It was getting hard to keep sending Sabrina back to her home. Gabriel desired to hold her back and take her to his home, well more like his bedroom. He even had to put his hands in his pockets to refrain from touching her warm, soft skin. Gabriel lingered on the parking-lot long after she had driven off the property. He wondered for a moment when he'd be able to claim her as his. Reaching his limit, he didn't know what he was going to do the next time he saw her smiling the way she had to him right now.

Gabriel shook his head with a weary sigh. He went back to his house finding Alec standing on the porch with River.

"Has Sabrina left safely?" asked River.

"Yeah," said Gabriel. "Are you heading home too, Alec?"

Alec's sapphire blue eyes looked at Gabriel. "Yeah," he answered. "Thanks for inviting us tonight. I know Vadik had-" they all knew that the word felt foreign to Alec- "fun."

"And did you?" asked Gabriel.

Alec lifted the bucket of cotton-candy close to him. "More than I thought I would," he said.

"We hold these carnivals all the time," said River. "We'll invite you again."

"Er-"

"Great idea, River," Gabriel interrupted Alec before he could disagree. Gabriel's eyes shifted inside the house where he noticed Alec's younger brother. Vadik looked much more relaxed than he had a couple of months ago. Vadik was shyly smiling with Klaus who had a knack for engaging all the stoic wolves into his words. "Your brother seems to be doing better," said Gabriel.

Alec looked inside at Vadik. "Your pack is rubbing off on him," he remarked.

Gabriel crossed his arms and leaned back on the porch railing. "And I know Isaiah's brothers don't leave the poor man alone," he said.

"I was sure Vadik almost tried to kill Zeiden today," bemused River.

Alec shook his head. "Vadik is charmed by Klaus and Zeiden," he said. "And I know that my brother practically adores Adrik."

Gabriel chuckled. "Adrik is a very skilled fighter and wolf."

"Everyone falls for the cool type," remarked River.

Alec gave Gabriel a half-smile. "I'll see you around," he said and then turned towards his brother. "Come on, Vadik."

Vadik's mismatched blue and green gaze shifted back into his stoic self. He said 'goodbye' to everyone inside before he joined Alec and they left together too. Even though every one of their guests had left for home, Gabriel's house was still rowdy from his own pack members.

Viola and Vincent were sitting in the living room with Azura and Ryder. Hunter and Hailey were lounging on the couch and Klaus had joined after talking to Vadik. River closed the door behind Gabriel as they joined the gang in the room.

"Did everyone leave?" asked Vincent.

Before Gabriel could answer, Viola interrupted; "More like did Sabrina head off safely?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and stood near the fireplace. His glower warned his sister to tease him more if she had the nerve, and of course, she did and the others joined her.

"The whole pack knows that Sabrina is our alpha's mate," jested Ryder. "I'm sure that our pack is going to ambush Gabriel tomorrow."

"Better be prepared," warned Azura.

"Relax guys," said Gabriel. "I still have to mark her."

"And ask her to move in with you," added Vincent. "Damn, I wouldn't want to be you right now-" Gabriel shot his brother an icy glare. Vincent purposely acted like he shivered from Gabriel's glare- "Ooh, did anyone else feel that chill?" remarked Vincent.

"I don't think you have to worry too much, Gabriel," said Hailey who was leaning on Hunter's shoulder. "Sabrina seems to like you already."

Gabriel looked Hailey warmly. "Thanks," Hailey matched his smile, but she dropped her gaze when her phone buzzed and she answered the call.

"Which is strange all on its own," remarked River, making everyone laugh.

Gabriel tried to keep up with the discussion, but he noticed when Hunter frowned. The tension in his brother was obvious to Gabriel.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked Hailey. But she looked at her mate blankly and tinge of fear in her blue gaze. The group in the room took notice now too.

Hailey's face fell pale. "Is everything okay?" she asked over the phone. Her eyes shifted and she looked directly at Gabriel. "It's for you-" she passed him her cellphone to him- "it's Sabrina."

Gabriel placed the phone over his ear. "Sabrina?"

Her voice shaking and hushed crept through the speaker. "I didn't have your number, and I didn't want to scare Helen with this-"

Gabriel stiffened. All amusement fell from his face. His brothers saw that he had turned rigid just by looking at the ice that filled his golden gaze.

"What happened?" he asked sternly trying his hardest not to scare her with his own deep voice.

"There's blood-" she stuttered.

"Sabrina, are you hurt?" asked Gabriel roughly.

