CHAPTER 4

~ Gabriel ~

Leaving the werewolf world was the hardest decision I had ever made, but it was something I owed to the past. For twenty-six years, I had never seen my biological human mother. I didn’t blame her for abandoning me. How could I?

Nearly thirty years ago, she fell in love with a werewolf. She was brave enough to leave the human world and follow him to meet his people, hoping they would build a future together. But that dream was destroyed. A cruel monster named Lucious killed her fiancé right before her eyes. As if that wasn’t enough, he forced himself on her, and I was the child born from that terrible crime.

After she gave birth to me, the pain was too much for her to bear. Every time she looked at me, she was reminded of the monster who had destroyed her life. So, she left me with her late fiancé’s mother and returned to the human world.

My adoptive grandmother raised me with all the love she had until she passed away when I was eight years old. After her death, Alpha Ryder and Luna Doris and the rest of his family took me in and raised me as their own son in the pack.

I never blamed my birth mother for leaving. I couldn’t imagine the pain and trauma she had gone through. That was why I crossed into the human world. My only goal was to find her, hold her close, and tell her that none of what happened was her fault. I wanted her to know that Lucious was finally dead and that not all werewolves are monsters. Many of them are loyal, honorable, and willing to protect the people they love.

I stopped beneath the thick trees and pulled a faded photo from my leather jacket. I stared at the bright smile on my birth mother’s and her fiancé face as she held her fiancé’s hand. I wished with all my heart that Lucious hadn’t taken that smile away years ago.

I looked back at the hidden bridge that connected the werewolf world to the human world. A wave of homesickness hit me. I didn’t know when I would return, but I prayed I would find my mother soon.

Taking a deep breath, I turned and walked deeper into the forest. After a while, the trees began to thin, and a huge, luxurious mansion came into view. It stood right beside the border, like a fortress built between the human world and the werewolf realm.

I kept walking, planning to pass the property without stopping, when a sweet scent suddenly filled the air.

It smelled exactly like the candy I loved as a child. But this wasn’t just any scent. It pulled at me with an invisible force, making it hard to think about anything else. My wolf woke up at once, restless and eager inside me.

Without thinking, I followed the scent through the thick bushes. The closer I got, the stronger it became, filling my senses until I could focus on nothing else.

Then I burst into a small clearing beside a fast-flowing river, and I finally saw where the scent was coming from.

A young woman lay unconscious on the damp ground. A man about my age was dragging her across the dirt by one arm as if she were nothing more than a piece of trash.

A loud roar exploded inside my chest.

Mate.

The word echoed through my entire body. After twenty-six years, fate had finally led me to my mate… and she was human.

But the moment I saw how that man was treating her, rage burned through me. My wolf went wild, fighting to break free and rip him apart.

“Let go of my mate!” I roared.

The power behind my voice echoed through the clearing, making the trees tremble and their branches shake.

The girl’s eyes slowly opened at the sound of my voice, and she looked straight at me.

The man stopped dragging her and quickly turned to face me. I took a slow, deep breath, forcing my power back under control. I couldn’t shift or expose myself. If humans found out I was a werewolf, everything would fall apart.

“Who the hell are you?” the man shouted, his face full of arrogance. “And what are you doing on my property?”

Property? The word caught me off guard. It sounded almost like territory. Did humans also claim land the way werewolves did? I didn’t know much about the human world, and I honestly didn’t care.

The only thing that mattered to me was the injured girl lying on the ground.

I stepped out of the shadows and walked toward him, one slow step at a time.

My mate was still lying on the ground. Her breathing was weak, and blood stained her face. Even through the pain, her eyes stayed fixed on me.

“Let the girl go, and I won’t hurt you,” I said quietly, my voice cold. “I don’t want to interfere in human—”

I stopped myself before I said too much. I almost exposed who I really was.

“Get the hell off my property!” He shouted.

As if to challenge me, he grabbed my mate’s arm and yanked her across the ground again.

My patience snapped.

He wanted to do this the hard way.

Fine.

In the blink of an eye, I rushed toward him.

Before he could react, I grabbed both of his wrists with a crushing grip. He cried out in pain as my strength forced him to let go of my mate.

Without letting go, I kicked the back of his knees.

He dropped to the ground with a painful grunt.

I twisted his arms behind his back, pulled the leather belt from my jeans, and quickly tied his wrists together. Then I shoved him forward.

His face slammed into the muddy ground with a loud thud.

“I won’t go easy on you next time,” I growled, tightening the belt around his wrists. “This is your only warning.”

I turned away from him and quickly knelt beside my mate.

She looked weak. The little strength she had left was fading. Her eyes became unfocused, and her body swayed from dizziness.

Before she could fall, I slipped my arms around her and gently pulled her bruised body against my chest.

Her eyelids slowly began to close. She looked up at me one last time, and a faint smile touched her lips.

“So… there really is… a God,” she whispered.

Then she lost consciousness in my arms.

“I’m Luke Paul! No one messes with me!” the man shouted from the ground, struggling against the belt around his wrists. “You’ll regret this! I swear I’ll find you, and I’ll have you killed!”

I didn’t even look back.

Holding my unconscious mate carefully against my chest, I stood up and wrapped my arms around her to keep her warm from the cold night air.

Then I walked into the forest, leaving the man behind, still shouting and struggling in the mud.