Inevitably Yours

QUINNContentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Michael took me back to his hotel with him after we packed up the romantic campsite he had built. As much as my body still craved him, I was glad all we did was clean up. A lot had happened in less than a day, and I felt like I was on autopilot.

We left everything in Michael’s car and went to his hotel room. We hadn’t seen Nic since we left the Alpha address, but I knew she would pop up some time. Michael closed the door and leaned against it. I stood in the middle of the room, feeling awkward.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered automatically. He was Alpha and just killed the man he thought was his father for most of his life; my cowardice and emotional overload didn’t need to be added to his plate.

“No,” he frowned, coming toward me. I hugged my arms around myself. He stopped only inches from me. One hand rested on my arm while the other came to my chin, pushing my face up to look at me. “You don’t have to hide anymore. I don’t care if you’re sad or mad; you tell me. I don’t expect you to always be happy or content.”

My eyes stung. “It’s just a lot. Everything has moved so fast since yesterday I just….”

“Need to breathe?” he finished. All I could do was nod. “Come here,” he said, pulling me into his arms. I let go of my waist and wrapped my arms around his; I laid against his chest, letting his scent and warmth comfort me. He kissed the top of my head. “I guess we have some things to talk about, don’t we?”

I nodded. There was so much I didn’t know. How did we get all the way to him killing Alpha Lawrence? Why now? Why were his eyes blue last night? Why did he ever have to leave?

“Do you want me to hold you while I explain everything? I’ll answer any question you have, I promise,” he offered softly. I nodded again. Now that I was marked, I wanted to be touching him all the time.

He reached down, grabbing me by my thighs to pick me up. I held onto him tighter, not used to this. He moved to the bed and sat down, settling me over his lap. I leaned against him, and he hugged me tightly. “I guess I can start with why I left….”

–

Guilt was eating me alive. I knew something was going on, but I never pushed him to tell me. I relied on him for so much, but he was struggling with no one to help him. He assured me over and over that just being there was enough to get him through, but it didn’t pacify the feeling.

“I’m still confused about something,” I said.

“What?” he asked. He was now sitting back against the headboard on the bed, and I still sat facing him on his lap. He was playing with my hair absentmindedly.

“Why did your eyes turn blue after we mated?” I thought to ask Sapphire this morning, but she was gone again.

“Oh, that,” he smiled. “I didn’t get to that part yet. Blue, have you ever heard of Fae?”

“I think so. Pointy-eared magic people, right?” I said. Michael laughed. With my hands on his chest, I could feel it.

“Yea, sort of. Anyway, you have fae b***d,” he continued.

“What?” I exclaimed. He just smiled.

“There may or may not be some small prophecy about you being my mate. This,” he said, twirling a strand of my hair. “This is how my dad knew. Fae b***d isn’t passed like physical traits would be. It skips around, and the amount of Fae you present with changes. You, my love, have a whole lot in you.”

“That makes no sense,” I said.

“You have a distant relative from around the time the pack came here from Scotland that was a Fae. She even prophesied about us. You are the key to my strength in more ways than one. I have a feeling when we have our Alpha and Luna ceremony, there will be some amazing things happening,” he explained further.

I shook my head. “No. I just have weird hair. I don’t have magic!”

Michael grabbed either side of my face. “I don’t know what all you are capable of yet, but we’ll find out together. It doesn’t change what I feel for you. You are mine, my Blue, my Luna, my Quinn.”

“But, M, I am telling you, I don’t have any magic. Wouldn’t I know something like that?” I pressed.

“We will figure it out, Q. Maybe it’s not something you can feel,” he said. He kissed the tip of my nose and smiled. “I love that I can do that whenever I want now.”

I relaxed a little. I got butterflies every time he kissed me or touched me. I loved this feeling so much. He pulled me forward and leaned his forehead against mine. “Me and you, we can do this. One step at a time, baby. First one, you need to formally meet my best friend.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yea, I bet she’s standing outside the door waiting.”

“Actually,” he laughed. “She is supposed to be bringing us lunch. She should be here any time.” Like he summoned it, there was an excited knock on the door.

“Should I get that?” I asked.

“She’s going to attack you either way,” he laughed. I started to climb off of him, and he pulled me down for another k**s. “Okay, you can go now,” he smiled.

I walked over to the door and opened it carefully. Nic was bouncing on her heels on the other side. “You are here!” she yelled.

Michael laughed from the bed as she practically tackled me holding a bag of food. “Remember, Luna murder is punishable by death,” he joked.

