Page 29 of Gabe's Lone Wolf

I mumbled the word, but there was no remorse in my tone. I wasn’t sorry for getting lost in memories of that day or my mate.

“It’s good to see you happy,” Raina said. “And Gabe, too. He’s a great guy. One of the best.”

“Yes,” I agreed.

She bent to grab something, and the way her hair fell over her eyes so that she was almost peering from under it as she rose back up was like déjà vu.

“The man who sent me,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“The first time I saw you, I thought there was something familiar about you, but I couldn’t place it. I’d never met you before. Now, I get it. You remind me of the man who rescued me and told me to come here. You hold your head in a similar way to him. And your eyes are similar, too. I had a feeling he knew you by the way he spoke your name.”

“Who is he?” Raina asked. The playful woman of a few minutes ago was gone. This was the alpha’s mate, an alpha in her own right. One demanding answers.

“I don’t know his name. He never gave it to me.”

“What did he look like?” Raina demanded.

I shook my head. “He did a good job of hiding in shadow, even while he drove us away. I saw his arm, though, when his sleeve pulled back a bit. The skin was scarred. As if he’d been burned.”

Raina was on her feet, one hand covering her throat while she strode toward me.

“Where? Where did he go? Did he tell you what he was doing?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. He didn’t say. I ask him to come with me, but he said there were things he needed to do. Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Raina’s brother was killed in a fire.”

Bee reached out and grasped her sister-in-law’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

Here I was talking about a guy with burns, and her brother had been killed in a fire. Raina waved her free hand at me, as if brushing aside my apology.

“Tell me more about this guy you met? Why did you think he knew me?”

“He said he knew you and Bas in a different life.”

Bee’s gaze kept bouncing between Raina and me as if she were waiting for something. I had no idea what, and Raina’s focus was completely on what I could tell her.

“A different life?”

I could tell her brain was working as she tried to figure out who the guy had been. I’d like to know that myself. While she pondered and Bee kept close track of both of us, I turned back to my Jeep and cleaning it out. I’d already removed most of my clothes and personal items and placed them in the pool house. Gabe had mentioned we could start looking for a bigger house with more privacy, but I was okay with where we were at the moment. I liked that we were in the center of things, surrounded by our pack. I enjoyed the fact that people were constantly in and out, stopping to chat or get Gabe’s opinion on something or even to welcome me into the pack. It was a completely different energy from my old pack.

“Have you thought any more about what Bas offered?” Bee asked while she watched me sort through what to keep or discard.

“I don’t need to see him,” I answered honestly.

Bas had sent Anthony and Donovan back to my old pack with Cam’s body. They’d stayed for a few weeks then come back. Anthony had made a point of letting me know my father was still there. Still lost in a bottle. Bas had offered to have Anthony bring my father to the James Pack. But the truth was, I’d lost my father a long time ago. I’d already accepted that. And with Gabe, I had another family. A pack to call mine. One that loved and accepted me with no ulterior motives. One that would always make my safety a top priority.

“There are programs close by,” Raina offered, but I shook my head.

“If he ever decides to sober up and be my father again, then we’ll see. But it will have to be a decision he makes. Not one I make for him.”

Raina nodded then surprised me by reaching out and pulling me into a hug.

“You know this is your home now, right? You’re one of us.”

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