by Michelle Fox
“Hey. Finley, I want you to meet my brother, August.”
Finley walked forward with a smile on his face and stuck out his hand. August was still looking up at him when Quinn elbowed him in the side. Finally, he took Finley’s hand and shook it. “I wanted to see if you needed a ride to the property.”
“I think I’ll just drive and follow you. That way you don’t have to come back here,” Quinn told him.
“Okay, well if you’re ready the store is locked up and all the lights are off. Jade called and said they had the steaks on the grill.” Finley said over his shoulder as he walked out the door.
*****
“Nice property,” August muttered as they walked over to the back of the pack house. Jade and the others already had the picnic tables set up, and food was coming off the grill.
“Great timing.” Jade announced as she put the last steak on the plate. “Come on, sit down.” Quinn, August, and Finley sat down with Jade.
Quinn wondered where Arden was, but didn’t say anything. Right now her brother was in town and she wanted him to like it here and stay.
The group asked August a lot of questions as they ate dinner. He mellowed out some and was actually nice and acted like he was having a good time. She wanted her brother here with her.
“Let’s go and sit by the fire.” Jade suggested. It was a cool night, and it felt good to relax by the bonfire, but of course Alice and her group of minions showed up to spoil it. She was mad about something, Quinn could tell, and she was ready for a fight.
“You found some friends that actually want to be around you, huh Scarface?” Alice said, and just like the mean girls in the movies, all her friends laughed along with her. When she looked over at Jade, she could tell she was finally getting mad.
“Shut up!” Quinn shouted. She couldn’t and wouldn’t take anymore of her cruelness. Alice’s head whipped around.
“What’re you going to do about it, witch?”
“You really don’t want to mess with me, Alice. I’m not going to sit here and just take your shit.” Quinn could hear someone coming out the door, but she didn’t turn around for fear of Alice jumping on her when her back was turned.
“I challenge you, witch.” Alice stood proudly as she said it.
Quinn moved around the fire pit and saw that it was Bane and Arden who’d come out. Of course he shows up now. It didn’t matter—she wasn’t taking any shit from anyone anymore. “I don’t know what a challenge means, but if it means me whipping your ass then I’m in.”
Quinn looked over at Bane, who nodded at her. She hoped the lessons he’d given her would pay off. They’d only worked on it a couple of times, but she had some other training she could use, too. All her life she’d been taught how to defend herself. Tonight she was going to put it all together and use it against Alice.
“Quinn, what are you doing?” August tried to talk to her, but she didn’t have time to explain before they both started taking their clothes off. “Stop this, Quinn.”
Quinn shifted along with Alice, and she was faster. She didn’t waste any time before she leaped on Alice, scraping her claws down her back before she was thrown off. Alice was stronger than she’d expected, but she wasn’t giving up. She watched as Alice gave away her tells, signaling when she was going to do something. Her father drilled it into her head that people were predictable, and that she just had to wait for that right moment.
She saw the sign she was looking for, and before Alice could move she was on top of her and had her jaws wrapped around Alice’s neck. Squeezing her jaws together, Quinn could taste the blood of defeat as Alice whimpered. But before she could give up, Quinn was floating through the air, landing behind her brother. Shit, he did the one thing that he shouldn’t have done—use magic.
As she shifted back, she could hear Arden yelling at August. All the wolves had backed up behind their Alpha. They were scared. August had his hands up, chanting a protection spell. She jumped up and ran to her brother.
“Stop, August. Stop! I’m not hurt. You’re scaring them. Stop.” Quinn grabbed her brother, pulling him back.
“See, I told you, they’re bad people. He’s probably cast a spell on all of us!” Alice yelled out, bringing more pack members out of the house.
“Get off my property,” Arden demanded, and pointing toward August. She could see the veins in his neck standing out, and knew he was almost to the point of shifting. He would kill August. And now she had her answer; he wasn’t her mate. She’d thought she was falling in love and that he was in love with her, but she was wrong.
She pulled August over to her pile of clothes and put them on. Jade tried to go over to her, but Arden yelled again, “No, Jade.”
Quinn looked over at him. He hated who she was and what she represented, and it would never work. She hoped that she could find another place to go open her store where there weren’t paranormal people of any kind. She had to keep looking, because she would never go back to her father.
“Let’s go, August. I’m done here,” Quinn spit out. She had to leave before she started crying. She wouldn’t let the man see her cry.
Finley walked over to her, stopping her before she left. “Quinn, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do to fix this.”
She put her hand up to his face. “It’s okay, Fin. It’s best that I leave this area anyway. They fear my kind, and he can’t accept me either. It won’t hurt so bad if I don’t have to see him anymore.”
“Then I’m leaving too. If they can’t accept you then I’m not going to be part of his bigoted pack.”
“Quinn, what the hell is going on?” August pleaded.
“I’ll explain in the car.” Quinn smiled sadly and dropped her hand. “Fin, I can’t ask you to leave. You fit in here. Apparently I don’t, and never will, just because I’m a witch.”
