Hi everyone, here is the next chapter of Taken hope you guys enjoy. Thanks to Angelicsounds for editing this piece for me, once again you did an awesome job.
JAMMANN
*
Alicia's head was pounding, literally. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to her head. Sitting up, she massaged her temples, hoping to alleviate the pain. After a moment, she laid back down, groaning. Maybe if she went back to sleep, she'd feel better when she woke up. Lying down on her pillow, she closed her eyes, wishing the pain away, when suddenly her eyes flew open. She wasn't in her room. Popping up, she fought down a wave of nausea. She tried to remember what all had happened the night before. She knew she had been taken by Gabriel, but the details, the how and why of that night, were fuzzy.
Oh God, how long had she been out? Had she been raped? Throwing off the covers, she jumped out of bed, but fell down immediately. Whatever Gabriel did was obviously still working. Pulling herself off the floor, she took good look around the room, expecting to see a dungeon. Instead, she saw a spacious bedroom. The room was fully furnished and done up in rich earth tones; the room was absolutely beautiful, which confused her even more.
Who the hell kidnaps someone and then puts her in a big ass room fit for a queen? Better yet, didn't most abductors keep their victims chained up? None of this made any sense to her. She was nobody, why would he take her? Maybe it was because he knew nobody would miss her. Well, maybe William would. Alicia felt her eyes starting to tear up at the thought of being locked away, and to think she thought he was a nice guy after the way complimented her. And those eyes, she could have sworn the way he looked at her...Alicia shook her head. Now was not the time to reminisce, she needed to figure out a way to escape.
Slowly, she crept towards the door, not sure what was waiting on the other side. She pressed her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything, but she heard nothing. Deciding to take a chance, Alicia attempted to open the door, but found it locked. Upon further inspection, it looked like the door had a deadbolt on it that was locked from the outside.
"Think, girl, think," she whispered to herself.
There was no point in trying to break the door down, she was strong, but not that damn strong. Screaming wasn't going to solve anything, and besides, there was no telling who was on the other side of that door. Looking around, she spotted the curtain on the other side of the room. Forgetting all about her dizziness, she ran to pull the curtains back in the hopes of escaping through the window. However, any hope she had quickly faded away as she saw the steel bars on the other side of the window. It seemed like Gabriel had thought of everything, but he was sorely mistaken if he thought she would give up and accept what he had in store for her.
****
"Are you out of your mind?"
Gabriel leaned back in his chair, looking at his brother Michael. He was furious and, truth was, Gabriel didn't blame him. Hell, he had asked himself the same question over and over since he took Alicia, and at this point he was beginning to think he was.
Never in all his years had he done something so crazy or, better yet, stupid. For Christ's sake, he'd kidnapped a girl. Running his fingers through his hair, Gabriel sighed. His head told him what he did was wrong, but his wolf didn't give a damn. His wolf clearly recognized her as its mate and it wasn't going anywhere without her.
Gabriel was naturally aggressive and his wolf was ten times worse. He always went after what he wanted, and, nine times out of ten, he got it. For him to go against his wolf was unnatural. When he left the Garrisons', his wolf rode him hard; it wanted Alicia and the more he fought against it, the more crazed he'd become. The fact that her mere presence alone soothed the beast was the only reason why he'd been able to take her without claiming her body.
For the first time in his life, Gabriel was at a loss. His mate was human. After what happened last night, there was no point in denying it. That alone brought on a new array of problems. Where he came from, it was unacceptable.
"Gabriel, have you heard anything I've just said?" Michael yelled.
"How can I not, with you yelling." Gabriel was getting irritated. The last thing he needed was for his brother to tell him how bad he screwed up. Out of all of his siblings, Michael was the one that Gabriel trusted most, the beta to his Alpha.
Gabriel was a natural born leader, always at the front and ready to tackle anything, while Michael was calm and collected, preferring to stay in the background, tying up loose ends. Their father had groomed all of his children, making sure they were well prepared to take over, and Gabriel just went and blew it all to hell.
"Does she know what we are?" Michael asked impatiently.
Gabriel sighed. "No, I made sure she was out before I shifted and I did a memory sweep to make sure she'd only remember what I wanted her to."
Another one of the many perks of being Were, unlike vampires, they couldn't implant memories in humans, but they could erase memories or alter certain things.
