Quin Read online

  "Son," Graham said, pointing at Kane. "You need to nip this in the bud and do it fast. That girl is trouble and you know it."

  "I know," Kane sighed. "I just have to do it right."

  Graham bobbed his head. "I will support you in any way I can without getting in the way of pack politics. But I can’t do anything over the next few days. The full moon is tomorrow, and we have a pack run."

  Kane glanced to me, then Jillian and Voss before returning his attention back to Graham. "Do I need disappear?"

  Graham shrugged. "The pack knows you’re here. They should be used to your scent by now so it shouldn’t be a problem."

  I turned from the pan to meet Kane’s gaze. "You can hang out here. But we’ll be out most of the night hunting and playing in our wolf forms."

  Kane glanced to Jillian and gave her a warm smile. "I might head to my apartment for a bit. But I’ll be back before morning."

  5

  Jillian

  Finally. I thought the full moon would never get here. My wolf pranced, eager for her chance to get out and run.

  My skin tingled from the moon’s energy, calling to my wolf as I paced the living room in front of the back door. As much as I wanted to rush outside and shift, I had to wait for Dad. The pack run didn’t start without the High Alpha.

  "Dad!" I huffed out a breath, impatiently waiting.

  Quin stepped up behind me and circled my waist with his arms, flattening my back to his front. I sighed and sagged against him. "We could go outside and wait."

  "If I go out, I’m shifting. My wolf is so hyped up. I think it’s the mating." I met Voss’s stare and lifted my brows at him. Then waved him to come closer.

  Voss flicked his gaze to Quin’s over my right shoulder then back to mine as he advanced to us. One corner of his sensual mouth lifted in a wicked half grin. When he was within arm’s reach, I grabbed his shirt and tugged him into me. He stumbled but recovered right before I claimed his mouth.

  A low growl rumbled from him, and I deepened the kiss. Quin groaned and nipped at my ear. "Why do I find it so hot to see you with your other mates?"

  I broke the kiss with Voss and laughed. Before I had a chance to reply my dad entered the living room. About time.

  Dad locked gaze with me, and I swore I saw a slight twist of his lips like he was amused by something. Then I realized that Voss, Quin, and I were still tangled together. We broke apart as Dad passed us.

  Casting us a side eyed glance, Dad smirked. He stopped at the back door and faced us. "You know since you’re mated, each of you will need your own sentry. Just something to think about. I suggest you start looking for them soon. Kane will need one too, but I assume he’ll want a vampire guard."

  I frowned. It was something I’d shelved in the back of my mind because I figured we’d have a few years or more before we took the throne. Dad’s tone told me he planned to make us leaders sooner rather than later.

  I didn’t get to question him before he opened the door, shifted into his large silver wolf, and took off toward the woods at the back of our property.

  The guys and I looked at each other then ran outside. We shifted at the same time. The power of the full moon flowed through me as I broke and reformed in the shape of my wolf. Coppery brown fur replaced skin. My hands and feet were now paws that raced across the grassy yard into the woods.

  Soon the forest was filled with our lycan packmates, running together. Dad sounded off a howl that echoed through the trees. I answered with one of my own, then the pack joined in.

  My wolf slowed when she caught the scent of rabbit nearby. Sniffing the air, I followed my prey. My senses were hypersensitive while in wolf form, making it possible to hear the rapid beat of the animal’s heart as it ran.

  Cutting left, I gave chase. My mates were on my heels as I zipped around trees and jumped over brushes and fallen branches.

  After several yards, the rabbit disappeared into a hole. Little bastard.

  Quin pressed his side into mine and I leaned back against him. His wolf was brown with red undertones. Voss butted his head against mine.

  My body hummed at the feel of two of my mates touching me. I turned and nipped playfully at Quin and bumped into Voss, then ran off. I heard a yip, and I was certain it was Voss moments before the sounds of their paws running on the ground reached my ears.

  I led the boys back toward the house, away from the pack. When I got close to my backyard, Kane’s spicy scent slammed into me. I groaned, which sounded like a growl from my wolf, and charged ahead.

