AGThanksgiving_JCSmith (8 page)

Chapter Nine

Marin watched Autumn pick at
her food. She’d asked her out to lunch, thinking she might like to get away
from Gabriel for a while. Marin couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him
so protective of someone. If it were her, she’d be going nuts by now. She’d
thought some girl time might be good for Autumn, but now she had to wonder if
there was something weighing on her mind. She seemed preoccupied today.

“Everything okay?” Marin
asked. “You’ve hardly touched your lunch.”

Autumn gave her a half-hearted
smile. “Just worried, I guess.”

“About what?”

“I think Gabriel wants to tell
you himself.”

Marin frowned.

Autumn worried at her bottom lip.
“If I tell you, do you swear not to tell anyone? Not even Cole?”

“Of course. You know you can
tell me anything. I’d like to think we’ve become friends.”

Autumn nodded. “We have; it’s
just that what I’m going to say is a big deal and I’m not sure how you, or
anyone else, will take it. It’s about Gabriel. And me.”

“The family can never thank
you enough for what you’ve done, Autumn. You did the one thing no one was able
to do. Get Gabriel out of the house. I’ve heard he’s even taken over payroll
for the garage again.”

“Yes, he has. He said once the
threat to my life was over, he would go back to the garage a few days a week. I
don’t think he wants to work full-time anymore, unless he has to. He said
something about giving Michael more responsibility.”

Marin grimaced. “I’m not sure
Michael is going to like that. I think he was hoping Gabriel would step back in
and things would go back to the way they were.”

Autumn toyed with her
silverware. “I’ve talked to Gabriel a lot since moving into his house. Now that
he’s venturing out again and is ready to rejoin the pack, he wants to spend
more time with his family than at work.” Autumn’s gaze met Marin’s. “He wants
to spend more time with his mate.”

“Mate?” Marin’s eyes widened.
“Oh my god! Are you…”

Autumn nodded, looking like
she was taking a trip to the gallows instead of giving Marin the best news
she’d heard in months.

“Why aren’t you excited?”
Marin asked.

“What if everyone doesn’t
accept me as his mate? I’m Kiera’s cousin. What if they think he’s trying to
replace her with the next closest thing?”

Marin reached for Autumn’s
hand. “What if everyone else thinks that? Or is that what you think?”

“I don’t know what to think. I
told him I had feelings for him and he took off like he couldn’t wait to get
away from me. Then he returned a few hours later acting like nothing was wrong,
suddenly ready to forge a new life with me.”

“Did he say what was going
through his mind?”

“He said he had Kiera’s
approval.”

Marin wasn’t sure what to make
of that statement. Had Gabriel been able to see Kiera one last time? Had his
wife talked some sense into him when no one else had been able to? It was hard
not to see that he had feelings for Autumn. Marin would have never guessed the
two were mates, but she’d sensed a hint of romance in the air.

“If I know Gabriel,” Marin
said, “he was feeling guilty about wanting to move on. When Kiera died, he
swore to never love again.”

“That’s what he said.”

Marin smiled. “Life will find
a way though. He might not have been ready to go on without her, but you were
brought to us, and you brought him a second chance. Not just at life but at
love. Don’t you see how that would be scary for him?”

“Yeah.” Autumn chewed on her
lip some more. “Do you really think everyone will accept me as his mate?”

“They’ll be thrilled with the
news.”

“I told him I want to wait. To
make it official. He says we’re mates whether we have a ceremony or not, but I
don’t want to go through one until I know the danger has passed.”

“Tell me more about the
danger. Gabriel told his brothers that someone was after you, but he left out
all the details.” If another war was coming, Marin thought the pack had a right
to know. And if their alpha female was in danger, they had a right to know that
too.

“There are two groups of fae.
The light fae, which I’m descended from, and the outcasts. My entire line, the
royal line, has been murdered. Except, I think my grandfather is still alive.
Regardless, I’m the last heir to the throne. I don’t want it, but Gabriel said
our children are destined to rule the fae. We talked until the wee hours of the
morning.”

“How do we stop them?” Marin
asked.

“The sorcerer gave us a box of
spelled daggers. They’re the only thing that will neutralize the outcasts’
powers and kill them. I have one in my purse, and Gabriel said he was keeping
one on him. He plans to arm certain members of the pack, starting with the
family.”

“Is this going to be as bad as
the battle with the demons?” Marin asked.

Autumn shook her head. “They
only want me. That doesn’t mean they won’t kill anyone who gets in their way,
but if you were to drop your blade and step away from me, you’d be safe.”

Marin shook her head. “Gabriel
needs to tell everyone what’s going on. They have a right to defend you.”

