Dark Promises(9)

“On our wedding night?”

“I don’t understand what’s wrong.” She didn’t, and yet she did. Her bracelet had begun to hum. It was low, but it was there. She heard it. Gary heard it. She pulled her hand out of his and put her arm behind her back to quiet the bracelet. She didn’t know how to take it off or she would have. She didn’t want her beautiful bracelet to ruin this night for her.

“What is wrong is that bracelet is looking to slice me to pieces. Take it off.”

She bit her lip hard. “I can’t, Gary. I don’t know how.”

He drew in his breath, his eyes going electric green. He looked more of a predator than she’d seen in a wolf. She drew in her breath and willed the bracelet to behave and stop humming.

“You put an object of power on without having any idea how to remove it or how to make it work or stop working?”

That was a blow. A huge blow. She could hear the sarcasm in his voice. He looked down at her as if she wasn’t quite bright, when, in fact, she was brilliant. Okay. Maybe he had a point, it wasn’t the smartest move, but it was her wedding night and a gift from her brother. And father. It was hers. It felt right on her wrist, and she knew it was hers. Just as the pendant was Joie’s and Jubal had his weapon from the mages.

“I shouldn’t have,” she conceded. “But it was a gift from Jubal, and I was caught up in the wedding traditions. When Joie gave it to me, I thought it was a bracelet, a piece of jewelry, not a weapon.”

She didn’t want to take the bracelet off. She kept willing it to connect with her as Jubal’s weapon connected with him. She knew Jubal could control his weapon with his mind.

Gary studied Gabrielle’s face. She was beautiful. She had always been beautiful, but since being converted to a Carpathian, she was even more so. It was difficult to resist the look on her face. Her eyes, a true dove gray, stayed on his, held captive there. He wanted her with every breath in his body. He had since the moment he’d laid eyes on her. The Carpathian people had been facing extinction and he had worked day and night to help ease those problems, hoping to buy them enough time to actually find ways to solve them permanently.

Without children no species could continue, not even one with the longevity the Carpathians had. He had put aside his own emotions, wants and maybe even needs in order to help them. Then the prince had sent him on countless errands and given him so many tasks, both dangerous and not. When he wasn’t learning to fight the enemy, protecting children during the day or researching, Mikhail and Gregori asked him to join their strategy meetings.

There had been no time for himself or Gabrielle. He had thought this day would never come. His beautiful bride. She was smart and funny and so beautiful it hurt to look at her. He reached for her hand again. Both of them. In the Carpathian culture, the male was imprinted with the ritual binding words before birth. In essence, Gary had been reborn as a Daratrazanoff, a full Carpathian, and the words were there, along with the power and knowledge of his ancestors.

Saying the ritual words to Gabrielle would bind his lifemate to him for all eternity. His soul to her soul. Simply put, he loved her with every cell in his body. He loved her mind and the compassion and empathy in her. He loved the way her mind worked, focusing completely on a problem and working it out piece by piece. He could talk to her and she understood what he said. She caught on quickly when he was trying to explain a resolution and why he was certain his solution would work. When they worked side by side, the research went so much faster because they made a good partnership. He didn’t have to direct her. Her mind followed the same path his did.

It was impossible not to love Gabrielle. She lit up a room with her laughter. With her sunshine. With the possibilities of her brilliant mind. If they disagreed over a problem, she always had a sound argument and reasons why she thought they should choose a different way.

He knew she had struggled with the Carpathian way of life ever since he was nearly killed. She’d grown quiet and moody and he could see the worry in her eyes. She had begun to pull away from her relationship with Shea, her best friend. Shea was lifemate to Jacques, the prince’s brother. He knew that was on him. He didn’t like it, and he was determined to rectify it.

Gabrielle wanted a wedding. She wanted their relationship finalized. He hadn’t lost his emotions or his ability to see in color as the Carpathians did over time, so there had never been that exact confirmation that she was his lifemate, but he knew he loved Gabrielle Sanders. He would defend her with his last breath and he would do anything to make her happy.