Chapter 10 #2
“Please, Lorenzo. I can’t…not tonight.”
He sighed but didn’t move forward. “I’m so goddamn sorry, Gina. Just because Helena is here, though, that doesn’t mean you’re not still mated to Quinn.”
She looked over her shoulder and gave him a sad smile. “Doesn’t it? I’m not sure about anything anymore. Good night, Lorenzo.” With that, she got in her car and headed home.
Home to an empty house with packed-up boxes and nobody to welcome her when she stepped inside. It was a shell of a dream that might never happen.
She’d mated with Quinn to save his son and because, if she was honest with herself, she wanted the man. She’d done the stupid thing and fallen in love with him and the family they could have had.
She knew she shouldn’t have done it, and now there was no way out.
She’d mated a man she shouldn’t have loved, and now his past was back to bite her in the ass. Fate royally sucked.
* * *
She’d left him.
Quinn still couldn’t believe Gina had just walked out of the house and hadn’t said a word.
He sighed and shook his head. No, sadly, he could believe that.
He’d done nothing to show her that she should be with him.
He’d only shown her the door and hurt her.
Sure he’d been on the verge of trying to open up, but that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.
He was an idiot, and now he had to pay the consequences. He’d been so scared about getting hurt again, he’d hurt the one person who had given up everything and asked for nothing in return.
He didn’t deserve Gina, but now he’d make sure he did everything in his power to make it work. He might have been slow on the uptake, but there was no way he’d let Gina out of his grasp. She was good for his soul, good for his son, good for their Packs.
As soon as she came back to the den that afternoon, he’d talk with her and sort it all out. He didn’t have another choice—not if he wanted to make things work between the two of them. They were mates, and he wasn’t going to change that. He just prayed she didn’t want to change things herself.
“You ready to go?” Gideon asked as he came up to his side.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
As soon as Quinn had found out Gina had left, he’d walked outside only to find Lorenzo standing there with a sad expression on his face.
He said Gina had left, and he’d called ahead to make sure she made it out okay.
Quinn could only be grateful that Lorenzo had thought to protect his mate when he couldn’t.
Lorenzo had also mentioned the fact that he’d called Gideon to tell him about Helena.
Quinn should have done it himself, but he’d been so out of his depth he’d focused on Gina and Jesse and not the very real problem that Helena was back, not only in the area but on Pack land.
Apparently an old friend of hers had let her in without alerting the Enforcer or anyone else in the Pack. That friend wouldn’t be punished since, technically, he’d done nothing wrong. Helena hadn’t been banished from Pack land. She’d simply left. Only there was nothing simple about it.
Now that the entire den knew Helena was back, they’d quickly rounded her up, and now there would be a Pack circle to decide what to do. She’d almost killed two Pack members when she’d escaped before and had broken her Alpha’s trust by severing the bond.
There had to be repercussions. At least that’s what Quinn hoped. What was interesting about all of this, though, was that Gideon hadn’t been the one to call the Pack meeting. No, the elders had done it.
Quinn hadn’t heard of another time that the elders had done such a thing, but he knew it had happened in other Packs.
The elders had the power to call meetings, though the Alpha would be the one to lead it.
The laws were written by the Alpha since his word was law, but the elders held sway as well.
The fact that these particular elders were close to the former Alpha didn’t sit well on Quinn’s shoulders.
There was nothing he could accomplish by worrying, however, so he’d go to the circle, find out what would happen to Helena, then find Gina and tell her he wanted a future.
All in a day’s work.
“Do you know what you want the outcome to be?” Gideon asked, his voice low as not to carry.
Quinn frowned and looked at his Alpha and friend. “I want Helena out of my life forever. I don’t want her near Jesse. She almost killed him. I want to forget Helena was ever part of my life and move on.”
Gideon nodded. “With Gina.”
“With Gina,” he said without hesitation.
Gideon’s eyes warmed. “That’s a dramatic change from the way you acted before.”
“I was impulsive before. I can’t deny the pull I feel for her. If I’d seen her before all of this happened all those years ago, there wouldn’t have been a second thought.”
“That second thought hurt the hell out of her.”
