by Sara Summers
We pulled into the driveway of the house I’d grown up in, and Hallie and Quinn pulled up next to us as we got out of the truck. Hallie came over and took Tanner’s hand while Quinn slowly made her way toward me.
My mom rushed out of the house, her hair messy but her eyes bright and excited.
“Cody!” She pulled me in for a tight hug before turning her attention to my soulmate, who looked almost scared. “I’m Leah, Cody’s mom. I’m so excited you found each other.” She wrapped her arms around Quinn, and I watched her eyes go wide with alarm for a second before she relaxed and hugged my mom back.
“I’m Quinn.” My soulmate bit her lip as my mom let go of her. Then she took my hand.
I raised my eyebrows, and met Tanner’s surprised gaze over my mom’s shoulder.
“That’s a pretty name.” my mom smiled.
My dad stepped out of the house, and I saw Tanner’s body tense. He and my dad had always butted heads, but everything blew up when Tanner challenged him for Alpha. I felt Tanner’s dominance flare up, and noticed the way Quinn’s attention snapped toward my brother.
She was impressive. Most human soulmates didn’t shift for weeks after their shifters found them, and there she was, two and a half days in, having already shifted and feeling dominance. Even though she wanted me to leave her, I was proud of her.
My dad gave Tanner a slight smile and lowered his chin, and I didn’t feel even a little dominance coming from him. He was keeping things civil, which I think we were all grateful for.
Tanner’s dominance faded as our dad crossed the driveway and took our mom’s hand as he offered Quinn his other.
“I’m Ty.”
“Quinn.” Her gaze flitted from my dad to Tanner and then back to my dad. “Not to ruin the moment, but can someone explain what just happened?”
I grinned, and noticed that the rest of my family wore similar expressions.
“Dominance is the power Alphas use to keep the peace in their packs.” My mom explained quickly. “Every male shifter has it to some degree or another, but the men in our family have more than their fair share.” She squeezed dad’s hand and he gave her a quick smile.
“So because Tanner’s a new Alpha, he felt threatened by Ty, who is also an Alpha, and his dominance flared up?”
“Right.” I nodded once. She was still holding my hand, not that she seemed to notice as she was puzzling through the new world she’d become a part of.
“What kind of power does the Luna have?” she checked.
My forehead wrinkled along with the rest of my family’s.
“There’s no such thing as a Luna.” A female voice spoke up from behind us, and we all turned to see Emma and Logan stepping out of the forest. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and she a large t-shirt, and they were both covered in dirt. “That’s something the humans made up.” Emma explained as she and Logan made their way over to us.
Quinn was so busy gawking at my sister’s soulmate that I don’t think she even heard the answer to her question. The way she checked him out irked the wolf in me, and I tried to brush it off. He was famous, after all.
“Why did no one mention to me that my new brother-in-law is the hottest man in America?” she demanded, looking from me to Hallie and then back to Logan. He grimaced, and Emma grinned.
“Because they thought it would make you jealous to find out you got soulmated to Cody instead of him.” She teased.
I had to put in effort to keep my wolf at bay. They were just joking around.
“And because he’d kill any of us who called him that.” Hallie met Emma’s grin with a smile of her own.
When Logan found out that he’d won the “Hottest Man in America” award, he’d been embarrassed to tell us. Emma had taken care of that, but after vast amounts of teasing, he’d made it clear that if any of us mentioned it again, there would be a fight.
He probably wouldn’t win that fight, either, so we’d held back to spare him the added embarrassment.
Quinn let go of my hand as Emma approached, and threw her arms around Logan in what looked like a far-too-comfortable hug for two strangers.
“Quintessa Longhorn. I definitely never imagined you as my sister.” He let go of her and scratched his head.
“That makes two of us.” Quinn winked and gave him a smile that looked too sexy to give to your brother-in-law.
I was scrambling to figure out why Logan knew that her full name was Quintessa when I didn’t even know that.
