Page 16

Gabriel POV

“Thank you so much, Alpha Dax,” I said into my phone as I paced around my home office. “I look forward to seeing you soon.”

Once I hung up, I pumped my fist into the air. Alpha Dax was the fifth Alpha I'd contacted since Axel threatened the WaterLock pack, and he , as well as the four other Alphas , had confirmed that they were ready.

My plan was coming together perfectly.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and I knew who it was even before I glanced down at the screen. I opened up a text message from my father.

Gabriel, I want you to know that I did ask the Alpha King if we could do a simple transaction of the money and your company in exchange for his Royal Guard. But he insists on the marriage between you and Olivia to ensure that he will have an heir to his throne one day. A male heir produced by you and Olivia will be in the contract when you sign it. I’m sorry that this is the only way.

My hands clenched tightly around my phone and my jaw clenched.

He was wrong. Aligning with the Alpha King wasn't the only way. When my plan was ready, I'd be able to show him.

And I sure as hell wasn't going to have a child with Olivia. I already had a son with the love of my life . I was certain the Alpha King only wanted this marriage between his daughter and me because he wanted her to marry — and have children with — someone who was well off.

Now that I was in contact with many packs around our kingdom, I'd learned that when the Alpha King had proposed a marriage deal to WaterLock when I was eighteen, he had offered the same contract to other packs around our kingdom. I believed he planned to marry off his daughter to the pack that offered him the most money. But none of the packs could give him the absurd amount of money he had asked for, so all of the marriage deals stalled.

Now that he knew I could give him the money he wanted and a successful company, he was willing to offer the protection WaterLock needed, even if that meant leaving all the other packs to defend themselves against the Rogues.

It always came back to money and greed when dealing with King Ezekiel.

I was shaking my head with disgust for our Alpha King when my phone vibrated again. It was another message from my dad.

I want you to know that I've just held a pack meeting and informed all of WaterLock that you will be marrying Olivia soon. Everyone is relieved that WaterLock will finally be protected from the Rogues. Don't disappoint them, Son. Stop ignoring my calls and texts. Stop hiding away in your compound. Come to WaterLock to talk to your people. I can't do this without you. The Alpha King needs the money transferred into his account soon, and he wants you to sign some papers handing over your company. I know that this will be a great sacrifice for you, but it's the only way to protect our pack.

Hot fury shot through me.

How could my father tell the rest of our pack that I was going to marry Olivia when I hadn't agreed to it? I told him I was vehemently against the idea.

Should I go to Brindle Creek and call a pack meeting? Should I tell them that I wasn't going to marry Olivia, but instead had my own plan to keep our pack safe?

No, contradicting my father would only cause fear and confusion amongst my pack. The important thing for me to be doing as the moment was solidifying my plan.

I texted my father the same thing I always did—and my mother, for that matter, when she messaged me pleading for me to talk to my dad.

I’ve already told you I have another plan to protect our pack. I’m working on it now. If you’d like to discuss my plan and hear me out, I’d be happy to come to Brindle Creek.

Not even a minute later, my father sent me a message back.

There is no other way except for this arranged marriage. Do the right thing, Son.

I groaned and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall.

Then, my heart skipped a beat, and a second later, someone knocked on my door.

Just like the text message with my dad, I already knew who it was before I swung open my office door.

Beautiful.

That was the only thing I could think as I took in Summer standing in the doorway of my office. I simply stared at her. I needed a moment to adjust to her sudden appearance. I hadn’t been this close to her since our fight a few days ago. Even though I wanted more than anything to get to know my son and spend time with my Mate, I gave her and Grayson their space.

When I was lying in bed at night and couldn’t sleep, it drove me crazy to think about how Summer was under the same roof as me. Our one night together had been six years ago, but I could still perfectly recall the feeling of her body as it shivered underneath mine…

“Um, can I come in?” my Mate asked, raising her eyebrows since I’d been staring at her for a beat too long.

“Yes, of course.”

I stepped aside, and she walked in. Summer slowly walked around my office with her arms behind her back. My Mate studied my antique wooden desk, the shelves of books that lined the walls, and my computer set up, which was complete with three computer monitors, with an unreadable expression.

“I see that you upgraded,” she said, her hands on the back of my brown leather office chair.

“What do you mean?”

She nodded at my computer monitors.

“Last time, you only had two,” she said and shrugged.

“Last time…?” I trailed off when I realized what she was talking about.

