The next day was torture for Gabriel. He spent all day hobbling around the hospital in his pajamas (he refused to go out in that horrible gown), dragging his IV around with him and generally making a nuisance of himself. He pestered the nurses with asinine questions, he explored as many restricted sections as he could before he got caught, and, when that failed, he hung out in the cafeteria and talked with the ladies making the food.

He found that even though they had some pretty good gossip (apparently, there was a huge scandal going on between a female nurse and two male doctors. She was dating one, but then she got caught having sex with the other, and now both doctors were refusing to talk to her, and were dating each other), they could not alleviate his boredom.

He would have entertained himself with his phone, but he didn't have a charger with him and didn't want to risk his phone dying and having no way to contact his father or Castiel. Hospitals, and doctors in general, freaked him out, and he'd made it a point to stay as far away from them as possible. In fact, while most people got annual check-ups, the last time Gabriel went for one was when he was ten. He'd never even gotten blood drawn. Despite all this, he'd always thought that hospitals were generally interesting places.

Thanks to Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med, he had a perception of hospitals that was sadly proved false by his stay in one. There was not a constant stream of people coming in from car crashes or hiking accidents. Of course, there were the usual hospital things, like broken bones and bronchitis and unusual stomach pains, but the most interesting thing he'd witnessed so far was an angry mom yelling at a nurse because her son was apparently dying of the Bubonic Plague (she'd looked it up on Web M.D. but it turned out that the kid was just having an allergic reaction).

Nothing interesting happened until three o'clock that afternoon. Gabriel was in the Pediatrics Ward, talking to the children who were not sick enough to get their own rooms. He was in the middle of a story about the handsome Gabriel, who was saving the damsel-in-distress Samantha from death by lack of chocolate cupcakes. The kids were super into it, and they all groaned in disappointment when his phone rang and Gabriel stopped the story to answer it.

"Hello?" he said, drowning out the sound of the kids around him discussing the story.

"Hello, Gabriel," came Castiel's voice. "I'm on my way to the hospital. Is there anything you want me to pick up for you from your house?"

"Oh god, yes," Gabriel groaned. "I need my phone charger, clean clothes - you know what I like to wear - and something to eat that's not hospital food."

Castiel chuckled. "I'll pick something up from 7/11 on my way. Has your father visited you yet?"

"No, but he texted me earlier," Gabriel said. "He should be here any minute."

"Good," Castiel said. "Oh, and Sam and Dean are also on their way. They're bringing their father, for the explanation."

Castiel's voice was dripping with skepticism, and Gabriel couldn't help but sigh.

"I don't know why they're making such a big deal out of this," he said. "All Sam had to do was tell me why he told everyone we were dating. There was no need to drag his father into it. Also, did he ever ask you about why I was in the woods that night?"

"No," Castiel told him. "I guess he simply assumed that you were taking a walk and were attacked by some animal, though I don't know why he wasn't more suspicious about the whole situation."

"It was very suspicious," Gabriel agreed. "But whatever floats his root beer, I guess."

There was a pause from Castiel's end of the line. "What?" he finally asked.

"Whatever floats his root beer," Gabriel repeated. "Y'know, like that saying, 'Whatever floats your boat', but with root beer, because root beer floats are amazing and deserve their own saying."

Castiel sighed, sounding very put out. "Sure, Gabriel," he said. "I just reached your house. I should be at the hospital in the next half hour or so."

"Don't forget my food!" Gabriel said. "And my charger!"

"I won't," Castiel promised, right before he hung up. Gabriel pocketed his phone, which was now barely hanging on to life at only three percent. One of the kids who was still sitting cross-legged across from him - Jesus, they'd been so quiet after their initial outburst, Gabriel had forgotten they were even there in the first place - spoke up.

"Can we finish the story now?" she asked. Gabriel smiled at her and folded his hands in his lap.

"Of course. Where were we?"


