Factors of Change Ch. 03

"Dinner. This evening. Inviting me here, at your place," he listed, shutting his pale eyes under my touch. He sighed softly and I did it again, running my fingers deep against his scalp and gently tucking the soft, fair locks behind his ears. He had relaxed all through the evening, but I could still see lines of strain around his mouth and eyes, and reached in to gently trace them with a finger. "I needed it," he breathed.

"I'm very glad you came," I said and I smiled at him when he opened his eyes. "And enjoyed the food." He smiled back, and I leaned in close to lightly rub the tip of my nose against his. "Hard week?"

"I am not getting enough sleep," he said, and gave me a look that made it clear that this particular situation was at least in part caused by my sudden intrusion in his life. I chuckled and tilted up my chin to kiss him gently.

"I'd say I'm sorry," I whispered against his lips. "But I'm really not." He let out a deep breath through his nose as he kissed me back, his warm hands pressing against my back to pull me hard against his chest. He quickly deepened the kiss, his tongue suddenly pushing against mine. I was quickly breathless as I moaned into his mouth, sliding my hands up to dig my fingers in his hair. He groaned softly, running his hands over my back, and the fabric of my top crept up under his touch as his hands roamed down and tugged it up. They ran over my skin, his warm, deft fingers sliding under the thin knitted cotton and against the soft skin of my sides. My blood suddenly boiled in my veins as I felt him touch me, the rush of it roaring in my ears.

My heart was thumping loudly enough that I feared it might stop as we kissed, unable to pull from one another. I had lost control on all my senses, feeling nothing else but him, his hands, his hard chest against mine. I barely registered it when I felt something soft against my back, distantly realizing that he had turned and laid me back against the cushions on the couch, his strong body on top of mine pressing me into them. His hands had pushed up my shirt and roamed freely against my bare skin, and he moaned deep in his throat when his fingers cupped themselves around the curves of my breasts and his thumbs rubbed my hardened nipples through the thin fabric of my bra.

My own hands weren't idle, either, and I had managed to reach up across his chest for the buttons of his dress shirt. The first one was torn right off the fabric in my frenzy, but I blindly managed to unbutton the second one and ran my hands over his thus uncovered skin. I was desperate to touch him. Ihadto touch him. I couldn't reach the other buttons and my fingers grabbed and pulled desperately at the soft fabric to tug it up. I must have made a small noise of frustration, because he broke the kiss only long enough to lean back and let me pull the shirt over his head and onto the ground, before his warm mouth found mine again. He pressed me deep against the cushions, hungry and strong.Take him, take him, my wolf was chanting, my mind barely registering it through the confusion of my senses.

I wanted to. Oh God, I wantedhim.

The loud, piercing and unfamiliar ring of a cellphone tore through the silence of the room, startling us both into immobility. Gabriel broke the kiss with a gasp and tucked his face in my neck, breathing heavily. I blinked unbelievably at the ceiling above me, paralyzed and trembling all over, and kept my tight grip on his bare shoulders as I willed my heart to slow down. I realized distantly that something tugged hard at my heart, as if I was reaching out for a feeling that was already fading, slipping away. Ironically enough, it was also kind of a relief, as the tension that had thrown us against each other quickly faded away and we slowly came back to reality. I swallowed, torn between relief and frustration. The cellphone rang again, slowly vibrating its way towards the edge of the coffee table, and my wolf growled in my mind.Shut it up, she hissed irritably.

"Fuck," Gabriel hissed against my neck, echoing my thoughts. I briefly wondered, unreasonably amused, whathiswolf was saying. His chest was heaving, and a deep shiver coursed through his wide shoulders under my trembling hands. The phone rang a third time and a deep, annoyed growl rumbled in his chest.

"Shouldn't you answer that?" I whispered, closing my eyes. I concentrated on taking deep breaths, trying to calm the loud beating of my heart. He didn't answer me, and the loud dingle of the phone rang once more before he pushed himself off of me with a muffled curse and roughly grabbed the offending piece of technology off the coffee table.