Chapter 11
“Quinn?” August said her name bringing her out of her thoughts. They’d been driving in silence up till then.
She just blurted it out. “Arden is the Alpha of the Dixon pack, and when he was a child, a witch cursed his father with a spell. She was angry because his father wouldn’t turn her daughter, and the daughter killed herself. In revenge, she cast a spell that would make his father shift and kill his son, but Arden’s mother got in his way before he could, and he killed her.”
“The pack got to his father before he could kill Arden, but the Death Hunters were sent out and they killed both the witch and Arden’s father. The pack fears any witch, and until me there hadn’t been one in New Hope for over thirty years.” She glanced over at her brother before she dropped the biggest bomb. “I’m the Alpha’s mate, August.”
“Oh God, please tell me you’re joking?”
“Nope. I’m in love with him, but him acting like this toward us just proved to me that I can’t be with someone who hates me because I’m a witch. I was born this way, just like he was born a wolf. It’s who I am. He can’t take that, and I’m done trying. I just wanted to find a place to fit in, and now that’s gone.” Quinn gripped the steering wheel harder. He’d chosen Alice over her. He had to see that Alice was the one starting the fight.
Of course, she was a half-breed. Just thinking that made her sick to her stomach. She had to pack the store up, and just find a place to live and concentrate on her online store instead. That way she couldn’t offend anyone. Fuck, she couldn’t stand what she was saying to herself. Right now she was sick over all of this, and thinking about it was killing her. Her wolf was angry as well; she could feel it inside of her.
*****
Arden watched as Quinn, Finley, and her brother left. He couldn’t control his anger anymore and wanted to unleash it on Bane. “She’s my mate, so why are you and Quinn looking at each other?”
“Maybe you should have a little faith in your mate and stop trying to control who she is…” Before Bane could say anything further, Arden hit him in the face, and the fight was on. Arden finally looked up to find two men standing to the
side watching him and Bane fight. That’s when Bane hit him with a right hook, knocking him to the ground. He shook his head, trying to clear the stars from his eyes.
“Good lick,” Arden muttered. When he looked up, Bane was holding his hand down to help him get up.
“You’re still an ass. You should know better than to think that something is going on between me and your mate,” Bane scolded. They both looked over at the two men standing beside a frowning Tate. “Who are they?”
Arden wasn’t in the mood, but he knew who these men were. “Death Hunters’ attitudes are always the same. Cocky and arrogant, and the fact that they have swords strapped to their backs just gives it away.”
Bane laughed. “Dude, you just described yourself, apart from the sword.”
Arden walked over to the men. “Why can’t you let us deal with this?”
The little one smirked, but the big fucker was obviously in charge.
“The Council sent us to help find the rogues,” he said.
“I explained to the Council that we could handle it.” Arden narrowed his eyes at the man. He didn’t like them already.
“So you’ve found them?” The smaller one asked.
“No, asshole, we haven’t,” Bane countered.
“Then it looks like we’re going to be helping you with that little problem,” the larger one continued.
“Do we call you Death Hunters, or do you want to give us your names?” Arden asked.
“I’m Lennox Bartley, and my Beta is Cosmo Fitzgerald.”
Arden inhaled. He could feel the tension among his guards. He needed to get this situation under control before something worse happened.
“Tate.” His cousin frowned at the two men, then looked over at his Alpha. “Find the Death Hunters a place to sleep. The two rooms open in our part of the house are fine.”
Arden already knew that they would send someone, so Bane already had the rooms ready. They watched as Tate took the Death Hunters to get settled.
“What do you think they really want?” Bane asked.
“To wipe the pack off the face of the earth, including the women and children,” Arden said, still watching as they left.
“I’ll have a problem with that,” Bane replied.
“Alert the pack, and let’s keep a watch on them,” Arden said, then turned toward Bane. “What was up with the looks you and Quinn were giving each other?” He didn’t want any shit from his Beta; he wanted to know what was going on.
“Alice came into the store the other day starting her shit, and I told Quinn that eventually Alice would challenge her in wolf form. She told me that she knew how to fight in human form, but had no idea what to do in wolf form, and I said that I could train her. Our Alpha female needs to know how to kick ass, and she’s good, Arden. Really good.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she told me not to, and she’s my Alpha too. I wanted her to succeed in kicking Alice’s ass,” Bane said.
At first Arden smiled, then he couldn’t hold it in any longer and started laughing. “You’re such an idiot.” He leaned over, putting his hands on his knees. “I screwed up, didn’t I?”
“Yep. Again,” Bane agreed.
*****
Quinn and August pulled up at the back of her apartment, and she noticed that the back door was standing wide open. “Shit, someone broke into the store.” She dialed 911, and it went straight to the police station. While she was giving the information to the dispatcher, Finley pulled up behind her.
He got out and looked around. She and August got out of the car. “Did you call the police?”
“Yes,” Quinn answered. “Do you smell that?” It smelled like rotten eggs.
“It smells like someone egged the place,” August answered. She could see how his magic was circling him. Her brother was a powerful wizard, and he could cast a spell faster than anyone she knew. He was preparing his magic for defensive casts.
