Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

“So, I guess it worked?” I asked, handing Saphir over to my dad as I eyed my other blade.

He caressed the blade like it was a lost child, “Oh, it more than worked, son. Even from the description of what the other fae hybrid was able to do when blessing our pack weapons, this is by far stronger.”

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked, glad Quinn left us alone for this conversation. After I knew she was alright, she wanted to go back to the packhouse and lay down. We all went up to the packhouse, and I begrudgingly let my mate go so my father and I could talk.

“What is it?” he asked, looking up.

“If I go out to train or do something with Quinn alone, can we have a link first before approaching policy? If she hadn’t passed out, I had other ideas about drawing out her magic….” I didn’t want to get too descriptive, but I know he knew what I meant.

“Oh,” he said, his face reddening a bit. “I should have thought of that with you two newly marked and how long it’s been for you both without seeing each other. I won’t do that again, son.”

I was relieved that we’d escaped what could have been an incredibly embarrassing incident now and in the future, but one thing still bothered me: “Why do you think she passed out?”

“I’d imagine it was just because she accessed her magic for the first time. She’s suppressed it somehow her whole life. You know, you could check with Haven?” he posited thoughtfully.

“That’s not a bad idea, although Felix might stab me if I call needing something again,” I laughed, thinking of how protective he was of his mate.

“Ah, it’s not the same. There’s no danger in this, and she’d probably enjoy figuring it out, even from afar.”

“I’ll reach out then. Probably not a bad idea,” I replied. I wouldn’t mind Haven meeting Quinn either. She was a voice of reason for me while I was gone, and I hadn’t forgotten that. I may have been too stupid to listen at first, but it meant a lot to me that she didn’t just brush me off as a moody teenager. Not to mention, she dropped everything to help me keep Quinn safe. I owed her something. As selfish as it would be, she might enjoy a magical challenge she’d otherwise not see in her lifetime.

“I normally wouldn’t have had you try the wraps with a weapon that was forged properly, but I thought that if you wanted to add her hair into your hilts, it would be the perfect way without taking them apart,” my dad told me, still thoughtfully looking at Saphir.

“So, normally, we’d use it to improve a weapon that wasn’t made professionally?” I asked, wanting to learn more.

“We’ve done it to improve weapons we’ve built in the field without a professional forge. Sometimes welds aren’t great, or we’ve made something out of wood and rock. The blessing can help even the odds there and make where they join almost indestructible. If you put one up against one of our weapons, though, they’d shatter.”

That made sense to me, and I stored that knowledge for later use. I still enjoyed the soft blue glow that my swords had now that Quinn blessed them. You could see a blue path as it arced through the air, and it made me truly feel connected to Quinn. I loved it.

“My eyes changing color is connected to Quinn somehow, too,” I told my dad. “I think they glow when her magic is activated. Our wolves changed as well after the Alpha and Luna ceremony.”

“I think your eyes might be almost fully blue now,” he said, leaning over to look at my eyes closer. “I barely see any grey left. What happened to your wolves?”

“Eros is silver now, and Quinn is still blue, but we both… like sparkle in the sun or moonlight?”

“I don’t sparkle,” Eros grumbled. “I’m just… Shiny.”

“Whatever you say, buddy,” I laughed. He’d been bristling about the change since it happened. The only thing that helped was how much Sapphire liked it.

“Those are pretty major changes. Normally you’d just get stronger,” he said, staring off like he was lost in thought. “It has to be her and the extra magic involved. You have an extraordinary mate.”

“Yes, I do,” I agreed, smiling as I watched her coming in the door to join us.

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone. I need to go get settled,” he said, standing up with a heavy sigh as I heard his knee crackle when he put weight on it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in the packhouse?” Quinn asked, still worried about him living on his own after being with me so long.

“No,” he shook his head and then looked around us. “There are too many memories here. I can’t live here again. I have a small cabin we never lost the ownership of that I’ll stay in, and I’ll be around when you need it.”

