41: Taken

Recap:
Nate and Gabriella met Derek and the rest of his pack, which included a heretofore unknown boyfriend that Gabriella's deceased sister, Caitlin, had. Derek asked Gabby's help to re-acquire a mystical stone that takes away some of the pain of transformation as well as make a werewolf incredibly powerful when held in the hands of someone with magical blood with the light of the full moon upon it. Gabby agrees to help.

Panicking and convinced that Gabby's original vision of the two of them would be her death, Nate tried to take the future into his own hands and attempted to turn her. She used her stunning ability, causing them both to black out. When Nate awoke, he considered picking up where he left off before he came to his senses. His thoughts were easily read on his face, and that caused Gabby to lose her trust in him.

Gabby left the house on Desi. Gus and Marge walked in. Nate tried to attack Gus, but Marge had learned a new spell that sent Nate flying backwards, passing out on the now-broken dining room table.

Gabby planned on going back to Derek's, but she got lost. Derek's rival, Tanner's, pack found her and formed a quick plan....

 (Going to start by apologizing for the periodic changing of the appearance of the platinum blond, Tanner. These were taken over two saves, and something happened to his werewolf appearance grrrr.)

       "What do you want?" Gabriella asked again.
     "Only a little assistance you can provide. I think you know a little to what I refer." the largest among them said.
      Another one spoke up harshly, "Dismount or we'll pull you off the mare anyway."
      Nate, help! Where are you? she thought as she looked around for the help she hoped would arrive. Right now, she'd even accept Gus's help against these guys. Finding no one, she carefully slid off of Desi. She mumbled quietly to the horse, "Go tell Derek as best you can. They'll let you escape." Somehow, she knew they would.
     "I don't know why you think you can talk quietly to her and us not hear you." the alpha said belligerently. "Besides, we want the mare to go to Derek... with a note."

     "I could deliver the message." Gabby offered.
     The man laughed at her. "The note tells him we have you, so I hope you can understand why you can't."
     Nate? Gabriella desperately thought again, not understanding why Nate hadn't arrived yet.
     "But... you don't." she said quietly, stalling and holding on to Desi's reins. Cold fear raced in her veins.
     In no time, someone stood behind her and circled his arms around her waist before he said, "Oh, but we do, sweetheart."

     Gabby let out an ear-piercing scream before a hand was clamped over her mouth. Not ready to give up without a fight, she bit his fingers.
     The wolf holding her only laughed and said, "Hey, watch out for this one, boys. She bites." The rest of them joined in on the laughter.

     Desi made a break for it, but the leader caught her effortlessly. He did his best to calm her while tying something to the saddle securely. Then he patted her on the rump and sent her on her way.
     "Let's roll, boys. Julian, need any assistance?" the alpha asked.

     Julian barked out a quick laugh before he answered, "Don't insult me."
    Gabriella knew there was no point in trying to stun the man holding her. Even if she had the strength to do so, she would only faint and the others would just take her anyway. She was outnumbered and outmatched. And if this one doesn't stop pawing me ... She made his work harder by fighting with everything she had.
     "Oh, please keep wiggling, blondie." he said low into her ear. "I'm really enjoying it."
     Gabriella froze in shock. Then they started running. Her captor, the one they called Julian, held her like a sack of potatoes as they raced away from the area.
     As they ran, Julian enjoyed having her thrown over his shoulders. She felt light as a feather, and she smelled fantastic. In fact, there was a particularly intriguing smell coming from her that gave him an idea. He pondered how he could achieve his plan as they passed into his pack's territory.

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     "Wake up, Nate." he heard Marge order as he groggily opened his eyes.
     Suddenly, he sat bolt upright. "She's been kidnapped!" he hollered. He could feel Gabriella's fear.
     "What?!" Marge asked.
     "Hush a second." Nate said, thinking fast, as he held up his hand and tried to force something to happen that had happened only once before. He needed to see out of her eyes, and to do that he needed to concentrate hard. Amazingly, he got it to work!

      He could see trees flying past her at an alarming, to her anyway, speed. He couldn't make out any landmarks, nothing but woods as far as the eye could see. Still, this offered him a small clue. Thanks to farms clearing out a lot of land, there weren't too many places around them that could look like this. However, none of those places were close by exactly. They must've been traveling for a good while.

     Nate almost lost it when he could tell that the beast that carried her would let his hands wander over her as they ran. Gabriella was incensed, but that couldn't hold a candle to the deadly rage Nathaniel felt.
   "What's happening?" Marge asked him, desperate for news of her daughter. She felt uneasy watching the look in Nate's eyes as he started up a growl deep in his chest.
     "I never should've let her out of my sight." he snarled, his green eyes almost setting the room ablaze with all the rage he felt.
      "She wouldn't have left if you hadn't have tried what you tried." Marge spat at him bitterly.
    Nate's burning orbs flashed over to the newborn. "It was a vain attempt to stop the vision from happening."
     Marge matched the anger in his eyes with ice-cold fury as she bravely walked slowly up to her sibling. "How many damn times must you be told that the future cannot be changed!?!" she spat at him viciously. "Can you imagine my shock and horror when what I saw was revealed to me? I blame you for this!" Gone was the woman that refused to let him blame himself for everything. No, she wanted him to suffer.
     Her pointed finger may as well have been a stake to the heart from the realization that she spoke the truth. It truly was no one's fault but his.

