d..、，.. #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT d..、，..
Happen 42
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Mates, Love & Jealousy
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I stood there, completely mute, as the reality of Eva’swords sank in and the pain rushed over me like a tidal wave. My hands curled into tight fists, my fingernails cutting into my skin, and in the back of my mind I registered my Wolf’s painful howls as she realized what the redhead’swords entailed.
Gabriel had slept with someone else before me. He had given the most intimate part of himself away to another she-wolf.
Gritting my teeth to fight against a sudden bout of nausea, my eyes found Gabriel’s. The guilt and self-loathing were burning so brightly in his eyes I
could nearly feel the sentiments myself. Perhaps I was feeling an echo of his raging emotions. I couldn’t help the surge of betrayal that emerged. How
could he do something like that? With her of all people?
Gabriel moved to take a step forward, but I instantly took one backwards to get away from him. Every inch of me felt repulsed. Dimly, I became aware
that Eva’s eyes were boring into the side of my head. My eyes flicked to her and my rage only intensified at the look on her face. While she was trying to appear indifferent, I could see the smug smirk hovering at the corners of her red lips.
And that’s when I realized: this was what Eva
wanted. She wanted me to feel the pain, to grow enraged, to break down
and cry like I was dangerously close to doing. She was attempting to elicit this reaction out of me to prove her superiority. Despite the painful knot of emotions in my chest, I felt a prick of determination. I may be ‘insecure’ and ‘weak’ to her, but right now I was going to prove her wrong. The best way to get to Eva now was to not react the way she planned.
With a herculean effort, I straightened my spine and tilted my chin
defiantly. I may be a pushover sometimes, but I had a proud streak like every Wolf did. There was no denying the nearly overwhelming pain
blossoming in my chest; judging by the look on Gabriel’s face and the thick tension between us, he could feel it, too. I couldn’t take back Eva’swords.
But I could at least attempt to stay strong and beat her at her own game. My Wolf was whimpering in pain, and with every ounce of force I had at
hand, I pushed her to the deepest corner of my consciousness. I couldn’t
have her agony distracting me now. Chat Nath up on zero eight zero sixty- seven, twenty-six, eighty-three, sixty-eight, to be added to his group to
enjoy more interesting stories from there.
Seizing on this burst of determination, I mentally tried to erect barriers around my consciousness, barring out as much of the pain as I could. I already felt humiliated in front of Gabriel and broadcasting my feelings,
clear as day, would only worsen things. I tried to force the hurt away and maintain a cool façade as I spoke.
“Wow, Gabriel, sleeping with her must have been quite….underwhelming for you.” To my pleasant surprise, my words came out just as icily as I’d hoped. Gabriel’s expression had shifted to one of confusion as he
continued to stare at me. I turned my head and focused on Eva. “After all,
she is not, and will never be your true Mate. She’ll never satisfy you the way I can.”
As I finished speaking, Eva’s expression contorted from smugness into one of pure rage. I felt a brief moment of pure satisfaction at the look on her
face. Her pale cheeks reddened with anger and she took a few steps towards me.
“Why you-”
“Eva!” Gabriel cut her off. His voice was nearly a snarl.
Eva stopped mid-step, her eyes flicking to him.
“Get out of here.” Gabriel snapped, coolly and dismissively. Eva hesitated, looking slightly hurt. Again, I felt a twisted sense of satisfaction that he was hurting her in some way. I wasn’t normally a vindictive person but I had
never wanted to throttle someone so much in my entire life. My Wolf was practically begging me to let her out – totear Eva apart.
But I couldn’t. Because that would just prove that she’d gotten to me.
“But-” Eva started, but a threatening growl emerged from Gabriel’s chest. “I said get the FUCK out!” He snarled at her and Eva flinched, quickly
lowering her head and scurrying towards the door. Before she opened it, though, I called after her. I couldn’t help myself.
“You will never deserve Will as a Mate,” I said lowly, my voice dripping with venom.
