Inevitably Yours

Chapter Eleven

MICHAEL

Tyler insisted on spending the night in my room. Our father left sometime during the night, and it felt like we could all breathe again. I wanted nothing more than to call Quinn or even go over there and get her to come outside with me, but it was late, and I knew it would be better to wait until the morning. 

Tyler and I watched Pocketmonsters all night, then woke up to a late breakfast with Mom. She made all our favorites and way too much food. We ate happily while Mom and Tyler talked. I still had many questions and a short window of reprieve to find answers. I didn’t want to ask my mother directly, afraid that I wouldn’t get the truth or she would block me from finding it. 

When we were all done, Mom shooed us away to do as we pleased. Tyler went off to play a game with his friend or something, so I headed out to Quinn’s. I tried to walk quickly without making eye contact with anyone. I had multiple messages from my friends, Andi, and Quinn, as well as missed phone calls, but my priority was seeing Quinn first. 

“We need to get rid of Andi,” Eros pointed out. “Quinn is better.”

I didn’t disagree. I was just too wrapped up in Quinn to care about dealing with anything else. “I’ll get to it,” I told him. 

When I got to Quinn’s, I knocked on the door and was surprised when her mom answered. She looked at me, confused. “Is Quinn home?” I asked quickly before she could comment about who I was. 

“Uh, yea,” she said. “Are you friends with my daughter?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I smiled. “She isn’t expecting me, though.”

“She’s never mentioned you before,” she said. 

“We’ve only just recently become closer,” I explained. She nodded, looking me up and down. 

Finally, she pushed the door all the way open. “She is down in the basement. Through the living room and around the corner. The door is on the left,” she said. 

“Thanks,” I said, reigning in my excitement. I kept my steps normal as I took the familiar path to Quinn’s little rec room. As I descended the stairs, her blue hair came into view. Her head turned slowly, and her normally sparkling green eyes looked tired and dull. They slowly widened as she realized it was me. 

QUINN

Heavy steps sounded on the basement stairs. I lazily looked over to see who was coming down, only to freeze in surprise. 

“Michael?” I asked in disbelief.

“You didn’t forget about me,” he said, his smile bright. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Where have you been?” Irritation bubbled up inside of me. He didn’t answer his phone for days or bother to text me back but just showed up at my house unannounced. 

“I am here to see you,” he said. 

“Where have you been? I sent you messages and called,” I demanded. He came around the couch and stood awkwardly in front of me. 

“I had some family stuff going on,” he said. “Sorry.”

“I wish you would have just said that,” I told him. I crossed my arms over myself protectively. His look softened. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

“Yea, fine. Just tired,” I said. His eyebrows furrowed for a minute. 

“Then take a nap?” he said. 

“I never thought about that,” I replied sarcastically. “I’ll do that.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it like that. You just look exhausted. When was the last time you slept?”

I sighed. “Like Thursday night?” I answered. 

“Quinn, it’s Monday!” he exclaimed. He grabbed my arm and hauled me off the couch. I let him pull me, having no energy to fight. His hand came up, and his thumb softly rubbed my cheek under my eye. “Why haven’t you slept?”

“I just can’t sometimes. Saph disappears, and I can’t fall asleep. Usually, she comes back when I can actually sleep again,” I admitted. I looked up into his face. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking based on his expression. 

“Want to know a secret?” he asked. 

My shoulders dropped. “I don’t have the energy for a back and forth game,” I told him. 

“No, really,” he smiled softly. “I have a special power. It’s my magic.”

“Magic? What are you, a witch?” I laughed hollowly. 

“Can I show you?” he asked. 

“Sure,” I sighed. He turned and kicked his shoes off next to the couch. Then he grabbed my arm and sat on the couch, pulling me with him. He started laying down, and I looked at him crazily. 

“What are you doing?” I asked. 

“Do you trust me?” he asked, pausing as he got comfortable. I nodded absently. “Then just do what I say. Here, lay down.” He motioned for me to lay with him. 

I looked at him as he watched me expectantly. He didn’t wait for me to comply. He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me down next to him on the couch. I let him move me because I had no idea what he was trying to do. His hands were warm, though, and they felt good against my skin. His head lay on the armrest while I lay on his bicep. His other arm stayed around my waist. I was completely stiff against him.  