He stood up as he pressed the call button. "Quoi?!" he barked into the phone in a tone I'd never heard before. My wolf froze and sat down in surprise at the sound of it, and I was suddenly glad, as I heard him speak to the caller, that I wasn't on the receiving end of it. He was pissed. I bit my lower lip, not even trying to repress the deep shiver of pleasure that ran through me as I looked at the beautifully angry, shirtless male specimen that was standing in my living room. I liked that he was pissed.

He paced across the living room to the kitchen as he spoke in French to whoever it was that had been unfortunate enough to call, but I didn't pay attention to the words enough to understand. He had toned down his anger a notch, though there was still a distinct edge to his voice. I sat up against the cushions, smoothing back my tangled hair before I pulled my legs against my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees. I glanced at the clock before returning my gaze to Gabriel. It was late, I realized. Late calls were always important, and I had a feeling that this wonderful evening with him was perhaps coming to an abrupt end.

There was a short silence and he stopped pacing, before he let out a deep sigh. "Ok," he finally told his interlocutor, glancing at the clock as he did. "J'arrive, j'arrive. Donne-moi... vingt minutes." He hung up, then, and looked down at his phone a moment before shoving it into his pocket. After a brief pause, he groaned tiredly and reached up both hands to rub them, hard, across his face.

I sighed softly and reached down to pick up his discarded shirt from the floor. I carefully undid the remaining buttons and silently made my way to him. "If you always answer your phone like that," I said as I laid a hand on his arm and offered him his shirt back, "they'll learn to stop interrupting."

He snorted and looked down at me. He'd mussed up his hair when he smoothed it back and it fell down into his eyes again. The corner of his lips turned up slightly as his arm reached out and drew me close to his chest, and he dipped down his head to nuzzle my neck. "I am sorry," he whispered.

I slid my hands across his sides and hugged him tight, pressing my lips against the warm, salty skin of his collarbone, relishing in his scent while I still could. "Is there a problem? You can tell me about it."

He leaned back and pursed his lips thoughtfully, but after a glance at the clock on the wall, he shook his head. "Not now."

"You have to go, don't you? It's alright, Gabriel."

He sighed in a way that told me he didn't think it was alright at all, but didn't argue as he pulled back and shrugged his shirt back on. He looked down at me. "I will call you tomorrow."

"You can't," I said, and pursed my lips. "Well, you can try, but I'll be at the Lake, the signal's terrible there." I paused as I reached up to button his shirt, keeping my eyes on my fingers. "Won't you be there?" I mentally cringed as I listened to myself, hoping I didn't sound too whiny.

"I cannot promise it," he said with a shake of his head. "Something just came up that I have to deal with, but I will try."

"Well, I'll be camping with friends," I pointed out. My lips quirked as I noticed the top button of his shirt was entirely gone, and I glanced up at him. "If you come, you'll have to find me."

He laughed softly and leaned in to kiss my lips. "Challenge accepted," he whispered against my lips. He kissed me again, deeper, our tongues doing a playful dance against each other. I sighed softly as he pulled back, his hand brushing gently against my cheek before he dropped it to his side. "Bonne nuit, Lili," he said softly.

"Goodnight, Gabriel."

I saw him to the door and watched him go down the stairs. I closed and locked the door and, like I had the previous time, went to my window to watch him get to his car. I watched as he crossed the street, but arched an eyebrow in surprise when he raised his hand in a friendly wave to another parked car. He hadn't stopped to speak to the driver and got into his own car before driving away, but the other vehicle didn't move, parked on the side of the street like a giant sleeping cat. I squinted, but couldn't see who the driver was despite the street lights.

I frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy. "Are you keeping an eye on me, Gabriel?" I asked in a whisper. Why in the world would he leave one of his guys parked in front of my home? I was tempted to get out of the apartment and take a walk, to see if the car would follow me, but decided against it. I was probably overreacting, and the car would be gone the next morning.

***

The carwasgone when I woke up and checked in the morning. It was replaced, however, by a rather large and conspicuously shiny black SUV. I still couldn't identify the driver but thought, a bit bitterly, that at least they weren't trying to hide from me. It might have had something to do with his abrupt departure, too. I decided to ignore it and keep my questions for the next time I would see Gabriel, and went about my home getting ready to leave for the compound.

