by Michelle Fox
“You have to be kidding me. You think something’s wrong with you because of a scar on your face?”
“Well, yeah,” Jade said hesitantly.
Quinn put her hand over her heart. “Jade, don’t you ever let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough because of a scar. Those bitches are probably just mean, spiteful people…. Damn, is Arden mean to you too?”
“Oh no, no, no. He would never do anything like that. Just some of the girls around here are a little mean, but that’s okay because I don’t want to be in their group anyway.” Jade started picking up her purses and putting them in a bag.
“Jade, I hope we can be friends. Nothing is wrong with you, and whoever says different is an idiot.” Quinn smiled, but Jade started laughing.
“I like you, Quinn, and yes, I hope we can be friends,” Jade answered.
“Good.” Quinn started scratching her arm. She rolled her shoulders, thinking she must need to take a shower, because she was feeling itchy all over.
“What’s wrong?” Jade looked down at the arm she was scratching feverishly.
“I feel funny and I’m itchy all over.” Quinn started pacing back and forth from the couch to the other end of the room.
“You need to release your wolf.”
“What?”
“You need to shift, Quinn. Your wolf wants out, and you need to let her run. When you don’t, you start to feel itchy and aggressive, like you could hit something.”
“Yes, that’s it,” Quinn agreed with a huff.
“I’ll go talk to the Alpha about getting you out of here.” Jade went out, but locked the door behind her again.
“You’re feeling it too?” she heard Finley ask from the other room.
Quinn walked back over to the air vent and crouched down. “Yes, are you?”
“I’m about to take the door down if they don’t hurry up and let me out,” he said. “Okay, someone’s coming to my door. I’ll let you know what’s up in a minute.”
Quinn stayed by the vent. She could hear someone opening up Finley’s door. “Dad!”
“Son, are you alright?” Quinn could hear another voice. She knew she needed to get out of here, and she wasn’t waiting on Arden to come back. Shit, as far as she could tell it looked he was going to keep her in here forever.
“Hello, can you hear me? Finley, are you in there?” Quinn yelled into the vent.
“Yes, Quinn, I’m here and so is my dad. He’s the police chief.”
“I’m being kept against my will. Please let me out, sir. I’ve done nothing wrong. I called my family and left a message on their phone that Arden Dixon was holding me captive. Please let me out.” The last part was a lie, but she was itching all over. If he didn’t let her go her wolf was going to tear the damn place down.
“Miss, I’ll be in there to get you in a minute,” the chief said.
“Hurry.” Quinn was feeling desperate. Her breathing was changing, and apparently they could hear the difference. She could hear Finley tell his dad to go get help.
She laid down on the floor and closed her eyes to the sound of her clothes tearing apart as she shifted.
******
Arden could hear Bane yelling for him to come quick. All he could think was something had happened to Quinn. He rushed inside the hallway and found Deaton Egan, Bane, and Finley standing outside Quinn’s room.
“What’s happened?” He rushed over to look inside, and gasped. Quinn had shifted, and her wolf was tearing up the furniture and anything that she could get her jaws around. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d pissed all over everything. She looked that angry.
“Alpha, I think I’d let her calm down before I went in there,” Deaton suggested.
“She needs to run. She told me she’d started itching and feeling funny. I’ve been looking for you. I take it she already shifted?” Jade asked as she walked up and glanced in the window.
“And tore the whole room apart.” Bane laughed.
“It’s not funny. You shut us up in this little room and expect us to just sit here, after you tell us that everything about our lives has changed. Yeah, I think she has a right to be pissed off,” Finley said angrily.
Arden didn’t know exactly how to take Finley standing up for Quinn, but he had a pissed-off female and he had to deal with that first. As soon as he opened the door, Quinn ran up and bit him on the hand. While he was still surprised, she slipped past him, out of the room. The bite didn’t hurt; he figured it was a way for her to get some of her frustration out. He didn’t take it to heart, he was reading her background and got carried away trying to find out about Quinn.