"No, oh god-" her shaking voice turned Gabriel's heated body into smouldering block of ice. Every muscle in his body tensed, and his wolf paced inside of him, urging Gabriel to go to his mate right fucking now.

"Sabrina, I need you to calm down and tell me what's wrong, so I can help you?"

"There's a box on my table with blood... and I think it's real," she said.

"I'm coming to you right now," said Gabriel. He grabbed his keys from the counter and ran out the door towards his car. He didn't even realize when his family followed in their own cars too. "Stay on the line with me. And I need you to make sure that no one's in your house, baby."

"No one is in the house, I already checked," she told Gabriel, which made him sigh in relief.

"Did you check what was in the box?" asked Gabriel.

"Yeah," she said faintly. "But I think it'd be better if you saw it for yourself. Please... just... hurry."

Wrath thundered inside Gabriel. He stepped his foot on the gas and sped down the highway to Sabrina's house. His hands fisted the steering wheel with frustration and sheer fucking panic.

Gabriel and the rest of them arrived at Sabrina's house, which looked isolated from the drive-way, so police weren't called and neither was anyone else for that matter. He released a harsh breath before he rang the door-bell. It was answered just as fast. The door swung wide open and Sabrina stood in front of him. He read her expression so easily, she didn't hide her fear or relief that he had arrived. But when the others joined him on the porch, her fear was masked with faint composure. Gabriel entered and moved her away from the door with him. His arm around her waist he took her inside to safety, because nothing would happen to her with him here now. They all surrounded Sabrina in the foyer.

"Thanks for coming," Sabrina broke the silence before they could.

Gabriel's gaze didn't drop from her eyes. "Hunter," he spoke darkly that all of them were alerted of his demeanour. "I need you to make sure that the property is secure."

"You got it," said Hunter taking Azura, River and Ryder with him.

Vincent, Viola, Klaus and Hailey took Sabrina from the foyer into the living room. Gabriel stood alone in the dark hall, the scent of tainted blood had hit him from the moment he had arrived. The scent was strong, like it was freshly spilled all over Sabrina's house. A dangerous sensation plummeted inside Gabriel, because it wasn't just anyone that was threatened, it was Sabrina and he couldn't let her get hurt.

Gabriel joined Sabrina on the couch. He sat right beside her because he knew that she needed him just as much as he needed her beside him right now. Hunter, River and Ryder arrived back in the living room. Gabriel met his beta's amber gaze, that clearly told Gabriel all threat was clear from the entire property.

Gabriel released a cool breath. "Tell me what happened, Sabrina?"

Sabrina kept her eyes on her locked hands. "After I left your home, I came straight here when I saw that-" she pointed past Vincent and Ryder to the dining counter. They all followed her finger to a cardboard box- "I thought it was some fan-mail or Helen left something behind. So, I opened it and that was when it started to smell-" her voice dropped and Gabriel didn't let her continue.

Hunter went over to the box, he flipped the lid and even though Hunter rarely showed any expression on his stern face, this time, his eyes widened. He brought the box to where Gabriel was seated. Sabrina looked away and the others couldn't believe what was carefully placed inside. The bright white cotton padding had quickly absorbed the red blood from the pair of mutilated hands.

"Is that for real?" asked Vincent, clearly shocked like the rest of them.

"They're real," said Gabriel knowing for sure that this wasn't some sick joke.

"That's disgusting," said Hailey blocking her nose and turning away towards Hunter.

Azura looked inside the box, clearly not bothered because that's what her job entailed. "There's a note," she said. Her black leathered gloves were purposely put on so none of her prints would be tarnish the note or package. "Any hands that tarnish my angel will pay the price," she read aloud. Azura passed the note to Gabriel with a handkerchief.

His gaze darkened over the note, he couldn't control the anger inside of him but he contained it, because it wasn't the time for it. The note had a single sentence on it, nothing else. There was no other scent other than the blood in the box. Gabriel stared down at the chopped hands; the work on them was perfect, and it seemed as if whoever did this knew how to use a blade and knew exactly how much force would be needed to chop off hands clean from the wrists.

"Did you find anything else with the box?" River asked Sabrina.

She shook her head. "It was just the hands and the note."

"Did you call Helen or the police?" asked Viola.

"I'm probably going to call Helen later," said Sabrina. "But I didn't call the police because I don't know what'd happen."

"I doubt the police will be able solve this without getting the media involved," said Vincent. "And for someone like you, that's not the best option."

"What am I going to do?" Sabrina looked at Gabriel.