As soon as he finished the story, a nurse came into the room, asking for him. She said that his father was waiting for him in his room, and Gabriel sighed, knowing that Dr. Wright had probably already talked to Chuck and explained the strange bite marks and the terrible condition Gabriel had been in when he'd been admitted.

Still, Gabriel was no coward. Usually. Not this time, though.

When he got back to his room, he found the door wide open. Chuck jumped up from the bed when he saw Gabriel and he rushed over, grabbing him into a hug and being mindful of the IV.

"Goddammit, Gabriel, don't scare me like that!" he said.

"Um," Gabriel said, more than a little confused. He'd been expecting more yelling. "Did you talk to the doctor yet?"

At this, Chuck pulled back and levelled Gabriel with a stern glare.

"Of course," he said. "I know about the vampires, Gabriel, I'm not stupid."

Gabriel winced. "Not that I'm not okay with this, but why aren't you mad?"

"I finished being mad a while ago," Chuck said dismissively. "Becky called me yesterday and told me she was assigning you to the hunt. But she also told me that it was only one vampire and that you'd have a partner."

"She lied to both of us," Gabriel said, for once not having to lie. Although, he'd known that he wouldn't have a partner when he went on the hunt, but Chuck didn't need to know that.


Castiel sat in the lone chair in Gabriel's room, watching as he steadily worked his way through a large bag of Doritos. Gabriel's appetite had returned full force once he'd gotten out of his depression. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed Sam until he'd been face to face with the moose. Simply being in the same room as him had lifted his spirits immeasurably. He'd gotten back the motivation to take care of himself, even if it was just trying to find out why Sam had lied to an entire hospital, and probably the cops, as well.

"You might want to slow down," Castiel said. "It would be terribly pathetic if you survived a vampire attack only to die in your hospital room from accidental inhalation of Doritos."

"Shut up, Cas," Gabriel said, voice muffled through the food in his mouth. "I'm fucking hungry."

"Is she good in bed?" Castiel asked dryly, and Gabriel choked on his chips.

"The best," Gabriel said when he was done coughing, voice hoarse and eyes watering.

"Oh, I don't know about that. You've never seen me in bed," came a voice from the door, and Sam sauntered into the room with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Not yet," Gabriel said, winking before he could catch himself. Then he frowned, because he'd always been so easily distracted by sex. "Wait, no, stop. I'm mad at you. Have you come to explain why you lied?"

Sam shrugged. "Can't I have come because I wanted to see you?"

"No," Gabriel deadpanned, even as his heart did a flip at the thought of Sam coming to visit him for no reason. He was so glad he wasn no longer hooked up to a heart monitor."Now start explaining."

"Hold on, we have to wait for-," Sam started, but he was interrupted as two more people entered the room. Dean smiled and waved at Gabriel as he went to stand by Castiel. The second person that entered gave off a predatory air so strong that Gabriel had to resist the urge to take a step back from him.

He was as tall as Dean, which meant that he was a lot taller than Gabriel. Short, dark brown hair fell over his forehead and his scruffy beard was peppered with grey. His light brown eyes were sharp as they ran over everything, stopping to rest on Gabriel for just a tic too long before moving on. He was pretty well-muscled, with the same broad shoulders and narrow hips that Sam and Dean had. He was obviously John Winchester.

"Your father, I presume," Gabriel said blandly, gesturing towards John. Sam nodded, and Gabriel clasped his hands together, plastering a huge, fake smile on his face. "Great! Now will someone please explain what the everliving fuck is going on?"

"That's him?" John asked suddenly, nodding towards Gabriel but looking at Sam. "He's shorter than I thought."

"Hey! 'He' has a name, you know. Would it kill you to use it while you're in his fucking hospital room, about to explain why your son is being a douche?" Gabriel growled. John raised a single eyebrow, and then smirked.

"He's got spirit," he said, still not addressing Gabriel. "I've got no doubt that he'll keep you in check."

Sam smiled at John, but Gabriel was about ready to murder someone, and from the look on his face, so was Castiel.

