Inevitably Yours

QUINN

Michael and I had a magical time on our getaway. Leaving was almost bittersweet. We spent six solid days doing nothing but spending time together, and we couldn’t do that back home. When we pulled into the driveway to the packhouse, Nic came rushing out of the door, looking excited.

“You’re home!” she squealed as I stepped out of the car. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Yea, it was great,” I told her as M came around the car. He opened his arms, and she jumped into him, hugging him tightly.

“Okay, well, I have something super important for you to see inside,” she said as they parted.

“Is something going on?” Michael asked her.

“We should really get our stuff,” I said.

“No, no. That can wait. Come on,” she smiled, grabbing my hand. She turned and pulled me with her. I looked back at Michael, and he just shrugged. When we got inside, she didn’t even give me a chance to take my boots or coat off. “Upstairs, come on!” she urged.

“Nic, what is going on?” I asked. Michael trailed behind us as we headed toward the top floor, just as confused. I cleared the old Alpha floor bedrooms, but we didn’t really use them. Michael hadn’t wanted to move up there when I cleaned them up, so I left it alone.

“Nic, why are we going up here?” Michael questioned as we got closer to the top floor.

“Just look!” she said.

I gasped as we came to the top of the stairs. Instead of a hallway, I was looking at an open floor. To the left, it opened up to ample living space, complete with a couch and a small entertainment center. Shelves lined one of the walls, books and knick-knacks adorning them already.

As my eyes moved further down, the living space morphed into a small dining and kitchen area. A square table big enough for four sat in front of tall windows with a small kitchen next to it.

To the right, there were four doors. Nic was already standing at the end one. “This is your room,” she smiled, pushing the door open. I looked at Michael, who looked dumbstruck. I touched his arm gently, and he looked down at me. He nodded, and we moved to look at the bedroom too.

When we stepped inside, I realized this was his old room. It now had all our furniture in it from downstairs. New blankets with matching pillows were set on the bed, and another dresser was added. All the furniture didn’t exactly match, but it was close. I turned to Nic. “What is all of this?”

“It’s your space,” she smiled.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Packhouses have floors or wings dedicated to the Alpha family for a reason. Well, one day, there will be an Alpha family, not just an Alpha couple. So we all thought that process might be helped along by something that felt more like a home than the packhouse as a whole. Now you can have all the naked midnight snacks you want,” she teased.

I blushed at her comment; we were caught out of our room more than I liked. “Nic, I don’t know what to say. This is all incredible.”

“You two have your own bathroom through here, just like Michael did before. The other doors on this side are two more bedrooms and another full bath. The kitchen has a two burner stove, a small oven, and a microwave. Andrea stocked the pantry with some other stuff too. You guys work so hard taking care of the pack; we thought you deserved someone to take care of you for once,” Nic said.

I turned to my mate, who was staring at his best friend with a blank expression. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed it. “What do you think?” I asked him.

“I think this place really is home now,” he smiled.

MICHAEL

Nic went behind our backs and got everyone in on our gift. She recruited Jacqueline, Enrique, Andrea, and even Adi to help with the renovations. She even brought Quinn’s Uncle in to help with everything. I was amazed they pulled it off so quickly too. Nic had been sneaking upstairs and getting the room ready to demolish for weeks before it was time, and I had been so worried about Quinn that I never noticed. She planned on convincing Quinn to go with me on my next training job so they could finish it all, but I gave them a better opportunity.

Having our own little penthouse within the packhouse was nice. We could exist together as mates without the worry of everyone around. Nic quickly realized Quinn wouldn’t be down every morning to cook breakfast, making her pouty.

For the next few weeks, everything went smoothly again. Quinn and I started another semester of college. I still kept my schedule to two classes while she took on five. Now, Quinn spent more time on our floor working on her schoolwork. I would find her lying on the couch with her nose in a book or hunched over at the kitchen table with her laptop.

We also got back to training. With all the emotional maelstrom around having pups, she had fallen out of it. She was not very happy on the first day back, putting up a bigger than normal fight with all the conditioning. After the promise of a hot bath and back rub, she quickly changed her attitude.

I was due back in Towering Timbers for some maintenance classes in only a few days. Quinn was working on my schedule for the months to come, trying to keep my traveling to once a month if possible. She was also handling all the accounting for me now, giving me time to finish my schoolwork. Luckily, I had classes that allowed me to work ahead so I could focus more on teaching while I was gone.

I was cleaning up gear after training at the warrior compound when Enrique approached me. “Excuse me, Alpha?” he said.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said, dumping an armful of gloves into their bin. Nic and Quinn spent an entire day organizing the training gear. They had put in shelves that housed labeled bins and inventory sheets for everything. It was a significant improvement from the closet formerly used.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Enrique said.

“Sure,” I said, giving him my full attention.

“Well, I am getting older now. I’m not like the younger pups. I can still keep up, but I would like to start looking toward my next phase,” he said.

“Okay?” I said, unsure where he was going. Enrique was a solid warrior. He was trustworthy and had great intuition. He could be worked with just about any unit of wolves and had natural leadership instincts. But he was getting older.

