Chapter 4: No Goodbyes

Gabriel

The pounding on the door was frustratingly loud, dragging me from sleep. Who the hell was it?

“Open the damn door, Gabriel!”

I groaned, my eyes squeezing shut.

I knew exactly who it was—Sylvie, my sister. What exactly did she want this early?

I turned toward the other side of the bed. I wanted to hold her, the woman from last night. I wanted to feel her warmth, but… it was empty. My chest instantly tightened. Sleep left my eyes, and I sat up abruptly.

I scanned the room. There wasn’t a single trace of her, only her scent from last night. It clung to the sheets and to me.

A low growl rumbled in my chest.

“She’s gone. She left before sunrise,” Zaine, my wolf, said, his voice filled with what felt like regret.

I felt an unexpected pain spread through my chest.

Last night wasn’t supposed to mean anything. It was just supposed to be a mistake, but I was wrong.

I felt a strange connection to her.

It wasn’t just the connection. I felt like I was subconsciously being pushed toward her, and when she kissed me, I thought I was going to lose control—but I didn’t.

“You should have let me mark her,” Zaine said furiously.

“We don’t mark strangers, Zaine.”

“We both know she’s not a stranger. You don’t feel something that strong for just anybody.”

I sighed. It felt like something was torn out of me.

The knock came louder again. “Gabriel, open this door! We have a council meeting in an hour.”

I cursed under my breath before putting on my clothes and walking toward the door.

When I opened it, Sylvie was standing there, arms folded over her chest, and she looked really annoyed. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you? Kings don’t behave this way, Gabriel.”

“Good morning to you too, sister,” I said, walking back toward the bed, and she closed the door behind her.

Sylvie kept scolding me like she was older than me, and my thoughts kept going back to her last night—the way she laughed, the way she didn’t believe me when I told her I was the king, and how she had told me… it was her first time.

Sylvie’s eyes landed on the bed, and then she laughed. “Looks like someone had fun last night. So where is she?”

“Gone,” I said, sitting back down on the bed.

“Wait, are you serious?” Sylvie asked, clearly amused.

“Yeah.”

“They don’t usually leave this fast. They always think after spending a night with you, you’ll marry them,” she laughed.

I didn’t respond.

“Wait… wait,” she said as she walked and stood in front of me. “Are you upset… that she left?” She stared at me, confused.

“It… was her first time, Sylvie. She told me. I should have stopped, but I wanted her so badly.”

The amusement on her face dropped. “You have nothing to be worried about,” she said. “She offered herself to you, remember?”

“She was drunk.”

“Same thing… What you need to be worried about now is the meeting and the expansion of Elyndor. That’s the most important thing. You shouldn’t be thinking about someone you are never going to see again.”

I nodded.

“Good. I’ll be heading back to the palace, and we’ll all be expecting you.”

She headed toward the door, and before she walked out, she turned to me. “By the way, Gabriel, if you want to sleep around, bring her to the palace, not a pub. You are a king, for crying out loud.”

When she was gone, the room went quiet again, and her laugh kept replaying in my head. “I need to see her again,” I whispered.

Another knock landed on the door, then Carl walked in. “Your Highness, your carriage awaits.”

“Carl, please. I need you to help me find someone.”

“Who, Your Highness?” he asked.

“Please stop. I need my friend right now, not my beta.”

He finally let his guard down, his posture not as stiff as it was.

“Who do you need me to help you find, Gabriel?”

“The girl I was with last night,” I replied.

“Okay… what’s her name?”

“Um… I—I don’t know.”

I didn’t even know her damn name. What the hell was wrong with me?

“Okay, so what do you know about her?”

“She has dark hair,” I said quickly, “and beautiful eyes, and her skin was so soft. She looked like a goddess.”

Carl didn’t say a word. He just stared at me like I was crazy. “You came in here with her last night.”

“Oh, so you want me to find a prostitute for you. You should have just said that.”

“She’s not a prostitute,” I said quickly, my voice defensive. “She was drinking heavily, like she was looking for an escape or something. I just need you to find her, whatever it takes. I don’t care—burn the damn pub if you have to. I don’t care. I just need to see her again.”

“But… Gabriel, there are a lot of women with that description in Elyndor.”

“I don’t care. Find her,” I said, my voice loud this time.

He nodded, looking totally confused, before walking away.

When I got to the council meeting, everyone was already there, discussing how we were going to expand into Vethania.

I just sat on my throne and blanked out of the conversation.

I kept seeing her face everywhere I turned. No woman had ever had such an effect on me before—except for her.

I should have asked her why she was drinking so hard, but I didn’t.

“Expanding into Vethania would really be good for Elyndor, wouldn’t you agree?” one of the oldest council men said, and I quickly nodded, pretending like I was listening to whatever they were talking about.

“Goddess, I should have asked for her name.”

It felt like I was going insane. I just needed to see her again, even though I knew there was a high risk that our paths would never cross again.