"Sam!" Gabriel snapped. "Explain. Now."

Chuck chose that moment to come back into the room, and all three Winchesters turned to glare at him when he did. Sam even went so far as to bare his teeth like he was a dog, or something. Chuck paused in the doorway, obviously not prepared for there to be strangers in the room, or for them to give him such hostile greetings.

"Stop glaring at my dad," Gabriel demanded, and, strangely enough, all three of them listened and backed off. Chuck raised an eyebrow questioningly at Gabriel, who sighed and shook his head. "Dad, this is Sam and Dean Winchester and their father, John. Winchester assholes - and Dean - this is my father, Chuck Shurley."

Dean grinned at the insult to his family, while Sam and John ignored it in favour of studying Chuck.

"You don't look anything alike," Sam said, voice curious.

Gabriel snorted. "I should hope not. I'm adopted."

All three Winchesters looked at him sharply when he said that, and Gabriel tried not to fidget under his scrutiny.

"That makes sense," John eventually said.

"What makes sense?" Surprisingly, it was not Gabriel who had asked, but Castiel. He moved to stand next to Gabriel, and crossed his arms. His eyes narrowed and he glared at each Winchester in turn. "Someone needs to explain what the hell is going on right now."

"You're right," Sam said, holding his hands out palms up, like he was calming a nervous animal. "I owe you an explanation. Especially you, Gabriel."

"Damn right, you do."

Sam took a deep breath, then paused and eyed the three of them warily. "You might want to sit down for this."

Gabriel rolled his eyes - because, really, how bad could the explanation be? - but sat on the edge of the bed anyway. Chuck and Castiel copied him. Sam breathed in a huge breath and let it out slow.

"Do you believe in werewolves?" he asked, and Gabriel's jaw dropped.

"Oh, my god, Sam, are you a werewolf?" he asked. Chuck stiffened and moved his hand to his belt, probably looking for a weapon that he didn't have.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I am. We all are, in fact."

"Dad and I are hunters," Gabriel deadpanned. "It's not that hard to believe. How do you think I ended up bleeding out in the middle of the woods, anyway? Stupid vampires." That last part was muttered, but Sam must have heard it anyway, because his eyes darkened with anger.

"Don't worry. I took care of them," he growled. Like, literally growled. It was the kind of sound Gabriel would have expected from a real wolf, not a human - even if that human was a werewolf. And, really, he should have seen this coming. The dreams were enough of a clue.

Chuck shot to his feet and pulled Gabriel and Castiel behind him. He glared at the Winchesters suspiciously.

"Werewolves," he said, voice cautious, "only change during the full moon. How did you make that sound? And why are you telling us this? Now I'll have to hunt you down and kill you."

John sighed irritatedly. "Wrong kind."

Chuck blinked. "Pardon?"

"You have the wrong kind of werewolf," John explained. "There are two kinds. The one you think we are is called Canis Lupus Hattai. We are Canis Lupus."

"What's the difference?" Gabriel asked.

"There's a huge difference," Dean said, finally chiming in to the conversation. "Canis Lupus came first, we can control our phase, and we don't eat human hearts."

Chuck narrowed his eyes, and relaxed a fraction. "I've never heard of this," he said. "I was taught that there was one kind of werewolf."

"Well, yeah. We don't want hunters to come after us," Sam said. "The Canis Lupus can pass for human, and we've used this ability to hide among humans for thousands of years."

"Long ago," John started.

"Oh, lord," Gabriel muttered, sitting back down on the bed and pulling Chuck and Castiel down with him. John gave him a sharp look, but then went back to his story.

"Long ago, the creator of the Canis Lupus, the Great Luna, saw that the humans of the world were suffering. Disease, war, poverty - they were destroying each other, so she decided to help. She looked to the wolves, who thrived in communities based on love and supporting each other. She combined the man and the wolf, and the Canis Lupus were born.