“I’m sure he’ll get around to
it soon.”

Marin drummed her fingers on
the table. “Well, this might not be the best time to bring this up, but how
about a subject change?”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been talking to Chloe,
Aislinn, and Kendall. We weren’t sure if Gabriel would want to be part of
Thanksgiving this year, but now that he has you…we were hoping you could
convince him to come. Of course, that was before I knew you were his mate. Now
the two of you definitely have to come!”

“Where is it?”

Marin smiled. “My house.
Thanksgiving day at eleven o’clock.”

“That’s not far away. Do you
need me to bring anything? Candied yams, maybe?”

“Whatever you want to bring will
be great. Aislinn and Connor are bringing green bean casserole. Chloe and
Michael are bringing the dressing. And Kendall and Colin are bringing the rolls.
I was going to provide the glazed carrots, cranberry sauce, and turkey.”

“Why don’t you just worry
about the turkey? I’ll bring a few dishes along, including the carrots.”

“That would be wonderful.”

The waitress came over and
dropped off the check, which Marin paid before Autumn could swipe it from her.
She’d asked Autumn out to lunch so she was paying. Stubborn woman didn’t take
well to people paying for things for her though.

“Just let me use the restroom
and I’ll be ready to go,” Autumn said, excusing herself from the table.

Marin sipped on her sweet tea
while she waited but, when ten minutes had passed and Autumn hadn’t returned,
she began to worry. Gathering her purse, she slipped out of the booth and went
to the restroom to check on her. The first thing she noticed when she pushed
open the door was the open window. The second was the purse lying on the floor
just underneath it. Autumn’s purse. A blade stuck out of it, as if Autumn had
tried to draw it unsuccessfully.

Marin’s hands shook as she pulled
out her phone and dialed Gabriel’s number. She wasn’t sure what the news would
do to him and only hoped they could find Autumn in time.

“Gabriel,” she said as the
alpha answered. “We have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Autumn. I think they’ve
taken her.”

She heard the sound of a chair
hitting the wood floor of Gabriel’s kitchen and then pounding footsteps and a
door slam.

“Gabriel?”

“Where are you? I’m on my
way.”

“I’m at the diner around the
corner. In the women’s restroom. They took her out the window. Why would they
do that? Couldn’t they just create a portal and take her to their realm?”

“I don’t know. I’m calling
Eric to see if he can meet me there. How long?”

“Maybe ten minutes.”

Gabriel cursed. She heard the
sound of a motorcycle revving to life and then the line went dead.

***

Autumn cursed the outcast fae
from her position on the ground, but her words were muffled by the gag he’d
stuffed into her mouth. She’d expected them to look a little more threatening,
not so damn beautiful that her eyes nearly hurt. His ebony hair hung long and
straight down his back to his waist, his eyes such a bright green they put
emeralds to shame. Eyes that were ice cold as they perused her from head to
toe.

He hunkered down in front of
her, pulling the gag free. “Scream all you want. No one will hear you. I’ve
spelled the area.”

She cast a glance around. “A
cemetery? Really?”

He gave her a chilly grin.
“Not just any cemetery. Look behind you.”

She craned her neck and looked
at the headstone behind her.
Kiera
Andrews
. Autumn sucked in a breath. She was sitting on her cousin’s grave?

“Fitting, isn’t it?” the fae
said. “The wolf’s two mates can rest alongside one another. You’ll bleed out
over her grave before he’ll ever realize where I’ve taken you.”

“Why? I don’t want the
throne!”

“Maybe not, but your children
will.” The fae tipped his head to the side. “Of course, I could always
guarantee there won’t
be
any
children.”

Fear crept along her skin, its
spindly fingers crawling down her spine. She didn’t like the way he said that.
The fae reached out and caressed her cheek; he felt cold and clammy, like the
dead, sending a shiver of revulsion through her.

“You’re rather pretty for a
Halfling.” He cocked his head to the side. “Being mated to you might not be
such a hardship. I’d thought to capture you and kill you, perhaps mate you then
kill you, but maybe…”

She stared at him in horror.
No way was she mating him! She’d rather die. And something told her that she
might. If Gabriel couldn’t find her in time, her time was very limited. Maybe
if she kept him talking? It was worth a shot.

“Couldn’t you just battle for
the throne?” Autumn asked. “Why do you have to kill my entire family?”

“And spend the rest of my life
waiting for one of you to strike out at me?” He snorted. “How stupid do you
think I am?”

Did he really want her to
answer that? Because kidnapping her wasn’t his brightest moment. Gabriel
would
come looking for her. She didn’t
know if he would find her in time, but she could hope. Maybe she’d be really
lucky and he’d think to call the sorcerer for help. If anyone could locate her,
it would be Eric.

