Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

We sat in the dining room of a fast food place near the human town. I couldn’t stop my leg from anxiously bouncing. Quinn had her hand in my lap, but it wasn’t helping to calm me down this time.

Shelley was my favorite aunt growing up, but she always felt more like an older sister. She was just different from the rest of the family, and we got along well. Any time we needed a babysitter, I preferred her. She introduced me to my favorite genre of books. She also never let Lawrence be an a*s when she was around. She seemed to be the only one that would publically stand up to him.

Around the time I started high school, she had moved away from the pack. My mom just told me that it was for a job. So I saw her less and less. As soon as she was gone, it seemed that the rest of the family had stopped acknowledging her existence.

Of all my family to reach out to me, I was very excited it was her. But I did recognize this could be some kind of trap. My position left us very open for attacks, and I wasn’t a fool to think that my challenge for Wild Paws would go unnoticed.

“Hey,” Quinn said, getting my attention. I gave her a tight smile. “How about I get you a refill?” She pointed to my empty drink. I shook my head. If something else was going on with this meeting, I wanted her by my side. I had three warriors circling in a close radius, but we couldn’t have too many people inside this restaurant for extended periods of time without being noticed.

The little bell over the door rang, and my eyes went there immediately. There she was, looking only slightly older than I remembered. She smiled brightly at me. “Goddess, what are they feeding you wolves nowadays?” she laughed. I looked around at the mostly empty dining room. No one had moved or acknowledged what she said.

I stood, Quinn following my lead. Shelley opened her arms as she approached. “Hi,” I said nervously.

“Don’t ‘hi’ me. Give me a hug!” she scolded. I leaned in and hugged her. She wasn’t as small as Quinn, but everyone seemed smaller than me now. Shelley squeezed me fiercely like she hadn’t thought she would ever see me again. She turned on my mate next. “So this is her?”

“Yea, um, Quinn, this is my aunt – well, sort of my aunt-” I started to introduce her. I had grown up thinking I was related to her, but I wasn’t really. I wasn’t quite sure what we were anymore.

“I’m his Aunt Shelley. It’s so nice to meet you!” she interrupted me. Quinn gave her a hug, then came right back to my side. I could tell she was nervous, too; she just hid it better than me.

“Should we sit?” Quinn asked. “I feel like there is some catching up to do.”

–

“Michael, I am so sorry….” Shelley sighed. “I wanted to tell you your whole life. I came close a few times, actually. Your mom and I would fight about it from time to time. My brother was nothing more than a manipulative monster.”

“I felt foolish for a long time when I discovered that everyone else knew. I always felt like something wasn’t right there like I didn’t belong or wasn’t in the right place. A lot of stuff made much more sense after I learned the truth,” I admitted. Quinn squeezed my leg under the table.

We had been talking for over an hour now. Quinn sat right by my side, patiently listening to my aunt and me. Shelley filled in a few details I didn’t have from my childhood. About twenty minutes into our conversation, Quinn linked me that she liked her. When I asked her why she told me she could tell Shelley was telling the truth and cared for me. I wasn’t sure exactly how she could be so sure, but I trusted her judgment.

“When I found out you all left, I was sad but also happy that you got away. Mother called to ask if I was involved as Lawrence started to lose it. She tried to talk reason into him supposedly, but things got worse,” Shelley said.

“Well, I want to fix it all. I will fix it all. Stary is going to be the best place to live no matter how long it takes me to fix everything,” I promised.

“Of course you will,” she smiled at me.

“He’s already made a lot of progress,” Quinn said quietly. She was looking up at me with adoration in her eyes. That was one of my favorite looks from her; it filled me with a sense of satisfaction, like I was doing the right thing.

“I’m so sorry! We have been going on and on! I didn’t mean to completely ignore you, Quinn! Please, oh my, tell me about yourself. How did you two meet? Did you come with him from the other pack?”

“Uh, no. I’ve lived in Stary my whole life. Actually, M and I met before everything sort of blew up. We stayed close while he was gone, and we found out we were mates when he came back to challenge for the title,” Quinn explained.

“Well, if that isn’t a romance novel, I don’t know what is!” Shelley cooed. Quinn blushed. Our story was a bit complicated and probably hard to believe, but no doubt a thrilling story.

My phone rang. It was Jacqueline. “Shelley, I’m so sorry, but we’ve been here too long. I need to get back to the pack to take care of some things before training,” I told her.

