Chapter 50

Poppy.

“Well, hello to you too,” Gabriel says back to me. “I caught your scent in the forest and decided to follow it, and here I am.”

My head starts to shake as evil thoughts enter my mind at how this can look so wrong in so many ways.

“Now isn’t a good time to talk. I am actually on my way out. Can we do this another time?” I ask him while pushing back from the entryway and back out onto the porch. The last thing I need is for Adrian to be able to catch Gabriel’s scent the next time he visits my house, that is, if there is a next time.

It will not be pretty.

Gabriel gives me a half-smile as he links his arm through mine and walks me down the pathway to my front gate.

“Now, Poppy, I understand that this is a hard decision to make for you. But you have to understand that the clock is ticking, and I’m going to need your answer very soon before the clock runs out and its times up.”

I get an uneasy sensation running through me when I hear the tone that Gabriel is talking to me in. His demeanor toward me has suddenly changed. Maybe what he’s offering me isn’t such a good idea after all.

I paste a fake smile on my face and act as if there is nothing wrong.

“I understand, Gabriel, and I appreciate your patience with me. I will have an answer for you very soon.” I reassure him.

Gabriel grabs my hand, raises it to my lips, and kisses the top of my hand.

“I hope so, Poppy. We could make a wonderful couple and rule our pack the way all packs should be ruled. We will be setting the example for a new future. Just think about it.”

My heart beats erratically, not because of his sweet gesture or the words he says to win me over, but because I fear Adrian coming up and seeing any of this.

My body stills as my eyes close when I hear a ferocious growl in the distance, and I know exactly who it belongs to.

Adrian.

My worst nightmare is coming true.

Adrian takes off running, quickly shifting into his wolf, and charges toward Gabriel. Gabriel shifts into his wolf and prepares to defend himself against Adrian. They clash with each other, snapping and snarling before moving back, circling, while growling at one another.

Like a stupid girl with no brain, I try to get in the middle of them to stop them from fighting, but it doesn’t work, and Gabriel ends up pushing me out of the way, allowing Adrian’s rage to grow.

My wolf starts to hit at the surface, wanting to use our magic in order to protect our mate, but I hear I’ll hurt both of them in the process.

I hear a yelp that brings me back to the present, and I panic when I see that Adrian is hurt. I can’t risk Adrian getting killed in a fight over me and decide to use my magic to force them to separate.

My eyes light up as the wind picks up around me, and I say a spell while spreading my arms apart when the spell is complete.

Before the spell hits them, Gabriel slashes at Adrian’s stomach, causing him to shift back into his human form. Then, both are thrown back away from each other.

Gabriel shifts back into his human form and smirks at me.

“I’ll be back for your answer soon,” he informs me before shifting back into his wolf and running away.

I rush over to Adrian to see how bad his wound is. I gasp when I see the gash is deep.

Adrian pulls himself back from me and snarls, “Get away. I can take care of myself.”

I ignore him and wrap his arm around me to help him up.

“You need help with your wound; let me help you.”

Adrian grumbles and tries to keep me at a distance while helping him into the house. I lay him down on the couch before running around and collecting the items I will need to clean his wound and make a healing salve to put on him.

When I return to the couch, I notice Adrian has his arm covering his eyes so that he doesn’t have to look at me while I’m tending to his injury.

I sit next to him and start to mix the ingredients quietly.

“Why was he here?” Adrian growls.

My heart races as my body goes into panic mode, trying to come up with an answer that won’t make him angry with me.

I shake my head.

“I don’t know; he told me that he followed my scent from the forest and wound up on my front doorstep.”

“Why did you leave the forest?”

I let out a heavy sigh.

“I woke up, and you were gone. I thought you regretted what we did last night and left me there all alone.”

Adrian lifts his arm away from his face and looks at me with sadness in his eyes.

“Last night was the best night of my life,” he admits to me.

My chest fills with joy, and my heart begins to flutter.

But that doesn’t change the fact that he left me and didn’t wake me up to tell me he was going.

“So, why did you leave then?” I ask.

Adrian doesn’t answer me quickly, and I watch as his expression changes on his face, telling me that he doesn’t want to tell me the real reason he left.

“I had some things to do, and I didn’t want to wake you, thinking I would be back in time before you woke up.”

I start to clean his injury as I let his words sink in. What things did he have to do? Why couldn’t he tell me?

He winces at the touch of the cleanser on his wound but calms down after the sting is gone.

“So why did you leave?” Adrian asks.

“What was the point of staying? You were gone, and there was nothing around me to indicate you were coming back.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you! You’re different. You’re my mate.”