Inevitably Yours

I ran. Like the coward I am, I bolted.

Michael’s k**s set my whole body on fire. I couldn’t decide if it lasted too long or not long enough. When it ended. he stepped back with a satisfied smile. I quickly mumbled an excuse and sprinted away. Thankfully, he didn’t chase after me.

I ran all the way home, passing pack members headed to the party. I really thought I was going to die. My legs moved faster than I ever thought possible. When I got home, my parents weren’t back yet, so I fished my key out of my pocket and let myself in. I went straight to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of cold water, chugging it unceremoniously in front of the open fridge.

“That was perfect,” Saph purred in my head.

“That was…” I was lost for words. That wasn’t my first k**s, but I can positively say I never felt like that before.

“You shouldn’t have left. We could have done that more,” Saph pointed out.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

I closed the fridge. “No,” I told her. The next Alpha of our pack just cornered me and kissed me like I’d never been kissed. He told me he liked me, then he kissed me.

“He has wanted to k**s you for a while, too,” Sapphire interjected.

“You aren’t making it easier to process this!” I told her. I ran my hands down my face. How did I not know he was the Alpha’s son this whole time? Why didn’t my brother say something? Someone had to know.

“He’s a gentle Alpha,” Sapphire commented. She was lost in a dreamy daze.

Gentle or not, this was only going to lead to trouble. The whole last week, I had heard rumors about the Alpha’s son and his player ways in band. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, all those words just meant drama and trouble. It didn’t matter if he liked me or I liked him or how gentle and sweet he could be; there was no way on the moon that the Goddess would ever make us mates.

I ran up to my room and changed out of my parade clothes. I grabbed some jean shorts and a striped shirt. I couldn’t think about him right now. I would go crazy if I thought one more second about the feel of his lips on mine, the excitement it sent through me. I went back downstairs and got busy with all the food my mom had started to prepare this morning. I had to keep myself busy so my mind was off Michael for now.

MICHAEL

Heaven. The Moon Goddess definitely made that girl for me. Kissing Quinn felt like the most right thing I had ever done. I couldn’t help it after watching that blue ponytail bob up and down all the way through the parade. I could see her through the line in between us most of the time. The way her jeans hugged her a*s made my mouth water. I forgot to actually play a few times; I was so lost in watching her.

It was a risk cornering her like that. Anyone could have seen me with her; it could have easily gotten back to my family or Andi. When she told Christy she didn’t intend to stay, I knew I couldn’t let her just run off without doing it. She was bound to find out if she waited for the party anyway.

She ran away as soon as I let her go, mumbling an excuse about having something to do at home. I refrained from laughing or pulling her back and let her run away. It was probably better anyway; I didn’t want my father knowing about her still and definitely not before I knew the truth.

Still, my spirits were high as I casually strolled back into the celebration. I caught sight of some of my friends by the buffet tables and headed that way, a lazy smile on my face.

“Really, Michael? Does it have to be the new, nice freshman?” a squeaky voice I knew all too well said, stopping me.

I turned around and gave her a pleasant smile. “You weren’t a nice, new freshman, were you Christy?” I accused. Her eyes went a little wide, and she looked around us. “Don’t worry, Stuart isn’t around.”

“Shut up!” she snapped. “I like that Quinn girl! She isn’t some new plaything for you! She is kind and funny. Leave her be!” Christy put her hands on her h**s, giving me a demanding look. I couldn’t help but laugh at her mousy appearance.

“Shouldn’t you be a little more worried about keeping your little secret than who I might or might not be conversing with?” I pointed out.

“You wouldn’t dare!” she snapped, pointing a finger at me.

I shrugged, sticking my hands into my pockets. “I wasn’t dating anyone when someone came to me begging.” Her face flushed from anger or embarrassment; it didn’t matter.

“You can’t prove anything,” she hissed.

“Can’t I?” I laughed. She knew I could, but I didn’t need to. I had nothing to lose by it getting out that she asked me to take her virginity. Christy stammered in front of me. “Run along, little mouse.” I winked at her and turned to find my friends.

My friends were all laughing when I joined them. I knew I didn’t have long before it was time for my father’s speech. As the dutiful son, I would have to be up behind him, but I hoped to sneak away afterward. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Tommy just got dumped again,” Nate chuckled.

“It’s not funny!” Tommy g*****d.

“What did you do now?” I asked him.

“I don’t even know! She just spazzed out,” he said, hanging his head. He was hopelessly whipped by his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

“You look happy? Andi around to keep you busy?’ Ricky teased.

“Man, when are you going to get rid of that thing?” Nate g*****d.

“Knock it off,” I growled. I wasn’t going to tell them about Quinn, so they had another reason to rag on me. I never took any of my other girlfriends seriously, so I knew they wouldn’t take her seriously.

“Michael, where are you?” my mother linked me.

I sighed. “Gotta go,” I told them. “Catch you guys later.”

I sauntered back into the crowd of people, heading toward the obligation I had no interest in fulfilling. Eros pushed the memory of kissing Quinn back into my head. A ghost of the pleasant warmth of her lips on mine whispered over me. I wasn’t going to let anything ruin tonight; I got to k**s Quinn for the first time of many more to come.

Daniel came strolling towards me. “Andi was looking for you,” he said with a shit-eating grin. “She asked me to give this to you. Her parents only let her stay for a half-hour.” He passed me a handwritten note.

“s**t,” I thought.

“So she’s gone?” I asked.

“Yea,” Daniel said. I could tell he was enjoying this. “She was in quite the mood looking for you. I think one of those band kids might have told her who you were with.”

