Inevitably Yours

QUINN

Michael was in a rage the next day. Nic had to tell him what happened, and he was ready to tear out of the packhouse to go after Stephen. Thankfully, I walked in with Junior before he really lost his mind and calmed everything down. Nic offered to take Junior so we could go run together.

Michael begrudgingly agreed to go with me, too angry to think straight. After I got him away from the packhouse, I started taunting him to get him to play with me. We made it all the way out to Wild Bluffs and ran all around before stopping to rest. He was calmer now, so I knew I could talk to him.

“You know she is freaking out, right?” I asked him.

“I want to kill him. What possesses someone to do something so low and underhanded,” Michael growled. “What if she didn’t want a pup?”

“Well, now we have to deal with this. You have to be there for her. And you have to let her lead how she wants to handle him,” I pointed out.

“I’m going to f*****g handle him into the grave,” Michael threatened. I rolled over, flopping my weight onto him. His silvery wolf face looked down at me. “I know. I just can’t believe this is happening.”

“Since we’re already working through sensitive subjects, I have another,” I added, escaping his gaze.

“Is this why you were upset this morning when you came to bed?” he asked, nuzzling me.

“A little. I am conflicted, I guess,” I admitted. “My mom texted again. This time she asked if they could meet Junior, and we could work things out.”

Michael huffed. I knew he wouldn’t like it. “They just want to smooth things over for the grandpup, not because they approve. “

“M, you are my fated. Whether or not we were meant to be Alpha and Luna, I was meant to be with you. Maybe they are realizing this. A lot has happened,” I reasoned. I didn’t have to look at my mate to feel his eye roll.

“Well, they are your parents, so I guess I will let you decide how you want to approach this,” he finally concluded. I stood to my full height. Michael watched me curiously. With my front paws, I pushed him back into the ground.

“I love you,” I told him.

“I love you, too.”

“Last one back to the packhouse is on diaper duty for the rest of the day!” I screamed and took off back toward home.

“b***h!”

–

I smoothed my sweaty hands over the front of my dress. Michael held Junior in his car seat as we stood on the porch of my childhood home, waiting for my parents to come to the door. Michael was not thrilled to be there but agreed to make an effort for me. This was also distracting him from his frustration with the Nic situation.

The door swung open, and there stood my mom with a big smile. “Hi,” I said awkwardly.

“Come in! Oh, how are you?” she gushed. We awkwardly hugged then Michael and I stepped in. “Oh my gosh, that’s little Mikey!”

Michael scowled. “Michael Junior,” he corrected. Mikey even sounded weird to me.

“Sorry. Michael,” my mom said as she bent over to take in her grandson for the first time.

“Amelia, let them come all the way in the house,” my dad called from the kitchen. He stepped into sight, wiping his hands on a towel.

We moved to the livingroom, where Michael set down Junior’s seat and got him out. He possessively held him while my mom watched hopefully. “We’re glad you guys came,” she said. “Dinner is about to come out of the oven. I made a meatloaf.”

I cringed internally; I hated meatloaf. “Um, where’s Kent?” I asked, trying not to think about politely choking down dinner shortly.

“He won’t be coming,” my mom said. “He went out with a few friends tonight.”

“Oh, okay,” I said. My brother and I weren’t the best of friends, but I had thought he would be there.

“Everything is ready,” my dad called from the kitchen.

“I’ll make Junior a bottle so he can eat with us,” I said, standing. We all went to the kitchen. I took Junior and made him a bottle while Michael made us plates. We all moved to the dining room to eat. Junior was starting to hold up his own bottle so I could feed him and me simultaneously.

We sat down and began tensely eating. “So, how are things going in the packhouse? It looks much better from the outside now. Much more fitting for a healthy pack.”

“It’s good,” I said, swallowing a small bite of food. “We have made a lot of improvements.”

“It was a good idea to tear that ugly fence down,” my dad nodded.