"The belief that the wolf and the man are different is only true for the subspecies, Canis Lupus Hattai. With Canis Lupus, or the Grey Wolves, as we are also called, the wolf and man are always aware of each other. When in our wolf forms, we can call on the reasoning of the man, and the man can call on the traits of the wolf, such as his hearing, sight, fangs, or claws.

"We don't change into wolves," John said. "We phase, because we don't completely turn ourselves over to the wolves. The kind hunters go after are called Hokkaido Wolves. They were created when a pack of Greys went rogue hundreds of years ago. They attacked and ate humans. But the Great Luna had installed a… a defect, you could call it, in every Grey.

"If they drank human blood, they would lose themselves to their wolves. The rogue Greys became the werewolves shown in horror movies, the kind who change once a month and can only be killed with silver."

"That's great," Gabriel said. "Really interesting history lesson that I did not ask for. But what does it have to do with me?"

"I was getting there," John grumbled, and Sam apparently decided that it was time for him to take over, because he continued the explanation.

"One of the things the Great Luna admired the most about wolves in the wild was their commitment to each other. Wolves will die for the sake of the pack, for the sake of their mates. Wolves mate for life, you know, and she loved that about them. So, she put that trait in the Grey Wolves."

"Wolves are monogamous," Castiel said dryly. "Who cares? So are most humans."

"Wolves are not just monogamous," Dean explained. "The Greys are monogamous only to one person. Their mate."

"Greys have only one mate that was created just for them," John said. "A soulmate, if you prefer. It can be centuries before a wolf finds his mate, and the ratio is about thirty males to every one female, so finding your mate is a very special thing."

"What does this have to do with me?" Gabriel asked again. At the implication that male wolves only had female mates, he'd felt the first stirrings of the same despair he'd just gotten released from. He tried to hide it, but it looked like Sam saw it anyway.

"Well, it is very rare for a wolf to find his mate early on in his life," he said. "But it has been known to happen. Even rarer is a male finding his mate in another male." Gabriel perked up slightly. "But that also has been known to happen."

"Wait, you can't possibly mean what I think you mean," Castiel said. "Are you saying that Gabriel is your mate?"

Sam beamed at him and nodded, and Gabriel's eyes widened almost comically. For a few moments, all he could do was open and close his mouth like a fish, and after an excruciating long time, he very eloquently said, "What?"

"You're my soulmate," Sam said.

"I can't be," Gabriel said, even as his heart filled with hope. "I'm not a werewolf."

"How do you know?" John countered. "You said you were adopted. Do you know for sure who your parents were?" Gabriel hesitated, and John grinned triumphantly. "You must have some werewolf blood running through your veins, otherwise you and Sam wouldn't have Bonded."

"Bonded?" Chuck said. He turned to Gabriel angrily. "Did you have sex with him?"

"No!" Gabriel said.

"Pity," Sam added, and Gabriel whirled on him angrily. Well, whirled as much as he could while still attached to an IV.

"Shut it, White Fang," he snapped. Then he turned to John. "What do you mean, Bonded?"

"When mates meet for the first time," John said, "they form a Bond. The Bond is the force that connects their souls. However, with half-Greys, or Greys whose wolves lie dormant, like yours, the Bond isn't usually formed until the wolf comes out. It's mostly during times of great stress, or when the wolf knows that they need the help of their mate. The Bond allows mates to speak to each other telepathically and to feel each other's emotions."

"I haven't heard anyone's thoughts but my own," Gabriel said, a little desperately.

Are you sure about that? a voice that was definitely not his asked. Gabriel couldn't help but jump in surprise a little, and then he glared at Sam.

"Not cool," he said.

...Wait.

"Wait…"

"Did you hear that?" Sam asked excitedly. Gabriel nodded silently, and Sam grinned. "See? I told you, we're mates."

"That's not the only thing that marks mates," Dean said. "When male Greys go through puberty, they develop markings on their bodies that look like tattoos. They determine the wolf's place in the pack hierarchy, and they change when they meet their mate, or when the Bond is established. Marks will appear on the female that match the male's like a puzzle piece."