Gabriel laid his hand on hers. "It's good you called us first," he said sternly. "I'll handle this matter myself."

"This note is strange," said River. "Any hands that tarnish my angel have to pay the price. What could that mean?"

"Makes sense, actually," said Vincent. "The hands, which belong to someone, touched the angel."

"Who in this case, is Sabrina," added Ryder.

"So, who does the hands belong to?" asked Klaus.

Gabriel raked his hair and looked at Hunter who was thinking the same as him. "It's Richard Brady," he stated.

"Okay, now I'm officially creeped out," remarked Ryder.

"Why would someone kill Richard and then leave his hands here at my house?" asked Sabrina.

"That night at the gala," said Klaus. "Remember, Richard tried to hurt Sabrina."

Sabrina stiffened on the seat next to Gabriel. "He got killed because of me?"

"No," said Gabriel. "He got killed because he pissed someone off."

"Because of what he did to me that night," said Sabrina. She pushed her hair away from her face and dropped her head on her palms. "This is insane."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," said River. "We should confirm that these 'hands' actually do belong to Richard."

"I'll call Eve and Elliot," said Azura. She walked away from the group to call Gabriel's cousins who worked closely with the police department. They were the only ones that could gather the intel Gabriel needed to find out anything about this matter.

"All of you should head back," said Gabriel. The group looked his way surprised, but they got the message loud and clear.

"What about you?" Hunter asked directly.

Gabriel looked at Sabrina. "I'm staying the night." Her eyes widened and she stared at him like he was crazy. "It's getting late, all of you-" he ushered them to leave with his hand. Sabrina guided Hailey, Viola and Azura to the door with Vincent and Ryder without any argument. But the two men who had crossed their arms and stood in front of Gabriel, had a few words to exchange with their alpha who was being quite reckless.

"This isn't a smart move," Hunter spoke first. "We secured the area, but it's still not safe."

"We don't know anything about this situation, Gabriel," said River. "You can't be reckless."

Gabriel raised a brow. "Am I ever reckless?"

River scoffed. "Yes, yes you are. And it drives me insane."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not leaving my mate when she needs me," he said. "I thought you'd get that more than anyone, Hunter."

Hunter was left stumped, because it was true what Gabriel had said. Hunter understood the need to protect his mate more than the others. For a wolf, protecting their mate was the strongest need inside them and it was the only thing that sated their wolves.

Hunter took a deep breath. "Fine," he exhaled.

River through icy glares at Gabriel. "You can be such a stubborn ass, you know that?"

Gabriel's lips quirked into a small grin. "You know me so well, River."

River groaned in frustration before he followed Hunter with the rest of the group back to their property. Sabrina returned to Gabriel after she locked the door.

"Are you sure it's okay to stay here?" she asked him. "River looked angry."

Gabriel leaned forward and grabbed her slender hand, he guided her to the seat next to him. "River always looks angry," he remarked. "But forget about that. How are you holding up?"

Sabrina's minty green eyes paled. "It's been a while since I've felt this scared," she said softly.

Gabriel shifted towards her. "It's understandable, Sabrina," he reassured. "Anyone would be scared if this were to happen to them."

Sabrina closed her eyes tightly, like she was trying to shut the nasty sight from her mind. "Who would do such a thing?"

Gabriel laid his hand on her cheek. "I'm going to find out, Sabrina," he told her. "You have me now. So, don't worry about this anymore. Nothing can hurt you."

Sabrina leaned into his hand and her cheek caressed his palm. "Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know what I would have done."

Gabriel hated that her smile was gone. It was only a few hours ago that they were all enjoying themselves, and now, some asshole destroyed his mate's beautiful smile. Gabriel was seething with rage and bloodlust, just as much as his wolf wanted to shred this fucker who messed with Sabrina to pieces.

"Gabriel," Sabrina called out snapping his attention back.

He smiled at her calming himself and her down so she wouldn't sense his dangerous mood. "Do you have ice-cream?" he asked suddenly.

Sabrina tilted her head. "I think so," she answered.

"Wait here-" he moved from the seat and went into her kitchen. Gabriel opened the freezer and saw three buckets of ice-cream, and they were all different flavours. He was glad to see vanilla and chocolate swirl in the collection. He pulled out the bucket and grabbed a bowl from the dish-rack, easily he scooped three balls of cream into the bowl.

Gabriel wasn't hopeful but he opened the fridge and found exactly what he needed. Chocolate syrup and whipped-cream were both in her fridge. As he coated the ice-cream with whipped cream, he couldn't help but like that Sabrina had a sweet tooth like him. He licked his finger clean of the chocolate syrup that he drizzled on top of the ice-cream. He grabbed two spoons before he returned to Sabrina.