A flicker of shock crossed Gabriel’s expression and he turned towards the redhead, who had paused after opening the front door.
“You found your Mate?” He asked incredulously. There was anger in his
voice and instantly my stomach plummeted. Was Gabriel upset because he
didn’t want Eva to have a Mate – because he wanted to have her all to himself? My Wolf snarled at the thought.
“Y-yes…well, I-I-“ She stammered. I had never seen Eva this flustered. I
could tell she didn’t want to tell Gabriel the truth about Will but didn’t want to lie to him, either.
“You found your MATE and you’re sitting around HERE?”
Now I was completely confused as to why he was angry.
“I didn’twant to…I mean, I never wanted…” Eva trailed off, blue eyes wide as she took in Gabriel’s livid expression.
“You’re f**king telling me that you found your other half, your one true Mate, and instead you are wasting your time trying to sabotage MY
relationship with MINE?”
I stared at my Mate in disbelief. Now, he seemed furious that Eva wasn’t going after Will. While I was glad that this was the reason Gabriel was
angry, it completely befuddled me. I had never expected him to be pissed off on Will’s behalf.
“I don’t want a Mate!” Eva replied shrilly. She had backed away until she
was standing half outside, half in the threshold. “You know that, I’ve always told you that! I thought you understood!”
“Maybe I would have understood once. But now, I know what it’s like to
find my Mate. What it’s like to be given a chance. You’ve been given the
most precious thing you will ever have, and you areturning it away for
some pathetic and selfish reason.” Gabriel’stone was devoid of emotion,
his countenance dark and intimidating. I was not used to him being so
forthright. I could feel a blush rising on my cheeks as I realized that, in
some convoluted way, Gabriel was standing up for me. He’d called me ‘the most precious thing’. It didn’t ease the sense of betrayal I felt, but it proved
that he was at least capable of some
sort of emotion when it came to me.
My Wolf was turning circles in my head, the hurt still radiating off of her in waves. I tried to push the thoughts of Gabriel and Eva aside. I wanted to
rush up into my room, collapse on my bed, and cry. Perhaps that’swhat I
would have done a long time ago. But not now. I was sick of letting Gabriel’s every move get to me so easily.
“Get out,” Gabriel was snapping at Eva, and this time there was a Command in his tone as he spoke. The redhead backed away, shooting me a furious
glare, but Gabriel slammed the door roughly in her face before she could say anything.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
The sound echoed in the house. It was a wonder that my parents hadn’t
woken up. I had a suspicion that they were awake, but giving me some
space to deal with Gabriel myself. My heart pounded as he slowly turned to face me. The guilt in his expression was palpable, and I turned away so I
wouldn’t have to look him in the eyes.
I still felt as if I was in a state of disbelief. I had never paused to really think about Gabriel’s s£xual history, but he had gotten distraught of the mere
thought of me kissing Will so I had just figured … .
Well, you figured wrong, my Wolf snapped furiously.
Don’t yell at me! This isn’t my fault!
There must be something wrong with us, if he would pick HER instead! she whimpered.
He didn’t pick her over us! It was in the past; it had to be! I fervently prayed that Gabriel hadn’t slept with the redhead after he met me. I didn’tthink I would ever be able to recover from a betrayal like that.
I faintly registered that Gabriel was still staring at me. I could feel an echo of his emotions in my chest, and I tried to push it away.
“Skylar…I….” For once, it appeared he was lost for words.
“Don’t,” I snapped, my anger coming out in a rush.
“It was a long time ago. I didn’t even know you existed.” His voice was soft, filled with emotion, and I still couldn’t look him in the face.
“You could have told me.” I was actually proud of myself for keeping my
voice cold, steady, and devoid of emotion. It was all fake of course, inside I wanted to break down, but I was not going to let him see me like that.
“How do I bring that up? How do I go about telling you that I’m a
disgusting, selfish pig that slept with another she-wolf before his true Mate?”
