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I should object to that. Defend my mate. Say that they shouldn’t talk about him like that, but… My head spins, and I cannot make sense of what I’m feeling. Itisodd that Lennart, with whom I should have spent last night, is suddenly too busy to show up for me.
Even odder is Gabriel’s slow, triumphant cheek-to-cheek grin. He stands without a word, heading outside the dining room.
After a moment of hesitation, I run after him.
Chapter13
THE RETRIEVAL
Sofia
No one stops me as I follow a few feet after Gabriel, halting when he does in front of the commander of Lord Larsen’s personal guard.
“You expect me to hand over an unprotected Omega toyou?” Gabriel asks. He is unarmed, wearing the thin shirt and pants that soldiers usually put on for physical training—a stark contrast to the commander’s red armor and multiple weapons. And yet, it’s the guard who takes a cautionary step back.
“She will not be unprotected. As you can see, I have three escorts with me.”
“All of whom are Alphas. None of whom are her mate.”
I wonder why Lennart didn’t come. Maybe he simply didn’t know the correct protocol for the Right of the First Night, but he could have found out. He belongs to one of the oldest families in the stronghold and has infinite resources at his disposal. The result is that his absence looks bad. Like a provocation. Like Lennart is playing with fire—and with my life.
How could he?
House Larsen’s commander must know that the general would never murder a House’s emissary in cold blood. Still, he looks like he’d rather throw himself from the top of the keep than be here. “Sir, I have been personally instructed by Lord Larsen to?—”
“I don’t know you. Above all, I don’ttrustyou. Tell Lennart Larsen that the law gives very specific instructions on how to resolve the Right of the First Night. I will hand Sofia Kuznetsov over to him and no one else. Not his guards. Not his brother. Not his parents. Not any other representative of House Larsen. If her father returns from the dead, I might make an exception. Short of that, Lennart will have to come retrieve her himself, as is custom.”
“But, sir, I see her.” The guard is making a last-ditch attempt. “She’s right there, behind you. Maybe we could ask her what she prefers?”
Gabriel looks at me over his shoulder, and my cheeks heat. Even more so when, after staring for too many pounding heartbeats, he orders, “Tell Lennart that I’m not done with his mate yet.” He turns and walks away, giving his unarmored, unarmed back to the Larsen guards with a confidence and a disregard for danger that…
Well. It definitely matches what I’ve learned about him in the last twenty-four hours.
“Gabriel,” I say when he brushes past me, but he doesn’t bother to stop. I have no choice but to follow him back inside the dining room, and when he still won’t wait for me, I close a hand around his wrist to stop him.
Martia is still there, waiting, looking between us, but I ignore her. If she hates me as much as Gabriel implied, she’s definitely not going to come to my aid and help me…
Help mewhat? I’m not certain what I want from Gabriel, at the moment. Permission to go home to my mate, right? There is nowhere else I should care to be. Nowhere else Icouldbe. The Larsens are my family now, and I have questions to ask them.
But why does the idea of leaving make me nauseous?
“Gabe,” Martia says, tone bored, “send the girl back. The ball is in the Larsens’ court. Plus, you’ve had your weekly lay, and it won’t…” She stops. Her eyes zero in on me like I’m a piece of furniture she just bumped into. Her eyes widen accusingly at me, even as she says, “No fucking way.”
“What?” I ask.
“He hasn’ttouchedyou, has he?” Martia takes a step closer, nostrils flaring. “Gabe, why does she smell like you marked her as under your protection, butnotlike you fucked her?”
“Leave us,” he orders.
“Gabriel.” Martia runs a hand through her short hair. “This is serious. What the hell is going on? Are you really going to return her like the most you did with her was play cards? Is it because she’s cold? If you’re having issues getting it up?—”
“Get. The fuck.Out.”
A moment later, after several muttered curse words and the least obsequious salute I’ve ever witnessed, we are alone.
Just me and him, and I am more aware of it than ever. So much so, a shiver rolls through my spine.
“At long last,” he says.
