Cody
On the way to Mount Edge, I caught Tanner up on all the ways she’d tried to get rid of me already. He got a kick out of the stories, and we were both laughing when we pulled up to my parents’ house.
Growing up, other wolf shifters living on pack land had never needed to stop at the Alpha and Omega’s house before they moved in. My parents’ had told Tanner we needed to stop by before going to check out Quinn’s place, but I knew that stopping by wouldn’t ensure her safety. They knew that too, so I figured the real reason they wanted us to come by was so they could meet my soulmate.
I couldn’t be mad at them for that. Up until a few days earlier, my parents had been separated from all of us kids because of the pack split. At the family dinner where we’d finally agreed that we could be close despite being in different packs, the Quinn GPS in my head had kicked into gear and I’d gone after her.
The peace we’d made was tentative, but my parents still deserved to meet my soulmate. Even if she was determined to make me hate her.
We pulled into the driveway of the house I’d grown up in, and Hallie and Quinn pulled up next to us as we got out of the truck. Hallie came over and took Tanner’s hand while Quinn slowly made her way toward me.
My mom rushed out of the house, her hair messy but her eyes bright and excited.
“Cody!” She pulled me in for a tight hug before turning her attention to my soulmate, who looked almost scared. “I’m Leah, Cody’s mom. I’m so excited you found each other.” She wrapped her arms around Quinn, and I watched her eyes go wide with alarm for a second before she relaxed and hugged my mom back.
“I’m Quinn.” My soulmate bit her lip as my mom let go of her. Then she took my hand.
I raised my eyebrows, and met Tanner’s surprised gaze over my mom’s shoulder.
“That’s a pretty name.” my mom smiled.
My dad stepped out of the house, and I saw Tanner’s body tense. He and my dad had always butted heads, but everything blew up when Tanner challenged him for Alpha. I felt Tanner’s dominance flare up, and noticed the way Quinn’s attention snapped toward my brother.
She was impressive. Most human soulmates didn’t shift for weeks after their shifters found them, and there she was, two and a half days in, having already shifted and feeling dominance. Even though she wanted me to leave her, I was proud of her.
My dad gave Tanner a slight smile and lowered his chin, and I didn’t feel even a little dominance coming from him. He was keeping things civil, which I think we were all grateful for.
Tanner’s dominance faded as our dad crossed the driveway and took our mom’s hand as he offered Quinn his other.
“I’m Ty.”
“Quinn.” Her gaze flitted from my dad to Tanner and then back to my dad. “Not to ruin the moment, but can someone explain what just happened?”
I grinned, and noticed that the rest of my family wore similar expressions.
“Dominance is the power Alphas use to keep the peace in their packs.” My mom explained quickly. “Every male shifter has it to some degree or another, but the men in our family have more than their fair share.” She squeezed dad’s hand and he gave her a quick smile.
“So because Tanner’s a new Alpha, he felt threatened by Ty, who is also an Alpha, and his dominance flared up?”
“Right.” I nodded once. She was still holding my hand, not that she seemed to notice as she was puzzling through the new world she’d become a part of.
“What kind of power does the Luna have?” she checked.
My forehead wrinkled along with the rest of my family’s.
“There’s no such thing as a Luna.” A female voice spoke up from behind us, and we all turned to see Emma and Logan stepping out of the forest. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and she a large t-shirt, and they were both covered in dirt. “That’s something the humans made up.” Emma explained as she and Logan made their way over to us.
Quinn was so busy gawking at my sister’s soulmate that I don’t think she even heard the answer to her question. The way she checked him out irked the wolf in me, and I tried to brush it off. He was famous, after all.
“Why did no one mention to me that my new brother-in-law is the hottest man in America?” she demanded, looking from me to Hallie and then back to Logan. He grimaced, and Emma grinned.
“Because they thought it would make you jealous to find out you got soulmated to Cody instead of him.” She teased.
I had to put in effort to keep my wolf at bay. They were just joking around.
“And because he’d kill any of us who called him that.” Hallie met Emma’s grin with a smile of her own.
When Logan found out that he’d won the “Hottest Man in America” award, he’d been embarrassed to tell us. Emma had taken care of that, but after vast amounts of teasing, he’d made it clear that if any of us mentioned it again, there would be a fight.
He probably wouldn’t win that fight, either, so we’d held back to spare him the added embarrassment.
