29. Quinn
Chapter 29
Quinn
R osie Braxton is my Raven Nightshade. Right? This isn’t a coincidence. There’s no way my new beta mate and my beta friend are going through the same thing. That means, if I’m not totally delusional, I’m the luckiest omega in the history of omegas.
The shout and air punch I let out startle a nurse in the hallway, who looks at me as if I’m totally losing it. Oops.
I can’t play it cool within an inch of my life. I nearly blurted it out in the waiting room as if she wasn't already dealing with enough. Lunch was an excuse. I need to get myself together and figure out a plan.
I have done neither.
Taking my phone from my pocket, I pull back up our message thread. I can’t just tell her right now, but I also don’t want to keep chatting with her when she doesn’t know it’s me. That seems like an icky slide into mistrust.
Kelly: I’m right here. Whatever you need, okay?
It’s not enough, but it’s all I can think of.
I find my way to the hospital cafe and get in line.All attempts to study the menu are futile. It might as well be written in another language for all I can comprehend.
Rosie is Raven. Consider my mind utterly blown.
The woman before me moves ahead in the line, and it’s almost my turn to order. I’m not actually hungry, and I doubt Rosie is either. Stress does weird things to the body.But she needs to make sure she’s taking care of herself too.
When I get to the front of the line, the lunch I order is a mix of random things I know Raven likes. I hurry through the checkout and back through the maze of hallways to the waiting room, no closer to knowing what to say or how to act.
How do I go in there and not totally blow that she’s one of my best friends? That knowing I get to keep her, that she truly is my mate, is dreams-come-true magic?
It’s awkward, right? Like, surprise, I’m your mate and your online friend. I'm totally not here in the crime-show way we discuss regularly, but in some strange twist of fate.
I see Rosie slumped in her chair through the small sliver of glass in the double doors. She’s taken off the sweater she was wearing to use as a kind of blanket. She bites her lip, her head thrown back against the wall, looking so anxious it makes my chest ache.
Rosie was a stunning stranger—mysterious and beautiful. But Rosie isn’t a stranger. She’s my friend—sarcastic and smart, loves all things creepy, draws with her soul, and takes care of the people she loves.
The answer I’m searching for is right there in front of me. I don’t need to play this or come up with a plan. The right thing here is showing up for my mate however she needs.When it’s right to explain, I’ll know.
I cross the divide, abandoning lunch on the table and sitting beside her. Her red-rimmed eyes flutter open.
“I think what we need more than lunch is a cuddle,” I say, hoping she’ll let me comfort her.
Rosie sits up, the sweater falling to pool around her and her face contorted in indecision. We may be scent matches (and longtime friends), but that doesn’t mean she feels comfortable with me physically.
The abandoned sweater reveals the rest of her tattooed sleeve, and on her shoulder sits a black raven with purple nightshade in its beak.
My thumb traces the tattoo, my eyes finding hers. This is my Raven; there’s no reason to wait— now is the moment . “It’s all right, Raven. I promise I’ve got you. Your pack is here now—for good.”
Her pink lips part with a gasp, her scent spiking. “Your voice… I knew that I knew it. You’re Kelly?” The question is full of confusion and chaos mixed with the sweet sound of hope.
I nod. “It’s Quinn Kelly Daniels.”
“KD—Kelly Duskgrove. Your gamer tag… But how—” Raven’s eyes widen in wonder. I cup her neck, touching my forehead to hers.
“Fate, Raven,” I say with conviction. “We were always meant to find each other. Your messages clued me in that we already had.” What else could have brought us to this moment? Mates are like magnets—desperate not to be kept apart.
“This is wild!” Her arms snake around my neck, and my purr sings softly in the space between us. Rosie melts into me, and holding her feels incredible.
I tried to picture this moment thousands of times, but the only thing I got right was how good she feels in my arms. My hands tangle in her hair, and I breathe her in, a piece of my soul feeling as though it finally settles.
“You’ve had a heck of a few days, huh?”
A waterlogged chuckle sounds against my throat. “Serious cosmic fuckery.”
“I can’t wait to hear you tell it,” I admit. Raven's stories are hilarious.
She groans.
I lean down to kiss the top of her head. “But not now. Now, you rest, and let’s focus on helping your grandma.” We need to talk and figure things out, but this is right. Everything else is just life. “I’m so glad it’s you,” I murmur.
“Me too,” she mumbles into my neck, her warm breath making my skin pebble with goosebumps. “I was afraid… but I always hoped. This though?—”
“Is dreams-come-true cosmic fuckery?”
“Yeah,” she says, her voice watery.
I don’t let go, even when her scent spikes and tears hit my shirt. I hold her closer, my own eyes wet. We take comfort in one another until she pulls back and wipes her eyes.
“Ready for a snack? Want me to see about an update?” I ask, eyeing my phone. They should be finishing up surgery soon.
Rosie shrugs but doesn’t protest when I ask her to take a few sips of water and nibble on a muffin with some fruit.
When she makes it through half of the hodgepodge lunch, I squeeze her thigh and lean in to murmur, “Good girl, you need to keep your strength up.”
“It’s not fair that you already know that button.” She kitten-growls at me.
It wakes my omega instincts and makes me want to see her beg for me, no matter how inappropriate the timing. “I think it’s exactly fair. I earned that button.” My fingers find her neck, and I apply the slightest pressure to make her feel me. My nose skims along her ear, making her shiver. “If you don’t want me to use it, that’s an entirely different conversation.”