The area around the building where I worked lacked affordable parking spaces. Therefore I took the metro train daily to go to work. I did have a car, though, in a private parking lot in the alley besides the bakery, that I used for longer travels. On my first trip downstairs to pack the car with my camping equipment, I glanced at the SUV parked in the street, and thought I recognized the driver. I took my time to pack the tent into the trunk, closed it, and after the briefest of hesitations, walked directly towards it.

The driver had seen me coming, and didn't even bother trying to hide as I stepped closer to the passenger door. In fact, he slid down the window and I crossed my arms on the door, giving him a tensed smile. I had been hoping it would be the easy-going William, but it was the other beta, the one who had already been in the elevator when I walked in – the stern one who ignored me. I wondered, as he greeted me with a polite nod, what he looked like when he smiled. He didn't look like he did it often. "Hello," I greeted. "You must be Cedric."

He nodded. "Good morning, mademoiselle Grey," he said politely.

I glanced inside the car, noting the low playing music and the disposable cup of coffee in the cup holder. "So you drew the short straw." He arched an eyebrow at me, and I shrugged. "And ended up babysitting Leah? Isn't that what you were asked to do?"

His lips twitched up, but I wouldn't have called it a smile. "Non."

"Non?"

Itwasa smile, apparently, and it widened. He wasn't my ideal type of beauty, but his stern features made him handsome in a very classical way. He had wide shoulders, with dark brown hair smoothed back, but his eyes were probably his most striking feature. An unusually pale blue, they were framed with dark lashes and extremely expressive. They seemed relaxed and amused right now, slightly narrowed, and I wondered how scary he must have looked when he was actually upset. "Non," he repeated. "It is not you I am watching," he continued. Much thicker than Gabriel's, his accent heavily tinted his speech, but I found it strangely adorable.

"Who, then? Youareparked in front of my house, didn't you know?"

He sorted and looked away towards the street. "Are you not getting ready for your trip?" he pointed out, changing the subject. "Do you need help getting your t'ings in your car?"

"No. I only have to get my backpack, feed the cat and lock the door." I pursed my lips, and tried again. "Who are you looking for, Cedric?"

He sighed, but glanced back to me, the serious look back in his eyes. "Do not concern yourself with dis. You are safe, dat is all dat matters. Go to de Lake, Leah. Forget dat I was here."

"That's easier said than done," I pointed out, and he merely smirked – at least it was what could count as a smirk for him – before rudely raising the window again. I huffed and took a step back from the car, and stormed back towards the door of my apartment building. What an asshole.

***

Laurie had found her match in François Gagnon. Nearly a head taller than her, thin like a twig and smart like a fox, he had a shock of unruly chocolate hair and an exuberant personality that was as adorable – and sometimes annoying – as his mate's. Kind and generous, he was an excellent father to the five boys, although at times Laurie would complain that she had not five but six children, one of which simply ate a lot more than the others.

On a bad day, he also had the very nasty habit of cursing like a sailor, and had done so repeatedly as he tried figuring out the plans for setting up the newly bought, bright yellow tent that was lying on the ground looking like a deflated lifeboat. Laurie had been sitting next to me on the rocky beach as we watched the five boys swimming in the icy cold water of the lake. She had asked him many times if he needed help, queries to which he had simply muttered "non" stubbornly before going back to his plans, his sticks and his religious expletives. My own tent had been set up since the end of the morning, a small blue thing that I set up close to the trees so it would stay in the shade.

François finally managed, though, and at the end of the evening, it was all done: the Gagnons' ridiculously large tent was up and filled with their things, hot dogs had been eaten, and the five – or six – boys had been drained by a day of sunshine, nature and swimming and now lay groggy and heavy-lidded as we all sat around the campfire. François murmured something to the boys and took them all inside the tent to be put into their sleeping bags. I glanced at the growing fire and then at the small lake. The breeze had suddenly stopped around dinner time, and now the water was as smooth as glass, mirroring the landscape perfectly. The sun had set not very long ago, and the sky had faded from a dark red where it had disappeared behind the mountains to a deep marine blue. A few stars had already started showing and there would be thousands above us before long. The trees had gone silent around us as the wind fell, but the crickets and the frogs had taken over and sang softly all around us, and the fire crackled and popped peacefully. Laurie sighed happily. "It's so beautiful here," she whispered. "I wish we could stay here all the time."