The chief pulled up and got out with his gun drawn. Another police car also pulled up. “Stay here while we check the store out,” Deaton said.
They all waited, but Quinn knew something was wrong inside. She could tell that this was going to make her so mad. Finally, the chief came out, rubbing his head. He looked at her with pity on his face.
“I’m sorry Quinn, but the store is destroyed. They tore everything up and it smells like rotten eggs and piss inside.”
Quinn didn’t wait; she pushed the chief aside and ran into the store. The lights were on, but the sight of her store made her physically sick. All the counters were kicked in, and the glass was broken. They’d taken a knife and cut up all the clothes and purses—what was left of them. Most of the store inventory had been sold earlier, but the rest was completely destroyed.
Her brother and Finley came to stand beside her. August put his hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it off and went back outside. She didn’t say anything to anyone, just walked up the stairs to her apartment. At least her apartment was still intact. She unlocked the door, went inside, and headed straight to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and turned on the tub faucets.
It was all gone. All the inventory she had left, and all the money she’d spent on the books, coffeemakers, and counters. They’d even drawn a special message on the wall for her: “I’m coming for you.” Right now she was so mad that she was going to start throwing magic at anything and everything, and she couldn’t do that. All she wanted to do was sink under the water and cry her eyes out. Cry for losing the one she loved, cry for losing her friends, and cry for losing her store. She’d lost everything, all in one day. She turned off the water and sat down in the tub, then leaned back into the hot water. Once she got comfortable, she let go of all the emotions she had bottled up. She held the washcloth against her mouth and sobbed.
*****
August walked upstairs after he gave the police all of his sister’s information. Finley was with him, and when they heard her in the bathroom crying, August almost lost it. She’d looked so happy when he arrived and now someone had done this to her. Why?
Finley put his hand on August’s shoulder. “Your sister needs you now. We can get our revenge later, but right now she’s hurting, and I think it’s mostly about the Alpha.”
“No, I don’t think so, especially after how he acted earlier. She couldn’t love him, and let’s be honest—the way he treated her, he doesn’t deserve her.” August went over to the door and knocked lightly. “Quinn, come on out, sweetheart.”
“I just need some time alone. I’ll be out later.” Quinn’s voice was low and defeated.
August shook his head and walked over to Finley. “Give me that asshole’s number.” Finley looked at him for a minute, then took his phone out and repeated the number to him. August punched the number in and went outside.
Arden answered on the second ring. “How is she?” That’s what the asshole had the audacity to ask.
“She is a wreck, you son of a bitch. You’ve destroyed my sister and the love she had for you, and that fucking rogue pack destroyed her store. She has nothing now.” August thought he heard a click, and when he pulled his phone away from his ear he saw the fucker had hung up on him.
August walked back in the room and glanced up at Finley. “The arrogant son of a bitch hung up on me. That’s fine; she’s too good for him anyway and I’ll take her somewhere else where she can be herself and open her store up and enjoy life. We…” Finley looked up at him, and he sighed. “We didn’t have a great childhood with our father. He took away any control we had, and made life miserable for us. Quinn got away, and today I actually saw her happy for the first time in a very long time. Now that asshole has broken her heart, and that damn pack needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. If I find them first, I’ll make it happen. I can promise you that.” August walked out the door, leaving Finley inside. He needed a moment to get his thoughts together. All he wanted to do was rain fire down into the woods and hope they were laying
there watching.
August was sitting on the steps, trying to calm down, when three vehicles pulled up. He waited to see who it was, and when he saw the man responsible for his sister’s heartache, he bolted down the stairs. “You need to leave, you bastard.”
The rage he was feeling was so close to the surface that he wanted to explode.
Finley came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. “Now isn’t the time. Looks like he brought help.”
August never wanted to hit somebody so badly before; except his father, but that was another story. He glanced back at Finley in shock, but his attention was over his shoulder. Turning around, his eyes located the biggest men he had ever seen.
The big man and one other walked over and inhaled, then continued to the store’s door and went inside. Arden and Bane followed them. August walked in behind them and watched as the two men walked around the store inspecting the mess.
“Who are they?” August asked.
“Death Hunters,” Arden answered as he continued to watch the strangers.
“You brought fucking Death Hunters to my sister’s store?” August ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re crazy. I’ve got to take my sister away from all of you crazy people.”
“She’s not going anywhere. She’s my mate.” Arden didn’t even look at him when he said it. Like he was sure his commands would be followed. This was hitting too close to home for August, and he knew what Quinn would do if she heard him.
“Well, watch me.” August turned around and walked outside. He’d started up the stairs when Arden put his hand out and stopped him.
“I love your sister.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.” August had had enough of this man and his arrogant ways. Before he could get his anger under control, he turned and punched Arden in the face, knocking him backwards. He knew he hit him hard, but the wolf’s face felt like granite.
“I’ll let you have that one, but not again. I fucked up and I know it, but I love her and she’s my mate. I should’ve stood up for her today, but the magic…”