Sabrina stared at the bowl in his hand. "You made an ice-cream sundae," she astonished.

Gabriel sat beside her crossing his legs at the knee. "Only for you," he smiled. "Not everyone gets to taste my sundaes."

She finally laughed before him, releasing some of the tension he had since he arrived to her house. "You're unbelievable," she said. "How can you think of everything?"

Gabriel passed her a spoon, which she gladly took and dug right into the treat. "I'm a man of many talents," he jested smugly.

Sabrina shook her head. "When did you ever have to make a sundae before?"

Gabriel was sure that she noticed when the slight amusement on his face fell. "I used to make this for Klaus when he was a kid," he told her. "Klaus always had trouble sleeping. So, I would sit with him late at night in the kitchen. The only way I learnt to help him was with late-night ice-cream sundaes." Gabriel stared deeply at his reflection in the spoon.

"Well, thank you," she said. "It helped me too."

Gabriel gazed into her eyes. "I'm glad."

"I'm sorry I disturbed your night," she said with a frown. "You probably already have so much on your plate."

Gabriel tucked her hair behind her ear. "Nothing is more important to me than you, Sabrina," he said.

Sabrina stiffened. "It's hard to believe those words when no one has ever told me that before," she said. "Why do you say it so easily?"

"Because I can recognize when something is precious to me," he said firmly. "I've always been with friends and family that love me. So, I knew that you were precious to me the moment I saw you."

Sabrina searched his eyes, but all she found was the earnest truth and nothing less. "I've always been alone, Gabriel," she confessed. "I don't know what to do in large families and I'm scared that I'll mess up."

Gabriel smiled. "Trust me, my pack is just as aloof," he told her. "Everyone was scared to talk to you."

She gaped at him. "Why?"

"Because you're a legend who's known for her beauty," he said. "And when my pack saw you in-person, they all got shy."

Sabrina chuckled. "I was nervous to talk to them too."

Gabriel looked at her sweetly. "Yeah, I knew that you were."

Sabrina ate the last bit of ice-cream. "You know, I grew up in an orphanage," she told him. "And the whole time there was nothing good in that place. It may have been a short part of my life, but it was worse than being on the streets-" her voice fell and her hands grew cold even though the fire next to her was lit up.

"You can tell me," he reassured softly.

Sabrina smiled sweetly melting his heart. "I know I can tell you," she said before taking a deep breath. "The social-workers didn't treat us with humanity or any shred of decency. Before any of us even learned to read books or talk, they deemed us lesser than trash. Unworthy to be part of this world, and that's why we were left on our own."

Gabriel's frown deepened and he almost let out a sneer. "Assholes," he grumbled.

"I know," she added with a chuckle. "But in that orphanage, I knew that they were lying to us. So, when I left, I made sure to live a better life than they said that I could have. It was tough, but I made it all come true." Sabrina put the empty bowl on the counter, then she gathered her legs against her chest. "However, when I met you and your family, I knew that this was what I was missing all my life-" Sabrina looked towards Gabriel- "I didn't know the importance of family because I was alone my entire life. And that made me afraid of packs. But being with you and your pack was what I craved my whole life."

Gabriel stared at her intently and she told him the dark parts inside her. He was glad that she could trust him enough to tell him her truth.

"What orphanage was it?" he asked her.

"Guardian Home," she told him. "I went back and found out that the building was gone. It was demolished years ago by some man."

"Do you know by who?" Gabriel puzzled.

She shook her head. "Helen told me that some business man needed the property for another cause."

"It's not strange that someone would buy the property," said Gabriel. "Are you disappointed that you couldn't see it again?"

"A little," she confessed. "I wanted to go back and show them that I was able to become something in life. And I needed to know if any other kids were mistreated. But no one was there so I left too, leaving it all behind me."

"National treasure instead of trash," remarked Gabriel.

"That's a nice way of putting it," she smiled warmly. "It wasn't all bad though. I had a really good friend there. He helped me from the scarier social workers there."

"He?" remarked Gabriel.

"Yeah, I wonder where he is now," said Sabrina with a frown. "I lost contact from him when I started working at Bobby's restaurant."

Sabrina noticed the streak of jealously in his eyes. She laughed it off and told him that she was just really good 'friends' with this guy, but it still bothered Gabriel. Maybe it was because Gabriel hadn't been there to protect her in the past. Sabrina lived a tough life, but here she was, bloomed into a beautiful, successful and intelligent woman, that was looked down upon her entire childhood.