She zigzagged around the furniture in the living room. Seeing some of the pack members watching TV, she wheeled around and ran down another hallway, which led to the kitchen. He thought he might have her cornered, until her eyes flicked to the right and she saw the doggie door. Damn, she’s closer to it than I am.
Arden could hear her nails trying to get some traction, but before he could catch her the kitchen door opened and Alice walked in. Quinn immediately charged past her and took off into the woods. She was fast. Shifting, Arden ran after her. He knew that Bane and the others were following too, but he needed to be the one who caught his mate. The best way to do that was to alert the pack and have her turned back into his direction. Stopping, he howled into the sky telling his pack to run her back toward the house.
He trotted back to the house and shifted back into his human form. Bane, Finley, Deaton, and Alice were all waiting for him. Alice threw him a set of sweatpants, and he put them on. He could tell that Finley wanted to run, but he patiently waited next to his dad anyway.
He could hear his pack howling to each other as they herded her in the direction of the pack house. He smiled as she ran out of the woods and skittered to a stop. She was mad, but also tired from all the running. She wasn’t used to it, and that was something she needed to work on. Her wolf would want to run a lot.
He bent down and got on her eye level. The whole pack came out of the woods to watch the Alpha address their newest pack member.
“Quinn, shift now,” Arden ordered. When she didn’t obey, he shifted to his wolf form and growled at her. All Alphas had an innate ability to intimidate. Most used it when fighting, but sometimes they had to use it to get one of their wolves under control. When she didn’t obey, Arden’s growl got downright vicious, until Quinn dropped to the ground in fear.
“Stop, you’re scaring her!” Finley started to intervene, but Deaton stopped him.
“This is the way it is, son. He’s the Alpha, and you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing.”
“Shift, Quinn!” Finley yelled. “He’ll stop if you shift.”
But nothing worked. Quinn got up, and this time Arden got so close his powerful jaws grazed her. She shifted back to human and curled up in a ball. “I want to go home.”
Alice snorted, and Bane looked over at her. Jade ran up and handed Quinn some clothes, then stood in front of her while she slipped them on. When she was dressed, Quinn stood and walked up to Deaton.
“I want to go home, now.”
“Okay,” Deaton muttered reluctantly.
“She can’t go home; she’s in danger from the pack that changed her,” Arden interrupted. He’d shifted back while Quinn was getting dressed.
“I don’t care, Chief. I’m not his prisoner. I have a right to go home.”
“You can’t keep her here, Arden. It’s her choice. And if my son wants to leave, he can too,” Deaton told him.
“Then she goes with guards. The rogue pack wanted her—they won’t stop until they get her, and I’m not going to let that happen.” Arden replied. He was pissed but Quinn didn’t care. The man just hit her with some kind of voodoo vibes of his and she wasn’t going to be any one's bitch again.
Arden felt like the ground had just dropped out from under his feet. The sense of abandonment he’d felt at his parents’ deaths flooded back to him. What if som
ething happened to her too? Thinking about something happening to her now that he’d just found her shook him to the core.
“Okay, until we find this pack then she has guards,” Deaton agreed, looking at Quinn. “This isn’t optional, Quinn. We don’t know exactly who we’re dealing with here, and more people have disappeared in two towns nearby. These people are dangerous.”
He could see his mate thinking about it. He knew she didn’t like the thought of having guards, but she was going to have to accept it.
“Okay, but I have to get my store ready for the grand opening,” Quinn muttered.
Thank God she’d agreed. If she only knew how hard this was for him. She’d just been turned, so who could say when the mating pull would start with her. It was already eating him up inside. Now he would be worried sick about her safety. “Tate, Rod, Morris, and Jake you’re on guard detail. Finley, what are you going to do?” Arden asked.
“I plan to help Quinn get her store up and running, but I’ll come back here at night if that’s okay?” Finley answered. Even his dad looked shocked that he was choosing to stay at the pack house.