I hugged Nic back as she squeezed me tightly. “I am so excited to meet you. You have no idea. He never shut up about you. Movie night ‘Quinn is doing this.’ training ‘I wonder what Quinn is doing?’ dinner time ‘Look how pretty my Quinn is!’ Literally all the time.”

I raised an eyebrow at Michael, and he just shrugged. Nic threw M the bag of food and then turned her attention back to me. “It really is so blue,” she said, petting my hair. “I just know we’re going to be the best of friends. You’re so cute and tiny.”

“Nic, you’re only like an inch taller than her,” Michael said as he pulled wrapped packages from the bag. “I’ve been waiting too long for this. Come here and eat, baby.”

Nic reluctantly removed her hands from petting me, and I went over to M. He handed me a burger, and I finally recognized the wrapper from my favorite burger place. It was something you could only get in Stary; nothing compared. “So, are you staying here in Stary with us?” I asked Nic as I unwrapped my burger.

She stilled and looked at Michael. “I wouldn’t mind hanging around, but we haven’t really talked about it…”

I looked at Michael. “Well, if your Alpha now, you can make her part of the pack whenever you want.”

“You’re okay with that?” he asked, looking at me confused.

“Yea, why wouldn’t I be? You said she’s your best friend, and she helped you. If it wasn’t for her, I might not have you right now,” I told him. Both their faces broke out into gigantic grins.

Nic squealed and launched herself at me again. She squeezed me from the sides. “Oh, my Goddess! This is amazing!”

“Why is this such a surprise?” I choked out.

“Nic, you’re going to crush her!” Michael growled. She immediately let go, stepping away. Michael’s eyes were dark; I felt an enormous wave of possessiveness.

“I’m okay,” I told him. “But why the surprise?” I pressed, trying to snap him out of it. He reached forward and grabbed my hand, yanking me closer to him.

“Well, because of our past. Neither of us wanted to make you feel uncomfortable or jealous. I already made Nic a member of the pack, but if you didn’t want her to stay here, we would have understood,” he finally explained more calmly.

“I wouldn’t tell you she couldn’t live here,” I frowned. Michael kissed my hand. Their thoughtfulness was sweet, but I wasn’t a jealous person. I wouldn’t keep him from his friend like that. “I thought you would want her to be your Beta.”

–

“If you return to this house, you will agree not to run off with him,” my dad demanded. M brought me to the school to get my car, then we went to my house to meet with my parents while Nic went to evaluate the packhouse.

I wanted to talk with them, but I had no idea what the plan was for us. I was mated and marked; they couldn’t change that without killing me. I asked M to stand back and give me a second to talk to them, but I was not expecting this reaction at the door.

“Dad, he’s my mate. I am sorry I didn’t say anything last night. It all sort of just happened,” I tried to explain.

“No, Quinn. We are drawing the line. You may be graduating shortly, but that does not make you grown. If you live under my roof, you live by my rules, and I will not allow you to run around with him spreading your legs as he pleases,” my dad said.

I blanched, and a coldness settled inside of me. I felt him coming closer; Michael growled as he stopped behind me. “Then she will live with me. It was only a matter of courtesy at this point. She is marked and mated. She will be Luna.”

My dad and Michael just stared each other down. “Sweetheart, maybe we can work something out,” my mom tried to calm my dad.

“No, if she insists on taking a mate before we have even met him, she can take her things and go,” my dad said. He turned and stormed into the house. My mom looked helplessly between me and his retreating form.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed before she ran after him. Michael wrapped his arm around me and kissed my head.

“It’s okay,” he linked me. “We’ll be fine. Let’s get your things.”

“I’ll do it….” I told him. “Just wait here.”

He didn’t fight me; he just gave me one more k**s and let go so I could retrieve my things. When I got up to my room, I looked around. My curlers were still lying on the floor by the mirror from the previous afternoon. My whole world was so different when I did my hair and put on that dress.

I went to my closet and started getting clothes. I wasn’t even sure what to take. Clothes, my toothbrush. I got my graduation gown and folded it neatly into my large duffel bag. When I came out of my closet, I looked around. This wasn’t my room anymore, not my home.

“Home is waiting on the porch for you,” Sapphire said.

Tears fell. This was the best and worst thing to happen. I loved Michael with all my heart; how did my family not realize that?

“Go to your mate. One thing at a time, like he said,” Sapphire said. I nodded my head even though she wasn’t in the room with me.

“Are you okay?” Michael linked me.

“I will be,” I told him. “I have you after all.”