They talked all night, and they hadn't even noticed when the time had hit five o'clock. Dawn was here and the fire had died in the hearth as the night sky turned a shade of greyish blue. Sabrina's heavy lids start to close, even though she tried her hardest to stay awake for him.

Gabriel leaned forward putting his arm around her back to support her from falling back. His lips near her ear. "Get some sleep, baby," he whispered.

Gabriel put his arm under her knees, he cradled her close to him as he carried her up to the bedroom. She instinctively put her arms around his neck, her head rested on his strong shoulder. The sweet fragrance of her scent tantalized him to keep her close to his body, that was compelled to caress her soft curves and ivory skin. But Gabriel bit those urges back. He reached her bedroom where he had been before. He placed her on the comforting mattress where the black wolf plushie also sat. Sabrina spread her legs out and her head rested on the soft pillow. Gabriel unclipped her hair and ran his fingers through her soft mocha-chocolate curls, that fanned over the pink silk pillows. One curl hooked around his fingers and he caressed the strand as he laid his lips right over her forehead.

As he stood at her bedside, a rush of desolation swept across his muscular body that had grown rigid and tough from training like a beast over the years. Gabriel decided that the person who brought disaster to Sabrina was going to feel his merciless judgment that the world has come to know.

He turned to leave when his hand was caught. Sabrina's eyes glowed under the light of the dawn sunrise. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She pulled him to her, circling her arms around his neck, she brought his lips to hers. Gabriel's body caught inferno. His whole composure fell when she enticed him with her kiss. He took over, deepening what she had started. A kiss so wild, so hot had thundered through his body. Gabriel moved over her mouth, her soft lips against his felt like heaven. She moaned into his mouth, the sweet scent of her body wallowed into him. Her scent aroused him further, his body grew rigid and hard for her. Sabrina broke their locked lips, but she didn't move away from him. She lingered and he breathed his mate's enticing scent. Sweeter than honey, gripping his bones, she was even better than he imagined.

"Thank you for coming to me," she whispered.

Gabriel kissed her lips softly. "Always." And he meant it, he'd always come to her. Gabriel tucked her under the duvet and left straight for the front door.

Abruptly, stopping near the threshold, a shot of instinct told him to wait and listen. Ordinarily, no one would be able to detect it, but Gabriel wasn't any ordinary wolf or man.

"Don't you sleep?" Gabriel asked.

"No," answered River who walked up from behind the porch not even attempting to stay discreet about his presence. "Hunter dispatched Lupin, Ryder, Brandon and Conner who are guarding the property. So, I can take you home now."

"I'm going to freshen up and come right back here," he told River.

River opened the car's door. "I know."

Gabriel detected his pack's wolves on the property. He didn't have to worry because he was well aware that Ryder, Lupin, Conner and Brandon were capable enough to protect Sabrina. Even if it would cost them their lives, because she was their alpha's mate. So, his pack's wolves would die protecting her for him, but he couldn't help that he felt restless when he wasn't next to his mate.

River turned the ignition on and he reversed out of the property. It was still too early for the birds to be up, so the roads were eerily quiet. Gabriel's eyes were glued to the road but his mind wasn't as silent as the nature around them.

"Something's not right about this incident," said Gabriel.

River shared a look of uncertainty with his alpha. "Eve and Elliot are going to confirm if those hands really belonged to Richard Brady," he informed Gabriel. "We'll only know then."

Gabriel raked a rough hand through his dark hair. "I know that sour tobacco scent anywhere," he affirmed. "The smell of that blood belonged to Richard."

"Damn," grumbled River.

Gabriel rubbed his jaw. "What am I going to do?" he asked his friend. "I haven't even known Sabrina for a week and a murder already happened." Gabriel cursed something vile under his breath.

"That's our life for you," remarked River.

Gabriel laughed in disbelief. A harsh breath released from deep inside Gabriel as he planned what to do next, as he always had done when danger appeared at his front doorstep. Well, in this case, Sabrina's doorstep. But it was the same thing for Gabriel.

"I don't really care who killed Richard Brady," Gabriel menaced coldly. "But they got my attention when they terrorized Sabrina. And whoever did this won't be happy to know that they picked the wrong girl to fuck with."

"Do you think a wolf did this to Sabrina?" asked River.

"I don't give a shit if a human, wolf or fucking alien did this," Gabriel grumbled, "because the one who's going to punish that son-of-a-bitch is me."