Mate's Call

by Lola Gabriel

  “I didn’t have a spare change with me,” Aro said sheepishly. Blaze pointed to the remaining change of clothes on the ground, and Aro reached down to take them. “Hey, thanks!”

  “Where’s Callahan?” River asked as he scooped Quinn up in his arms, wanting to confirm what he was thinking.

  “In a million pieces,” Aro responded, a smug smile toying at the corners of his mouth. “More or less.”

  River finally felt like he could breathe. He glanced down at Quinn’s unconscious, battered form, and he while he would’ve liked to take Callahan down himself, he was glad that he was now gone after what he had put Quinn through.

  “Good,” River said, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Now let’s get out of here before the Crescents realize their beta’s remains are scattered around their so-called safe house.”

  “I second that,” Jax agreed.

  River climbed up the stairs, followed by Aro, Jax, and Blaze.

  11

  The muffled voices of her mother and River sounded far away, but it was only after Quinn opened her eyes that she realized they were just outside the room. Her mother sounded livid at River, not giving him much of an opportunity to say much. Quinn’s head swam as she glanced around the room, and it took her a few moments to notice she was in a hospital, confirmed by the IV needle in her arm. She closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened.

  She heard the door open, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw Jax walking into the room.

  “Hey,” Quinn said, smiling at her, her voice hoarse.

  “Hey!” Jax greeted her, closing the door behind her.

  “Any idea of why my mom is yelling at River?”

  Jax stepped closer to the bed, and Quinn scooted on the bed so that she could sit next to her. “She’s just upset that you got hurt. She’s not blaming River or anything—”

  “And she shouldn’t,” Quinn said, turning her head to the door with a frown. “It wasn’t his fault.”

  “You’re right,” Jax said, her shoulders slumping. “It was mine.”

  “What?” Quinn turned back to her. “No, it wasn’t.”

  Jax smiled woefully at her. “Thanks, but if I had been at your truck when I should’ve, you wouldn’t have been captured.”

  Quinn sighed and leaned against Jax. She was right, but she didn’t want to blame Jax for what had happened, either. If anything, her own father was to blame.

  “Why… why weren’t you there, anyway?” she asked a little hesitantly.

  “I had a call to take,” Jax said, softly leaning her head on top of Quinn’s. “I saw how close you and your mother were, and…” She took a deep breath. “I haven’t talked to my own mom in a really long time. Seeing you and your mom made me feel guilty about it. I thought it’d be worth a shot to call her, so I did.”

  Quinn pulled slightly away to look at Jax. “And?”

  “Well, we talked,” Jax said. “I told her that I missed her, and, well…” A soft, relieved smile overtook her mouth. “By some miracle, she said that she missed me, too.” Then her smile faded, replaced by a slight scowl. “But I still disobeyed River’s orders. I wouldn’t be surprised if he kicks me out of the pack.”

  “He can’t do that,” Quinn mumbled. “Can he?”

  Jax shrugged. “He’s the alpha. He can do whatever he wants.”

  “No!” Quinn cried. Jax tried to stop her when she attempted to sit up straighter, but Quinn pushed her off. “I’m not going to let River just kick you out! What happened wasn’t your fault, Jax, it was my father’s—”

  She stopped dead in her tracks. The last time she had seen her father had been when he had walked out of the room where she had almost died, and now she was here with River and Jax and… Would they be here if her father were still out there?

  “Jax,” Quinn spoke, “what happened to my dad? What happened? How did you guys find me?”

  Jax cleared her throat and glanced at the window before turning back to her. “Your dad kidnapped you and took you to a house on a reservation,” she said. “Blaze tracked your phone, which we later found out was hacked by either your father or a Crescent guard to know your location.”

  Quinn’s eyes widened. That was why her phone had been flipping out on her for the last few weeks or so—someone from the Crescents had hacked it to know where she would be at all times so that they could abduct her.

  “And then?” she asked.

  “River, Aro, Blaze, and I came to rescue you!” Jax said excitedly. “But, uh, things got a little ugly while we were there.”

  Quinn winced. “How ugly?”

  “Well, Blaze killed the two guards who were beating you up in the basement, and Aro and River went after your father, and…” Jax trailed off, avoiding Quinn’s gaze, and Quinn could figure out the rest on her own.

  “Is he dead?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah,” Jax confirmed. “I’m… I’m sorry, Quinn,” she said, gently placing her hand on top of Quinn’s.

  “What?” Quinn let out a nervous chuckle. “No, don’t—don’t be. He was a psychopath. He wanted to turn me into his wolf protégé, and when I refused, he… he almost had me killed.”