“Well, you have taught me a lot, and I’ve been a warrior for a long time now. I feel like I have a decent knowledge base and the younger wolves look up to me. I think the natural next step for me is to move into more of a teacher role. I’d like to help with training, and if I could be so bold, ask that you may consider allowing me to help with your outside training as well,” he explained.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. He was bold, but I could also respect what he was asking for. “How long have you thought about this?”

“Since Jacqueline mentioned that you and the Luna are working for pups now,” he answered honestly. “When my pup was small, my mate wanted me home more than not. She would have died had I traveled as much as you are, sir. I know you are building a business to help support the pack, and I think I could be a valuable addition to that business.”

“I’m impressed with the thought you’ve put into this and the ambition, Enrique. I can’t make you any promises right now, but how about I talk to Quinn and see what she thinks? I’m sure we can find a solution that will make everyone happy and get you moving towards your next step,” I told him.

He smiled and held out his hand. “Thank you, Alpha. I appreciate you considering my proposal,” he said as I shook it.

When I got back to the packhouse, Quinn was upstairs, pulling something out of the oven. “Hope you’re hungry!” she called as I hit the top of the stairs. “I made a lasagna.”

“Starving,” I confirmed, heading to the table to sit down. After a few minutes, Q came over to the table with two steaming plates in her hands. I grabbed her for a k**s as she set one in front of me. “I missed you,” I said, letting her go.

“I missed you, too. That is why I made peanut butter pie for dessert tonight,” she smiled.

“The one with the chocolate stuff on top?” I questioned excitedly. She nodded. “Yes! But how did you have time for all that?”

“That science class I am in this semester? I already finished it,” she said. I couldn’t help the look of horror on my face.

“You finished it? Like the whole thing already?” I clarified. She shoved a big bite of cheesy, saucy pasta in her mouth and nodded happily.

“There were actually only ten homework assignments, five quizzes, and a final exam. I took the final this morning and got an A,” she said happily. She did a cute little wiggle in her chair. “I was so excited. You were gone, so I couldn’t tell you. I thought we could have pie and celebrate tonight.”

“Wow, that’s….” Amazing, adorable, incredible, insane. “That’s Quinn,” I laughed. “Well, I was approached with a proposal today.”

I went on to explain everything to Quinn. She seemed intrigued by the idea. “Why don’t you take him with you to Towering Timbers? You could have him travel with you to start observing and studying how you teach. You could slowly let him teach things and add to his responsibilities, then eventually hand some of it over to him completely,” she suggested.

“I had a similar thought about it. We could transition him to the longer wolf seminars while I focus on the humans with their couple-day courses,” I proposed.

“It would bring you home more possibly. You could be gone on weekends for short courses instead of two or three whole weeks at a time,” she said. I could feel the thrill she was feeling at the idea. Being home with her was the most desirable part of the whole proposal.

“I think we have found the next adventure for our little business,” I concluded.

–

“I’m impressed,” I panted, circling the ring. “You can keep up much better this time.” Hunter grinned back at me. He was breathing and sweating harder than I was, but he was more of a challenge this time than when he first visited me.

“Your Luna and Beta made me look silly. Couldn’t let that go on forever, could I?” Hunter laughed.

“Well, you haven’t even seen half of what they are capable of,” I grinned back. Nic was a force, and Quinn would be, too, in her own way.

“Bring them next time,” he said. “I think my odds are pretty good if I have you breathing hard.”

“Oh, this isn’t breathing hard,” I informed him.

I dropped to the ground while spinning, my heel catching behind his as I swept both of his feet out from him. I ended my spin, putting me right where I started as he landed hard on his back.

“Oww,” he wheezed.

I reached down to offer him my hand once he caught his breath, “I think we should call it for tonight,” I laughed.

“Probably a good idea,” he g*****d. We both moved over to the side and grabbed our water bottles. After a few minutes, Hunter seemed to have recovered. “So, I was wondering something.”

“What’s that?” I asked. I pulled my phone from my bag, interested to see messages from my mate. I sent Enrique home the previous night, knowing that today I would just be working with Hunter before my departure.

“How much experience have you had with witches?” Hunter asked bluntly.

“Witches? Why witches?” I questioned. Some werewolves were of a mindset that was almost speciesist at times, especially towards those they perceived as a threat. Witches were always a touchy subject.

“There has been some trouble stirring up aways south of here,” Hunter said. “A few of my Alpha friends have reached out. They would like to solve the problem collectively.”

“Oh?” I said.

“Yea. And I think you should consider coming along,” Hunter said. I leaned my back against the wall, crossing my arms. I looked at him carefully.

“Coming along where?”

“Next week, there will be a few packs meeting about the best way to handle this. Now, this hasn’t come to your neck of the woods, but it could very easily. Especially with the former culture in your pack, you should consider helping us stop this before it gets out of hand,” Hunter insisted. I frowned.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, pushing off the wall. “I think I will be heading out a little early. I should really get back to my mate as soon as possible.” I grabbed my stuff up and shook Hunter’s hand. “Your Beta is welcome to come out to Stary to train with my Beta while I’m away. My mate will be happy to accommodate him in the packhouse. We’ll talk soon.”

“I appreciate it,” Hunter said.

I threw my bag in the passenger seat, my other things already loaded in the car so I could leave. I pulled my phone out and checked it.

MATE