by Juniper Hart
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You know what I am by now, don’t you?”
Quinn inhaled sharply. As much as she hadn’t wanted to believe it, that sentence was all it took to make it real. Her father was a werewolf.
“How long have you been like this?” she asked.
“Ever since you were two,” he answered. “I was attacked by a wolf and turned into one.”
She wanted to ask him why he had never told her or her mother, but she refrained herself from doing so. He would probably make up some ridiculous excuse that she didn’t want to hear. Besides, the sooner she could find out why she was here, the better, and so Quinn spoke again.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to join me.”
She stared at him in disbelief. Surely she hadn’t heard him right. “Excuse me?”
“I want you to become one of us,” her father continued. “I want you to become my protégé. I will teach you everything I have learned, and together, we can—”
“Are you insane?” Quinn exclaimed. “Hell no! I’m not going to be your protégé! I want nothing to do with you! You’re a criminal, a liar, and a downright psychopath!” she screamed, her voice growing louder with every word.
Her father sat upright on the bed. “I was hoping you’d feel differently.”
“Well,” Quinn snarled, “then you can just go to hell!”
He was silent for a few moments before he slowly stood up and made his way to the door, pulling it open. In the doorway stood two large men, their vicious gazes staring ominously at Quinn, and her heart sunk down to her shoes, but she refused to let any of them see she was afraid.
“My daughter needs a bit more persuading,” her father said, allowing the two men inside the room. He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Let me know if she changes her mind.”
Then he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
The two men stepped closer to her, and before Quinn could even think of what to say, one of them delivered a powerful blow to her stomach that knocked the wind out of her and made her drop to the ground.
10
River redialed Quinn’s number for the tenth time and glared at Jax as it once again went directly to voicemail.
“Hey, this is Quinn. Leave a message.”
“Quinn, this is River, again,” he said. “Can you please call me when you get this message?”
“Still not answering?” Jax asked as he disconnected the call.
River’s jaw clenched. “What do you think?”
“Look, I’m sorry that I lost her!”
“You were supposed to watch her, Jax!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think I was going to take so long to—”
“It was a direct order!” he snapped with a growl, and his eyes flashed. Jax’s eyes widened, and she took a step back, glancing at the ground.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry, I want you to find her!” River yelled.
“Blaze is already trying to track her phone—” Jax started to say.
“And while we’re here waiting for him, whoever has her—” River countered, but he stopped in his tracks. He was going to say that whoever had Quinn now would be trying to kill her… until he remembered what Quinn had told him about her father.
“What?” Jax asked, stepping closer. “What is it?”
“If her father is really a Crescent recruiter, he won’t try to kill her,” River said, mostly to himself. “He’ll try to recruit her.”
“But he can’t do that,” Jax argued. “Not unless she’s one of them, and she’s definitely human, isn’t she?”
As soon as she had finished her sentence, River turned to her, the realization dawning on him. It seemed to dawn on Jax at the same time, because she locked gazes with River.
“Her father is going to change her,” he mumbled.
“Not if we get to her first!” Blaze was standing in the doorway with a victorious grin on his face when River and Jax turned to him. “Her signal is coming from what I can only assume is an old Crescent safe house, out east in the Winding Rocks Reservation.”
“That’s not Crescent territory,” Jax said with a frown.
“Which is a good thing,” River said, “because now we can send those bastards right back where they came from.”
“What do we do about Callahan?” Blaze asked.
River clenched his fists. “You take him out,” he snarled, “at the first chance you get.” Jax and Blaze exchanged a nervous look, but before either of them could try to argue, River glared at them and growled, “I’m sorry, were my orders unclear?”
“Not at all,” Jax answered at the same time Blaze said, “No, River.”
“Then let’s go,” River said. He grabbed the keys of his SUV, Jax and Blaze following closely behind him.
The Winding Rocks Reservation was one of the least dense reservations in the area, and it was almost impossible to get to it as a human unless you had a helicopter. Luckily, it was much easier to get to as a shifter. River ordered his betas to split up into two groups: he and Aro would infiltrate the safe house, and Blaze and Jax would secure the parameter for them to get Quinn to safety.
River and Aro made their way toward the safe house, seeing a few members of the Crescents walking around outside, possibly guarding against intruders.
“Can I ask you something?” Aro asked. “Is she really worth all this trouble?”