“Well, don’t be a stranger. Let’s get together after the beginning of the year. I want to get to know your mate better,” she smiled.

We stood and hugged, saying our goodbyes before heading to the parking lot. I spoke again when we were in the car and headed back toward the pack. “Thank you, sweetheart. That meant a lot to me.”

“You don’t need to thank me, M. She’s your family,” she replied. I pulled her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it softly.

“I’m so relieved it wasn’t a trap. I think I would like to stop adding to my kill count this year,” I laughed. Quinn rolled her eyes at me but smiled.

–

“Hey, Dad,” I greeted him at the front door. It was Christmas Eve, and the whole house smelled like delicious food. Quinn had really pulled out all the stops. She had Nic in the kitchen with her cooking for much of the day. My stomach was eagerly awaiting dinner.

“Merry Christmas, son,” he said, pulling me into a hug. He had a small gift box in his hand. “It smells great in here. You guys have done a lot to get this packhouse cleaned up.”

“That’s Q,” I told him as we headed toward the dining room. “Before we sit down for dinner, I found something I wanted to ask you about.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the tarnished coin I found in a box in the basement. The crest on it looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was. I handed it to my dad, and he flipped it over in his hand.

“Where did you find this?” he asked, surprised.

“In a box. It had some old papers in it. Pack business, patrol reports. This was at the bottom,” I told him. We entered the dining room and sat at the table. I could still hear the girls in the kitchen.

“This is something very special to our pack,” he said. “Historically, these were tokens given to all our warriors. Well before my time as Alpha, but people still knew about them. Lots of packs had them.”

“What did the warriors do with them?” I asked.

“Well, they were an identifier for one. If there were a question about what pack someone belonged to, these could clear up that confusion. You protected this with your life and always had it on you,” he answered.

“And two?”

“They could also be given as a symbol of favor. Say a member of another pack was to do something for which you felt indebted to them. Saving a life, for instance. These could be given to that person as a symbol of favor from the pack so that if help were ever needed, that wolf could come to our pack for assistance. Producing this would almost guarantee them assistance,” he explained.

“Wow,” I said. My dad held out the coin, and I took it back. I looked at it again. “So is this like our pack symbol? It’s hard to make out.”

“Yes,” he said. “Wolves protected by a sword. Our Galbraith crest is on the other side. This one is very old, so it’s hard to make out.”

An idea started to form in my head. Before I could see what my dad thought, Quinn and Nic came in holding food trays.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Dinner time!”

QUINN

“What are you doing in here?” Michael asked, coming into the kitchen. He only wore shorts that were dipping low on his h**s. I had to tear my eyes away; his favorite part of the day was when he could put comfy clothes on. I thought he and Nic had already headed to bed after our long Christmas Eve with Melvin. He intended to see some friends on Christmas, so we all spent time together earlier.

I finished arranging the cookies on the plate and picked them up. “Just adding the finishing touches before bed,” I smiled.

Michael looked at the plate and raised an eyebrow. “Cookies, carrots, and milk?” he asked. “Q, you do know Santa isn’t….”

“Shhhh!” I stopped him. “Don’t ruin it.”

“Okay,” he said, putting his hands up. I walked past him, and he followed as I headed to the living room. I set the plate down on our scratched-up coffee table with the milk next to it. “You’re cute,” he laughed. He pulled me into him, kissing the side of my face.

“We better get to bed so Santa can come,” I told him.

“Of course,” he chuckled. He scooped me up and started to our room. “What makes you so sure Santa is coming tonight?”

“Just a feeling,” I said, laying my head against my mate. He and Nic didn’t know about the secret presents I had hidden under the tree. I know we all promised each other, but I couldn’t help it. I really couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces in the morning.

Michael deposited me onto the bed, and I scooted back to give him room. He got comfortable over top of me, using my torso as a pillow. I rubbed his head, and he gave me a soft growl. “I don’t care about presents under the tree. You’re the best present I’ll ever receive,” he whispered sleepily.

“I’m not that great. Just yours,” I whispered back. He didn’t argue, just hugged me tighter. I immediately felt the rumble of his snores against my stomach.

–

“Michael, get your big a*s up!” Nic screamed, jumping into our bed. I dragged my eyes open.

“Nic!” he g*****d.

“No, M. It’s Christmas!” she cheered. I smiled as I came out of sleep. She pounced on me. “Santa came last night,” she smiled happily.

“Did he now? Are you sure?” I giggled. She winked.