I walked my dad out, and then I turned around to my mate, waiting expectantly for a k**s, her eyes pleading. Her scent made me want to drag her into bed and cuddle all day under the covers once we had no more energy for what we normally did in bed. As I leaned down and kissed her, I could smell that I wasn’t the only one having thoughts about indecent ways to spend the rest of the day, and I could feel her desire pulsing through the mate bond.

“Mmm,” I rumbled in her ear. “It smells like someone would like to be lunch today.”

“Goddess, I wish, but we have to pick up your mom,” she g*****d. “We can’t be late; I don’t want to make a bad impression.” I could feel how nervous she was. It happened any time we talked about her seeing my mom again. The first time hadn’t given her much hope that my mom would like her, and for whatever reason, family was important to her. With the way her parents had been since I’d met her, I didn’t understand why it was so important. Her family was absent at best.

I slid my hand into her pants and past her panties as my mouth found her mark, and my finger hooked under the little hood covering her clit. She melted into me, her hands gripping my shoulders to keep her upright as her knees became jello. I let my fingers wander down and slid two into her, soaking my fingers to bring them back to her clit. The added slickness had her crying out, and I knew she was close.

“c*m for me,” I whispered in her ear. “I want to feel it on my fingers.” My two fingers curled back into her, and I massaged her spot until I felt her grip my fingers in waves as she whimpered my name. I gently brought her down, kissing her mark as she caught her breath.

“Michael,” she growled once she came back to her senses. “I have to go shower now! We’re going to be late, but I can’t have your mom smelling this on me!”

I laughed; she was adorable when she got angry. She hated it because then she couldn’t stay mad at me. I brought my fingers up to my mouth slowly and cleaned them as I held her gaze with mine. “I have no regrets. I’ll be having this for dessert after we take her to dinner then.” I saw her try to hide how much she was squirming now, but she just ran off to our room to shower.

“Do not get in the shower with me, or we’ll never get there!” she yelled over her shoulder. She looked so adorable as I watched her dash to shower. I wanted to join her, but she was right.

“You’re getting a little bratty,” I teased her through our link. “I can feel that you want me to come in there too.”

“Michael…” she grumbled, pleading for me to be good.

“I know, I know… later.”

–

Twenty minutes later, and smelling freshly showered, Quinn sat next to me, a little red-faced still in the car on the way to pick my mom up from the airport. It was a little over an hour’s drive, and I intended to make the most of our time together. I turned the music up before I pulled her hand into mine, and I felt her nerves ease a little. As I hummed and eventually started singing along, Quinn surprised me by singing herself. The dissonance that I experienced confused me so much for a moment that I stopped singing and looked over at her. How could she be tone deaf if she played an instrument?

“What?” she asked, her head tilting in confusion at why I was looking between her and the road.

“Nothing,” I laughed and looked back towards the road. She went back to singing, and it was like no one was watching. She was singing loudly, dancing in her seat without a care in the world. It was making my ears bleed, but it was also the most adorable thing I’d ever witnessed in my life. I couldn’t help but smile all the way to the airport. I was a little nervous with Quinn because I hadn’t seen my mom in so long. Now, I felt silly. I had Quinn, so there was nothing to worry about. “I just love you.”

“I love you too!” the way she beamed at me melted my heart, and I wished I could k**s her right there.

–

Once we were at the arrival pick up outside, waiting for my mom and Tyler to come out of the airport, Quinn’s nerves were back. I squeezed her hand in mine, but she was still fidgeting in her seat in the cute dress she’d put on before we left. I got a text that said they would be out in a minute, so I leaned over and gave Quinn a deep k**s. I felt her ease as I pulled back and rubbed my nose on hers.

“It’ll be okay, sweetheart. No one could dislike you, and if they do, it’s their fault,” I reassured her.

“It’s your mom, Michael. It’s not like you can just not talk to her if she doesn’t like me,” she said, exasperated.

“The f**k I can’t,” I laughed, leaning in and kissing her once more before getting out of the car to open the trunk. Quinn offered to help, but I figured I would spare her the awkwardness of the reunion and let her stay in the car.