“You made your bed,” Eros taunted. Of course, he would take any opportunity to rub the Andi situation in my face.

I recoiled internally. Andi finding out about Quinn was the last thing I needed. She was the exact opposite of Quinn. Andi was hot-tempered and vindictive; she would not hesitate to unleash fury on Quinn even though this whole thing was my fault.

Daniel walked away laughing. I stuff the note in my pocket. I needed to put out all the fires in my life so I could focus on the blue-haired gem the Moon Goddess dropped in my lap.

–

With my parents and everyone else distracted, I thought it would be the perfect time to go looking again. Even though he had stayed away longer than expected on Alpha business, I had not been able to get through all my Mema’s things yet. I thought I could use this time to my advantage with Quinn bolting from the party. No one else would really be in the packhouse tonight either.

I thought I’d escaped without anyone noticing, but as I closed the outside door into the kitchen behind me, I heard his fingers thrumming against the bar impatiently. My heart dropped somewhere far beneath my feet, and I turned to see my father standing there waiting for me.

“Oh… Uh… Hi,” I stammered awkwardly, not prepared for this encounter. I thought he was outside making the rounds during the celebration. I didn’t expect him here, waiting for me.

I was greeted with a raise of the eyebrow, “Sneaking off again?”

“No, I was just-”

“There’s no need to lie,” his tone moved towards annoyance as his fingers continued to drum against the surface he was leaning on now. “Is it to see that girl?”

My heart found its place within my chest once more because it beat painfully hard against the inside of my rib cage. How could he know about Quinn? Had someone seen us? Was it just now? I’d been so careful.

“Calm down,” Eros demanded. “He could be fishing. Don’t tell him anything.”

“It was just hot outside,” I settled on as my excuse. Everyone knew preferred winter to summer, always favoring cold to hot. My mom liked to joke that I might just be a polar bear, although wolves enjoyed both warm and cold climates.

“I think you’re off to meet that little slut of yours,” he shot back, a smile spreading unexpectedly across his face. This was dangerous; I could handle violent Lawrence; a smiling one was unpredictable and much scarier than the former. “Is she who has been distracting you from your responsibilities here?”

“It’s nothing,” I told him, not wanting to provoke him or give away too much. I was fairly sure he meant Andi now and not Quinn, so I felt some small amount of relief. He was aware of my relationship with Andi thanks to my mom’s disapproval; he never put up any objection, much like the other myriad of females over the past few years. “I’m planning on breaking up with her, so you don’t have to worry about it being a problem.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” he replied with a hollow laugh. “You need plenty of practice before you find your mate, and she looks like she’s built for it. I imagine she can handle breaking a bed or two, no?”

My skin crawled, and I could feel the repulsion radiating from my stomach, emerging as bile in the back of my throat. I wasn’t talking about my s****l exploits with him. I knew rumors got around, but I had never thought about my father paying attention to them. Still, the way he talked about Andi like she was an object to rut until I found my mate pissed me off. I felt another pang of guilt at failing to break up with her. Did that make me as bad as what he was suggesting?

“It’s not like that-” I stuttered. Goddess, this was so uncomfortable.

“No need to be modest; I saw the claw marks down your back before. You do remember, though, don’t you? You went to your aunt and uncle’s to swim with Daniel and Audrey. You tried to hide by not taking off your shirt, but it peeked out over your collar and from the cut-off sleeves of your shirt. Looked fresh, too.”

I felt my cheeks flush as my face grew hotter. I thought I’d been more subtle than that. I couldn’t believe he’d noticed. It wasn’t exactly intentional; Andi had snuck into my room that night and been surprisingly rough with my back. She stayed longer than intended, and I couldn’t say no to going over to my aunt and uncle’s house in the morning almost right after without suspicion. So, I tried to cover it up. I was lucky we had the soundproofing in our bedrooms, or I would have gotten caught.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell your mother,” he laughed again, jerking his head towards outside where she was somewhere. “Is she good? I can imagine something so young and fresh is delicious.”

I was starting to get both angry and worried about the implications of this conversation. Was it s****l in my direction or hers? Was the abuse going to take a different turn? My mind couldn’t help but flashback to things I had found in his office. If it did, I’d rather die than allow that to happen, and I wasn’t alone.

“Never,” Eros growled in response to my thoughts.

“She’s… fine,” I answered, not sure how to extricate myself from the weirdest conversation I’d ever had in my life. Every fiber of my being was screaming to get out of there.

“Well, break up with her or don’t,” he told me dismissively. “Just make sure as you f**k your way around the pack that you don’t give us any grandpups. The pack can’t handle an out of mate-bond pup from the Alpha’s son.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered flatly.

“Make sure to show the slu- she-wolf a good time. You do have a reputation to uphold if you’re ever going to be Alpha,” he laughed as he walked past me, clapping me on the back.

I recoiled at his touch, not wanting it to last any longer than it had to. I heard the sliding glass close behind me.

“What the hell was that about?” I wondered, trying to find a reason he’d be so interested. Was that his version of guy talk with his son? He had moments where he tried to be a dad, so I hoped this was just his weird way of trying to do that. I worried about it being more, though.

“We need to keep him away from Quinn,” Eros demanded. “He may decide to hurt her because she’s a question mark in his files.”

The door opened behind me again, and I stiffened, expecting him to come through it again. Then I caught my mom’s scent and relaxed. “Will you help me take more food outside?” she asked, rushing past me towards a basket of rolls.

“Yea, of course,” I answered, sighing as I resigned myself to looking for answers later.