I looked down, clenching my jaw. Gabriel’s emotions, coupled with mine, were almost too much to bear. I knew I needed to take time to reason this out, to have this conversation with him, but right now I just couldn’t. There was a chance I would burst into hysterics at any minute.
“You know what? I don’t want to talk about this right now,” I muttered lowly, avoiding his gaze.
“Skylar, just let me explain.”
I refused to look at him.
“Please, Skylar. Just hear me out.”
Gabriel rarely said please, and I knew it must have meant a lot for him to
almost beg, but my knees were beginning to tremble and my Wolf was
threatening to come out. The hot fever rushing around underneath my skin did not help the situation and only served to aggravate me further. I did
not need this now. After everything that happened, hadn’t I been through enough turmoil? The small, selfish part of me wanted Gabriel to suffer – if even for a moment – the way I had when Eva said those words. The
vindictive part of me rarely made an appearance but it was emerging now. “I really don’t want to talk to you right now!” I snapped angrily, finally
focusing my glare on him. For once, I wasn’t scared of his reaction. I just didn’t give a damn. I needed to be alone right now; his presence was
suffocating.
I hurried towards the front door, giving Gabriel a wide berth. He turned
towards me but thankfully didn’t try to stop me. I might have tried to rip his head off if he did. My Wolf was angry beyond belief and I was dangerously close to letting her take over…not a pretty sight.
“Skylar-”
“Stop!” I spun around to snarl at him, my hand on the doorknob.
“Just…stop. I’m going for a run before I Shift. Gabriel, don’t come after me, don’t try to contact me.”
He was silent for a few seconds, and I tried to ignore the hurt hovering
under the surface of his eyes. He had no right to feel hurt right now. “You’re just going to leave?” He asked finally, voice flat.
“Yes, and for once, Gabriel, do the thing that WON’T hurt me. Let me go.” I knew those words would cause him pain, but I paid no regard to the guilt that sprung up after I said them. I avoided looking at him and turned to
leave.
I burst out onto the porch before he could reply. I knew I was being
incredibly disrespectful to him as an Alpha but I hoped the side of Gabriel that cared for me – however small – would let me be.
For once, I felt a profound sense of relief when he didn’tfollow.
Disregarding the fact that it was ridiculously late at night, I bounded for the nearest fringe of trees. I didn’t plan on going too far out of the radius of the
Stone of Jacob, but I was going to Shift. I had to let my Wolf out to run before I made the rash decision to go rip Eva’s red hair out and dig my teeth into the side of her neck. I was not normally this violent, but
apparently my feelings for Gabriel brought out my animalistic nature.
I let my Wolf take over, relishing in the feeling of heat rushing through my body and fur sprouting from my pores as my bones shifted to
accommodate my new form. Once I stood on four paws, I shook out my thick fur, breaking into a jog. The Affinity-related fever I’d had was much less noticeable in this form, although I hoped that running as a Wolf
wouldn’t make things worse for me once I returned to two legs.
Speeding up my pace, I threw up thick barriers so nobody would be able to
mind-link to me without considerable effort, although with Gabriel’s Alpha strength I knew he could push past my barriers if he really wanted to. I let my Wolf’s instincts take over as I ran deeper into the forest, trying to
escape the pain that had relentlessly been chasing me since I left Gabriel.
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I ran for a very longtime.
There was a slight chill in the air even at midday though the sun was hot on my silver fur. I could tell that autumn was near, although I would not feel
the cold until it was far below freezing; werewolves were built to endure
brutal winters. As I dodged through the trees, I realized that my birthday
was less than two weeks away. I would be twenty years old and I could only hope things would turn around before then. I rarely felt self-pitying but I
couldn’t help it. Didn’t I deserve just ONE happy day? Were all of my days going to be as miserable as the most recent ones?
I took a lot of time to think as morning transitioned into afternoon, finally pausing in my trek to lie down in the thick grass near a gurgling stream.
Panting, I realized I had indeed released some of the pent-up tension I had been feeling. My Wolf was slightly calmer now although she still itched to go rip Eva’s head off.