He needed to find out what Finley was up to. Quinn was his mate, and no matter what he wasn’t giving Finley a shot at her. “Finley, before you leave I need to talk to you for a minute.” Arden walked back into the house as everyone, including Quinn, stared after him.
He stood by the kitchen counter, waiting until Finley walked inside. “What is your deal when it comes to Quinn?” Finley actually looked surprised, which was good for him. Because if he wanted to be anything other than friends with her, Arden would have to rip his head off. Just thinking of him touching her was driving him crazy.
“We have a lot in common, and I hope we’re friends,” Finley answered.
“Just so you know, she’s my mate,” Arden told him.
“Yeah, I heard you tell her that, and Jade explained it. I don’t think she’s interested right now, but lucky for you we’re just friends.” Finley said smugly.
Arden grabbed Finley around the neck and slammed him against the wall. “Remember who you’re talking to, boy. I understand that you’re an Alpha, but I’m your Alpha and you damn well need to fucking remember that. Are we clear?” Arden wasn’t really hurting Finley, but hopefully it got his point across.
“Yes, Alpha. I got it,” Finley said, still smiling. Arden could tell he was just trying to appease him. “I’m not interested in her like that,” he repeated, then walked out the door.
Arden could tell that before this was all over they were going to fight, and he would have to show the kid who was boss. Right now, though, his mate was mad at him—and she was leaving.
Chapter 5
Quinn got in the back of the squad car with Finley. Deaton was taking her back to her small apartment above the store, and right now all she could think about was taking a shower and going to bed. She had a big day ahead of her tomorrow and she needed all the rest she could get.
There wasn’t any conversation in the car. When the chief pulled up at the store, a truckload of wolves pulled up right behind them. She got out, and Bane came up to her. “We’ll change shifts every six hours. My orders are to make sure everything is okay before you go inside. I need to check out your apartment, just to make sure nobody’s broken in.”
Quinn reached into her purse and took out her keys, and then they all went around to the back of the store and up the stairs. Bane asked them to wait at the door and went in first. He turned on all the lights, but she could actually see in the dark, so she knew he could too. If there was a plus in being turned it was definitely the night vision; that had to be the coolest trick. Now she could save a fortune on electricity at night.
“Everything looks good in here. You can come in.” They entered her apartment behind her and looked around. When she dropped her purse on the table and turned, all the wolves were standing by a picture on the wall. “Did you draw this?” Bane asked.
“Yeah, I’ve always loved wolves. One day that image just came to me, and I drew it. Guess it’s kinda ironic.” Quinn snorted.
Finley walked over and looked at it. “You’re good, too.”
“Thanks. I love to draw. Guess now I can see wolves up close and personal.”
Finley laughed. “I guess so. If they’re all watching over you tonight then I’m going to my dad’s to get my clothes, and then I’ll head back to the pack house. If you need some help, I don’t have a job right now, so I can help you do some repairs or build stuff for the store tomorrow. I need something to keep my mind off...well, this.”
“I can pay you for your help. I’ll be downstairs around eight tomorrow. I have a lot to do, and I could really use a hand,” Quinn answered.
“Well, I won’t turn down getting paid.” Finley laughed, and then looked at his dad. “You ready, Pop?”
“Yep. Quinn, here’s my card. If you need me, please call my cell phone. I don’t live far from here, but I don’t think I’ll have to worry too much about you tonight. Good night.” Deaton Egan smiled and walked out.
She liked Finley’s dad. He had some grey in his hair, but otherwise he looked just like his son. Finley had close-cropped brown hair and hazel eyes. He was a cutie, and she was really glad to have him as a friend. She felt that she could say anything to him and he wouldn’t tell a soul. The girls would go crazy over his good looks and confident nature, but what she liked best about him was that he didn’t seem arrogant about his looks. She got the feeling that Deaton was the same way.