“Wait, how do you two know each other?” Emma looked back and forth between Quinn and Logan, catching on to the suspicion I was feeling.
“Oh, we’re old friends.” Quinn played it down, and I knew there was more to it than she was saying. “I loved you in ‘Meet your Mate’.” She gushed to Emma, and I knew for sure that she was purposefully changing the subject.
“And I loved you in that video all over the internet. ‘America’s Favorite Pre-Olympic Gymnast is Back and Making a Shifter-Sized Splash’.” Emma spread her hands in the air as she said the name of the video, but I could see the suspicion in her eyes.
“Wait, what?” I finally spoke. Quinn hadn’t said anything to me about being a gymnast, let alone one good enough that she’d almost made it to the Olympics.
“There’s a lot more to me than you could understand in two days, mountain man.” Quinn tossed her hair over her shoulder and met Logan’s eyes for a second before he looked away.
“What did you mean by old friends?” Emma narrowed her eyes at Quinn, and when my soulmate studied her nails, my sister turned to hers.
“We need to get going. We’ll see you guys at the pack meeting tonight.” Logan ended the conversation and pulled Emma toward the forest. She was silent, and I knew her mind would be churning to adjust to the realization of what Logan and Quinn had been and done together.
I knew, because I was already feeling both sick and territorial.
Tanner cleared his throat, and I remembered that the rest of my family was there watching the exchange. Artie had joined us sometime during the Logan and Quinn revelation, and he had a big smirk on his face.
“Alright, we should get you guys to your house.” Tanner decided.
“Yes.” My mom hurried to agree before meeting my eyes. “We warned the pack yesterday that you would be living on the mountain with your soulmate. Most of them were very receptive to the idea, but some weren’t so be prepared.”
“I will be.” I nodded once, though I barely heard a word she said as I tried to wrap my mind around what she and Logan had been to each other. The image of Quinn on top of Logan the way she’d been on top of Sebastian the night before filled my mind, and my body heated up as the wolf in me snarled.
Keeping myself from shifting and tearing after my sister’s soulmate became a full-time battle, and I think everyone there could tell.
Hallie came over and took Quinn’s arm.
“We’re taking my truck again.” She announced. I didn’t notice the worry she shot my way, or the meaningful look my mom exchanged with my dad.
“Your truck, huh?” Tanner met her gaze with a teasing grin, trying and failing to break the tension.
“Yes, my truck.” She smiled and pulled Quinn over to it. They didn’t say anything as they got in.
The rest of us watched as the girls pulled out of the driveway and started off down the dirt road. As soon as they were gone, I lunged toward the place Emma and Logan had taken off back through the trees. It was taking all of my energy to stay in human form, but my wolf side was just as real while I was a man.
Tanner and my dad each grabbed one of my arms, holding me back as I snarled and fought to get free.
“If you hurt Logan it will hurt Emma.” My dad growled.
I knew that, but I didn’t care. He had slept with my soulmate, for crying out loud, and I didn’t care who he was. I wanted to end him.
“She wants to get a rise out of you.” Tanner’s voice was firm but not cruel. “She doesn’
t have feelings for him, she just wants you to think she does so you’ll give up on fighting for her.”
That calmed down my wolf, just a fraction.
“You’ve seen the way she reacts to you. She wants you, not him or anyone else, and you know that. You have to ignore what she says and does and remember how she reacts.”
He was right.
My mind flashed to the way she’d kissed my cheek earlier, the way she’d put on my clothes instead of her own. The way she’d pulled my blanket up all around her so she would be engulfed in my scent.
Quinn was mine, and she knew she was mine.
“I’m good.” I growled, shaking off my shoulders and exhaling as deeply as I could.
“Why does she wants to get a rise out of him?” My mom frowned.
“That’s a story for later. Right now we need to go make sure our women are okay.” Tanner went right into Alpha mode.