He flinched at his Alpha’s words. “Yes. And I’m going to do my best to make it up to her.”
“Do you love her?”
Quinn swallowed hard then let out a breath. “I…I think I could. It’s too soon for me to say that. And when I do? It needs to be to her, not to someone else.”
“Good for you, man. Good for you. Now, let’s get this show on the road, and then we can deal with the other thousand things we have to do for the Pack and your mating bond.”
Quinn groaned. “It’s never-ending.”
“Hey, at least you aren’t Alpha.”
“True. And thank the moon goddess for that.”
Gideon flipped him off then prowled into the stone circle that acted as their Pack circle as well as mating circle in those times of need.
It was the first thing that had been established when the Talons settled here all those years ago.
The amount of magic that had been bled and beaten into the stones after centuries of ceremony and honor was staggering.
No doubt the Redwood circle, which was slightly older, was even more magical.
He stepped into the circle then froze as a familiar scent reached his nose.
He turned and frowned. “Gina?”
She gave him a small wave but didn’t smile. “Your elders called me personally to be here. I wasn’t too pleased with a summons from a Pack not of my own, but if it’s for you, I’ll do it.”
He reached out and cupped her face, pleased when she didn’t back away. “You slay me, Gina.”
She leaned into his hold but didn’t stand on her toes to kiss him like she had before. “Don’t say things like that. Please.”
He shook his head then lowered his lips to hers. She didn’t kiss him back, but she didn’t lean away. That was something at least.
“You are remarkable. Will you stand by my side during this?” His wolf wanted her in his sight at all times, and the man didn’t want to do this without her.
She looked pained but nodded. “Okay. Is Jesse with you?”
“No, he’s with some of the maternals and other children. All of the Brentwoods had to be here, or he’d be with them.” He let out a breath. “I don’t want him to see Helena. I don’t want him to hear the excuses she’s bound to make.”
“Quinn, she was your mate. Are you sure you can move past that? Because you didn’t before.”
He growled softly, but it was at himself, not her. “We will talk about the mistakes I’ve made with you and how I’ve treated you poorly once this is over. I will make it up to you, Gina. Everything. As for Helena? I don’t want her.”
Gina didn’t look as though she believed him, and he knew he had a long journey in proving himself to her.
After all, it had taken him far too long to realize that he wanted what fate had provided for him—Gina.
And now he had to pay the price for that hesitation, for that denial.
He’d do that readily as long as he got to have Gina by his side.
Only he didn’t know if he deserved that. He’d just have to see.
“We’re going to be late,” she said softly then pulled away.
His wolf nudged at him, and he gripped her hand. She looked down at their clasped hands then up at him before turning back toward the stone entrance. They walked into the circle as a mated pair, and he prayed that it symbolized something more than just an easy walk.
There was no one in the center of the circle yet, but most of the Pack had taken their seats.
The Brentwoods were in their royal box, with the elders on the other side of the circle in theirs.
Quinn pulled Gina toward the Brentwood area and stopped directly beside it.
He was a lieutenant, so it was his job to protect the Alpha.
This circle was about him and his past. He needed to be close to the action.
“Let’s begin,” Gideon said when they were all seated. His voice boomed over the circle. That low growl that always seemed present in his Alpha’s bass forced his wolf to pay attention.
“Yes, Gideon, let’s begin.” The elder leader, Shannon, glared at the Alpha as she spoke. The woman had never liked Gideon and his modern ways. Modern meant Gideon was less brutal and more fair, but that wasn’t the point at the moment.
Shannon raised her chin and waved her arm.
At that signal, Helena strode into the center of the circle.
To anyone else, his former mate looked contrite, solemn.
Yet Quinn knew her better than that. Or at least he thought he did.
There was something off with the way she held herself, as if she was trying too hard to appear small.
Helena wanted something, and it wasn’t him or Jesse.
Most likely, it was Pack protection, and that annoyed him like no other.
The years hadn’t been kind to her. While she hadn’t aged since she was a wolf, she had a few new scars and a frantic look about her that told him she hadn’t had the time of her life like she’d wanted to outside the Talon wards.
Well, fuck her and everything she stood for. He wanted her out of his sight, but he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy. It was never easy.