Chapter 15

"Sucks about the mother though."

"So! How is she?"

Gabriel turned to look at her a she glared at her.

"Don't ever talk about my daughter again. Ever."

Sabine made an oooh sound and started laughing.

"I bet your head is spinning wondering how I know about her, seeing as you kept the whole thing secret and under the wraps."

"Unfortunately for you, I happen to know Susannah Garcia and I know her history a lot more better than you!"

What?

What did she mean?!

Gabriel asked as he masked his emotions perfectly, she was trying to rile him up, get a reaction out of him, he wouldn't allow it.

Stay calm.

He told his wolf as he smiled at her.

"Do you really have nothing to do but sit around and stalk my life?"

He asked.

"I mean, I'm an alpha, I know how busy and overwhelming it can all be but you sound like you have a lot of free time on your hands to just sit and stalk."

"Have you ever considered getting a job? You know that divorce check you got from Andrew won't last forever."

That seemed to do the trick, Sabine's smirk fell off her face and it was replaced with anger.

Pure anger and then rage, she growled at him.

Gabriel growled right back and she backed down quickly.

Rightfully at that moment, the guard spoke.

"The council will see you now."

He said as he pushed the door open.




"Grace? Grace?!"

Lori called out as she walked into the foyer, she was looking for Grace.

"Grace?"

She called out again and Jenny peeped from the dining room where she was cleaning.

"What's up?"

She asked and Lori shrugged.

"The baby has a fever. Her temperature is going up and I think it’s serious."

“Are you sure?”

Jenny asked as Lori nodded her head, her eyes darting around looking for Grace.

Jenny's eyes widened as she dropped the mop she was holding.

"I'm looking for Grace. I've tried calling Gabriel and he's not picking my calls."

Jenny sighed.

"Try harder. I'll go find Grace. I think she's in the garden."

Lori nodded as she went back harder, dialing the number again, this time, it took a long time, but someone finally picked up. Someone who wasn't Gabriel.

"Hello?"

"Hello?! Gabriel?!"

Lori asked urgently.

"No. This is Draco."

Draco? Who was that? Lori thought as she furrowed her eyebrows. She couldn't remember Gabriel mentioning someone named Draco.

"I want to speak to Gabriel."

"He's not available right now. He's occupied."

"Sorry but who are you?"

"My name's Lori. I'm Emilia's nanny."

She answered and the man said oohhh.

"Oh. I didn't know Emilia had a nanny."

Lori sighed.

"I just started. Do you know when Gabriel would be done? I need his permission to take the baby to the ER."

"I don't think he'll be done anytime soon. What happened to the baby?!”

“Why not just take the baby to the ER yourself?"

Lori hesitated. One of Gabriel's number one rule was for her not to take the baby anywhere without his permission, as desperate as she was she still wanted to follow his rules.

"Please let him know I called."

Lori finally said as she ended the call.

Take the baby to the ER? If she didn't get Gabriel's permission she at least needed Grace's.

Grace appeared in the nursery a few minutes after, rushing towards the baby. Emilia was sleeping, Lori had pulled off the blankets on and she was left in her purple onesie.

She put her hand on her forehead and sighed.

"You're right. She is burning up."

Grace said as she looked like she was deep in thought for a moment.

"Lori pack a bag, I'll go tell Tony to bring the car around, we're going to the ER."

Grace said as Lori jumped into action. She quickly packed a bag, throwing in diapers, wipes, bottles, a change of clothes if needed and any random thing she felt the baby would need.

The pediatrician tested Emilia and they did a series of test before she came back to see Grace and Lori.

She was at first very hesitant to speak to Lori and Lori had to get Grace to convince her that she was her nanny before the woman would even speak to her.

"She has a ear infection. We'll run more tests, but we'd most likely keep her here for observations."

Dr Calloway said as she scribbled something away in the notepad with her. The doctor seemed to be distracted, concerned about something else but Lori didn’t push her for more answers.

Lori nodded.

She also felt relieved by the doctor’s report. She had been worried sick thinking that it was going to be something serious, since she wasn't the one in charge of the baby when it happened she thought it to be her fault.

"Where's Mr Caine? I need to speak to him."

She asked and Lori shrugged.

"I called him, he's in a meeting, he'll be on his way as soon as he's done."

The doctor sighed and left.

Lori walked towards the private nursery where Emilia was placed and a nurse was attending to her, she looked so small, Lori hoped everything would be okay.

Barely two hours later, Gabriel stormed into the pediatrics ward with Draco hot on his heel, he met Lori and Grace in the nursery, with Lori feeding a fussy Emilia with a bottle.

He felt so relieved seeing that they were both okay, he had been worried sick ever since he left the council hall and Draco gave him the news. He tried Lori's phone after that but it was switched off, it wasn't until he tried Grace's that she told him they were already at the hospital.

"Lori!"

Gabriel called out as he walked into the nursery. Lori looked up at him and sighed in relief. She was so happy to see him.