"I'm sure you'd miss the city eventually," I said in a soft chuckle.

"Our ancestors didn't need the city."

"They didn't need it because they never had it."

She smiled, but didn't argue. I turned my eyes back to the lake. A lot of the pack had moved to the lake compound for the weekend; we could see small campfires like ours lighting up across and all around the lake. The small lake houses were all lit up behind their curtain of trees, filled with people, but it's the large white main house that my eyes kept being drawn to. It stood solidly on the other side of the lake, like a mother hen watching over everyone. Most of its windows were lit up and I could see people in the yard from across the water. I wondered if Gabriel was already there.

I had brought my phone but, as I suspected, it had no signal. It sat, turned off, in my luggage in my tent. If I had any chance to see Gabriel tonight, it would be during the run.

Almost every weekend, during the time of year when the lake was accessible, we would all shift into our wolf forms and run through the mountains that surrounded Lac Caribou. It was remote enough that no human would notice or hear anything. Most of the time we would simply shift and go running without any sort of goal other than to let steam out, but sometimes, when the weather was as beautiful and so many wolves were gathered together at the lake, the Alpha would traditionally lead the run, signaling the beginning. It had happened many times before in the two other summers I had spent coming here. This time, though, I really looked forward to hearing the Alpha howling to the moon, calling to the others to join him. "I hope he makes it," I said, not realizing right away that I had spoken out loud until Laurie answered.

"From what you've told me about you and him so far, I'm sure he'll find a way," Laurie said softly. She glanced back at the silent tent. "I think Frank fell asleep with the boys," she whispered with a chuckle. She looked back at me, a twinkle in her eye. "Let's go now."

I glanced back at the big white house, biting my lower lip, but my wolf instantly reacted to Laurie's words, pushing and shoving to be let out. "Alright," I said, and stood up. I took a few feet back and reached for the hem of my shirt to pull it off, already feeling the first shudders of the shifting process.Calm down, I thought with a smile, quickly stepping out of my jeans and underwear before my wolf ruined them. She barely waited until I'd kicked my clothes away before taking over, and I sighed as I stepped back into my mind, letting her take control.

I opened my eyes again to a whole different perspective. Even though my wolf only saw in black and white, everything was much clearer, and I could see much further, and hear much better. I took a sniff of the air and instantly smelled Laurie's wolf's slight lilac scent next to me, and her mate's more sugary scent behind me, in the tent, along with the various smells of their children. The smell of fire was overwhelming for my nose, though, and I moved away from it, turning without a noise to trot towards the woods, Laurie's grey wolf following.

Running was so freeing. Nothing was in my way; none of the clumsiness of human legs and arms, or of my curly hair getting tangled in branches and bushes. My black coat was shiny and smooth and my stride lithe and silent. I could hear the other wolves in the forest around me, calling to each other with small howls and whimpers and playful barks. For the first time in my life, I felt I was truly a part of a pack. By letting me run with them, they accepted me, and I accepted them. Running like this through the forest of the Lake compound, I was happier than I had even been before.

A strong, powerful howl suddenly tore through the night and echoed over the lake and up the steep hills of the mountains around it. I stopped, recognizing it as the Alpha's, and Laurie caught up with me. She sat up in attention, her ears held high, and a burst of adrenaline shot through my veins. My heartbeat increased in speed as we waited.

The Alpha howled again from across the Lake, some other wolves echoing it in response. There were no words in it and yet, I could understand it perfectly. He was calling for his pack to run with him.

But he was also calling for me.

A sudden, unexplainable impulse had me standing up on four paws and, throwing back my head, I howled back to him, as loudly as I could. I tried to put in it as much challenge as possible and wondered if he could understand it too.Come on, big boy,I thought in amusement.Come and get me, if you can.

A long silence followed my answer. All the other Weres had quieted as well, stunned into silence by the intensity of my call. Laurie's wolf bumped against my shoulder and playfully nipped my ear, whimpering excitedly.Go...Now!her wide amber eyes said clearly.