“What makes you think I would
willingly mate with you? I have a mate.”

He gave her a chilly grin.
“One so enamored of you that he hasn’t officially claimed you? Until he goes through
with the mating ceremony, you’re free to be with anyone. And fae laws don’t say
anything about you being a willing participant. While you would technically
inherit the throne if you were mated, I would be ruling by your side. And if
you think I’d let you rule the fae, you are sadly mistaken. It would be my laws
they followed.”

“You can’t force me to be with
you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Then why
are we still sitting here? Shouldn’t we have already gone to the land of the
fae so you could implement your devious plan?”

“We will, but I want to see
the look on your wolf’s face when he realizes he’s lost you forever. Once I
claim you as my bride, there’s no going back.”

“My powers will never activate
if I’m with you.”

He waved a hand. “A minor
thing. Besides, you could come to love me in time. We’ll have hundreds of years
together, after all.”

Hundreds of years by his side?
Having to welcome him into her bed? She fought the urge to gag. No way in hell
would she let that happen! She’d gladly die before sleeping with this monster.
Just the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. She’d been forced to
accept Perry, but she wouldn’t go through another forced mating. Why hadn’t she
given in to Gabriel? At least then she’d have known the kind touch of a man. If
she lived through this, she swore to give in to him, go through with the
ceremony if that’s what he wished. Anything.

The fae tilted his head again,
as if listening for something. A terrifying smile spread across his face and
her heart accelerated. Whatever he was planning couldn’t be good. The fae drew
a sword bathed in a blue light and she feared what was to come. Was this it?
The end for her? Autumn took a breath to steady her nerves, bracing herself for
whatever happened next.

Chapter Seven

Gabriel growled as he paced
his living room. Marin had followed him back to the Victorian so they could
call on Eric. Having the sorcerer pop up in the middle of the sidewalk wouldn’t
have been the best decision, even if Gabriel was anxious to have his mate
returned. Just knowing the outcasts had Autumn made him want to tear something
apart. One of the spelled blades was tucked under his belt and he held another
in his hand.

Marin placed a hand on his
arm, drawing him to a halt.

“I called in reinforcements,”
she said.

“What reinforcements?” Gabriel
asked.

“Your brothers and cousins.
Connor mentioned calling in Ramsey and Hunter. Do you have enough blades to go
around?”

“I have about fifteen of them,
but I’m using two.”

Marin nodded. “Chloe, Aislinn,
and Kendall are coming over with Mason and Alisdair. Cole is dropping our
daughter off at Cassie’s. He didn’t want to take a chance on the outcasts
coming to the house.”

“I’ll leave two blades here
with you,” Gabriel said. “I don’t want y’all to be defenseless in case
something happens.”

“I’ve got them,” Eric said,
opening his eyes. “They’re at the cemetery.”

“Can you pop us over there?”
Gabriel asked.

Eric arched a brow. “We’re
waiting on your reinforcements. I know you want to rush to her side, but you
won’t do her any good if you’re dead. The good news is that it’s just one
outcast who has her. The bad news is that it’s their leader.”

Dread filled Gabriel’s heart.
“Has he…has he harmed Autumn?”

Eric shook his head. “From
what I could see, he has her bound but she’s fine otherwise. I think he’s cocky
enough that he won’t use her as a shield when we attack, but maybe you should
ask Ramsey and Hunter to extract her while your brothers, cousins, and you
attack the fae. I can’t promise he won’t call for his own reinforcements but,
maybe by taking him by surprise, he won’t have a chance. Or, he may be so full
of himself that he’ll think he can take you. He doesn’t know the blades we have
are spelled, making his powers useless against us.”

The doorbell rang and Marin
hurried to answer it. Gabriel watched as his grim-faced brothers and cousins
filed into the room, with Ramsey, Hunter and Deacon on their heels.

“Thank you for coming,”
Gabriel said. “The blades you’ll need are in the crate in the front entry. Just
make sure at least two are left behind for the women. I don’t want to take any
chances.”

Cole nodded and the men went
to gather the weapons.

The front door opened again
and Kendall, Aislinn, and Chloe came in, two kids in tow. Marin led them into
the kitchen, stopping by the crate on the way and pulling out two daggers.
Gabriel was happy to see they would be armed, and hoped like hell they didn’t
need to be. If the outcast had Autumn, Gabriel hoped the fae would leave the
rest of the pack alone. He had what he wanted, after all.