Learning what Raven likes has taken years oflittle bits here and there, but I’ve been an apt student.
I pull back and give us both some much-needed space. I forgot how intense it is when you meet a scent match. Every instinct is in hyperdrive, every personality trait dialed past ten.
Rosie lets out a trembling breath. “Shit, that’s hot.”
My laugh eases the rising tension of the moment, bringing it back down to something more appropriate for the setting. But the fire isn’t banked. It’s got years of stored fuel.
She smiles at me, her soft curls framing her tear-streaked face, and I already know I’m totally gone for every version of her.
“Yeah, you can push my buttons, Quinn Kelly. It’s gonna take some time to get used to… everything.”
“Time we’ve got.”
She shakes her head, those curls falling into her eyes. “At some point, you gotta tell me how you ended up with Dane and Nash, but right now, my most pressing question is, did you make it to episode seven in season two yet?”
Yeah, she’s the one.
Lots of people have auditioned for our pack. Most of them wanted in because of Dane. They overlooked me. Sometimes, they treated me as an object or an interesting accessory. A male omega and he’s studying to be a physical therapist? What a novelty. Nash could never stand any of them, never let us get far past introductions. They were too scared of him anyway. But Rosie isn’t here for one of us.
In fact, I think it’s gonna be our job to convince her to take us at all. I’m up for the challenge.
I throw my hands over my ears. “Don’t spoil it.”
Her initial question gets us started, and for the next twenty minutes, we’re buried in a new crime drama as I tell her about the series my brother recommended over the weekend. Eventually, the nurse comes to let us know her grandma is out of surgery and in recovery. Rosie’s scent has mellowed, and her eyes are dry.
I hold her hand as we make our way to her grandmother’s room. The nurse gives us a report, letting us know that the surgery went well. She walks Rosie through the plan for the next twenty-four hours, including physical therapy and their intention to transfer her grandmother to a care facility.
“Three to four weeks? You mean she can’t come home for a month?” Rosie asks, panic creeping back into her tone as she looks between the nurse and me.
I squeeze her hip, doing my best to explain. “That’s typical. She’ll need physical therapy and to be supervised twenty-four seven. But doing it this way means she should make a full recovery. It will allow her to get strong enough to return to independent functioning.”
The nurse adds to that, giving Rosie more details and letting her know that someone will be by this afternoon to coordinate the transfer planned for tomorrow.
When the transport team returns with her grandmother, Rosie and I excuse ourselves into the hall to let them get her situated.
“Technically, I won’t be working here as a physical therapist until I pass the state licensure exam scheduled for later this week, but I’ve already been hired at a downtown practice. If it’s okay with you, can I call one of the partners and ask for a recommendation?”
“Yeah, thank you,” she says, leaning into my side. “That would be really helpful. I’m not great with doctors. Just being here puts me on edge.”
“Consider it done. And I’ll be glad to help with logistics. I’ll take as active of a role as you want.”
“I’m really glad you’re here, Kelly.”
My hand finds her waist, pulling her closer. “Ditto.”
It’s several hours before her grandmother wakes, and when she does, she’s disoriented and drowsy, going in and out of sleep. Rosie stays, and I try to make her as comfortable as possible until our alphas show up around dinnertime looking dusty and tired.
Nash pulls Rosie right out of the chair by her grandmother’s bed and takes the seat, hauling her into his lap.
Rosie smacks his chest, her cheeks red. “Hello to you too!”
“This is hello.” Nash claims, scent marking her. He meets my eyes across the room. “Come here.”
Before I can get to them, Dane snags me by the waist and plants a kiss on my neck over his bond mark. “How is she?”
I twist in his hold so I can see his face. “Surgery went well, and Raven—Rosie is holding up. It’s been a long day.”
He pats my ass in send-off. “Thank you for taking care of things here today, babe.”
Nash gives me a brush of lips, rubbing his beard along my cheek. The man loves to scent mark.
Before we’ve gotten settled, a blond-and-pink-haired omega, dragging along a tall beta man, comes into the already crowded room. I’m pretty sure this omega is Rosie’s boss and friend I’ve heard about. Her arrival forces us all into the hall, where it’s also a tight fit.
Rosie’s friend speaks up. “I came to be second shift. Vance is gonna sit with me until visiting hours are up in a few. Just give me an update. You can come back fresh tomorrow.”
Rosie looks hesitantly at her friend, obviously torn.
“She should sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning, she’ll be alert and wanting to see you,” I explain.
Rosie bites her lip, looking at the small crowd gathered around her. I was worried for Nash’s Rosie, but now I know what he didn’t—Rosie has been in good hands.
Nash pats her hip. “Come on, baby. You need rest.”
“Show me the ropes.” Her friend takes Rosie’s arm and disappears back into the room.
Less than ten minutes later, Rosie reappears. She looks between the three of us. “All right, let’s go.”
We all find ways to touch her as we make our way through the hospital maze and out into the spring evening.
“Did I really hear you call her Raven? What did I miss, because—” Dane cuts himself off awkwardly, his face full of confusion.
“You heard right. Raven is Rosie! We realized this afternoon,” I explain, putting him out of his misery.
Nash cuts in. “I always thought her voice was sexy, but how?”
That gets me going, and I tell our group the rundown of events, being as dramatic as possible. Rosie chimes in with hilarious little quips, and together, we make our alphas wheeze in laughter. When I admit to them I did a victory dance in the hallway when I figured it out, Rosie squeezes my hand, and I know we’ll be more than okay.