Chapter 54

Zora POV

"I could wear your clothes and leave," I threatened.

Gabriel lifted his shoulders. He was exhausted he couldn't keep this up forever. He asked me for something I didn't have! I didn't know what the Pandora looked like or what it did.

"You can't wear my shoes, Zora," he replied.

"Just let me leave!" I yelled.

"You're free to go, mate. I'm not stopping you, and I'll be kind enough to rescue you when rogue wolves attack you."

I rubbed my fingers together and walked to the window. It was so dark I could only make out the lawn and the outlines of the trees.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Far from your Pack," Gabriel said matter-of-factly.

I exhaled deeply and dragged my feet back to the bed and curled up in the warm covers. I hated that they smelt like his warm masculine scent instead of my boyfriend's.

Gabriel chuckled. "You're adorable Zora."

"You're infuriating."

He chuckled lifted himself off the chair and climbed into bed. I raised a brow.

"What? You can't kick me out of my own bed."

"Fine then I'll sleep on the couch."

He shot up. "My bodyguards are downstairs and the last thing I need is for them to see you naked."

"But you were content with me leaving a moment ago."

"I lied Zora!"

"I wonder what else you've lied about," I grumbled.

He patted the spot next to him. "Just come over here and get some rest. I'll get the truth out of you tomorrow. It's going to be a long day if you don't tell me what I need to know."

A lump formed in my throat and I quickly swallowed it down.

"I'll be fine here."

"Suit yourself, sweetheart."

He slapped the nightstand lamp and it turned off. He clapped his hands and the overhead lights went out. I hugged myself tightly and rested my head on the bed frame's long pole. I just wanted to go home. I missed Cassidy, I wanted to fix things, I missed Dash I wanted him to hold me and most of all I wanted my parents back. The Fishers who raised me and not the Deans who gave me up.

Sometime during the night, I fell asleep. I wanted to open my eyes to my bedroom in my house but I had no such luck…

I pulled the blanket closer. There was a draft in the room. I mumbled something inaudible and shifted closer to the warm spot on the bed.

A soft chuckle forced me to be fully awake. The warm spot I was clinging to was solid flesh. How did I end up curled next to Gabriel when I slept on the opposite end of the bed?

"I thought we'd have to spend all morning in bed," Gabriel said.

"Ugh, what did you do?"

'You were shivering Zora. I'm not a monster."

Tears filled my eyes and emotions churned in my gut. "Then why did you kill my parents? I'm all alone now."

He climbed off the bed and stretched his back. He refused to look at me. "Your parents are alive. Your Father gave you to me and your Mother is perfectly fine."

"That's not what I meant. I don't know those people."

"Zora, they're your parents. The Fishers didn't legally adopt you."

"A piece of paper doesn't prove anything! I was their only daughter."

"Enough," he growled. "Tell me where the Pandora is."

"I don't know, jackass!"

He smirked. "You have a dirty mouth."

"You have blood on your hands," I snapped.

Gabriel shook his head. "You have no idea. Tell me where it is. You're the only other person than your Father who knows."

"Why didn't you ask him when you made a fraudulent mate bond with him?" I grumbled.

"Because he made the deal to save his life. I would have killed him if he hadn't. Martin Dean is adamant he doesn't remember where the map is, but something tells me he and his mistress didn't send their love child away for no reason. He sent it with you."

"I don't have it…"

Gabriel strolled to the door as he continued to theorize. "The Fishers must have been given the map to safeguard until you came of age. You have no idea how much magic was around that house. I would have gotten you a long time ago, mate but they had spells that kept me out."

"Good," I whispered.

He shot me a glare.

"Somewhere along the line, the Fishers must have given you the map to the Pandora. Think back, Zora," he commanded.

My Dad had given me journals and jewellery boxes but nothing resembling a map.

"What does the Pandora look like?" I asked.

He paused and looked at me quizzically before he spoke.

"Rumour has it… it's a box made of gold, surrounded by diamonds made by the tears of the moon goddess' sister. It's a box of punishments that'll unleash devastating powers to the person who holds it. It might release the soul of the moon goddess' sister too."

"So you're telling me no one knows what it looks like! What the hell?"

"We have an idea Zora! We've been hunting this thing for years and so far your family is the closest we have come to finding it."

"I-I don't know…"

"This box could help me alter the werewolf line and create stronger and more powerful wolves. We won't need mate bonds. Our enemies will be destroyed and I'll have the power to pick and choose who gets to be a werewolf. Everything is just perfect in my world."

A box like that could change everything. A box like that could ruin us all. A box like that can never fall into his hands. A box like that must never be found.