by Sara Summers
“Oh, cool. Do you guys usually make a big deal out of birthdays?” Quinn asked.
“Not really.” Emma spoke up. “Usually mom just makes our favorite food for dinner and we eat cake. We never did birthday presents until after the walls went down, because there were no presents to give.”
“What? That’s insane!” Quinn protested.
“I had no idea.” Hallie put in. “Should we go and get him something?”
“Nah. I’m sure the only thing he wants for his birthday is for our packs to become one again.”
I looked at Tanner, my eyes widening, and saw the way he was grimacing. He felt like the pack split was his fault.
“Why not?” Quinn wondered.
I grimaced too.
“Because Tanner and Cody both have too much dominance. If our packs merged, Dad would be third, and that would probably only last until Artie’s old enough to control his dominance. My dad doesn’t know how not to be the Alpha.” Emma explained.
Tanner ran a hand through his hair as the match ended, and Logan looked between us with an apologetic expression. The merge had been hard on everyone, but especially on Tanner and me since we’d gained so many more responsibilities.
Our pack’s third was in Wisconsin with his soulmate and had been since just after the merge, so Tanner and I were the only ones there to keep the peace. You’d be surprised by just how many fights break out in a group of a hundred guys from 12-25 years old.
“I’m sure he could learn. Hallie learned how to be a shifter, Leah’s not trying to save the world anymore, and you became an actress.” Quinn reminded Emma. “Cody’s learning not to lose control of his wolf every time I do something to piss him off.”
I watched a grin take over both of the other guys’ faces when she added the last part.
“I’ve had to learn how to be something besides a gymnast. I thought it would kill me when I couldn’t compete anymore, but look at me. I’m not thriving, but I am surviving. Change is part of life, and if I can survive breaking my back and losing the future I had planned, I think Ty can handle not being Alpha. Heck, it might even be a relief for him.”
The girls in the kitchen—and us guys in the living room—sat in stunned silence for a few seconds before my soulmate spoke up again.
“Plus, the prejudiced people in the other pack haven’t tried to wreck my house or kill me since I told them off the other day. If they were going to do something, they would’ve done it already.”
“Maybe you should add lawyer to your resume.” Emma remarked.
I bit back a groan, and Logan met my gaze. That was a touchy subject for my soulmate, one that we should’ve avoided at all costs since she wasn’t trying to get rid of me at that moment.
“That’s not an option.” Quinn’s voice went flat, and I heard her footsteps.
Figuring she was storming out the front door, I dropped the remote on the couch and stood to follow her.
My eyebrows raised when she walked into the room.
“Going somewhere?” She asked dryly.
“Just stretching.” I lied, pulling my arm across my chest in a quick stretch. “That was a good run earlier, I’m a little sore.”
Tanner choked back a laugh, and I didn’t have to look to know that Logan was grinning.
“Oh please. If that run made you sore you’re more marshmallow than mountain or man.”
“I’m pretty confident we’ve already established how man I am.” I met her smirk with one of my own, and my brother coughed back another laugh.
“Have we? Because I remember establishing that you weren’t man enough to take me to bed when I asked you to on multiple occasions, James.”
She strolled through the doorway on her right and went through the back door, leaving me both shocked and even more attracted to her than I’d been when we’d made out in the forest.
Tanner and Logan busted up as soon as Quinn was gone, and Hallie and Emma were laughing so hard they were crying when they came into the room.
“I love your soulmate.” Emma collapsed on the couch next to Logan, wiping away tears as her laughter died down. “That girl isn’t afraid of anything.”
“Except her parents, who are lawyers, Em.” I rolled my eyes, though I was grinning too.
“I can’t believe she said that out loud.” Hallie sat on the arm of the couch next to Tanner.
“I can’t believe you turned your soulmate down when she propositioned you.” Tanner’s body was still shaking with laughter.
“I wasn’t going to sleep with her as part of her plan to get rid of me.” I stood up, following Quinn in my mind. If she stuck around with the pack too long, there was a good chance she’d jump one of the other guys like she had Sebastian.
“I can’t believe you just said ‘propositioned’,” Emma rolled her eyes at Tanner. “But I’m sure that’s not the only reason she wanted to sleep with you.”
“Yeah, well you guys can keep talking about our sex life while I go and stop her from trying the same thing with some other guy just to piss me off.” I called out, strolling out through the door and into the shocked crowd of boys.
I expected to have to peel my soulmate off one of my lucky, unsuspecting pack mates. Instead, I found them all gathered around Quinn, who was on her back on the grass. I would’ve heard her swearing like a sailor if not for all the guys talking around her.
My heart raced and my stomach dropped when I realized that she must’ve gotten hurt. Shoving my way through the crowd, I dropped to my knees beside her. There were tears pooling in her eyes, but the expression on her face was one of fierce anger.
“Are you okay?” I put my hands on her face, then her shoulders and arms and legs, checking for injuries.
“Just back off.” She snarled, shoving me away and getting up only to rush into the forest. I gave her a second before following after her, turning to the guys next to me.