Eric placed his hand on
Gabriel’s shoulder. “If everyone will grab a shoulder or hand or something, I
can transport all of us to the cemetery at the same time. I feel that time is
of the essence. I couldn’t hear what the fae was saying to Autumn, but she
looked both disgusted and terrified at the same time, so whatever it was, it
wasn’t good.”

Gabriel took a deep breath to
calm himself. It wouldn’t do to go in half-cocked. He paused and looked at
Eric.

“Would a wolf be able to take
down the fae?” he asked.

Both of Eric’s eyebrows rose.
“Yes, I believe so. Do you wish to go in as a wolf?”

“Gabriel should stay in human
form,” Deacon said. “I volunteer to go as a wolf.”

“Makes two of us,” Colin said.
“He may not be expecting an attack on four legs. Maybe we can confuse him with
the four of you coming straight at him and Deacon and me sneaking in from
behind. That will free up Hunter and Ramsey to snatch Autumn.”

Gabriel looked at Ramsey and
Hunter. “When you get her, you run like hell. Get out of the cemetery. Do you
have a cell phone with you? You may need to call for a ride.”

Ramsey pulled his phone from
his belt. “Let me call now.”

Gabriel waited patiently as
Ramsey spoke to Lucas about a pick-up at the cemetery in five minutes. It would
probably take the wolf a little longer than that to arrive there, unless he was
nearby already, but at least the plan was in motion. He felt better knowing
that Autumn would be removed from the fae’s clutches.

Gabriel nodded to Eric once
Ramsey had rejoined their circle. “We’re ready.”

They shimmered out of
existence and materialized just inside the gate of the cemetery. Gabriel knew
they were taking a chance on being discovered but, in that moment, he didn’t
care. All he could think about was getting to Autumn. Deacon and Colin stepped
into a grove of trees and stripped before shifting. The two wolves bounded out
of the wooded area and ran toward the back of the cemetery.

“You won’t be able to see me,”
Eric said, “but I’ll be here. I have to leave the fight up to the six of you,
but if it looks like you’re losing, I’ll step in. I may get my ass handed to me
for it, but I’m not about to let Autumn be taken from you, Gabriel.”

“Thank you, Eric. For
everything,” Gabriel said.

The sorcerer nodded his head
before vanishing from sight. Connor, Cole, Michael, and Gabriel made their way
through the cemetery. There was a disturbance in the air a ways ahead. With a
heavy heart, Gabriel realized where they were going. The damn fae had Autumn at
Kiera’s grave. No way would he bury her next to his deceased wife. One way or
another, Autumn was going to make it out of this alive. The jury was still out
on whether or not Gabriel would still be breathing at the end of the fight, but
he would willingly give his life to save his mate.

The air around Kiera’s
headstone shimmered. Gabriel could see the fae standing near Autumn, but he
couldn’t hear what was being said. As he stepped through the veil, everything
came into sharp focus and his ears were filled with the fae’s chanting and
Autumn’s cussing. It seemed his mate didn’t want to go down without a fight,
even if she was bound hand and foot. He cast her a glance, one he hoped was
reassuring, before facing the fae again. He’d drawn a sword lit with a blue
light. Gabriel assumed it was spelled with fae magick and fisted both daggers
in his hands.

The fae glanced at the blades
and smirked. “Do you honestly think those will do you any good against me? Not
only do you have to get close enough to use them,” he said, slashing his sword
through the air, “but you’d have to break through my magick.”

“I think we can take you,”
Gabriel said as his brothers and Connor flanked him.

If anything, the fae smiled
wider. Gabriel wasn’t sure he liked that smile. Either the fae was completely crazy,
or he knew something they didn’t. Were more fae on their way? Were they about
to be outnumbered?

The fae lunged, his blade
swinging. Gabriel and his brothers and cousin went into action, blocking the
arc of the blade and slashing with their daggers. When their blades sliced
through the fae’s clothing and drew blood, he looked astonished.

“That can’t be,” he said. “No
weapon forged by man can touch a fae.”

Connor grinned. “Spelled
blades, asshole. You’re going down.”

Gabriel engaged the fae again
with his brothers and Connor circling and attacking. It didn’t take long before
they had disarmed the fae, who was starting to look decidedly nervous. A quick
glance showed the two wolves waiting at the edge of the spelled area, as well
as Ramsey and Hunter removing Autumn from the area. Ramsey lifted her into his
arms and took off at a run.

Gabriel attacked the fae
again, wanting to keep his attention focused on them and not Autumn. It worked
and the fae began launching spells at them. Michael found out the hard way that
the spells hurt if they successfully found their target. Armed with the new
knowledge, they began blocking the spells with their blades and dodging the
larger blasts.