  I slowed about halfway to the back door. Kane sat on stairs on the back deck watching us approach. His features were his usual cool-no-emotions like when he was in unfamiliar situations. Stopping, I glanced back at Quin and Voss and huffed out a breath—a command to stay put. Both bared their teeth at me but sat on their asses.

  Turning my attention back on Kane, I moved forward, slowly. He held out his hand, palm facing me. When I reached him, I placed my nose against his palm. Then he curled his hand under my chin and scratched. If I was a cat I would’ve purred. It felt too fucking good to have his hands on my fur.

  A few moments passed while Quin climbed the stairs and sat on the deck beside Kane, leaning into him. Another few moments passed and Voss mimicked Quin by stretching out on Kane’s other side.

  My heart filled with love and hope. My guys. My loves. In that moment, everything in the world was right.

  Two weeks passed without much activity. We continued surveillance of the Red Night. They did a whole lot of nothing. We kept eyes on Trinity, but she knew we wanted to take her out. She kept a full contingency of guards around her at all times and rarely left the Coven Headquarters.

  There were hints of her having an ally within the pack, but we couldn’t get any leads on who would help her attack their own people.

  Another thing that bothered me was how quiet Emerson had been lately. Usually he was up Voss’s ass, but since we’d announced our mating, Emerson had gone quiet. Voss didn’t think anything of it, saying his dad had gotten what he wanted. Voss would be one of the leaders of the lycan race.

  "You’re not focusing, Jill." Kane came at me, not holding back his speed or strength.

  I darted to the right and when he followed, I dropped to the mat and rolled under his legs, kicking out as I went. My foot caught his ankle, and he tumbled forward. If anyone could fall gracefully, it was my vampire prince.

  My three mates and I were in the gym sparring, Kane teaching us how to fight vampires in case it came to a war when the bad news came in. Several of the pack enforcers, including my BFF Angel, had joined the training.

  A buzzing sound interrupted us. Frowning, I straightened. I was trying to kick Kane’s ass, but damn, he was good. I unwrapped my hands and tried to catch my breath as I walked to the intercom. Who the hell could be at my front door? "Yeah," I barked, pressing the button.

  "Hey, is Kane there?" a nervous voice came over the speaker.

  "That’s Joe," Kane said, surprised. "The bartender that keeps me up to date on the coven."

  "Come in, we’re downstairs," I said, pressing the button to unlock the front door.

  He was down the stairs in less than two seconds, coming to an abrupt stop in front of Kane.

  "What’s going on?" Kane asked.

  Joe bowed his head slightly. "There’s been an attack."

  "Where? Who?"

  "I’m sorry, Kane. It was Roger." Joe bowed his head again, deeper.

  Kane blinked several times. "Roger?"

  "Yes."

  "How?" I asked, stepping forward, Quin and Voss at my back.

  "It was a total decimation," Joe said, turning toward me. "There was no evidence left." He grimaced. "They suspect because you were able to identify Trinity last time, they didn’t want you to learn anything from this site. They blew it up."

  Kane didn’t respond.

  "Was it his home?" I asked.

  Joe nodded, stricken.

  "Thank you,"
I said warmly. "You’re a good friend to Kane, to us."

  "I just want us to come to some sort of peaceful solution. My bar is full of all kinds of creatures. There’s no reason it can’t be the same everywhere." Joe glanced between me and Kane.

  "I agree. If you find out any further information, please let us know."

  He bowed at Kane again and left as quickly as he’d arrived.

  "Are you okay?" I turned to Kane. He still hadn’t moved.

  Kane’s expression was utterly neutral, but when he turned his head to look at me, the pain in his eyes nearly took my breath away. My chest tightened while my fury rose. "No," he said simply. "I’m not."

  He walked out of the basement to the garage. Quin said he’d drive, so we piled in the Rover and headed to the scene. Just as Joe had said, there was nothing to see but an explosion. The enormity of it removed everything else. Helplessness filled me.