As we drove to meet up with our soulmates, I just kept repeating to myself that she wanted me no matter how hard she tried to prove that she didn’t.
Quinn
I felt like the biggest hoe on the planet. I mean, come on. What girl sleeps with her brother-in-law? And then flaunts it like she’s proud of it? Jeez, what was wrong with me?
“You didn’t know he was going to be your brother-in-law when you slept with him.” Hallie reminded me.
Bless her heart, that girl was one of the nicest I’d ever met. We had become fast friends, and I’d actually sort of opened up to her.
“That didn’t make it hurt either of them any less.” I sighed and sat down on the floor with my back up against one of the walls.
As I’d suspected, the house was a wreck. Between the holey stairs, broken windows, and the smell of death that had settled on every inch of the place, it looked about a hundred times worse than the pictures had shown.
“How am I going to live here?” I moaned, lifting my hands to cover my eyes.
Up to that point, I’d been trying to get rid of Cody on my own terms. I had a plan. Sure, parts of the plan were slutty and hoeish, but not hoeish to the extent of sleeping with my brother-in-law. That was just plain disturbing.
“Cody and Tanner will get everything fixed up in the next few days, and we’ll get rid of the foul smell by this afternoon.” Hallie sat down on the floor next to me.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I lifted my hands to the top of my head. “All I’ve done since I met Cody is try to get rid of him. I’ve been horrible to him.”
“Whether you like it or not, when you became a shifter you became my sister. Cody is a fantastic brother, and of course I care about him, but you’re my sister and sisters stick together.” Hallie said firmly. “I’ll be your sister no matter what happens between you two.”
“I had sex with Logan dozens of times, Hallie. Dozens. The entire planet knew we were dating.” I started to feel queasy. “When people find out that he’s my brother-in-law now…” I moaned and wrapped my arms around my stomach. “My parents are going to lose it.”
I already knew exactly what my dad was going to say, and it wasn’t going to be pretty or nice.
Hallie sighed, but it was a sympathetic sort of sigh that let me know she understood.
“I guess this makes my job pretty easy. If I jump Logan the way I jumped Sebastian last night, Cody will ask me to sign away our relationship.”
“Honey, if you jump Logan the way you jumped Sebastian, Cody will rip Logan’s head off, and then he’ll lock you in a room and eat anyone who tries to touch you.”
She smiled when I groaned.
“Why do you think I got you into the truck so fast? Cody was about to tear after Logan. Tanner couldn’t calm him down with you there, making his wolf all protective.”
“I didn’t think about it.” I admitted. “I was too busy realizing what a slut I was.”
“It’s not slutty to be in a relationship with someone before you know that you’ll end up soulmated to siblings. How could you possibly have predicted that?”
“I don’t know, but my parents will think I should’ve.” I leaned my forehead to my knees. “Cody’s going to hate me.” My words were muffled by my legs. “And even though that’s my goal, the idea is absolutely terrifying.”
“He’s more likely to pin you to a wall and kiss you senseless than hate you.” Hallie put her hand on my arm. “I know what it’s like to have trouble at home. I’m sure mine was different than yours is, but I know that it’s a hard situation to be in. If you need to talk I’m always here.”
She squeezed my arm and then let go.
“Thanks.” I looked up long enough to give her a tight smile. “But Emma’s your sister too, and I can only imagine how much she wants me dead right now.”
“Emma has run into Logan’s old girlfriends and one-night-stands at parties before. This is different, obviously, but she’s used to it. It might take some time and some effort, but the weirdness will fade and we’ll all be close.”
She sounded so confident about that.
“You don’t have any feelings for Logan, right?”
“For Logan Lush? Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “We dated for two months when I was seventeen and had just found out that the Olympic Career I’d spent my whole life working toward was never going to happen.
“My parents wanted to disown me for an accident that wasn’t my fault, and I was drowning myself in vodka and beautiful men. Still am, to be honest. Logan was my friend, and then we were sleeping together, and then we realized we had no emotional chemistry and parted ways. The media made it out to be much more of a relationship than it actually was.”