“What happened?” I growled.
“She ran into me and fell.” One of the twelve-year-olds looked at me, petrified. “When she didn’t roll over or get up, I tried to help her and she started swearing. Landen rolled her over and she looked like she was in pain but just kept swearing at us.”
I ran a hand over my face.
“I’m sorry, Zak.” I barely took the time to apologize for her before taking off into the forest after my soulmate, who was still moving but hadn’t shifted.
Quinn
I tripped over a twelve-year-old.
I’m not proud of it, and I wish it wasn’t true, but it happened. I was trying to escape from my soulmate after he just went and assumed I was going to charge out of his sister’s house, and I tripped.
On a twelve-year-old.
Oh, my social media was going to blow up when I posted about that.
It would’ve just been an embarrassing situation had I not tweaked my back when I fell. But I did, and holy crap did it hurt.
As silly as it was, the fall mixed with the back pain had brought back memories that I didn’t want to remember. Memories of lying on the mat in that gym, unable to feel my toes. The cold and numb but somehow still-burning pain that radiated through my spine.
I’d shoved Cody away in the heat of the moment, not wanting him to see me cry or to watch me relive the scariest moment of my life.
But as I’d expected, I heard his feet pounding on the dirt before I heard his voice.
“Quinn!” Cody called out. “Just slow down a second.”
I wasn’t moving quickly, thanks to the pain in my lower back, so he caught up to me quickly.
His hand brushed my back and I elbowed him in the arm.
“Hey!” he protested, grabbing the elbow that I’d jabbed him with. “Easy.”
“I told you to back off.” I glared at him with all the fire I had in me. I’d always been fiery, but the look I gave him was hotter and more furious than I knew I could manage.
“And you knew that I wouldn’t.” he stepped closer, not releasing my elbow. “What happened?”
Despite my decision that I wanted to be with him, I was still way too prideful to let him in just like that. I’d gotten hurt, and though I was all in to the relationship, being vulnerable wasn’t a part of my personality.
“It is my business because you’re my business. Stop growling at me and just tell me what’s wrong.”
I tried to shake him off, to get rid of his hand, but his grip didn’t budge and my back was still hurting too badly to put more muscle into it.
“Just leave me alone.” I sighed and stopped fighting, taking a step away from him.
He walked around me and stopped in front of me, taking my face between his hands.
“Don’t you get it, Quinn? I am never going to leave you alone. You’re mine. Mine to love, mine to take care of, mine to protect. If you’re hurt, that’s on me.” He met my eyes with a look of unyielding determination. “So tell me what happened to you before I rip off your clothes to find whatever has you in so much pain.”
That man—wow. Had he been any less determined or sure of himself, he and I never would’ve worked out.
I felt like he shouldn’t have been able to care about me the way that he did, but I was grateful anyway. In an effort to show that gratitude, I forced myself to calm down and tried to let him in a little.
“I just fell.”
He took his hands off my face, and I reluctantly reached around to lift the back of my shirt. Or Emma’s or Hallie’s shirt, I guess, that they’d let me borrow. It was flowy and gray, and I thought it was adorable despite the way I’d only ever worn tight clothing.
“I broke my back a few years ago in a gymnastics competition. It healed completely but has never been the same, so when I fell today and landed wrong, it tweaked my back. Now it hurts like the devil, but there’s nothing wrong. I’m fine.”
I turned around and showed him my back, which was bruise and wound free. When his fingers touched my skin, I jumped a little, and then winced because the movement hurt.
“Where does it hurt?” he checked, moving his fingers up and then down, waiting for me to respond.
When he pressed the tender spot, I winced again.
“There.”
He stopped.
And then he bent over and pressed a soft kiss to the place that hurt.
It should’ve been weird, I knew it should’ve been weird, but instead it was so sweet it almost made me cry.
His hand slid to my hip, which was bare since I was holding up my shirt. When I shivered, he stepped closer and put his other hand on my other side so he was standing directly behind me, his front pressed against my back.
“Let’s stop pretending that you don’t have feelings for me, okay?” Cody’s voice tickled my skin before he pressed a kiss to my neck. “We both know that you don’t think I’m a marshmallow, and that you don’t have any questions about my manhood.” He kissed my neck again, a little lower.
My head tilted just a little to the side, giving him more room.
“We both know that you’re attracted to me,” he kissed me again, “that you want me,” and again, “That you feel the same way about me that I feel about you.”
His lips met my collarbone, and I barely managed to hold back a moan.
“They can hear us.” I whispered, using the same words he’d used against me.
“So what?” he smiled against my skin.
I was such a goner.
“So come on.” I stepped out of his grip and undressed quickly, shifting into my wolf form before Cody could protest.
I ignored the way the pain in my back increased as I shifted forms.
“Wait, if you—“
The pain was more intense as a wolf, but I ignored it and ran off before Cody could finish what he was saying.
Cody
“Stubborn woman.” I muttered, shifting as quickly as I could. Quinn hadn’t been a shifter long enough to know that shifting forms while injured only made the injuries worse.