Deacon and Colin attacked,
launching themselves at the fae and knocking him to the ground. Michael
wrenched the fae’s hands behind his back and held tight while Gabriel lifted
his head.

“What do you think now,
asshole?” Gabriel asked. “You aren’t half as cocky as you were before, are
you?”

“You can’t kill me,” the fae
boasted.

“Watch me.” Gabriel’s eyes
narrowed and he dragged the blade across the fae’s throat, spilling his blood.

Eric materialized. “You have
to remove his head; otherwise he’ll heal and come after you again.”

Gabriel focused on his prey
again and did as Eric said, removing the fae’s head. As he held the severed
head, he looked at Eric, not sure what to do with it. Eric held out his hand
and Gabriel was only too happy to hand it over. He watched as Eric engulfed the
head in a bright light and then it blinked out of existence.

“Where did it go?” Michael
asked.

“I returned it to the land of
the fae, as a warning to the outcasts. If you took out their leader, their most
powerful warrior, then they have no hope of defeating you and claiming the
throne.”

“And the body?” Cole asked.

“An unmarked grave in an old
cemetery. If I bury him on holy ground, he won’t be coming back anytime soon.”
Eric smiled. “Not that I’ve ever heard of a fae coming back after having their
head removed, but we can’t be too careful this time. I’d hate for them to come
after Autumn again.”

“Can you return us to the
Victorian?” Gabriel asked, wiping his bloody hands on his jeans.

“Just as soon as Colin and
Deacon change back and put some clothes on.”

Gabriel glanced at the two and
they took off. By the time Gabriel, Eric and the others arrived at the front
gate, Colin and Deacon were dressed and waiting for them. Grabbing Eric’s
shoulder, as well as his brother, Cole’s, Gabriel braced himself for the trip
home.

When they materialized in the
living room of the Victorian, Autumn was sitting on the sofa with a cup of what
smelled like herbal tea. She rose and launched herself into Gabriel’s arms, but
he was hesitant to hold her.

“I’m all bloody,” he said.

She burrowed her face against
his chest. “I don’t care.”

Gabriel wrapped his arms
around her, holding her tight. “You’ll never have a problem from the fae
again.”

She lifted her head. “But what
about Grandfather?”

“We’ll have Eric investigate
for you. Last I heard, he was still alive. Maybe the outcasts can be convinced
to release him now that their leader is dead. With no one to put on the throne,
I’m sure they’ll be happy to free him.”

Autumn didn’t look convinced
and Gabriel hoped he was speaking the truth. Honestly, he had no idea how the
outcast fae were going to react. For all he knew, another leader would rise up
and come after them. And just because her grandfather had been alive when he
spoke with Kiera, didn’t mean the old man hadn’t been killed since then. If
that was the case, Gabriel had no idea who would rule the fae. Autumn was the
last heir. Would she be taken from him and sent to another realm?

“I should go shower,” Gabriel
said, releasing her.

“We all should,” Connor said,
pulling his bloodstained tee away from his body. “We’ll gather the women and
let the two of you have some alone time.”

“I appreciate it.” Gabriel
smiled.

Cole slapped him on the back.
“Thanksgiving. Our house. Two days.”

Gabriel nodded. “We’ll be
there.”

After everyone had left,
Gabriel nodded to the stairs. “I’m going to get cleaned up. To celebrate your
freedom from the fae outcasts, I thought we might go out for steaks tonight. Or
Italian, if you’d prefer. There’s a great place over on Fifth Street.”

“Pasta sounds good,” Autumn
said.

He nodded. “I’ll be back down
in a few minutes.”

Autumn looked down at her
rumpled clothes. “I should probably freshen up too.”

They headed upstairs and
Autumn stopped in her bedroom. As she laid out her clothes, she wondered what
the hell she was doing. Her mate was upstairs, all sexy and wet, and she was in
here contemplating clothes. What better way to move their relationship forward
than to join him? She doubted he would throw her out if she showed up in his
bathroom naked.

Autumn hurried upstairs,
pausing outside Gabriel’s room. She heard the shower running and slipped inside
the room, discarding her clothes as she approached the bathroom door. It was
ajar and she was treated to the site of her mate washing his too long hair. Not
that she minded that his hair brushed his shoulders. She actually found it
rather hot, but she’d noticed his brothers kept theirs a bit neater.

“So hot,” she mumbled under
her breath. She felt her heart race in anticipation of what was to come. Or
what she hoped was to come.

Pushing the door open, she
stepped into the bathroom and opened the shower door. Gabriel swiped the water
off his face and stared at her. His gaze caressed her body, heat burning in the
blue depths. She got into the shower and closed the door behind her. Gabriel
still didn’t move and she wondered if she would have to make the first move.