“Well I think that’s about as good as we could hope for in a situation like this.” How Hallie still sounded calm was beyond me.
“I don’t see how—”
We both turned our heads when the back door, which was only a few feet to our right, flew open and a middle-aged man stepped inside. He noticed us immediately, and gestured out to a few others. Two women and one more man entered the house.
“Who are these people?” I whispered, following Hallie’s lead and standing up slowly.
“They hate us.” She grimaced and looked around the room, and I realized she was looking for a weapon. “You guys don’t want to do this.” Hallie warned. “Tanner, Cody, and Ty are on their way here right now, and none of them are feeling particularly patient right now.”
“We’re willing to risk our lives to protect shifters.” The first man said darkly. “Humans ruined our lives once, and you’ll do it again.”
“You’re joking, right?” I folded my arms.
They stared at me blankly.
“My entire life was destroyed when Cody found me. My parents hate me and are threatening to disown me. I didn’t ask for this, and now you’re telling me that you want me dead to protect shifters when I’m already dead to the humans because of you people?
“Go ahead and kill me, because you already ruined my life.” I held out my arms, offering to let them do what they wanted.
Was I being overdramatic? Yes, but that was the point. If I made them feel guilty, chances were that they’d walk away and wouldn’t come back. If they had the chance to actually kill me, the likelihood of them doing it was very slim.
They all looked at each other, the shock on their faces evident.
“That’s right, you heard me. I don’t want to be a shifter any more than you want me to be one, so just back the heck off before Cody and Tanner show up and dominate you or whatever.”
To Hallie’s surprise, they actually left. I wasn’t surprised because I had two lawyers for parents, which meant I knew the value of a good argument paired with a guilt-trip.
As Hallie turned to say something to me, our soulmates walked in. They looked around the room, like they were expecting us to be in danger.
“What happened?” Tanner checked, walking straight to Hallie. He put his hands on her face, and then arms, and then her waist, like he was checking to m
ake sure she was okay.
Cody made his way over to me too, though he did so cautiously. I could tell it was killing him not to run to me and check me for wounds the same way Tanner was checking Hallie, but after everything, he wasn’t really sure where we stood. That was my fault, but it also meant I was doing what I had to do.
“The racists showed up here. Quinn told them off, and they just left.” Hallie said, sounding like she could still hardly believe it even after seeing it with her own eyes.
“I didn’t tell them off, I guilt-tripped them. No one knows the power of a good guilt-trip as well as me.” I gave her a tight smile, pointedly avoiding Cody’s gaze. He didn’t need to know that I’d been guilt-tripped into doing things for the sake of earning my parents’ love since I was a little girl.
“Thank you.” Tanner smiled at me, and it wasn’t the watered-down, you’re-a-hoe smile that I expected from someone who knew his sister-in-law had slept with his brother-in-law. It was just a regular old smile.
I appreciated that more than I realized I would.
“Well, I think you two had better go grab your tools and make a run to the hardware store, because this place is downright dangerous. Me and Quinn will stop by Ty and Leah’s for some rags and cleaning spray, so we can start making this house smell like a home.” Hallie took charge.
I hadn’t expected her to be a take-charge kind of girl. While she seemed confident, she was so quiet. Then again, she was the Alpha’s mate. Not the Luna, according to Emma, so what was she? I decided I’d ask in the car.
“That sounds great.” Cody agreed. “We’ll meet you out there.”
He didn’t give Tanner and Hallie room to disagree. Though they eyed us as they went, they left us alone together.
Cody covered the distance between us, stopping a few inches away from me. He was close enough to touch me if he wanted to, but not so close that we would brush up against each other as we moved.
“We need to talk about what happened earlier.” He met my gaze. Though his wolf was nowhere to be found, I knew that based on the situation, things could get really wolfy really fast.