“Come on, you two!” she said, shaking us both.

“Alright, alright,” Michael gave in. “We’re coming.”

Satisfied, Nic climbed off the bed, and I went to follow her, wanting to get a sweater before we headed downstairs. Michael’s arm snaked around my waist, pulling me back into bed. He peppered me with k****s. When I finally got away from him, he just smiled and said, “Merry Christmas, my love.”

“Merry Christmas. Now, you heard Nic. Santa stopped by,” I smiled back.

“So I heard,” he said.

“Hurry up!” Nic called from the hallway. We both got out of bed. M pulled on a shirt while I grabbed a sweater. We walked hand in hand down to the living room where Nic excitedly shoved a mug of cocoa into my hands.

“Look!” she said, pointing to the tree. There were four presents wrapped under the tree. I frowned.

“Ho, ho, ho,” M said quietly in my ear. I turned, my jaw dropping open.

“You didn’t!” I exclaimed.

“Never,” he said in mock exasperation. “Just like you wouldn’t.” His playful smile graced his face, and I wanted to bite him.

“Since we all cheated,” Nic said, grabbing our attention. “Here.” She handed Michael a card, and he looked at her oddly. “You two didn’t get a matemoon or honeymoon. So, do something fun.”

Michael opened the card and found tickets to a musical inside. He pulled her into a tight hug. When he was done, I hugged her too.

“The green one,” he motioned to the tree. She jumped up and down excitedly.

“I thought so!” Nic ran over to the tree and grabbed her present. I moved over to the couch and sat down. “I think I know who this one belongs to,” she said, picking up a present wrapped in blue. I rolled my eyes; he color-coded us.

“Well, the one with an N on the back is yours, and M is his,” I pointed to the two other presents under the tree. Nic passed our respective gifts and then sat down to open hers.

“Murder plants!” she squealed when she opened M’s present. “Oh, this could be useful.” I laughed at her excitement as she flipped through the pages of a guide to poisonous plants. I looked at Michael, who was watching her happily.

“Go on, open your present, Alpha,” I encouraged him.

“You too, Luna,” Michael retorted.

I turned the present over in my hand. It was rectangular and had a small weight to it. I found the taped seam and started to pull off the paper carefully. As I pulled the wrapping away, I found a gorgeous silver picture frame inside. My breath caught when I looked at a picture of us l*p-locked on our wedding day. There was something engraved along the bottom of the frame.

“I vow to be endlessly yours.”

Tears pricked my eyes. It wasn’t a huge frame, but it was beautiful. I suddenly felt really stupid for the gift I got them. I looked up at my mate, but he was smiling. He held the name placard in his hands. “Q, did you make this yourself?” he asked.

“Well, uh, sort of. I found the pieces and painted them. I thought you both might feel a little more official with something that said your title….” I trailed off. “It’s not nearly as thoughtful as yours.” I had found some nice pieces of wood while cleaning and thought they could be useful. With some practice and a few mistakes, I managed to cut the wood, finish it, and then paint each of their names on with their titles.

“No, I love it. This is amazing!” he assured.

“Q, this is so cool,” Nic said. I looked down at the beautiful frame in my hands. Michael leaned over to grab me and pull me into his lap.

“I love it,” he said so just I could hear. “Truly.”

“I love mine,” I told him. “But I’m mad at you.”

“Why?” he asked worriedly.

“Because you won! And it wasn’t even a competition,” I frowned. He let out a loud, rumbling laugh, hugging me tightly. He kissed the top of my head.

–

After a super filling breakfast together, we all settled on the couch to watch movies. I put all the extra cookies we still had out for snacking, along with some fruit, nuts, popcorn, and crackers. Before dinner with Melvin, I sent huge boxes of cookies out to the warriors to ease the frustration of working on the holidays.

Michael sat in the middle of the couch with Nic and me on either side. After the morning and late night excitement, I was tired, so I laid down with my head in Michael’s lap. He lazily played with my loose hair while he watched the movie. He was happy; we were happy. It wasn’t the big holiday I had grown up with, but our little family of three was content together on the couch.

I fell asleep thinking about what our Christmases would look like in the future. The image of little Michael’s running around with toy swords filled my dreams. Michael was holding a tiny baby while another came racing out of the kitchen with Nic chasing her. The house was full of laughter and cheer, with decorations and lights all over. It was the embodiment of love and joy that was my favorite part of this holiday.