  Jax growled under her breath, and for a moment, Quinn wondered if she was going to shift out of rage on her behalf. Quinn bumped her shoulder against Jax’s, and she was glad to see her turn back to her with a smile.

  “Would you ever consider becoming a wolf?” Jax asked her.

  “Not under those terms, that’s for sure,” Quinn joked, laughing.

  Before Jax could respond, the door swung open, and River walked into the room, a smile on his face. Quinn grinned at him, relieved to see he was okay.

  “I’m going to leave you two to talk,” Jax said, standing up from the bed so that River could approach and take Quinn’s hand in his. Both Quinn and River nodded at her, and Jax walked out of the hospital room and closed the door behind her.

  “Hey,” Quinn said to River. “You’re here.”

  “Of course I am,” River said, lightly squeezing her hand. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

  “Especially not with my mom yelling at you outside,” she teased him. River winced slightly.

  “You heard that?”

  “People out of state could hear that,” Quinn said and tilted her head. “How mad is she at you?”

  “She’s not mad at me, per se,” River told her. “She’s just upset over the whole thing and needed to let the anger out.” He sat down on the edge of the bed so as not to take space away from her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like someone ran over me with my own truck,” Quinn answered. She leaned her head back against the pillow. “Then again, I thought I’d be in a coma in the best-case scenario. Shouldn’t I, you know, feel worse?”

  When she glanced at River, he was looking down at the ground, avoiding her gaze, and Quinn narrowed her eyes at him.

  “River,” she began, her voice slow and stern. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing important,” he mumbled, and Quinn’s eyes widened.

  “Did you turn me?”

  “No!” River exclaimed immediately, finally turning his eyes back to her. “No, I—I would never turn you without your consent, Quinn!”

  “Then what did you do?” she asked again. River sighed and leaned back against the bed. Quinn did the same.

  “Your heart stopped on the way to the hospital,” he said, “and I gave you a few drops of my blood so that you could make it here.”

  Quinn’s worry evaporated, and a joyful smile took over her lips. She nudged River’s shoulder with her head, and when he stared at her, his blue eyes were sparkling with love and devotion. She recalled what he had just said about not turning her without her consent, and she leaned her head against his shoulder, happy beyond relief to know he respected her wishes so much.

  “Thank you for saving me,” she whispered, squeezing his hand holding hers. “And for always being there when I n
eed you.”

  “You are welcome.”

  “There’s one more thing I want to say,” she told him, her smile fading, and she felt him tense against her.

  “What?” he asked, a little concerned.

  “I don’t want you to punish Jax by kicking her out of the pack,” Quinn said, looking up at him. “She tries so hard to please you, and I really like her.”

  Next to her, River let out an annoyed sound. “She disobeyed my orders and put your life at risk.”

  “She made a mistake,” Quinn argued, “and she knows it. My life was in danger anyway, River, it was just bad timing!”

  River sighed and ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. “I wasn’t going to kick her out of the pack, Quinn.”

  Quinn let out a relieved breath. “Good.”

  “You’re right,” he added. “She did apologize. Profusely, I should mention. I guess I just don’t think rationally when it comes to you.”

  “Glad to know we have the same problem,” Quinn mumbled, and she laughed at River’s surprised expression. “Is that why you were rude to me when we first met?”

  “Yeah,” River replied, an embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks. “I’d been trying my hardest to avoid you because you turned my head inside out from the first moment I saw you.”

  Quinn cringed. “That sounds painful.”

  River chuckled softly. “No one ever told me falling in love would be this hard. I am constantly worried about you, wondering if you’re safe or if there’s anything else I can do to make sure you are. Even when I make decisions for the pack, I keep asking myself how you’d react to them and whether you’d tell me if I’m being too strict with the pack,” he said, scowling.

  “If you’re wondering whether you are too strict, then you probably are,” she said with an apologetical smile.

  “Regardless of all that,” River said, brushing a strand of her face, “I am so glad to have met you, Quinn Perkins.”

  Now it was Quinn’s turn to blush, and she was smiling when she said, “Ditto.”

  The next day, Quinn was discharged from the hospital, even though her doctor could not understand why she had healed so fast or why she was doing so well. But all of her scans, x-rays, and tests had come back clean, and so she’d been sent home.

  River had come up with a story about a hiking accident to explain Quinn’s injuries, so the cops were never called and the attack was never reported. River had explained to Quinn that they had to keep humans out of their business for fear of being discovered.

  Quinn’s mother drove the truck while Quinn and River sat next to her, heading home in silence. Once they got back to Quinn’s house, her mother went to the kitchen to make a light lunch for them, and Quinn and River went to sit in the living room.

  “I should go talk to her,” Quinn mumbled, “tell her about… about Callahan.”