"Gabriel! Thank God you're here! I called.."

She said and he nodded, kneeling in front of her to check the baby. He touched her forehead briefly and her temperature seemed to have come down, it was still unusually high for a baby.

"I know."

He stretched out his arms and Lori put the baby in his hands. He held her close, rocking her gently. He sniffed her gently, he couldn’t smell anything off, not even a hint of some underlying sickness.


"Is she feeling better now? Is her fever better?"

He asked and Lori nodded.

"Yes. It is. The doctor gave her something for the fever. She said it's just ear infection but they're running more tests, she wants to see you."

Gabriel nodded as he held his daughter close.

"Okay. I'll go see her."

"What about you? Are you okay?"

Gabriel asked as he placed a hand on Lori's shoulder.

Lori nodded.

"I'm fine. I was just really worried that's all."

"Don't worry. Emilia is in safe hands, Dr Calloway is a great doctor."

Draco stood at the door of the nursery watching the two of them.

He could see the way Gabriel was looking at Lori and the way he was fixated on her, he watched their interactions and sighed.

She was his mate, fuck!

At least now he knew why Gabriel was hiding her, but why was he hiding her away from him?

And she was human.

Or was she?

Draco has a special ability, some werewolves had it, he could smell genes, he could figure out the bloodline of everyone he met just by sniffing them.
He could perceive it on them, like a cologne.

But Lori, she was something else, the herby smell was different, unusual, something he had never sniffed before. He wondered if Gabriel knew, if Gabriel could also smell the same thing.

She turned to him, as if she could instinctively feel his eyes on her. She stared at him, tilting her head a little to the side, her hazel eyes burrowing into his. Draco blinked and she seemed to break out of her gaze.

She turned to Gabriel for explanation.

"That's Draco. He works with me."

Gabriel said and Lori nodded.

"He spoke to me on the phone. He picked the call."

Gabriel nodded.

"Yes. I was in a meeting and he was with my phone."

Lori approached him and stretched out her hand.

"Hi. I'm Lori."

She said and he nodded.

"Nice to meet you."

He said in a clipped tone. He didn't trust her, he couldn't. At least not until he knew what she was.

Dr Calloway walked in at that moment, her eyes sighting Gabriel and sighing with relief.

"Mr Gabriel can I see you in my office please."

"Alone."

She emphasized as she glanced at Lori and Gabriel nodded.


"She's experiencing a growth spurt."

Dr Calloway said as she sighed.

"So early?"

Gabriel asked and the doctor shrugged.

"That's what baffles me. From all reports Suzie had a normal pregnancy, with a gestational period of nine months, not unusual but Emilia didn't have any abnormal growth spurts in the womb. Having one so early now..."

Dr Calloway said as she paused. She was a werewolf too, so she knew these things and she had at least seventeen years of experience dealing with pups and she was a trusted member of his pack, many werewolves took their pups to her.

"I will run some more tests. But this growth spurt she is experiencing is possibly hereditary."

Gabriel shrugged.

"According to my parents I didn't start having growth spurts till I was six months old and the spurts slowed down when I became a toddler."

Dr Calloway nodded.

"Exactly! That's how it is. It would help if we knew more about Suzie's pack."

Gabriel sighed.

Nothing, he had nothing. He could remember the pack where she came from, but it was in a whole different country and a relatively small pack, he didn't even remember who their alpha was.

"Alpha, Emilia is way too young for these growth spurts, if we do not find a way to slow them down it will affect her negatively. The fever is a sign that her body cannot handle the growth spurt and it might cause her to grow abnormally."

"We need to know more about her mother, her mother's background and the kind of werewolf pack she came from."

Gabriel nodded, remembering Alpha Sabine's words, how she foolishly threw it in his face that she knew more about Suzie's background than he did. Perhaps she knew something that he didn't know, either way, she was the only one he knew and could extract information about Suzie's family from.

The only problem was that it was Sabine. She wouldn't give him help without wanting something else in return.

"I will find that out right away."

Gabriel answered and Dr Calloway nodded.

"I'll give you something for the fever. It will help bring it down in the meantime but you have to work fast."

"I'll make a few calls, get on that right away."

"By the way. I noticed that her nanny is human..."

Dr Calloway asked as she gave him a look.

Gabriel knew that look.

It was a judging look. He rarely hired human staff, why now?

"Yes. She is."

Gabriel straightened as adjusted his suit sleeve.

"I lied to her that it was an infection of the ear."

"Thank you for your discretion."

Dr Calloway nodded.

Gabriel turned to leave, Dr Calloway was apparently not done.

"I don't know your motives for hiring her Alpha but I will tell you that in the long run she's going to find out eventually that Emilia is not a normal child."

"And by then you would have to deal with the consequences of having a human nanny."

Gabriel turned to Dr Calloway and looked her dead in the eye.

"I assure you Dr Calloway, there will be no consequences of the sort."