I looked at M. That was his idea and doing. He just nodded, focusing on his plate more. I choked down another tiny bite and then fixed Junior’s bottle for him. The meal continued with more tense, shallow conversation. Michael commented here and there about things happening with us; my parents seemed shocked to find out I was now in school while also helping run the pack. My mom talked about work and the new washer and dryer they got. She also told us about my brother and his troubles in school, commenting that he wasn’t nearly as easy as I was.

I managed to eat most of my food, thankful that Michael had made me a smaller plate. My mom brought a chocolate pie to the table, and further awkward conversation ensued. Michael took Junior from me, burping him and bouncing him to keep him happy.

After dessert, M got a call, and we needed to leave. Somehow, my mom refrained from asking to hold the baby but asked if we could make this a regular thing. I told her we would have to check our schedules, but I would like that. Michael shook my dad’s hand before we left, which I felt was a large step forward.

When we were safely back in the car, Michael seemed to relax a little. “That went alright,” I commented.

“They made food you hate….” Michael pointed out.

“My mom probably just forgot,” I shrugged.

“At least they didn’t push any boundaries tonight,” Michael admitted. “I wasn’t ready to hand them my pup.”

“Well, it’s the first step. I’m sure things will get better,” I said. I did feel like there was a small weight off my chest now that we were through with it. I knew we wouldn’t spend every weekend with them, but it would be nice to have my family around more.

“It’s going to be cold until your father and I can come to terms,” Michael said.

“Can you just keep an open mind?” I asked him. He reached over and held my hand.

“For you, I’ll try,” Michael agreed.

MICHAEL

Quinn wanted me to try with her family. Even after our awkward dinner, I wasn’t too happy about the idea, but I would do it for Quinn. I could tell that she genuinely wanted to fix things, and I couldn’t keep that from her.

I sat in my office, staring at my phone. Jacqueline made a suggestion that I had to admit was probably the best course of action. She suggested I take Quinn’s father out separately and see if we could iron things out between us. It was a good strategy, but I didn’t necessarily want to do it.

–

I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, and I didn’t see Quinn’s father yet. I still wasn’t sure exactly what I would say to him, so any amount of stalling was fine with me. I absolutely hated that we were entertaining letting them back into our lives when it was clear the only reason they cared or wanted to be around was because of their grandpup. If they cared about Quinn, they wouldn’t have put her through the last few years, and they would have called before the baby. I would give Quinn anything she wanted, but this tested my patience in a way I didn’t think possible.

I saw her dad arrive and walk in the door, so I raised my hand to wave him over, a fake smile affixed to my face. As he approached, I stood up and shook his hand, which he returned as if he couldn’t wait to stop touching me. I shared his feeling.

“Do you want to order first?” I asked, handing him a menu.

“Sure,” he answered, not looking at me. “That’s fine.”

The waitress came over to take our drink orders, and by the time she came back, we were ready to order our food. Once she left with promises to return shortly, I looked at him directly. He was still avoiding looking at me, but he didn’t have much choice now.

“In the interest of giving Quinn what she wants, I would like to talk things out and start fresh,” I managed to get out. The words felt fake as I said them, and it was hard to say, given I wanted anything but a fresh start with them, him in particular.

“Well, I appreciate you reaching out. We obviously had issues with Quinn’s choices when she left, but she’s still our daughter,” he replied coldly.

“If we didn’t know about the Fae thing, I would really wonder if she wasn’t theirs,” Eros snarled. He hated this just as much as I did. Anyone that would mistreat our mate wasn’t worth the trouble.

“Same,” I agreed. If the lineage wasn’t so clear… I literally couldn’t find a way they weren’t her parents, and I tried. I just couldn’t imagine neglecting my kid and not knowing them to the point that I invited them over for dinner and made something they detest, even as adults.

“I’m sure there are things we regret on both sides,” I asserted. I wasn’t going to let them escape blame and make it look like Quinn was crawling back to them.