In Alicia's case, Gabriel just distorted the events of that night; she'd remember the gist of what happened, minus him being naked and rendering her unconscious. He just couldn't bring himself to wipe out her entire memory. It was bad enough he took her the way he did, the last thing he wanted was for her to wake in a strange place with absolutely no memory. It would probably been easier for him, that way he could make up grand lie about what happened, but he'd already fucked up by taking her forcefully. He didn't want to make it any worse by lying about it.
"Please tell me you haven't mated with her?" Michael said, bringing him back to the present.
"The girl's been unconscious. I'm not a rapist," Gabriel replied in frustration.
"Well, you did kidnap her. I mean, what do you think is going to happen when Garrison realizes his niece is missing?"
Gabriel sat back in his chair, inhaling deeply, even now he could still smell her. "Trust me when I say Garrison is the least of my problems."
Which was true. After picking up on what that bitch said to Alicia in the kitchen, Gabriel decided then and there, that Alicia was his. So after dinner, he met with Mr. Garrison and made his intentions clear; he wanted Alicia, no matter the cost.
Of course, the man was taken aback at first and even appeared insulted that Gabriel would suggest such a thing. But Gabriel didn't get to where he was today by not recognizing one's weaknesses, and William definitely had a weakness. His father always said there were only two things that could make a man weak, money and love for a woman. Fortunately for him, Mrs. Garrison had Mr. Garrison's balls in a death grip, so he simply explained to the older man that it would be in his and his family's best interest to let him take Alicia. Garrison was no fool; the offer Gabriel gave him was just too good to pass up. He was already on his last leg financially; if Gabriel were to back out of their deal, it would be the final nail in the coffin.
Once the contracts were signed, the old man did look upset, even somewhat guilty over the arrangement, but clearly not enough to say no. The only problem was instead of waiting a couple of days to take Alicia like he originally planned, he had to go and lose his damn mind. If he was thinking straight, he would have planned things out, taken her to his loft in the city instead of bringing her to the compound.
Sighing, Michael ran his hands across his face. "Gabriel, you can't do this. You know this goes against everything we stand for. Our tribe is one of the few that is of pure blood. The Council will never allow you to taint us with human blood."
Walking over to the desk, Michael leaned down. "I know this is hard for you, but you have to do what best for the pack. Father is already preparing a union between you and Liz. You bringing the girl here will ruin everything."
Gabriel let out a growl. He was beginning to curse the day he ever started anything with Liz. "Whatever I do, I can guarantee it won't be mating with Liz."
"Gabriel, you know, just as well as I, that few in our species actually marry their true mates and once the mating process is complete, true mate or not, the bond you share with your chosen is unbreakable. Besides, what's going to happen when this girl wakes, huh? Is she just going to fall into your arms and pledge her undying love?"
Gabriel bit the inside of his jaw at his brother's attempt at sarcasm.
Hoping to get his brother to see reason, Michael tried one more time. "We're not like the common wolf. We're bigger, stronger. We are of a different breed, like a mammoth to today's elephant. Most shifters have had centuries to mate with humans, learning to adapt to allow their mate to survive the transition. Yet, in the beginning, many women died during the mating process, and if they survived that, they died in childbirth. Even if this woman is your mate, are you willing to risk her life?"
Getting up from his desk, Gabriel walked over to the bar. He needed a drink and a strong one at that. He said nothing, he knew his brother was right and everything that he said made sense, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it.
Following his brother over to the bar, Michael placed a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever you decide, you know I'll stand by you no matter what, but I hope you can live with it."
With that he turned and left the room.
****
Michael headed out to his car. He hoped his conversation with his brother would be enough to convince him to get rid of the girl, but he knew his brother. That would be the last thing Gabriel would do. Once inside the car, he pulled out his phone. He hated to do this to his brother, but he had no choice. He couldn't let history repeat itself; the cost would be too great.
Dialing the number he waited for an answer. As soon as the call picked up, he wasted no time. "We have a problem. It's Gabriel, he's found the girl."
****
Gabriel stood outside of Alicia's room, contemplating what his next move would be. Well, he knew what he should do, but that and what he was going to do were two different things. He took a deep breath. God, it was as if her scent was all around him, engulfing him to the point of insanity. Hell, if he was being honest with himself, just the thought alone of Ms. Monroe was enough to drive him crazy. He remembered how she had felt pressed against his chest as he carried her in his arms that night. She was so small and fragile, but she fit him just perfectly; he knew right then and there, she was his no matter what.