“Relax, it’s fine,” he said in my early gently. His hand found the top of my head., and he started rubbing softly while his other hand started tracing curving patterns over my stomach. “My special power is that I can make anyone fall asleep with me.”

“My mom is upstairs,” I said worriedly. I knew she was going to the store are some point, but I didn’t want her to come down here and get the wrong impression. 

“I think she likes me,” he said, still speaking softly. “Just relax and close your eyes.”

“You can’t be comfortable,” I said. There was no way he was comfortable with me laying squished together like this. “If I close my eyes, I’ll fall off this couch eventually.”

“Stop worrying, Quinn,” he said. “I won’t let you roll off the couch. Just trust me.”

The movement of his fingers against my scalp was calming and hypnotic. My eyes lowered, and I tried to let myself relax. Michael’s arm left my waist, but I felt a blanket being pulled over us a moment later. He must have grabbed it from the back of the couch. “It’s okay, Quinn,” he whispered, replacing his arm on my waist again. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

His breath was warm against the side of my face. His body was solid but comforting behind me. The movement of his light caress was relaxing. 

I let myself relax entirely, my body melting against his. My sore eyes started to close, the familiar burn accompanying their closure. “Michael?” I whispered.

“Yea?” 

“Thanks,” I said, letting my eyes close fully. I felt him smile, and his head leaned into the back of mine. 

He was quiet for a second but then said, “I’d do anything for you, Quinn.” It was so soft I was sure he didn’t mean for me to hear it. Warmth radiated from my chest, my heart pacing slightly at his confession. My mind started to slip away to the bliss of sleep with the reassurance that his absence wasn’t because he stopped wanting to be around me.

MICHAEL

It only took a few minutes before Quinn was breathing deeply in my arms. I buried my nose in the soft mass of blue hair on her head. She smelled so good. I hoped beyond measure that in a few months, when I hit mating age, this was the scent that would be the balm to my soul. 

I stopped rubbing my fingertips lightly around her belly, splaying my fingers across the supple skin. She looked and felt soft, but I could feel the hidden musculature below her feminine form. 

My chest ached, knowing she was miserable when I disappeared. There was much more to the seemingly normal girl than I could have ever guessed. I tightened my arm around her. I wanted to protect her from anything that could ever plague her. 

“If you aren’t the son of the Alpha, she could be in danger by being close to you,” Eros pointed out. 

“If he ever thought about looking at her wrong, I would kill him. Father or not,” I promised. 

“We need to find out,” Eros said. 

“I know. Now that I am here, I can’t just leave. I promised her I’d be here when she woke up,” I said.

“If you waste all of today, that only leaves two more before he is supposed to return,” Eros reminded me. 

He didn’t need to remind me. I knew how long I had. I had to be careful about sneaking around. I couldn’t let my mom onto what I was doing. I planned on asking her only when I had proof or something more solid. 

There were footsteps on the stairs, and I stilled. I hoped that Quinn’s mom wouldn’t come down here after letting me in. I turned my head slightly to see her standing behind the couch, looking at us. I couldn’t read her expression. 

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” I said. “I can move.”

She shook her head. She watched us for a minute more before speaking. “Do I have to worry about you with my daughter?” she asked. 

“No, never,” I told her truthfully. 

“I know who you are. I can’t say I was expecting the Alpha’s son to show up on my doorstep asking to see my daughter. She clearly feels comfortable with you,” her mom continued. 

“I have no intention of hurting her,” I said. I looked back down at Quinn. 

“You better not. She has a bright future ahead of her, and she doesn’t need a wolf playing with her heart and messing up her head,” she said. I could hear the underlying threat in her voice. It made me happy to know Quinn’s family was protective of their pup. 

“It may not mean much with my reputation, but Quinn isn’t just some she-wolf to me. I couldn’t imagine jeopardizing her future in any way,” I said. 

“You might want to keep that in mind as you look to your own future. She still has years until she can find her mate, and you are in a very different position,” she said. “I’ll be out running some errands for a while. I do advise that you two are not in this position when her father returns.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “This isn’t my blessing, but I won’t put a stop to it for now.”

I listened as Quinn’s mom headed back up the stairs. I let out a heavy breath. I realized that was the first time I had ever been nervous about a girl’s parents. 

I cuddled Quinn impossibly closer, letting her presence fill me. Without even trying, this tiny, blue-haired shy girl was healing the broken parts of me, and I selfishly wanted to keep her brand of medicine for the rest of my life.