“Bye Quinn. See you in the morning.” Finley left behind his dad.
Quinn waved good-bye to them. Now all she wanted was to take a hot bath, and if these wolves thought they were staying here, they were crazy. “You’re not staying in my apartment, Bane.”
“I know,” he said.
“I understand that I need protection, and you can either stay in the store or outside, but not in my apartment.”
“Okay. I’ll keep your keys so I can get inside the store, and we’ll keep one guard at your door and one in front of the store. Scream if you need anything,” Bane said with a wink, and then they left.
Quinn locked the door and went to run herself a tub full of hot water. She was tired and desperate to just relax.
Sitting down in the steaming water, Quinn wanted to moan, but she was afraid the guard outside would think she was in trouble. She didn’t need a bunch of wolves breaking her door in. Leaning back, she wondered how her life had come to this.
What in the hell happened today? It was just her luck that a damn wolf would pick her to bite.
Arden Dixon’s face continued to plague her thoughts, and it was starting to piss her off. The man was an egotistical control freak, just like her father, and she couldn’t be with anyone who thought they were going to run her life. However, Quinn couldn’t deny her immediate desire for his gorgeous body. How on earth could she be attracted to him when he tried to tell her what to do every minute of the day?
Quinn lathered soap on her skin, and noticed that her body had changed since she was bitten. Closing her eyes, she felt her muscles, and could tell that she was more defined and toned now. Well, that was a plus, because she’d thought she was getting fat. When she felt her stomach, she found it was flat and smooth now. That was definitely something to feel good about.
Then she remembered she could see in the dark now, too. She had so many questions to ask Jade tomorrow. What else would she be able to do besides changing into a wolf? Would she be a superhero now? Quinn laughed at herself. She had a lot to think about, including what she would do about Arden.
Arden.
Her thoughts drifted back to him again. As Quinn touched her stomach, she imagined it was his hand drifting upward to her breasts. She could feel her nipples harden just at the thought of him touching her there. Pinching herself harder, she rubbed her hand down and touched herself between the legs. It felt wonderful. The warm water felt soothing as she rubbed her finger over her clit. It wouldn’t t
ake long, as she fantasized about Arden touching her faster and faster until he plunged his long finger inside of her.
Quinn didn’t have time to prepare—she went off like a firecracker inside the tub, splashing water over the side and soaking the floor, but she didn’t care. She smiled at the thought of Arden touching her. He was the best fantasy she’d ever had.
As her body calmed down, Quinn almost fell asleep in the water. Feeling dead on her feet, Quinn decided to worry about everything that was going on later. Right now she was going to go to bed. She got out of the tub reluctantly and dried off, then slipped under the covers and fell asleep.
*****
Arden slipped through the woods in his wolf form, then sat at the edge of the trees, watching the light go off in the upstairs apartment. He needed to be near Quinn and make sure she was going to be okay. Jade said that Quinn wasn’t the type of person to follow the rules; she wanted to be an independent person, and that meant she needed time to get used to this type of life, a pack life. Members of a pack were always in each other’s business. He needed to understand that and give her some space, but Arden was an Alpha, and he didn’t know if he could keep his distance from his mate. He was going to try, though, because he wanted her happy.
“I figured you’d show up soon.” Bane sat down on the ground beside him.
“Scent anything?” Arden asked, shifting back.
“Nothing. The smell is gone, and there isn’t anything new,” Bane said. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Bane spoke again. “Your mate is an artist. When I checked her apartment out I saw a picture on the wall that she drew, of wolves standing around watching the moon come up. It was real cool.”
“Bite of the Moon. Maybe she’ll let me see it one day,” Arden joked.
“What do you mean by ‘Bite of the Moon?’” Bane asked.
“She was turned by the Bite of the Moon. Old tales that say that those who are bitten on the day of a full moon will be powerful wolves.”
“Hmm. So, you were born on a full moon, right?”