River didn’t dignify that with a response. They couldn’t waste any time arguing, and if he brought up how Aro would’ve done the same for Jessica, the ensuing argument would most likely break into some sort of fight. He didn’t want it to escalate.
“You’re risking your life for her,” Aro continued. “And I don’t think she knows what she’s putting you through.”
“I’m fine,” River replied. He appreciated the concern, but this was nor the time nor the place for it.
“Are you really?”
River’s head whirled to glare at Aro. “Do you want me to be honest? Quinn is in danger, Aro, and I won’t be fine until she no longer is! God knows what her father and his guards might be doing to her, so can we just cut the bullshit and get her out of there? Either you’re with me, or you’re not.”
Aro seemed to be taken aback by River’s outburst, but perhaps that was a good thing. Out of his three betas, Aro was the most loyal, and River knew he could count on him to help him get Quinn out of the safe house. He loathed to think of what would happen if Aro turned his back on him now.
Thankfully, Aro sighed in defeat and raised his fist with a smile. “Always with you, brother.”
“Thank you,” River said, hoping his words would be enough to convey how much he meant that. He raised his own fist to bump it against Aro’s.
“So,” Aro said, his attention on the safe house, “can you hear her?”
River closed his eyes and focused. He couldn’t hear Quinn’s voice, but he could hear her breathing. It was different, though, in a way he couldn’t place.
“She’s still alive,” he murmured, relieved to be able to say that. “But I don’t know how much longer we have.”
“What are we waiting for, then?” Aro asked. “Let’s go find your girlfriend.”
He and River snuck closer to the house and quickly took out the guards on the outside, incapacitating them without a problem. To River’s surprise, however, they encountered no more guards as they made their way through the safe house.
“Does this seem a little too easy?” Aro whispered.
“It does,” River agreed. “Something isn’t right here.”
They turned onto a long hallway, and the door at the side of it suddenly swung open. Aro and River prepared to attack, but the only person that came through the door was the man from the picture River had pulled up on the screen of his home last night; Jonathan Callahan stared at them with a smirk on his face.
“Where’s Quinn?” River demanded.
“Ah,” Callahan said. “You must be the boyfriend.”
“I will not repeat myself!” River yelled.
“She’s downstairs,” Callahan answered, “being persuaded to join the Crescents.”
River felt every cell in his body ignite with burning rage, and he took a step forward to lunge at the bastard standing before him.
“Careful, River,” Callahan called out in a sing-song tone. “You don’t want me to order my guards to kill her, do you?”
“How dare you!” River nearly howled, and he was about to take another step forward when Aro grabbed his arm, keeping him in place. “How dare you force her into this life? How dare you take that choice away from her!”
“Oh, don’t be such a hypocrite, River,” Callahan taunted him. “It’s the life you live as well.”
“Quinn’s nothing like you!” River growled, focusing on Aro’s grip on his arm to restrain himself from pouncing on Callahan.
“Isn’t she?” Callahan raised an eyebrow. “She’s fearless, strong, and loyal, which makes her the perfect asset to the Crescents. And to me.”
“Over my dead body!” River took another step forward, and Aro had to sink his nails into his flesh so that he wouldn’t take another one.
Callahan narrowed his eyes, like he found him entertaining. “You think you and your little lap dog can stop me?”
“Absolutely,” Aro responded instead. When he squeezes River’s arm again, it was as a sign of support and reassurance—a sign that Aro would stand beside him no matter what.
Callahan lifted his head cockily, looking down at both River and Aro, which made River’s blood boil in his veins. “Come at me, then.”
River didn’t hesitate in the least. As soon as Aro released his grip on him, he quickly transformed into his canine form, and he watched out of the corner of his eye as Aro did the same, shifting into a snow-white wolf with a dark brown muzzle. Callahan glanced between the two of them and sighed absentmindedly, and then he shifted into his own wolf form: a giant beast with fur almost as black as River’s, only slightly bigger than River.
It didn’t matter—he couldn’t handle two wolves at once.
River bared his teeth at him as he and Aro circled Callahan, whose gaze turned from one of them to the other before he leaped at River. Aro intercepted him, kicking him with his hind legs with such force that he sent Callahan flying through the air and into the wall of the hallway, yelping as he crashed down to the floor. Callahan quickly recovered, scrambling to his feet, and now he lunged at Aro.