     "Then let me fix this!" he snarled again. He closed his eyes and focused on her once more, and he was glad he did. The pack, five of them anyway, had arrived at a gated entrance to a large estate. More weres dressed as security guards spoke with them as the gate swung open. In mere moments, four of them stood at the threshold of an enormous house. He couldn't tell where the fifth had gone because Gabriella had been focused on trying to get the one holding her to stop pawing her, and this had distracted him as well.

      Nate let out a wail of utter distress as he watched Gabriella pass into the house. His heart smashed into a million pieces as she begged him in thought to come save her, and he felt pathetically helpless.
      "Get up!" Marge yelled as she walked over and kicked him. "You are not about to give up on my daughter!"

     Furious now, Nate hopped up and tackled her to the floor. "Shut up you little traitorous bitch! Of course I won't give up on her."
     Marge glared at him and said, "Good." She hated being called a traitor, but she felt it would be pointless to point out that she had no choice but to obey August's commands.
     "I must go talk with Derek." Nate said resolutely as he got up off of the floor. "We can't enter the house where they've taken her, obviously, and we need help."
      Nate and Marge heard August's voice from the doorway, "You don't honestly expect help from their ilk, do you?"
       Nate turned to him to say, "Not with you with me, but maybe they will -"
      "Rip you to shreds." Gus finished.
      "Nope. I'm in a vision that will come true, remember? How's that for life insurance?"
       Marge spoke up, "You finally believe ... a little too late."
       "I'm going." Nate told both of them.

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     Once they all got inside the house, there was a small amount of arguing about what they should do with Gabriella. Julian placed her on her own two feet, but he kept a hand on her at all times ... frequently where Gabby wanted it least.
     "But we need her as bait, Julian." Tanner argued after Julian claimed that Gabriella was his. "Not to be your little toy."
     "So we use her that way, but we don't have to hand her over!"
     Gabriella stood there in mute shock, not believing any of what was going on around her to be real.
     Julian's arm went around her waist to splay his hand across her stomach. "She's mine before ... and after. You don't need her. You already have your mate. I haven't since that Rob killed mine. Fitting I should have his dead girlfriend's sister." Julian argued.
       Mate? ... Oh no.
      After a few shaky breaths, Gabriella gathered her wits about her and spoke up saying, "Wait a minute. No."
       Julian spoke low in her ear, yet everyone in the room still heard him, "I don't believe I remember asking you, sweetheart." There were a few chuckles around the room. Then he turned to the group to say, "The next full moon is in four nights. Give me three. Then you may have her for our plan. Of course, I get her back when we're done." Words of consent slowly filtered through as he again turned to Gabby so he could say, "And I so look forward to killing your pathetic little vampire." He trailed a finger across her cheek before Gabby turned to make a failed attempt to bite it.
       "Alright, Julian. Three nights."
       Julian howled triumphantly before throwing Gabriella over his shoulder again to carry her deeper into the house.

       Once they arrived in what she assumed was his bedroom, he put her down and turned her loose. She immediately dashed over to a corner and curled up into a ball.
       Julian began whistling as he straightened up a few things. It wouldn't do for Gabriella to see their room for the first time and it be messy. Then his whistling stopped as he grit his teeth while he transformed himself. He turned around to ponder the woman huddled in the corner.
       "No need to fear me, sweetheart." he said gently, making Gabriella even more afraid.
       "I want to go home." she said, trying not to cry.

       He sat down in a chair, looking at her huddled form, and said, "As I understand it, you have no home anymore.... other than this new home. And you're there."
        Three nights, Julian thought as he mentally removed the cruel facade he wore to appease Tanner. He hated he didn't have more time because this wasn't the way he wanted to do this. He didn't want her to be afraid, but all the same, he needed her. He'd intended to take his revenge on Robert by taking Caitlin from him, but that ass-wipe of a hit man killed her. Satisfaction coursed through him at the thought that Tanner bought the idea that he was taking out his revenge for Charlotte's death with Gabriella. He'd have to find another way to really get it later. In the mean time... he wanted to further his more important, long-time goal. She's not going to like this. If only I could make her understand, but I have no time. Damn you, Tanner, you selfish, evil prick.
       Gabriella curled into a tighter ball and started to cry. She felt completely exhausted, and this new Julian terrified her more than the transformed one. Somehow he seemed more dangerous with this calmer demeanor, and he claimed she was "his". She feared she knew exactly what he meant by that. How can Nate save me now? I'm so far into this house that even I don't know where I am. I can't escape on my own unless ....

      She suddenly felt Julian's hand on her head as he stroked her hair. "Please don't cry, Gabriella." he said tenderly.
       "Then let me go."
       "I'm afraid I can't do that ... even if I wanted to." He paused. "You're actually lucky I'm the one that has you. The others, including Tanner, would just pass you around while they fight amongst themselves. I don't like to share." She heard him breathe in her smell near her ear. "In fact ... we're not leaving this suite at all for these next three days."

     She looked up at him in question before he further explained, "You're ovulating."

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Tanner's pack's house is Bridgely Court by missyzim from TSR. I'm happy I found almost an exact copy of the house I had in my imagination. :)