two large sacks. Cole turned around and jumped back up onto the bed, realizing that Marin was safe. He heard Gabriel berating Cassie and wished wolves could laugh.
“Cassie, what in the hell do you think you’re doing? You aren’t supposed to lift anything heavy!” Gabriel bellowed at her.
“Jeez. You’re as bad as Matt. I’m fine, but I do have two more sacks in the car if you want to go get them for me.” Cassie gave him her biggest smile.
Gabriel shook his head. He knew when he had been played. Just the same, he headed out to Cassie’s Mercedes SUV to get the other two bags. If he didn’t, he knew that she’d be hauling them into the house herself. If anything happened to her or the baby, there would be hell to pay. Matt might not be a werewolf, but if his wife or kids were harmed he would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.
Gabriel followed Cassie up the stairs to Marin’s room. Cole was curled up on the bed again. Gabriel hadn’t thought to warn Cassie that Cole was in his wolf form… hopefully she wouldn’t give anything away. After Gabriel gave Cassie and Marin a brief introduction, he called for Cole to leave the room.
Marin looked down at Cole. “He can stay, if that’s okay with you.”
Gabriel and Cassie exchanged a look. “I’ll make him behave,” Cassie promised.
Cassie walked over to the bed and held her hand out to Marin. “I’m glad to see you’re awake today. You had all of us worried that first night.”
Marin took in Cassie’s enormous belly and shook her hand. “Thank you for helping me. Gabriel told me that you cleaned me up and bandaged my cuts. You must have done a fantastic job because they’re all healed.”
“It’s no problem.” Cassie assured her, a little curious about the fast healing. She’d have to ask Gabriel about it later. Either the man had started dabbling with spells, or it was a werewolf thing.
“Not to be insensitive, but aren’t you due soon? Should you be running around town shopping for me,” Marin asked.
Cassie grinned. “Not going to work. I love to shop for other people. Besides, I’m not due for another two months or so. It will be fine. Now, I got your sizes from your other clothes and bought some stuff to get you through a week or two.”
Cassie went to the nearest bag and drug it over to the bed. It was from Victoria’s Secret so Marin had an idea of what was inside. She hadn’t had the luxury of shopping in a long time. The death of her parents had taken away the niceties she had become accustomed to. Part of her was excited about having such a nice wardrobe, but the other part of her felt guilty that someone was spending so much money on her.
“I know your other bra was lace, but I had a hard time finding any like it in your size. I hope that satin is okay,” Cassie said.
Cole groaned next to them. Cassie looked down at him without any sympathy. “You’re the one that wanted to stay so hush,” she told the wolf.
“It’s fine. I actually didn’t pick the other bra so it will be nice to have a change,” Marin told her.
Cassie pulled out five bras in various colors with matching bikini panties. She pulled out a pair of pale thigh highs and two nightgowns. The first nightgown was a pale pink and the second was a mossy green. Both were the most beautiful things Marin had seen. Their lines were simple and they had spaghetti straps. She was just happy to have something that wasn’t sheer. Stefan had either made her go without clothes or they had to be so sheer she might as well have not been wearing anything. Before her abduction, her money had all gone toward paying the bills and making sure her brother was fed. She hadn’t bought anything new in a long while. Most of her recent clothes were donated to her or she had bought them at the local thrift stores.
Marin gingerly touched the fabric. She couldn’t believe how thoughtful Cassie had been. Fighting back tears, Marin carefully folded everything and sat it on the other side of the bed next to Cole. Deciding that the women were going to drive him insane, he tried to cover his eyes with his tail. It was better to not know what Marin was wearing under her clothes. He was having a hard enough time getting his mind to stop wandering into the gutter as it was.
Cassie pulled over a large bag from Macy’s next. Inside were three pairs of low-rise jeans, a pair of gray pants and a short black flared skirt. Cassie had also purchased a black cashmere sweater; a teal satin button down to go with the skirt; and three knit shirts in black, red, and green. Next, she pulled out socks in both white and black, along with a pair of gray trouser socks to match the pants. Marin had never owned clothes as nice as these before. Cassie’s generosity touched her. She was feeling a little bit like little orphan Annie.
Reaching for the largest sack, Cassie pulled out a pair of low heeled brown ankle boots, a pair of black ankle boots with a three inch heal, and a pair of black high heels. The last bag was much smaller. It contained make-up from Christian Dior. Marin normally bought her make-up from the dollar stores or bought it on sale at Wal-Mart.
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you doesn’t seem to cover it. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.” Marin whispered in awe.
“I’m glad you like everything. I have one more stop to make and then I’ll be right back. Why don’t you rest until then? I’m sure you have to be tired,” Cassie told her, noting how wan she looked.
“I am a little tired. You would think that I had slept enough lately, but apparently my body has other ideas. You really don’t have to buy me anything else though,” Marin assured her. She wasn’t used to people buying her nice things and not expecting payment of some sort. If people like Cassie and Gabriel had been around when her parents had died, then maybe her life, and her brother’s would have been different. Then again, if things had turned out differently, she would have never met Cassie and Gabriel.
Cassie smiled. “No one has been able to keep me away from stores so don’t bother trying. I’ll be back within half an hour.”
Cassie pulled the door closed behind her and carefully walked, well waddled, down the stairs. She stuck her head in the kitchen before leaving. The last thing she needed was Gabriel freaking out when he couldn’t find her. All of the men i
n her life were paranoid at the moment and it was driving her crazy. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already delivered two babies.
“Hey Gabriel, I need to run down to Walgreens for a minute. Marin is resting.”
“Lunch should be ready in about fifteen minutes,” Gabriel said.
“Think it will keep for about thirty minutes?”
“That should be fine,” he said.
“I’ll be back quick as I can.”
Cassie went out to her car and headed to Walgreens. She felt so stupid. When she had gone shopping this morning, she hadn’t even thought about buying Marin a toothbrush, hairbrush, hair things, deodorant, perfume or anything. At least she had remembered the make-up! Pregnancy had definitely scrambled her brain cells.
Entering the store, she headed straight for the hair care isle. She grabbed some Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner; a nice wide hairbrush; ponytail holders and a headband; and some barrettes. Next, she grabbed deodorant, toothpaste, a toothbrush, razor, and headed for the bath and body section. Throwing two types of body wash and lotion in the cart, she headed for the perfumes. She wasn’t sure what Marin would like so she grabbed three different types of perfume. Feeling a bit devilish, she made sure that she grabbed a raspberry scented spray, remembering how fond of the scent Cole had been. If she didn’t miss her guess, he was rather taken with Marin.
Hurrying to the checkout counter, Cassie paid for her purchases and loaded them into the car. She made it back to the Victorian house within twenty minutes. Grabbing the sacks, she headed for the front door. Before she could knock, Gabriel had the door opened and had taken the sacks from her.
“What part of you shouldn’t be lifting things did you miss?” Gabriel asked her.
Cassie smiled. “The part where I’m supposed to be an invalid and can’t do anything for myself. It sucks.”
Gabriel just shook his head and headed upstairs with the sacks. Cassie was following him at a slightly slower pace. Gabriel held his fingers to his lips as he opened the door. Marin was sleeping peacefully. They quietly put the sacks on the floor near the bed and left the bedroom. Gabriel paused in the doorway. Marin looked so innocent lying in the large bed. Cole was still lying beside her and had his head resting on her arm. Gabriel pulled the door shut and followed Cassie down the stairs.
MoonlightBundleSet Page 3