River was ready to join in the fight when he heard Aro’s voice crying out to him.
Go find Quinn! his beta yelled. I’ll keep this piece of shit busy!
River nodded and wished Aro luck. Then he scurried down the hall, trying to listen for Quinn.
His anger and rage at having allowed her to be kidnapped came back to the surface, and River gritted his teeth together. He shouldn’t have left her side. He should’ve stayed with her. Why hadn’t he stayed with her?
He recalled what Callahan had said about Quinn being downstairs, and he looked for a door that could possibly take him there. He kicked open every single door he came across until he was in front of a narrow staircase. His hearing immediately picked up Quinn’s slow, shallow breathing downstairs, as well as two other voices. River rushed down the staircase, which led him to a smaller hallway with a door at the end of it. He could hear Quinn and the two other voices inside it, and he lunged at it, the strength of the impact so big that he crashed through the door.
The voices he had heard belonged to two men who were inside the room. They turned to the door, startled at the sudden crash, and the movement let River see Quinn a few feet away from them, lying motionless on the floor.
“Oh, great,” one of the men said. He was gripping a large pipe in his hand. Its edge was lined with blood—Quinn’s blood—and River growled at the sight of it, taking a step toward them.
“I think we should go,” the other one whispered to his companion.
“Are you crazy?” the first one exclaimed. “Callahan will personally kill us if we don’t finish the job!”
“I don’t think you need to worry about Callahan.”
River swirled at the sound of Blaze’s voice. His beta was standing a few steps behind him, and he quickly closed the distance between himself and the doorway, walking into the room and throwing a couple of changes of clothes into the hallway—for all of them, River assumed.
“Who the hell are you?” one of the men asked.
An eerie smile overtook Blaze’s mouth. “I’m your worst nightmare,” he growled, and he instantly shifted in front of their eyes.
Of all the wolves River had ever seen in his life, there were only two who had ever struck fear into his heart: his father, and Blaze. Blaze’s fur was a charcoal color, liked scorched wood, and he had the longest and sharpest fangs River had ever seen. His most terrifying feature, however, was his blood-red eyes, glimmering at the sight of new prey.
The blood drained from the faces of the two guards as Blaze cornered them, and River stepped out of the room and shifted back to his human form, grabbing one of the changes of clothes Blaze had thrown into the hallway: a pair of jeans and a shirt. The screams of the guards were drowned by the ferocious growls of Blaze—the best and most frightening killer in their pack—as he ripped them to shreds.
After River got dressed, he rushed back into the room and knelt down next to Quinn on the floor.
“Quinn?” he called her, rolling her onto her side and holding her in his arms. “Quinn? Quinn, can you hear me?”
Quick footsteps echoed through the hallway, and River turned just in time to see Jax hurrying toward him. “River! Blaze! Are you—? Oh, no…” She stopped for a second when she saw Quinn, and then she kept running, skidding down onto the ground beside her and River. “Is she okay? Is she breathing?”
“Barely,” River answered. He caught sight of Blaze, whose bloodstained muzzle now matched his eyes, and gave him a nod of gratitude that Blaze returned.
“What do we do now?”
“We take her to a hospital,” River said.
“Wait, seriously?” Jax asked, her brow furrowed.
“It’s our only option,” River told her.
Jax bit her lip. “You know that’s not true. If you turn her—”
“No,” he interrupted her immediately.
“But she’ll heal in an instant!” Jax argued. “She could die in the time we get her out of here!”
“She won’t,” River insisted, looking sternly at his beta. He could hear the rhythmic beating of Quinn’s heart, and he knew they could make it. “Her heartbeat is still strong.”
“River—” Jax started.
“I’m not going to turn her!” River yelled. “It’s not my choice to make; it’s hers!”
Jax stared at him for a second before nodding her head in agreement. “Okay,” she said. “Then we should get going.”
“What about Aro?” Blaze asked, having transformed back into his human form and putting on a shirt from one of the other changes of clothes he had brought.
“Did someone call me?”
The three of them looked back at the staircase, where Aro stood in his human form, his hair disheveled and the clothes he was wearing a little too big on him.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jax asked, getting up to her feet as Aro walked down the rest of the stairs. “Are you wearing Callahan’s clothes?”
“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 unc
onscious, 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.