Once I had the trunk open, I smelled Tyler coming toward me and my mom behind him. I turned, and it was weird; she looked the same, but he’d grown quite a bit. It was hard to think that after spending our whole life together, I hadn’t seen him in over a year.

“Hey, brat,” I teased, grabbing Tyler’s luggage. “Were you good for mom?”

He rolled his eyes, “Why wouldn’t I be?” His voice had changed. Gotten just a hair deeper or more nasally.

I grabbed my mom’s luggage next, throwing it in beside Tyler’s. “Hey, Mom.”

It looked like she’d been holding her breath and finally let it out for the first time, “You are okay.”

“Worried it was a trap?” I asked quietly.

She nodded her head yes as I pulled her in for a hug. I understood. It would be hard for me to believe he was really gone if I wasn’t the one that did it. I’d even opened the bag to check it after Nic told me his head was in it. I had to make sure for myself that it was there. Not that I didn’t trust her, but that man was like a cockroach.

“He’s gone, Mom,” I told her before I let go.

“I believe you,” she told me, her voice shaky. She pulled her cigarettes out with her lighter. “Can I have a second? I don’t want to smoke in your car.”

“Yea, it’s fine,” I told her before pointing to the no parking sign behind her. “We only have a minute, though.”

I got in beside Quinn and winked at her, pulling her hand into mine again. My mom opened the door and got into the back with Tyler.

Quinn immediately turned with a bright smile on her face despite all her nervousness. “I don’t know if you remember me, but my name is-”

“Quinn,” my mom interrupted flatly. “I do remember you from the packhouse before we left.”

“That was my fault,” I apologized. “I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.” My mom’s first encounter with Quinn was largely my fault. I just wanted Quinn to have her fresh start.

“It’s fine; you were a teenager,” she said dismissively. “I think we’re past that now. You’re all he talked about before we left. He’s lucky to have found his mate.” Her words and the tone of her voice did not match.

“I’m lucky the Goddess gave him to me, and I promise I’ll be a good mate,” Quinn doted, looking over at me. My mom was not helping this situation with her cold attitude, and it was pissing me off.

“I’m sure you will be,” my mom responded coolly, looking out the window.

“I can feel you getting mad. Just let her be for now. She’s dealing with a lot,” Quinn’s voice chimed into my mind.

“She’s not going to be cold to you and get away with it forever. I’m only letting it pass for now because you asked me to,” I told her, wholly unhappy with my mom’s reception to my mate. Quinn was already nervous to see her, and she didn’t deserve anything but respect and warm congratulations. What was wrong with our parents?

“I was thinking we could go to dinner before we head to the pack-” I started.

“Actually,” my mom interjected, her voice sounding shaky again. “We’re not going to stay in the packhouse.”

“With dad?” I questioned confusion setting in.

“No, I think that ship has sailed for us,” she said sadly. “What we had was too broken to fix.”

“Then where?” I asked. She needed to start making sense and soon.

“I have a friend a few hours north of the pack…” she trailed.

“So… You’re not even going to live in Stary?” My anger was starting to build. After all that I just went through, why did she even come back if she wasn’t actually coming back?

“Baby, I just. I just can’t right now. Can you let me do this in my own time?” she asked, sounding like she was going to crack at any moment. Her own time? Was she joking? I got the pack back for us and got rid of the stain in our lives, but she wasn’t even going to come back to the pack with us?

“You can do whatever you want,” I told her, no longer caring what she did. If she didn’t want to come back, she didn’t have to. She’d only missed a year; what was one more? She could watch Tyler grow up; I’m sure one son was enough. “Where am I taking you?”

She unfolded the directions she’d printed off and handed them up to Quinn. They were several pages, and the address was about two hours north of where we were now. I couldn’t believe she didn’t tell me about this before she came. It was going to be incredibly late when we returned to the packhouse.

“It will be okay,” Quinn told me, reaching for my hand. “We’ll get dinner on the way, and at least you’ll know where she is.” Quinn spent so much time preparing rooms for my mother and Tyler; why wasn’t she angry about this?

“I’m not sure I care anymore,” I told her. I knew family mattered to Quinn, but I was pretty done with the concept at the moment.