  Kane was beside himself. I sensed his rage building through our bond, and I knew Voss and Quin felt it too.

  "You can’t do anything differently because you’re angrier now." I tried to reason with him.

  "I can rip her head off," he replied as we drove back to his apartment to get some more clothes before we headed home.

  Quin and Voss sat in the back seat, quietly supportive.

  We pulled up in front of his apartment, but instead of going up the stairs, he headed to the bar next door.

  Fuck. This couldn’t be good.

  I looked at Voss and Quin in the mirror. "We’d better go in with him. There’s no telling what he’ll do.

  We got out of the car and joined Kane inside. He was seated at the bar, downing a shot of an amber liquid.

  "Hey, Joe," I said as I sat beside Kane. "You okay?"

  "Yep," he said brightly. "But that’s already his third." He winked at me and left me to it.

  Damn vampire speed. I was surprised Kane hadn’t grabbed a bottle and drank straight from it.

  Quin and Voss sat on his other side. "We’d better catch up, then."

  Oh, great. What the hell were they up to?

  Joe came back over and poured six shots of whiskey for Quin and Voss to split. When he offered one to me, I shook my head and grabbed the keys from Quin. "Looks like I’m Designated Debbie for tonight."

  I didn’t mind. Kane needed the escape, and I hadn’t been the DD for a while. Plus, Quin caught my eye and nodded to Kane. Quin and Voss were distracting Kane from going after Trinity and killing her. Which was something we all agreed wasn’t in the best interest at the moment. Not until we got solid proof to force the The Blood to back us on dethroning her.

  Lycans were drinkers, when the occasion called for it. We had the ability to knock back a significant amount of alcohol. But we didn’t hold a candle to Kane. He drank two bottles of Jack before he even started acting remotely inebriated.

  "How do supernatural creatures afford to drink?" I asked Joe as Kane and Quin started talking about how much they loved me. I didn’t want to hear their sappy words, so I spoke louder. "I guess that’s why we don’t have many shifter or vampire alcoholics," I said in a near yell.

  Joe nodded. "Yeah, it’s fun once in a while, but it’s far too expensive. Plus, you still gotta pee all that liquid out, which means you’re in the bathroom half the night."

  "Lovely," I said after a good belly laugh.

  They continued to drink while Joe and I made small talk. There wasn’t really anything they should be doing at the moment. Red Night still hadn’t made any moves. Not that I expected them to since we outed Trinity as their leader.

  I was in contact with all of our investigators on my phone all night. The only thing I worried about was if there was another attack, Quin and Kane would be totally useless. Voss had stopped drinking several hours before and was in the back playing darts with a guy he’d grown up with.

  "I’m going to do it," Kane suddenly said at the top of his voice. "I’m going to kill her. Let’s go."

  He didn’t make a move to rise, so I didn’t worry yet. I kept a close eye on him, though.

  "You can’t go now," Quin said reasonably. "Sober up first, then we can do an official challenge."

  "Fuck official," Kane yelled. Heads around the room turned toward us. "I’m going now." He stood, and I stood with him, ready to head him off.

  He stumbled forward. "I’m going," he grumbled.

  If he was dead set on going, it would be hard to stop him.

  "I’ll drive." I’d try to take him home instead.

  "Probably a good idea," Quin said. "Kane, you’re a little drunk."

  I snorted. "Like you’re not?" I asked as he stumbled out the door behind us.

  "I’m fine," he slurred.

  "Voss," I called. By the time I corralled the drunken duo to the car, he was with us.

  "Take me to Trinity," Kane said.

  "Okay, we’re going. Put your seatbelt on."

  He did, to my amusement. He never wore a seatbelt.

  I took the long way home, down several winding mountain roads. When we pulled up at the house, Kane and Quin were dozing. "We’re home," I said.

  Kane sat up with a jerk. "Why are we home? I thought we were going after Trinity?"

  "I went to her house and she wasn’t home."

  "Did you try the Coven Headquarters?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

  "Sure did. She wasn’t there either. You’ll have to try again tomorrow."

