Chapter 121: Chapter 120

Katie

“I'm sorry?” I asked the woman.

Her mouth rearranged from a surprised “o” to a polite smile.

“Forgive me,” she said in a slightly breathless voice. I thought you were an old friend for a moment.”

She set two coffee cups down on the table. Her hands were shaking.

“That’s okay,” Mason said, eyeing her closely. “Thanks for those.” He nodded to the coffee cups.

She hesitated before turning away, and I was suddenly hit with that same creeping deja vu I'd experienced multiple times since

coming here. I blinked hard, trying to drive it away, but when I opened my eyes I noticed something else about her...she kind of

looked like me.

She had similar brown-red hair, only hers was cut short, and she had a heavy dusting of freckles across

her nose.

Was Mason seeing this, too?

I glanced at him and saw that his eyes were flitting from her to me, then back again, a curious expression on his face. So it

wasn’t just me,

“Do I know you?” I asked her before she could run off.

I hadn't sensed such a strong pull toward someone since....well, I guess since earlier today with Xander and Zane.

This seemed to be happening a lot here in Constantine.

The woman raised her eyebrows. “No, no I don’t think so,” she said hurriedly. “What is your name?”

“Katie,” I answered.

She nodded and smiled, but her eyes looked sad.

“Nice to meet you, Katie,” she said softly.

I

“What the hell are you doing here?!” I heard Gabriela’s angry voice before I saw her.

She marched up to our

Gabriela, too?

table and I swore the woman’s face when ghost ghost-white. Did she know

“I'll just leave you to it,” the woman mumbled before scurrying off.

“We're getting coffee,” Mason answered plainly.

Gabriela’s jaw clenched. I looked down at the table to avoid her death glare.

“You're not supposed to come into town,” Gabriela said in an ice-cold voice. “Especially not with her. We 1/3

My head snapped up.

“What instructions?” I asked.

Was this why Mason had avoided my question about not leaving the mansion earlier?

His mouth formed a tight line, and Gabriela shook her head at him.

“To make sure you stay in the mansion, Katie. You’re rogues; everyone here can smell it. And they might not welcome you as

warmly as we have.”

I held Gabriela’s gaze, but her stony expression didn’t flinch.

“If someone wants to give us s hit for being rogues, then they'll have to deal with me,” Mason spat.

“You know it’s not that simple,” Gabriela said. “You’re in Council territory. There are consequences to your actions.”

Was she telling the truth? And if we really were at risk of being targeted for being rogues, then why the hell would Mason bring

me here?

My stomach flipped. Thank g od I hadn’t brought Stella. Here I was worried about vampires when the Constantine Pack might've

been our real enemies all along.

Wait... Stella. If Gabriela was here, then....

“Where is Stella?” I suddenly asked.

“She’s with Xander and Zane. They’re watching her and the twins,” Gabriela said. “But she needs you home.”

Awave of guilt crashed over me, making me nauseous.

“Let's go, Katie,” Mason said, standing up from the table.

“I'll take her home,” Gabriela said. “We have things to discuss.”

Mason scoffed. “You can’t just f u cking...” He trailed off and took a deep breath.

His face was reddening, a nd his fists were clenched. He obvi ously wanted to fight, but he was doing his best to hold back.

I silently prayed to the go ds that he wouldn't lose it here. Sh it was already complicated enough without dealing with the

consequences of Mason blowing up on Gabriela. There was no way an Alpha like Xander would put up with someone tangling

with his mother.

out.

“Fine,” he said. “But you better get her home safe.”

“I'm the Luna for a reason,” Gabriela said. “I know how to take care of people.”

Mason leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead. T’ll see you soon,” And then he walked

“I'm sorry about all that,” Gabriela said as she led me to one of Xander and Zane’s big black SUVs outside

the cafe. “Llust want you and Stella to be safe”

cafe.

I bit my lip and nodded. I didn’t know how else to respond.

“I need to grab something from inside quickly, I'll be right back,” Gabriela said as she ran back into the

Through the window, I could see Gabriela tap the woman from earlier on the shoulder. Her face was twisted up with anger, and

the woman looked a little scared when she saw her again.

Lily awakened inside me, scratching around, her ears perking up to hear their conversation,

I crept out of the car and walked up to the window of the cafe, pressing myself against the outside wall so they couldn’t see me

inside.

“She can’t come around here, it’s too hard,” the woman said, her voice shaking. “What if Selena had been here?”

Selena? Who was Selena?

“Don’t worry,” Gabriela said, “She'll never leave the mansion again.