My apartment was only a few minutes through the forest, so I caught up to her just as we got home. She had been running as fast as she could, despite the pain, so it was no wonder that she was whimpering when we finally stopped.
Quinn shifted back into her human form and then shrieked, and I barely shifted in time to catch her before she fell and landed on her face.
“You’re alright.” I promised. “Shifting while injured always makes the injuries worse, even if it’s just something as simple as tweaking your back. You’re going to need to take things easy and stay in human form for the next few days.”
She groaned, and took her clothes when I offered them to her. We both got dressed, though Quinn did so shakily.
“You could’ve warned me before I shifted.”
“I tried.” I reminded her. “Do you want me to carry you inside, or help you walk?”
“Carry me.”
I pulled her carefully into my arms, trying not to jostle her, and then started toward the apartment. Quinn sighed.
“I hate being useless.”
“You’re not useless.” I corrected her. “You’re just temporarily out of order.”
“Like a bathroom, or vending machine?” her voice was dry.
I grinned.
“Exactly. You’re a toilet who is out of order until the plumber comes to fix it.”
“I hope by plumber you mean chiropractor.”
“You could try a chiropractor if you want, but I was referring to time as the plumber.”
“Ah, of course.” She rolled her eyes.
We both had to duck to avoid hitting our heads as I carried her up the dinky old stairs that led up to my apartment.
It was noticeably empty when we got inside, and I knew Sebastian would be working his typical long Saturday shift at the library. He wouldn’t be home until 9 or so, and it was only 4.
“Can you help me into the shower?” Quinn asked, and there was a bitter tone to her voice.
“Are you mad at me?” I checked, as I carried her to the bathroom.
“No, sorry, I’m just—” she paused to let out a long breath of air. “I don’t ask people for help, okay? I deal with things on my own, and if I need help, I pay someone to help me so I don’t have to ask. Sorry if I sound like a jerk, I just have way too much pride for this.” She gestured to me.
I knew she was saying that she had too much pride to ask me to carry her, and that it was difficult for her to let me.
“Well I’ve got virgin hands and arms, remember? So you might as well be paying me when you let me hold you like this.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled at my words.
“Quinn, the more you let me help you, the better I’ll feel. Not only do I like having you close, but it makes me feel sort of complete to be helping you. Please let me.”
Quinn swallowed. I waited for the flip to switch, for her to go postal. It never came.
Instead, she let out another long breath.
“Do you think you can stay in the bathroom while I shower, just in case I need help?”
“Of course.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead instead of letting out a loud ‘whoop!’ that she hadn’t flipped out.
I figured that if Quinn was asking me for help and letting me in, maybe things were starting to look up.
She took two steps away from me and glanced in the mirror before she got in the shower, then did a double-take a second later.
“Wow, I didn’t realize I was so dirty.” She grimaced. “Gross.”
“The dirt looks good on you.” I told her, completely honest. She rolled her eyes, but I saw the smile she tried to hide.
“Sure it does.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and frowned, her fingers pausing on the markings on her neck. Her eyes met mine in the mirror, and she looked down at the sink.
; “Does it bother you that my tattoo doesn’t match your cotie?”
When she met my gaze through the mirror again, I noticed the uncertainty in her eyes. Since she was using shifter words and asking me questions that went deeper than our favorite colors and foods, I knew there was a good chance that she was at least considering choosing to be with me.
“A little.” I answered truthfully, studying her face as I did. “Does it bother you?”
She sighed and closed her eyes for a second before she opened them again and responded.
“I didn’t want to get it.” Quinn’s words surprised me. “My dad threatened to disown me, and I thought it would piss you off. I was fighting back tears the whole time the tattoo artist was doing it, and I still haven’t been able to look at it.”
Those ones surprised me even more.
“Why can’t you look at it?”
“My wolf is disgusted with the idea that I covered it up, and I guess I feel like if I don’t look at it then maybe I didn’t do it.” She shrugged a little and met my gaze in the mirror again. This time, there was an apology in her eyes. “I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
I reached out and took her hand, lifting her fingers to my lips for a gentle kiss.
“You should look at it.” I held her gaze. “It’s beautiful.”
She nodded and reached up with the hand that I wasn’t holding to pull her hair off of her neck, moving slowly so she didn’t hurt her back.
“Can you grab one of our phones?”
I stepped out of the bathroom, into my room, and was back with my phone in my hand only seconds later.
Quinn lifted her hair up and away, tilting her neck a little to give me a better view of the intricate tattoo, and I snapped a quick picture before I handed her the phone.
She stared at the picture, her eyes widening when she saw it.
“You can still see our cotie.” She said, her voice filled with shock.
I nodded an affirmative. Since she was opening up, I figured it was safe for me to do it too.
“I was tracing the lines on your tattoo after you fell asleep, and when I touched your cotie the tattoo ink faded away.”
Quinn lifted her finger to her eyes and wiped away a tear that I hadn’t noticed. She put the phone down on the counter and met my eyes again with a fierce expression.