Twisting Her Fate
Chapter 34

As Connor gets dragged to the nearest bar he has never been so glad that he spent the last six months solid, working, as anything that Leilani suggests he is following along like an obedient puppy. He isn't about to miss out on a single second with her. He will let his bright spark lead the way. So the eight burst into the near empty bar and start drinking and dancing like it isn't one p.m on a Wednesday afternoon. The bar owner is quick to snap some photos of the incredibly beautiful people that have stormed his place of business and suddenly the whole bar is full. They are a magnet for others.

Leilani dances hard against Connor, grinding against him as her hands run up through his hair, his nose touches hers as his steel gray eyes are locked tightly on her, their hot breath intertwines.

"Only you could make me like settings like this"

The crowd presses in on them but they don't even notice, the heat from all the bodies making the few windows fog, the bar has become a club as the liquor flows freely. The lights are low and the music is loud.

"I spent the first fourteen years of my life stuck in self-loathing and fear. It is not that I like these places, I just want to feel the freedom of the others, I want to feel their happiness, their desires"

Connor looks around and then back at Leilani.

"You think these people are free? You are the freest person I have ever met"

Leilani whispers in his ear, even though the music is thumping around them, the noise is so loud that it is nearly making his ear drums bleed.

"The truth is that I love my family and I love what I do, but it is something that I never would have chosen for myself. I was forced into this situation and made the best with what I had"

"But you truly seem to love it"

"Don't get me wrong, I do, but if I was back at fourteen and picked what I would want to do with my life it would have never have been this, maybe that is a good thing. Maybe the things that happen shape us into what we were meant to be and the places we end up are exactly where we are meant to be, exactly what we are meant to be doing and exactly who we are meant to with"

Leilani's hands run through his hair as the music changes, they only press tighter to one another.

"Just make the best" "But...."

"There are no buts Connor, just take everything in your stride, make the most with what you have, because maybe what you were given is exactly what you needed, and thank the moon goddess everyday that you can live"

"Babe, I am different than you. I spent my first fourteen years being the precious future alpha, loved son, loved brother and then I had to take it all on. I think I forgot how to live in the middle there"

"Connor, your situation is different, you weren't just yourself, you had an entire pack to care for, all that responsibility sitting solely on your shoulders. It is different"

"But you...."

"This is not a 'show me your scars and I will show you mine' scenario, Connor, I want you to live, I want you to be happy, the pack is going well, you ensured that"

Connor's lips brush against hers.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?"

"I am not saying anything, I am saying that you deserve to be happy"

Connor feels disappointment creeping in even though she is held in his arms. He feels like she is trying to tell him to be happy without wanting any part in the actual happiness. But he will not be discouraged. He still has time. Leilani glances at the pole that is pride of place.

"Do you want to watch?"

"Why is that a common theme with you? But yes, I do"

***

Gabriel sits in his study. Since having his wolf. He has had a hangover a total of zero times but today he finally feels it. He looks at the empty bottles strewn around him and his drool mark left on his laptop. He can still feel the indents of the keys on his face. The discomfort in his head is only half as bad as the discomfort in his heart. He does not feel good in any way.

All these years he has had his wolf. He has not been sick. He has hardly been injured. If he is injured, he heals so quickly that he hardly knows the feeling of pain for any long period of time, but this niggling feeling is something so foreign to him and something that he needs to work out what it is so he can remove it.

Gabriel is strength. Everything he is about is strength. He does not need a single weakness.

Maggie still hasn't come in and seen him. Usually she will come in with breakfast or some such thing to try and soothe the relationship between the two. The relationship has never been so rigid as it is at this moment. They know what they are to each other and that is usually enough. Not much love. Only gain between the two but the whole dynamic seems to have changed in the last few months and Gabriel's clear-cut path of marrying and marking his chosen mate is feeling more and more out of reach. The mate he thought was strong and a good match is seeming not so much. The fated mate situation really playing with his head.

Maggie has always just been there, but her weaknesses are appearing glaringly obvious with the pain. Her expressions are unfathomable and he doesn't know what is going through her head half the time. He is sure that she is jealous of Connor sleeping with someone. He is not interested in having a woman that's thinking about another man.

The dynamic of their relationship has changed and he's not sure if it's for the best or not.

Gabriel can only fire up his laptop while Lance handed over the alpha title a long while ago. He has been doing the lion's share of the paperwork, but Lance is finally starting to step back now, which in turn means that Gabriel's suddenly loaded with it all. It doesn't leave much time for all the fun things.

Gabriel's mind is not exactly in the pile of emails or figures that need to be gone through, so he flicks across to social media and looks through, just wasting time, delaying the inevitable.

One of the local bars has a photo that catches his eye instantly. In the venue, there is a single pole for pole dancing. It is in immaculate condition because hardly anyone ever uses it, but on the occasion that someone actually does go on it, it makes for a good watch or more a good laugh, as the drunk men and women clearly completely embarrass themselves on the thing.

The photo that has caught his interest is someone on the pole. She is wearing short denim shorts with long lean pale legs wrapped around the bar. Her whole body out at an arched angle, showing her extreme core strength. A tight black tank top wrapped around her stunning body, but the thing that really catches his eye is the long white blonde hair that is completely covering her face, obscuring all her features. The hair so familiar that he can't help but just stare at the photo.

The girl is so mesmerizing, so sexy. Even a still photo is enough to ar*use a desperate need within.

He moves from the photo to try and replace more wants to see a front photo. He wants some way of being out of identifying her so that he can track her down.

But the moment he tries to click on the next photo, the whole album disappears before his eyes.

Within the stormy pack, Hudson rubs his hands together excitedly. Having just deleted all traces of their faces, they don't allow any evidence of anywhere. That is especially important at the moment as there are a few photos of Leilani and Connor together. He has to rid of them as quickly as he can just on the off chance that they might be able to somehow get back to Gabriel.

Gabriel hits refresh over and over, but no matter what he does, the photos are just gone. Luckily, he stared at the image long enough that it is scorched and his memories.

He roars and is tempted to throw the computer out the window. He just feels strange, everything feels wrong.

He pulls up his schedule for the day and sighs. It's back to back meetings all over town. He walks to his room, ignoring the naked sleeping Maggie, he showers and gets dressed for the day before packing up his necessities and heading out of the pack.

He rarely takes Maggie anywhere for small pack business. She is usually more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to certain things. He only takes her where a luna or luna figure is required or when he needs some arm candy.

And right now he needs a break from the woman. If she does another episode like she did at the cafe yesterday in front of people other than her parents, he will never be able to live it down.

Maggie isn't someone that he was just lumped with by the moon goddess, he chose her, so her weakness reflects badly on him.

He made a choice and, by all accounts, it looks like he made the wrong one.

Gabriel walks in to the first agreed upon meeting place and breathes deeply. An amazing near tropical scent with a tinge of apricot fills his nose.

His wolf launches forward and he nearly stumbles. It is the same scent he smelled a couple of days ago, that same scent that is impossible. It is the same but different. It is the same scent as Leilani all those years ago except 10,000 times more potent. Gabriel eyes the area in shock but there is no particular pinpointed area for the scent. It is just there, mostly concentrated in the doorway. He steps back out of the door and looks left and right. Not managing to pinpoint where the scent trail leads.

Gabriel shakes his head as the scent seems to dissipate. What was so strong only a moment ago has faded out substantially. Gabriel taps his own nose, wondering if it was a brief malfunction, but the unsettled way his wolf whines in his mind makes him think otherwise.