  He didn’t reply, just stumbled out of the car and headed into the house. Quin followed. "I got your back, man," Quin called as he went inside.

  "Wow," Voss said. "They’re fucked up."

  "They’ve had a stressful few weeks," I said as we walked into the house.

  "So have we," he said dryly.

  6

  Quin

  My head was going to explode. The pounding inside of it was enough to make it crack and all its contents spill out. A tapping sound made each throb of my head worse.

  "Quin?"

  If a knife stabbing brain tissue could make a sound, it would be the sound of Jillian’s voice. "Go away."

  "I’ve got something for you," she said. "Sit up."

  I ignored her and burrowed farther into the covers.

  Her slight weight made the side of the bed depress. "Come on, Quinny, it’ll make you feel better in about three minutes."

  She’d made the hangover cure. "I can’t believe you made it," I mumbled into my pillow.

  "Of course I made it."

  I rolled over without opening my eyes. "When did you get up?"

  "I put it in the crock pot before I went to bed."

  I sat up and held out my hand and she put a warm mug in it. "I thought it had to be constantly stirred?"

  "I ordered something just for such an occasion. There’s a self-stirring spoon online. The humans invented it. And it just takes a battery. I put it down in the crockpot and it worked like a charm."

  My spirits lifted, even though the pain intensified as I moved. The cure was handed down from lycan to lycan. It was hard to make and took forever, but if made properly, it revitalized the body in three minutes, give or take a few seconds.

  We didn’t make it very often, because the ingredients were complicated, and it had to be stirred for six hours straight. Her little workaround was a miracle. I gulped down the foul mixture of tree bark, deer livers, and oddly, paprika, then settled back on the pillows to wait the three minutes until I felt better.

  "Good?" Jillian asked a few minutes later.

  Stretching, I opened my eyes and smiled at her. "Better. How’s Kane?" I asked.

  "He’s fine. The rat bastard. I gave him a few mouthfuls of blood and he recovered immediately."

  "You gave him your blood?" The idea of it had bothered me when she told us a few weeks ago that he’d bit her during sex. But in the current moment, it didn’t stir any jealousy within me.

  "Yeah. That okay with you?" She gave me a guarded look.

  "Yeah, I think it is." I started
to climb off the bed but paused to kiss her, shoving my tongue inside her mouth so she’d have to taste the concoction, too.

  She squealed and jerked away, pushing me off the bed. I laughed all the way to the shower.

  Ten minutes later I joined Jillian and the guys in the kitchen. Jillian set a plate in front of me. "We’ve had another attack."

  My stomach dropped. "Who?"

  "The Fowlers," she whispered, pain and sadness drifted from her. "I just got a text while you were in the shower."

  "How did they possibly get the Fowlers?" I asked, shocked. They lived deep in the mountains. The parents were reclusive and spent most of their time shifted. Their son had grown up a little wild. We’d been keeping our eyes on him, worried he’d start getting into real trouble.

  "They’ve got to have someone on the inside. They’ve got Trinity for the vampires. They’ve got to have a lycan, too." Kane said.

  "I can’t imagine who would do that," I said. I couldn’t even think of anyone that wasn’t devoted to the pack.

  "Me either, but then it was a shock when we found out about Trinity, too," Voss said.

  "Yeah, but this is a step further," I said. "Not many people even know the location of their home."

  "Maybe we can narrow down who knew about it," Kane said.

  "This is going to turn us against each other, every one of us wondering who it could be," I said. "It was a calculated move on their part. It was only a matter of time until we figured out they had an inside man, now we’ll be suspicious of everyone, and the heat is off the real traitor."

  Jillian

  "It’s time," Kane said firmly.

  "You wanted to do it last night. We managed to outsmart you, though." I tried to keep my tone light, but it was hard.

  Kane smirked. "Yeah, I remember. As soon as you’re done eating, I want the three of you to go with me to The Blood. I’m going to challenge Trinity."

  "Okay. We can go with you." I was the only one still eating, so I crammed it down and we took off.