  River placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

  All it took was Quinn’s nod for him to smile encouragingly at her, motioning to the kitchen with his head. Quinn stood up from the couch and went to her mother, knowing this would be the last time she brought the subject up.

  “Mom?” she called her, since her mother was at the fridge and hadn’t seen her come in. “Can we talk?”

  Her mother closed the fridge door and slammed her hands down on the kitchen counter. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” she exclaimed, her voice wet and wobbly. “Do you hear me?”

  Quinn’s eyes widened, and she nodded immediately. “I won’t, Mom. I promise.”

  “Do you have any idea of how worried I was?” her mother continued, running her fingers through her hair. “I thought I had lost you!”

  “But you didn’t,” Quinn reassured her, walking closer to the counter until she could place her hand on top of her mom’s. “I’m okay, Mom, and I promise you you’re never going to lose me.”

  Her mother took a deep breath and slowly exhaled in, wiping at her eyes. “You better,” she said, holding her arms open. Quinn smiled in relief and stepped around the counter to hug her mother, tightly embracing her. She felt her mom kiss the top of her head. “I love you, Quinn. Always remember that.”

  “I will, Mom,” Quinn muttered. “I love you, too.”

  They pulled apart, and her mother smiled softly at her, sniffling. “Now, what did you want to talk about?”

  Quinn braced herself. “About my father.”

  Her mother seemed to slouch, like all her energy had left her body. “Quinn—”

  “Just this once, and then we’ll leave it behind for good,” Quinn promised. After a few seconds of tense silence, her mother sighed in defeat. “You were right about him,” Quinn began. “He kidnapped me to try to convince me to become his protégé. He wanted me to join his ‘business,’ whatever that was—”

  Her mother was slightly biting her lip, her arms crossed, though they looked like she was hugging herself.

  “Your father came after you? Quinn, we have to tell the police? Why did you lie about the hiking accident? What if he comes after us again?”

  “Mom, he won’t come after us again. That’s all I am going to say, but just know we don’t ever have to worry about him again. But, please understand we are never going to talk about what exactly happened.”

  Quinn’s mother nodded. “Can you at least tell me what he wanted?”

  “He was hoping his daughter would join him. But the only parent I have is my mother.”

  At Quinn’s words, her mom let out a wet laugh and wiped the unshed tears from her eyes, and Quinn threw her arms around her, hugging her once more. She didn’t want her mother to have to worry about Jonathan Callahan ever again. The poor woman had already suffered at his hands enough.

  Her mother pulled away from her and held Quinn’s hands in her own. “I love you, honey, and I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Quinn mumbled, swallowing back her own tears. “Why don’t you take a bath? River and I can handle lunch.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “A bath does sound nice,” her mother sighed dreamily, and Quinn chuckled, pushing her mother to the kitchen doorway. “All right, all right, I’m going,” she said, turning around to press another kiss to Quinn’s head. Then she walked up the stairs and disappeared down the hallway to her room.

  Quinn left the kitchen and walked over to the couch to sit beside River.

  “She’ll be okay,” River said immediately, reaching out to take Quinn’s hand.

  “I know,” Quinn said, smiling weakly. “She’s been through worse.” Then her smile widened. “Thank you again for being here.”

  “Always.” River leaned in and softly kissed her on the lips. When he pulled away, it was slowly, hesitantly, like he didn’t want to break away from her. Quinn was relieved that she wasn’t the only one who felt like that.

  “River, what if I wanted to become like you? Would you do that for me?”

  He looked at her without speaking for a moment. “Yes, but it’s not a decision that you should make lightly. You need to see how we live, and understand that actually living like a werewolf is nothing like the legends. You become different, and you’ll lose some of your human traits.”

  “Okay, but it also means that I will get to spend more time with you,” Quinn said.

  River cupped her cheeks with both of his hands. “I will spend your entire life with you. Even when you’re old, I will never leave your side. If one day, you do decide you want to become like me, then we can make that decision together. However, it’s not something I will do today, or even tomorrow.”

  There were a hundred questions running through her mind, but once River noticed her expression and gave her a reassuring look, Quinn knew that no matter what happened, he would protect her with his life.

  After all, he was the alpha of his pack.

  He was her alpha.

  The End

  Thank You

  Thank you for reading
my book. Readers like you make an author’s world shine. If you’ve enjoyed this book, or any other books by Lola Gabriel or another author, please don’t hesitate to review them on Amazon or Goodreads.

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  Lola Gabriel

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  About the Author

  Lola Gabriel loves reading and writing paranormal romances. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, she has fond memories of retreating to the woods for long hikes. The towering evergreens, natural waterfalls, and soothing rain often set the scenery for her characters’ romantic encounters.

  Find out more about Lola Gabriel at SecretWoodsBooks.com

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