NOELLE’S POV,
I see something gold flying towards us, and I realize it is Thorn. When he comes closer, I can see Faith, Zeus, and Nolan are on his back. I hold Gabriel close to me while Thorn lands. They all come running towards us and Faith falls down on the ground to look at Gabriel. She lets her hands go over his body and I have never seen her look this serious.
“We have to get him home and dry,” she shouts.
Zeus and Nolan hurry towards us and pick him up. I don’t want to let go of him, so I keep holding his hand while they carefully put him on Thorn. Zeus looks at all the dead bodies cautiously. “We should go quickly before more will come,” he says.
I can hear Thorn trying to talk to me through our minds, but I feel too numb and sad to process it. I just stare at Gabriel and hold him. Faith looks at us worried and pets Thorn on his neck while talking to him. Luckily, he seems to understand and with a big shriek he lifts off. I look down at the open space which looks like a tornado has gone through. Nolan is looking as well and asks me, “What happened Noelle?”
I don’t really care about any of it right now I just want Gabriel back. He seems to be breathing but it looks so weak. I look at Faith desperate. “Please say you can help him?” I ask.
She looks at Gabriel unsure, “I hope so, but I won’t be able to tell until we are home and I have all my equipment.”
The journey home seems like a blur to me and before I know it, we are at Gabriel’s home. Holly runs towards us but when she sees that they are carrying Gabriel she starts screaming.
“Noooooooo, no, not Gabriel. Please tell me he is, okay?” she whimpers while falling to her knees.
Faith takes over from Nolan so that he can go to Holly. They put Gabriel on the couch, and I hear Faith command the rest to get out so she can do her job. I am still standing at the edge of the mountain getting soaked in the rain. I feel Thorn his big snout push against my back trying to comfort me. He blows warm air out of his nose to try and keep me warm. I can see Holly crying at the kitchen table with Nolan holding her. Zeus walks towards me and puts his arm around me nudging me inside.
“Come Noelle you won’t do Gabriel any good by getting sick. Let’s get you inside,” he says kindly.
I walk into the kitchen and Holly looks up at me with red eyes. I feel tears coming again and Holly runs towards me and hugs me. We sob and hold each other for a while. When we have calmed down a bit, we sit down at the kitchen table. Nolan puts his hand on my arm, “What happened Noelle? It looked like a hurricane-ravaged the forest.”
I put my head into my hands, “It was a trap, Roan was never there. We got attacked by hundreds of dark humans. Gabriel struck me with lightning into the bushes so I couldn’t move. I think he wanted to save me that way, but I had to watch him fight all on his own. It was too many and at some point, they put a collar on him which made his magic disappear. When I was able to move again, I followed them and saw that they had put Gabriel on a stone and all took their turn cutting him with knives.” I start crying again thinking about it.
Holly sounds angry when she asks, “What happened then?”
I ball my fists, “I killed them all.”
They are all silent for a while and then Zeus says, “Guess we lost the element of surprise about Noelle’s magical abilities.”
Holly snarls at Zeus, “I am glad she killed them all, wouldn’t you have done the same for Gabriel?”
Before they can get into a fight Faith opens the doors with a loud bang. She looks tired when she says, “You can come to look at him now.”
We all quickly get up and hurry to the couch. Gabriel looks peaceful and all the cuts on his body seem to have disappeared, but he is still unconscious. Faith gives me a sharp look, “I noticed that you did blood flow healing Noelle. How did you know how to do it?”
I take up my shoulders, “I don’t know I just followed my instincts and it just seemed like there was so much internal damage, so I figured blood was the only way to reach the whole body.”
Faith looks at Gabriel worried, “Well thank god you did because without that he would be dead for sure. I managed to heal the outside wounds, but it is too early to know if we were in time. Only time will tell if he can get out of the coma.”
Nolan grabs a chair, “We should all take turns watching him.”
I grunt and sit on the floor stroking Gabriel’s head, “I am not leaving his side.”
The rest looks at each other and Holly breaks the silence, “Alright, I will stay with you for now.”
The rest leaves and Holly sits down on the chair. Holly sighs and says, “Can’t lose him, he is so special. He is good inside and out, that must be why he got chosen to form a mate bond with you. It is so rare; I mean it has been hundreds of years since an angel has formed a mate bond. No one deserves it more than him.”
I nod in agreement with her until I process what she just said. “What do you mean mate bond with me?” I ask.
Holly looks at me shocked, “Fuck I forgot he didn’t tell you.”
I feel my heart pounding in my chest. “He is my mate??” I stutter.
Holly smiles at me, “Yes, he knew it from the moment he saw you. He had such a hard time holding it in. He wanted to declare his love for you so many times, but he wanted to give you the space you needed.”
I start crying again, “Of course, he is my mate.” Everything seems to click inside my head. I thought I was sad about Roan’s betrayal, but it is nothing to the sadness I feel thinking about losing Gabriel. What Roan and I had wasn’t love, I just never experienced male attention before. But what I feel for Gabriel definitely is love!
I ask Holly if it’s okay if I want to be alone with Gabriel for a while. I want to tell him how I feel and just hope that he can hear me. Holly squeezes my shoulder before she leaves. I look at Gabriel’s beautiful face with his raven black hair, sharp features, and soft lips he looks like a Greek god. I take his hand into my hands and start talking to him, “Ow, I wish you would have told me that we are mates Gabriel. I wouldn’t have had to hold back because I would have known we are meant to be. It all makes sense to me now. I am so glad though because there is no one I would rather spend the rest of my life with. You make me feel safe and beautiful and at home for the first time in my life. Please don’t let me lose you I don’t think I can be without you anymore. I love you, Gabriel. I think I have always loved you but never allowed myself.”
I was kind of hoping he would wake up from my declaration of love, but nothing seems to happen. I sigh and put my head on his chest. Not soon after that, I fall asleep. In my dreams all the moments I have had with Gabriel pass my mind. From our first encounter to our last, it all plays in my mind like a movie.