"Holy shit," Castiel said. He turned to Gabriel, and his gaze flicked to Gabriel's right shoulder. "Show them."

Everyone waited with bated breath and Gabriel struggled out of his t-shirt. Sam inhaled sharply when he saw Gabriel's marks. Slowly, almost like he was in a trance, he stepped closer and reached out to touch them. Gabriel stepped back before his fingers made contact, and Sam's eyes snapped up to meet his. Sam growled, low and dangerous, and his eyes started to glow green. This time, Gabriel was sure that it wasn't a trick of the light.

Why do you run from me? Sam asked.

"I'm not running from you," Gabriel said. He pulled his shirt back on and took another step back so that he was sitting on the bed again. Sam growled again. His eyes seemed to glow even brighter.

"Leave," he demanded, and Chuck and Castiel spluttered indignantly.

"You can't be serious," the latter said, but Sam was having none of it. He turned to Castiel, and to Gabriel's surprise, Castiel immediately dropped his eyes.

"Leave," Sam growled again.

"Cas," Dean hissed. "Come on, man. We don't want to get in between a wolf and his mate."

Gabriel couldn't look away from Sam's eyes. They bored into his own, and held more emotions than he could count.

"Castiel," he said. "It's fine. I need to talk to Sam alone, anyway."

They obviously didn't like it, but Chuck and Castiel left with Dean and John, and then Sam and Gabriel were alone.

Gabriel, Sam said in his mind, and that was going to take some getting used to.

"Yes?" Gabriel asked, and Sam growled.

Gabriel. His voice was more insistent, more desperate, and Gabriel suddenly realized what he wanted.

Yes? he said in his mind, and he felt more than saw the moment Sam received his thought. The wolf - freaky - relaxed a bit, and his eyes lost their glow. Now that he was acknowledging it, Gabriel realized that through the Bond, which he could see in his mind as a braided golden thread, he could feel Sam's emotions.

You can do more than that, Sam said. You can access my memories, my thoughts, and I can do the same to yours.

"No privacy?" Gabriel asked.

"There's a way to put up a mental block," Sam said, and Gabriel was relieved when he stopped speaking telepathically. It felt… intimate, close in a way that Gabriel knew they weren't ready for yet. "We are ready, Gabe. We were literally born ready. The Great Luna made us for each other."

"Why is she called the Great Luna?" Gabriel asked, instead of addressing the main focus of what Sam had said.

"Because she's the spirit of the moon." Sam moved to sit down on the bed and Gabriel let him. Before he was consciously aware of it, he was leaning into Sam's warmth, and Sam's arm was wrapping around his shoulders. "What's bothering you? And don't say nothing, I can feel your emotions, remember?"

Gabriel paused before answering. "If I'm your mate," he said softly, "why did you reject me a week ago?"

Sam tensed minutely, and then forced himself to relax.

"I didn't know you were my mate then," he said. "You have to understand, Gabriel, that in our culture, we are raised knowing that there is only one person out there that is destined for us, destined to love us completely, to be the other halves of our souls. Two males or two females being mated is so rare that no Grey ever teaches his cubs that. I expected to be mated to a female, and I was not prepared for how quickly I developed feelings for you, or for how strong they were."

"Me, too," Gabriel said, and Sam squeezed his shoulders.

"I didn't know you were part Grey, obviously, and I didn't want to start something with you knowing that I would eventually have to leave you. But I couldn't help the fact that I was drawn to you. And then… actually, I can just show you. Close your eyes."

Gabriel eyed him dubiously, but he trusted Sam, and so he complied. And then he wasn't him anymore.

My ceiling hadn't changed in the last hour, but I couldn't stop staring at it. My thoughts were a mess, and at the center of it all was him.

Gabriel.

