Chapter 6%
[Tomorrow at 10 AM, Nina’s got her prenatal exam. You’ll come with her. Get your lungs checked while you’re at it.]||
There was no reply–and honestly, I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t know it at the time, but Quinn had already yanked out her SIM card and powered down her phone. Just like that, she was gone. Cut me off entirely, with all the finality of a slammed door that would never openi again
The next moming, the healer’s den buzzed with low murmurs and the scent of moonwort. Nina clung to my arm like she’d collapse without it.
“Zane, is the pup okay?
I nodded, keeping my voice even. “Healer said the pup’s strong. No lasting damage from the fire.”
She sagged with relief. “Thank the Moon Goddess. You’ve been so quiet since we got here. I thought something happened.” Something had.
I couldn’t get Quinn’s face out of my head–the way she looked at me through the smoke, not desperate or pleading, just resigned, like she already knew I wouldn’t come back for her. And the worst part? She was right. I didn’t carry her out of that burning house. I carried Nina E
After lunch with Nina, I dropped her off at the packhouse and went straight to the council hall.
was then that my beta caught up to me.
“Alpha Zane, Elder Thom has returned. He’s called for a full summit with the leadership.”
I nodded and kept walking, but underneath the calm, something sharp twisted in my gut–tight, restless, and entirely wrong. Quinn was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t gone to the healer’s. She hadn’t returned to the packhouse. None of the patrols had seen her exit through the gates. No one had caught her scent. She’d vanished–and I had no idea how or when she slipped through the cracks.)
Where the hell had she gone?
As I started to walk faster, I turned to my beta again and said. “Get someone to pick up a few of the newest designer bags and some jewelry.”
“For Luna Nina??
I paused. “Send it to the Sterling estate.”
If Quinn was anywhere, it’d be there.!
But if she wasn’t?
ught. My wolf had started pacing, unsettled.
I didn’t want to finish that thought My
What if she was hurt? Suli recovering somewhere alone?;:
What if she’d really left?:
One week later, just past midnight, I came home bone–deep tired from a strategy session with the border patrol. I stepped into the packhouse and saw a soft figure curled on the couch in silk, like a memory that hadn’t let go.
Ichuckled “Quinn, I told you. Once I finish work, I always come back. You don’t have to-” I stopped.
It was Nina Not Quinn
Her face fell when she looked up “Zane, the hasn’t returned. Not once. I sent her so many apology messages. She won’t reply. Maybe i
| move out” She sniffled, on the edge of tears.
long breath and sat beside her, leaning in to kiss her forehead–not out of affection, but more out of routine. “Don’t think too Lit. The pup needs a calm environment” I didn’t want to say it, but I forced the words out anyway, because i knew she was waiting to hear them “This is your home now Yours and the pup’s Whether Quinn likes it or not “%
Later that right. I stood alone on the open air terrace, wearing nothing but a robe 1 lit a cigarette–something i hadn’t done in years flut tonight, i couldn’t stop. The cranng wasn’t for the smoke. The desire was to soothe the restlessness that was gnawing at me from within I pulled out try phone and scrolled all the way down through my contacts until I found Quinn’s name sitting quietly at the very bottom I stared at it, thursby forming over the call button frozen with everything I wanted to say but didn’t in the end. I didn’t call ||
Than tomonow is Elder Thor’s 60th birthday Don’t cause a scene Don’t start anything with Nina or the pup Imated My chest felt sight and for a second couldn’t tell if it was from the cold wind No it couldn’t be panic I
