Chapter One
The well-worn manila envelope sat on his desk, its presence like an itch that Quinn couldn’t scratch. Why he placed it there, where it was always in the corner of his eye, he didn’t know. His name was scrawled in a familiar handwriting, but it had remained sealed since he found it weeks ago. Archie Leacham had left his adopted children many things when he died—his mansion in Portland, priceless treasures, and boatloads of cash. Yet, this was one thing Quinn was reluctant to inherit. When the old master thief had taken him and his Lone Wolf siblings, he compiled all these files about their backgrounds, but never gave it to them until his death.
Quinn had never believed in looking back at the past. It was done, after all, and he refused to think of the before. Before Archie, before his sister and brothers. Because before was growing up with a single mother who could barely put food on the table. Before was hospitals and the stench of death. Before was the string of foster homes and harsh words and bruises and broken noses.
A low growl escaped from his throat. Calm down, buddy. Wolf was not always easy to manage, but Archie had taught Quinn to control it. For a human, his adoptive father knew a lot about shifters, having been married to a Lycan himself. Quinn knew if it wasn’t for Archie, the animal would have broken apart. Still, Wolf did not like to be reminded of the past.
He grabbed the envelope, opened the bottom drawer of his desk, and shoved it inside, right on top of the spare cables and wires he always kept there just in case. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at the multiple screens he had set up on his desk, checking the programs he was running. As Lone Wolf Security’s resident computer guy and hacker, he was responsible for all things tech for their operations.
Right now, he was running some background checks, tapping into various government databases, and looking at images from a string of satellites he had hacked into. While he and his brothers had turned legit, he wasn’t breaking about a thousand international laws just for profit. No, he was doing this for good. A few months ago, when the Lycans had their final confrontation with their enemies, the evil mages had left behind an army of shifter slaves. These Lycans were Lone Wolves, like him and his siblings, who had been ripped apart from their clans on purpose. Aside from running security ops for their parent company, Creed Security, Quinn, Killian, and Connor made it their mission to reunite the Lone Wolves with their families.
The irony of his work was not lost on him. He used his skills to help those Lone Wolves find out about their past, yet his was sitting in the bottom of his desk drawer, waiting for him. Killian and Meredith had apparently opened theirs. Meredith wasn’t interested in knowing her former clan, and Killian’s were all gone. And Connor? Well, he didn’t know what Connor was up to these days. His brother had always been secretive about his past and, even now, refused to say if he had opened his envelope.
Despite the resources he had at his fingertips, reuniting the Lost Wolves with their families was still taking time. There were about thirty of them, plus the additional Lycans they had rescued from their last op. Plus, he also had some legit security work he was supposed to do for his boss, Sebastian Creed. But Quinn wasn’t worried. He never missed a deadline and he never let anyone down. Just because he and his brothers went legit, didn’t mean he was going to start slacking off. He had a few hours of nothing to do and, glancing at the clock, he realized it was nearly noon. Awesome. That meant only one thing …
Quinn got up from the chair and glanced at his reflection in the window. He was dressed casually, as usual, in a black tight-fitting shirt and jeans. His longish blond hair was in need of a trim, but running his hands quickly through the locks put them in some semblance of order. There was a couple days of scruff on his jaw, but he knew that always drove the ladies wild.
“Hey, Evie.” Quinn greeted Lone Wolf Security’s part time administrative assistant. Evie King was seated at the reception desk, typing up the latest report on their last mission. “It’s almost noon, aren’t you going to lunch?”
“Hmmm?” She looked up at him, then at the clock. “Oh, yeah. I guess I’ll order in a sandwich from the deli or something. You want me to get you one, too?”
He frowned. “Aren’t you going out? Weather’s finally warming up. And surely Selena would rather be out in the park than stuck in here.”
“Oh, Selena’s not coming today,” Evie replied and turned back to the computer screen.
Quinn waited for a heartbeat or two, but Evie did not elaborate. Selena always stopped for lunch by the Lone Wolf office on the days Evie came in. She mentioned she didn’t work too far away. Why wasn’t she coming today?
A stab of disappointment went through Quinn, and he told himself it was only because he was looking forward to his usual verbal sparring with his archenemy. Selena … whatever her last name was. Every time she would stop by to pick up Evie for lunch, Quinn made sure he was there to prod and provoke the curvy little witch. He couldn’t help it; it was too fun to watch her blue-gray eyes blaze in anger whenever he was around, and so he did it every chance he got. Of course, she also gave as good as she got and shot back with her own insults. He looked forward to her visits, thinking up new ways to annoy her each time.
“Is she sick?” Quinn finally asked.
“Who?”
“Selena. Is she sick?”
“No, she just came home really late last night. I think she had a date,” Evie said casually. “Anyway, she just texted me that she’s staying at the library for lunch since she slept in.”
A small pit formed in Quinn’s stomach. Selena had a date, and she didn’t come home until this morning. Wolf was growling, setting his teeth on edge. Why Wolf acted that way, he didn’t know. He really needed to get a hold of his animal. Damn thing was ruling his life these days. “Must have been a good date,” he managed to say out loud. “What’s his name?”
Before she could answer, the door slammed open and Evie nearly jumped out of her chair. Connor’s large frame filled the door, his expression dour. So, normal for him. The scar over the right side of his face deepened as he looked over at Evie, then quickly glanced away.
“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Quinn greeted.
Connor grunted in reply. “I’m only here because Killian’s on his honeymoon. Again. How many honeymoons does one man need?”
Quinn laughed. “That first one was a baby moon,” he pointed out. “This is the real, after the wedding honeymoon.”
“Whatever. Don’t bother me unless you need to.” He disappeared down the hallway, and the sound of his heavy footsteps were followed by the slamming of the door.
“Hey,” Quinn said, calling Evie’s attention. Her gaze was stuck toward the hallway, and Quinn rolled his eyes. Connor and Evie had been playing eye ping-pong for months now, but neither had spoken more than two words when they were in the same room. Of course, that probably had to do with the fact that when they first met, she hit him with her purse. But that was ages ago. The tension between the two of them had been growing, and Quinn wished they’d put themselves (and everyone else) out of their misery and just fuck already. It would probably help get that stick out of his brother’s ass.
“So, who is he?”
“Who?” Evie asked, taken out of her trance.
“Selena’s date.”
“She didn’t say.”
God, this is like pulling teeth, Quinn moaned to himself. Even Wolf was getting annoyed, letting out a huff and scratching at him. He just wanted to know who this guy was so he could run a background check and make sure he wasn’t some serial killer. He could also break into the guy’s social networks and maybe his email just to be doubly safe. It wouldn’t hurt. But how could he do it if he didn’t know who she was with? He’d have to take matters into his own hands.
“So, sandwich from the deli?” Evie asked.
“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “I think I’ll go outside. Enjoy the spring sunshine.” He grabbed his phone from his pocket and pulled up his browser. So, the little witch worked at the library. With some Google-fu, he could probably figure out which library Selena worked at. After all, if she had an hour lunch and she had time to stop by Lone Wolf during her break, she probably didn’t work too far.