Quinn let go of my hand as Emma approached, and threw her arms around Logan in what looked like a far-too-comfortable hug for two strangers.
“Quintessa Longhorn. I definitely never imagined you as my sister.” He let go of her and scratched his head.
“That makes two of us.” Quinn winked and gave him a smile that looked too sexy to give to your brother-in-law.
I was scrambling to figure out why Logan knew that her full name was Quintessa when I didn’t even know that.
“Wait, how do you two know each other?” Emma looked back and forth between Quinn and Logan, catching on to the suspicion I was feeling.
“Oh, we’re old friends.” Quinn played it down, and I knew there was more to it than she was saying. “I loved you in ‘Meet your Mate’.” She gushed to Emma, and I knew for sure that she was purposefully changing the subject.
“And I loved you in that video all over the internet. ‘America’s Favorite Pre-Olympic Gymnast is Back and Making a Shifter-Sized Splash’.” Emma spread her hands in the air as she said the name of the video, but I could see the suspicion in her eyes.
“Wait, what?” I finally spoke. Quinn hadn’t said anything to me about being a gymnast, let alone one good enough that she’d almost made it to the Olympics.
“There’s a lot more to me than you could understand in two days, mountain man.” Quinn tossed her hair over her shoulder and met Logan’s eyes for a second before he looked away.
“What did you mean by old friends?” Emma narrowed her eyes at Quinn, and when my soulmate studied her nails, my sister turned to hers.
“We need to get going. We’ll see you guys at the pack meeting tonight.” Logan ended the conversation and pulled Emma toward the forest. She was silent, and I knew her mind would be churning to adjust to the realization of what Logan and Quinn had been and done together.
I knew, because I was already feeling both sick and territorial.
Tanner cleared his throat, and I remembered that the rest of my family was there watching the exchange. Artie had joined us sometime during the Logan and Quinn revelation, and he had a big smirk on his face.
“Alright, we should get you guys to your house.” Tanner decided.
“Yes.” My mom hurried to agree before meeting my eyes. “We warned the pack yesterday that you would be living on the mountain with your soulmate. Most of them were very receptive to the idea, but some weren’t so be prepared.”
“I will be.” I nodded once, though I barely heard a word she said as I tried to wrap my mind around what she and Logan had been to each other. The image of Quinn on top of Logan the way she’d been on top of Sebastian the night before filled my mind, and my body heated up as the wolf in me snarled.
Keeping myself from shifting and tearing after my sister’s soulmate became a full-time battle, and I think everyone there could tell.
Hallie came over and took Quinn’s arm.
“We’re taking my truck again.” She announced. I didn’t notice the worry she shot my way, or the meaningful look my mom exchanged with my dad.
“Your truck, huh?” Tanner met her gaze with a teasing grin, trying and failing to break the tension.
“Yes, my truck.” She smiled and pulled Quinn over to it. They didn’t say anything as they got in.
The rest of us watched as the girls pulled out of the driveway and started off down the dirt road. As soon as they were gone, I lunged toward the place Emma and Logan had taken off back through the trees. It was taking all of my energy to stay in human form, but my wolf side was just as real while I was a man.
Tanner and my dad each grabbed one of my arms, holding me back as I snarled and fought to get free.
“If you hurt Logan it will hurt Emma.” My dad growled.
I knew that, but I didn’t care. He had slept with my soulmate, for crying out loud, and I didn’t care who he was. I wanted to end him.
“She wants to get a rise out of you.” Tanner’s voice was firm but not cruel. “She doesn’t have feelings for him, she just wants you to think she does so you’ll give up on fighting for her.”
That calmed down my wolf, just a fraction.
“You’ve seen the way she reacts to you. She wants you, not him or anyone else, and you know that. You have to ignore what she says and does and remember how she reacts.”
He was right.
My mind flashed to the way she’d kissed my cheek earlier, the way she’d put on my clothes instead of her own. The way she’d pulled my blanket up all around her so she would be engulfed in my scent.
Quinn was mine, and she knew she was mine.
“I’m good.” I growled, shaking off my shoulders and exhaling as deeply as I could.
“Why does she wants to get a rise out of him?” My mom frowned.
“That’s a story for later. Right now we need to go make sure our women are okay.” Tanner went right into Alpha mode.
As we drove to meet up with our soulmates, I just kept repeating to myself that she wanted me no matter how hard she tried to prove that she didn’t.