The night we made love.

An intense look sparked in her eyes, and my stomach jolted. A crackling energy filled the room, not unlike the sky before a thunderstorm. For a moment, I swore I saw the gold thread of the Mating bond flicker to life between us. But then it went out.

We started walking toward each other at the same time. Summer and I met in the middle of my office. We didn’t touch at first—we didn’t have to. Our eyes were caressing each other, drinking in the other person, intoxicated by one another’s presence.

Summer bit her pretty pink lip and ran a hand through her dark hair. There were blades of grass stuck in the tips of her hair. Had she been lying the grass?

With a shaking hand, I slowly reached out and grabbed a piece of grass, her smooth hair brushing against my skin like a light kiss.

Her bright blue eyes widened, and she inhaled sharply.

“Gabriel,” she whispered.

My eyes closed, savoring the erotic sound of my name on her lips.

I wanted to push all three of my monitors off my desk, roughly grip her hips, set her on top of the wooden surface, kiss those sweet lips, and show her just how much I’d missed her over these past six years.

But when I opened my eyes, she was back behind my desk, at least five feet away from me.

“I, um, needed to talk to you. About Grayson,” Summer clarified.

Her cheeks flared with bright red spots, and her lips were bruised from her biting them.

I cleared my throat.

Now’s not the time to fantasize about making love to Summer on your desk.

“Do you want to sit?” I asked and gestured to my office chair.

“Isn’t this where you sit?” There was uncertainty in her tone.

I waved a hand and sat in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

Summer sank down and peered at me behind the computer monitors.

She sighed and frowned

My stomach tightened with anxiety.

What did she want to talk about? Had she decided she never wanted to tell Grayson that I was his father?

“I just talked to Grayson,” Summer said quickly, as if she just wanted to get the words out of her mouth as fast as possible. “I told him…I told him about you.”

Hope bloomed within my chest.

“You told him that I was his father?” I asked.

Summer nodded.

A large grin spread across my face.

“Thank you, Summer. That truly means the world to me that you did that.”

“He kind of knew already,” she admitted. “He’s very smart and intuitive.”

“So is his mother.”

She blushed and looked at her lap.

I waited until her eyes were back on mine.

“I want to apologize for not validating your feelings during our conversation by the Jeep,” I said. “You will always be enough of a reason for me to stay. I just needed you to know that. And I want to prove to you that I’m here for you and Grayson through my actions, not just my words.”

Summer’s cheeks turn redder.

“Well, maybe you can start tomorrow. I was thinking that if you wanted to, the three of us could spend the day together,” my Mate suggested. “So that you and Grayson can get to know each other.”

A whole day with Summer and our son? That sounded like heaven.

“I’ll clear my schedule,” I promised her.

A tentative smile crossed her face.

“I wanted to talk to you about what you’re doing to protect us against the threat of Axel and his Rogues, you know, since Grayson is here and all,” she said.

“I have a plan.”

“Does it have to do with marrying the Alpha King's daughter? To gain part of the king’s Royal Guard?” Summer said. “Last my father heard, your arranged marriage was at a stalemate.”

“No, my plan has nothing to do with the Alpha King,” I answered honestly.

Guilt stabbed at me. Sure, technically, my sentence was true, but I wasn’t being completely honest. I didn’t want to upset Summer by telling her my father’s plans.

I’ll never allow that marriage to happen. It will only cause Summer pain if she were to know.

I knew that I was just using these as excuses, but I didn’t want to ruin things between Summer and me, just when she was starting to give me a chance again.

“Wait, does Axel know about your plans?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. “What if that makes it easier for him to set up a counterattack against you?”

“No, he doesn’t,” I assured her. “When I first got the idea was around the time I started distrusting Axel. I thought that he might be a mole in our pack, spying for the Rogues.”

“Good.” She sat back in my chair and blew out a relieved breath. “Will you tell me about your plan? I might be able to help. I have a degree in military studies.”

There was a note of pride in her voice that almost unraveled me.

“Of course I'll tell you about my plan.” I paused and considered what she just revealed to me. “You managed to get a college degree while raising Grayson?” I asked with awe in my tone.

My respect for my Mate — which had already been high — significantly increased.

She shrugged.

“I took all my classes online. There were some late nights, but I was determined to get that degree…even if I never used it,” she said.

“Oh, you'll definitely be able to use it helping me.”

“What do you need my help with?” Summer asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Battle strategies.”