Once I was lying there, stretched out and bathing in the bright sunlight, I allowed myself to really go over Eva’swords.
‘Lovers,’ she’d said. The pieces were not difficult to place together, and it
was easy to see that she was talking about Gabriel when she’d said she was in love with someone. They’d slept together and she had a profound hatred for me. It only made sense that she was in love with my Mate, as infuriating as that was. What I hoped was that ‘lovers’ was an exaggeration. Gabriel
had rarely shown ME any emotion, and it would cut deeply to think that
he’d been in love before. Somehow, though, I couldn’t picture him being in love with Eva. The self-loathing he had been feeling as she told me the
truth was testament that he regretted his actions. Surely that couldn’t mean that they were in love, or so I tried to reassure myself.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
There was one thing that I could reason through. Gabriel had outright said that all of those things happened before he’d met me. Despite my churning emotions and sense of betrayal, the logical side of me argued that Gabriel had never thought he would have a Mate. His father had brainwashed
Gabriel into thinking that his Angelic side meant he was forever alone and Mateless. I tried to imagine an existence where I thought I would never find that other werewolf meant for me. It seemed like a dreary outlook, but it
had been Gabriel’s reality. Even worse, he was a full-grown, Alpha Male. Alphas felt emotions much more strongly than the average wolf, and this included hormones.
If I had been a fully grown Alpha male that thought I didn’t have a Mate,
would I have done any different? I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was that I
had to make sure none of Gabriel and Eva’s interactions happened after he met me. I also couldn’t ignore the irritation I felt that Gabriel had made
such a big deal out of my kiss with Will, yet hid something like this from me. He would have to answer to that.
I stood up after a while, deciding I had been out here long enough, my mind going in circles for hours. I aimlessly turned around and began to head back towards the village. I definitely did not want to return to my home anytime soon. I couldn’t face my parents or Gabriel. I had decided that I would give Gabriel the cold shoulder for the time being until I
thought everything through and demanded an explanation from him.
He’d always been the one relentlessly pushing me away. Now he was going to get a taste of his own medicine.
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Upon my return and my transition back to human form, I found my feet
carrying me to the one person that might help me feel better: Maria. I
couldn’t tell her everything about me and Gabriel but a best friend’s advice was sorely needed in this situation.
I knocked on her door a couple times, knowing that I probably had twigs in my hair and a flush from my fever but not caring. My symptoms were
actually bearable right now and her place was safer than mine; I actually couldn’t detect any fresh traces of my Mate’s signature scent near her
house.
I frowned after there was no answer, and raised my fist to knock again, loudly. I tried to get a glimpse through the window but couldn’t see
anyone.
“Maria? Are you there?” I called out tentatively. I could’ve sworn her scent was fresh …
After one more round of knocking, the door finally swung open, and I
blinked in surprise as I took in Maria’s appearance. It reminded my eerily of the way Will had looked on my doorstep the other day. Maria’s dark eyes were bloodshot, her olive-toned skin pale, and her thick hair was in a
bedraggled state.
“Uh…Maria? Are you okay?” I asked, my problems momentarily forgotten. Maria shook her head and stepped aside, allowing me entrance. I closed the door behind me and turned to face her.
“What’swrong?”
Her red-tinged eyes met mine. “I’m sorry I…I didn’t know you were coming over. I was asleep upstairs.”
“No, it’s my fault. I didn’t warn you. Do you want me to come back later?” She shook her head vehemently before attempting to comb through her tangled hair with her fingers. “I need to get up and about. It’s just…Anne’s funeral was yesterday, and the tears have been coming and going since
then.”
I stared at her in shock. “Wait…yesterday? You mean they had the funeral while I was still out sick?” I had completely forgotten that Anne’s funeral
had been scheduled for the morning after the Purge. I felt a surge of guilt, momentarily forgetting my current problems with Gabriel. I had been the last one to see Anne alive and despite my former dislike for the girl, I had wanted to attend her funeral.
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#Tobecontinued…
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_ _-Agboola-_ _