I didn't know whether or not I was in love with him, but I knew that I felt something for him. Something incredibly strong. But how could I, when I was going to meet my mate eventually? I could have a fling with him, maybe date him until I found her, but I knew I wouldn't be able to.

I didn't have it in me to hurt Gabriel like that; just the thought of causing Gabriel pain made my stomach twist with nausea.

The clock on my bedside table told me it was only six in the evening. I had already been lying there since noon. Ever since Gabriel had asked me out, I'd been assaulted with strange feelings. Elation, first of all, that Gabriel returned my attraction. But after I told him I was straight, there was guilt and incredible sadness.

Gabriel didn't come to school for a week after that, and I was worried. In the entire time Gabriel and I had been friends, Gabriel hadn't been absent even once. Suddenly missing a week of school was suspicious. Gabriel didn't return any of my calls or texts, and then Castiel had started giving me the cold shoulder, and I was so confused. And worried. But mostly worried.

A knock on my door interrupted my melancholy thoughts, and I turned my head enough to see who it was. Dad came into the room, and he sighed when he saw me.

"You are a mess," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. He reached out and placed his hand on my arm, and I felt instantly comforted by that one simple action. "What's got you into such a state? Even Dean's starting to worry."

I shrugged. How much should I tell him, if I even did decide to tell him anything at all? Dad had never been the touchy-feely type. Well, not by Grey standards. To humans, he would appear tactile, just like all Greys, if a little bit less. Feelings were more of Mom's department than Dad's, but it had been Dad who taught me about mates in the first place, not Mom.

"I don't know," I finally said. "I'm just trying to figure some things out."

"Well, this wouldn't be the first time that's happened, but it would be the first time you've laid in bed being depressed all weekend because of it. You've been acting weird all week. Don't think I didn't notice." He finally withdrew his hand, and I sat up and sat cross-legged on my bed, facing him.

I took a deep breath to try to calm my nerves. "Dad, can two males or two females be mates?" I asked. He looked surprised by my question, and he tilted his head in thought.

"There have been a few recorded instances in which that's happened, though it is very rare because we already have enough trouble continuing our species as it is," he said. "Why? Do you think you've found your mate in another male?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I really like him - like, a lot. Maybe even love, but I have nothing to compare it to but what I feel for the pack, but that's completely different." Dad nodded in encouragement, so I continued. "But there haven't been any mating signs. My marks haven't changed, I haven't heard his thoughts, his scent hasn't changed and nothing new has happened to it. Although…"

"Although," Dad prompted.

"Although, I haven't seen him for a week, so I wouldn't know. He asked me out last weekend, and I told him I was straight," I admitted. Dad looked at me thoughtfully, obviously deep in thought.

"He likes you back," he finally said. "Why not just date him for a while? High school relationships rarely last, anyway."

"Yeah, but I don't want to hurt him," I said. "I'd rather pull my nails off with pliers."

"That's a little extreme, don'tcha think?" Dad said. "But if you haven't seen him since you rejected him, it sounds like this is bothering him as much as it's been bothering you. Maybe more, considering you've been going to school and he hasn't."

That was true. I grimaced. Maybe I had hurt Gabriel, which was exactly what I'd been trying to avoid doing. The guilt flashed hot in my gut, and I took another deep breath. I needed to clear my head. A run should help. It always did.

I told Dad as much, and he didn't say anything as I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Most of the pack was in the dining room eating dinner, so I managed to get out without having to deal with the barrage of questions about my strange behaviour that would inevitably come if I encountered anyone.

The cool night air helped to clear my head a little, but I couldn't fully escape the guilt, or the longing, so I started to run. It was only fifteen minutes later that I realized I was heading the way I would go to get to school, or Gabriel's house. I scowled, but didn't turn around.

I lived in an entirely different city than Gabriel did. His house was about half an hour away from mine by car when there was no traffic, and it would take me only an hour to run there if I didn't pace myself. Wolves, whether werewolves or actual wolves, have an uncanny ability to run almost indefinitely without getting tired. Immeasurable endurance had come in handy a lot in the past, especially when I had been on my middle school track team, and it would come in handy now.