“Mhmm,” he said after taking a drink of his coffee. A tense silence set in as the waitress brought our food and set it down in front of us. Once everything was settled, he quietly started talking again, “It was just so sudden. We had a plan. She was supposed to go to school, be an actuary. It was a solid career choice and got her out of the pack. Instead, she’s off to prom and then deciding to mate with a grown man. Now she’s Luna? It’s just not what we’d hoped for her….”

“Did you ever stop to think that’s not what she wanted in the first place?” I asked. “She wanted to go to the school you wanted to make you happy, not for her. She never actually wanted any of the ‘plan.’ It was always going to be us. We just had some hiccups along the way, and we wanted to start our life together.”

He stared out into space as if he were watching all his hope and dreams burn to ash in front of him. It wasn’t like his son could fulfill them. “She was just so happy before you. She tells us she loves you? She was just saying ‘I love you’ to Jaxx. He was at our house day and night, always so polite and respectful. I really thought they were going to be chosen mates. They were perfect together,” he lamented.

“Well, maybe you don’t know the whole story,” I snapped. This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have asked him here.

“Would Quinn really miss him?” Eros bristled within me, wanting out.

“Unfortunately, yes, for some reason,” I said, rolling my eyes internally.

“I guess I don’t,” he agreed. “But he was good to my Quinny, and I thought that was what was happening. Then, all of a sudden, it’s you. You have to admit- you weren’t the best match for my daughter. You’d been gone for years, you were already an adult, and you didn’t have your s**t together. She was meant for more.”

“And now she’s in college, we have a business together, she’s been mated and married happily. It’s over. You either want to put the past aside, or you don’t. I am a better match for Quinn than he ever could have been, and I’m not going to argue the point further.” I was fated to her, no one else. My temper was threatening to spill over.

“You’re right,” he said unexpectedly. “What’s done is done. To new beginnings then.”

We shook hands, and this time he actually smiled and looked me in the face. I hated it, but I guess Quinn would be happy. After what he’d just said, though, I needed to run. It took everything I had not to punch him in his mouth for bringing up that piece of s**t.

–

I sat on the couch with my head leaned back, pinching the bridge of my nose. Quinn was upstairs bathing Junior. Usually, I would help her with those things, not wanting to miss out on moments when I was home, but starting the day with her father had only colored the rest of my day.

The couch dipped gently next to me. I peeked one eye open to see Nic looking sadly at me. “Is it a bad time to ask for a best friend hug?” she asked quietly.

With a sigh, I nodded and opened my arms. She laid against me, and I squeezed her tightly. I relaxed a little in Nic’s familiar embrace. We just sat there quietly for a few minutes. “You know I still love you, right?” I asked her.

“I just feel dumb. I was so blind and let that self-absorbed prick manipulate me,” she muttered. “And I love you too.”

I squeezed her tighter. “You aren’t dumb. He’s an a*s and was never close to good enough for you,” I assured her.

“What do I do? Do I tell him? Do I raise it on my own? Help, M,” she started to sob.

I laid my cheek on the top of her head. “You do whatever you think is best, Nic. You do what you need to do and tell me what I can do to help. No matter what, you won’t be on your own because you have me and Q. Always.”

“Everything okay?” Quinn linked me. I opened my eyes and saw her standing in the doorway. She didn’t look mad that I was holding Nic, just worried.

“It will be,” I told my mate.

“Do you want a private minute?” she asked. I nodded, mouthing ‘thank you’; she knew without asking. She gave me an understanding smile and nodded, then silently backed away.

“I have to tell him. It’s the right thing to do,” Nic finally decided. “But do you think it would be okay if you and Q were with me when it’s time? Even with Stephen there, I think I’ll want you with me.”

“If that is what you want,” I told her. “I’m sure Quinn won’t object.”

“Will you object to Stephen coming here then? So I can tell him.”

“I guess not. But, if he doesn’t behave himself, then I’m kicking his a*s,” I promised her.

“You can have him when I’m done,” she said with a small laugh.

“Movie night?” I suggested. Nic just nodded. She needed some best friend time, so I would let her have it. I think I needed it too.