I let my thoughts wander as I ran, my muscle memory guiding me subconsciously along sidewalks and through back alleys. I didn't know what to do. Should I start something with Gabriel, even knowing that I'd have to leave him eventually?

About half an hour after I left the house, I felt something tickling at the back of my mind. Trepidation. It made me run just a little bit faster, and my skin break out in the first signs of a sweat. With a jolt, I realized that it wasn't me who was feeling anxious. My eyes widened when I realized that I was feeling my mate's feelings.

And she was scared.

Protectiveness flared within me and I pushed back against the new presence - her presence - in my mind. Instantly, I realized three things. One: my mate was Gabriel. Two: Dad was going to flip. Three: Gabriel was being attacked.

Through Gabriel's eyes, I could see a figures standing over him. His teeth were unnaturally sharp and jagged, and the hunger in his eyes was plain as day. Vampire. I wasn't getting anything from Gabriel's thoughts but nearly overwhelming fear, but I was able to pick out one bit of helpful information.

He was at the large park - more of a small woods, actually - in the center of town. I'd seen it a few times, back when Castiel, Dean, Gabriel, and I used to hang out nearly all the time. It would take me another half hour to get there at the current pace I was going, but Gabriel didn't have half an hour.

The wolf in me pushed against my control. He was nearly rabid with the need to get to Gabriel. For once, I didn't fight him. One second I was human, and the next, I was a wolf, running twice as fast as I was in my human form.

I blocked out everything, all the noises, thoughts, and smells that didn't have anything to do with Gabriel. I kept my mind open to his, monitoring his thoughts and making sure that he was still alive. He was running from the vampires now, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to outrun them.

I pushed myself to go faster.

I could see the woods looming up ahead of me. In my mind, Gabriel was knocked down and something heavy settled on his back, and then there was pain, pain, pain, as the vampire sunk his teeth into him. I saw red and bounded across the road, not caring that I almost got hit by at least three different cars.

I hit Gabriel's scent when I got to the tree line, and I followed it deeper and deeper into the woods.

Helphelphelphelphelphelphelphelphelp! I heard in my mind, and I snarled with fury and ran faster. Gabriel's presence in my mind began to grow weaker, and I finally located him and the vampires. The sight of the two filthy blood-suckers with their mouths over my mate filled me with a rage unlike anything I had ever felt before, and I leaped at one of the vampires just as I felt Gabriel slip away from my mind.

For a moment, my heart stopped. But then I realized that he was still alive, just unconscious, and I turned my attention to the vampire underneath my paws. It hissed at me and I wasted no time in ripping its throat out, then pulling the head the rest of the way off. Red blood sprayed into my face and encouraged my bloodlust, and I turned to the other one.

It was still crouched over Gabriel, who was far too still and pale. It licked its lips and grinned at me, and I crouched low and growled a warning. We launched ourselves at each other at the same time, but it didn't have the advantage that I did, the rage that gave me more strength than I should have had.

Its head went flying, and I hurried over to Gabriel. Phasing back to human, I ignored the cold wind biting my naked skin. There were two groups of multiple bites each that were steadily gushing blood, one on his shoulder and one on his forearm. I growled and knew that my eyes were glowing green, but there was nothing I could do to abate the wolf's anger.

I found Gabriel's phone in one of his pockets and used it to call 911, and then I stripped the male vampire of his clothes and and slipped them on. They were a little tight, but they would have to do. The female vampire's clothes I ripped into strips and used to try and stem the flow of blood from Gabriel's wounds. When I was more or less satisfied with my handiwork, I lifted both vampires and dumped a few meters away from where Gabriel was.

Then, I used Gabriel's phone again to call my father. There was a lot I had to tell him.


Sorry this chapter is so late, guys. I was on a camping trip on an island for the past few days and there was absolutely no cell service.