Chapter Four
Quinn
The notification onQuinn’s laptop was from the dark web where she received requests for hits.She was thankful for the interruption.She needed time to think about Kyllian being a Dom.She had never thought about the lifestyle other than what she read in a romance book.She had imagined being spanked, but it held no appeal.Being a shifter, Quinn could endure a bit of pain, but that didn’t mean she liked it.
“We need to pause our conversation.I have a contract I need to vet.”
Kyllian stood, and Quinn couldn’t help from admiring her mate.Yes, she would admit that was what he was to her, but she wouldn’t act on it.
“No problem.I’ll go find Trenton.”
“If he isn’t downstairs, please don’t go looking for him.”Her dad had begun taking naps lately.His human half had been diagnosed with heart disease, and Quinn was scared.He was the only constant in her life, and she couldn’t lose him.After her troubles as a teen, they agreed she would remain close to home.What started off as acquiescence to her father’s wishes became the norm.Having been duped by so-called friends had Quinn gun-shy from meeting new people and accepting their words as truth.The longer she remained behind the protective shield of their home, the easier it was to be alone.At least until Kyllian walked in the front door.Now her Wolf was demanding she not only open her heart to another person but to also submit to his Gryphon.
Kyllian agreed and left Quinn alone in her office.As soon as he closed the door, she blew out a deep breath.Her Wolf wouldn’t allow her to refuse their mate for long, but she needed time to think about what giving herself to another person – again – would entail.She had been young and uninformed during her time away from Trenton.He hadn’t shared her mother’s journals outlining the truth of dire wolves, and being naïve, she believed what her new friends had told her.Quinn now knew the truth, and that was she couldn’t resist Kyllian, not without causing irreparable damage to her Wolf.It needed their mate, but how was she supposed to be okay with a male who was a Dom?
He said he would compromise.You have to do the same.
But at what cost?Especially now that other wolves are sniffing around.
Maybe it’s time to meet the past head-on.Mate with Kyllian, and your pack won’t have any hold on you.You’ll become part of his pack.
Quinn hadn’t thought of it that way.Not that Gryphons had packs, but if she were to accept a bonding with him, she would have a clan.A family of mighty warriors at her back.She had yet to see him shift into his full beast, but it had to be impressive if the pictures she’d seen on the internet were any indication.Surely an eight-foot eagle/lion hybrid could overtake a wolf.Even a dire wolf would be no match for such an imposing foe.Kyllian had stopped her attack with one word.She had no idea if it was because he was her mate or if there was some other ability Gryphons had that put so much power behind one command.Either way, she wasn’t sure she liked him having that much power over her.
He’s our mate.He would never abuse that power with us.
Quinn wanted to believe her Wolf.It had never steered her wrong.Even as a runaway teen, her Wolf had tried to tell her she was making a mistake, but Quinn hadn’t listened.Maybe she should now.Then again, since Gryphons didn’t have fated mates, why would he want someone broken?
You’re not broken, just stubborn.We are strong; you have forgotten this about us.
Quinn didn’t feel strong.Hadn’t since— Her computer pinged again, reminding her she had a job to do.Turning her attention to the screen, she read the request and rolled her eyes.The thing about running a mercenary company was the responsibility of weeding through legitimate hits and those that made her roll her eyes.More often than not, the person requesting her services was the one who needed to be taken out.Quinn had been a handler for a lot of years, giving her insight into the person on the other end of the request, which gave her pause when she thought about Lucy’s family.If someone put a hit out on the good guys, then the person requesting the hit was the one who had something to hide.And that meant the handler for those hits either didn’t do their job in vetting the hits or they themselves were dirty.
Instead of focusing on the email she just received, Quinn decided to do a little digging.Kyllian’s family broke their ties with Nexus, a large mercenary group.She had heard of the company over the years, but until she met with Ryker, she’d thought they were aboveboard.When she didn’t immediately find anything out of the ordinary, Quinn set up an alert on the dark web that allowed any chatter about the group to come to her automatically.Once that was taken care of, she stretched, then settled back into her chair and focused on the request that interrupted her talk with Kyllian.Before she further contemplated mating with the male, she would need to come clean about her past, and she wasn’t ready to do that.
Knowing her dad would keep Kyllian company, Quinn remained in her office the rest of the day.She vetted the hit, spending hours looking into the man being accused of raping a child.These deep dives left their marks on Quinn’s soul.Even studying psychology to better understand the working of a person’s mind left her no closer to answers.Some people were just evil.When she first began helping her father, Quinn would rush from the room and vomit.She tried to scrub the images from her mind with scalding showers.She began drinking.Nothing worked.Quinn never became fully immune to the darkness that hit her computer screen, but she no longer threw up.At the end of the day, she sent the hit off to Ryker for him to choose which Hound would go after the mark.She found her father in the kitchen chopping vegetables.
“Where’s Kyllian?”
“Patrolling.Since we don’t have cameras surrounding the property, he said his time was better spent outside keeping watch.I also think he’s giving you space.”
“I appreciate that.”
Trenton set the knife down and lowered his chin to his chest.Quinn crossed the kitchen and rubbed his neck.“I’m thinking about it, okay?It’s just...There are things that happened when I was with the Ozark pack, things I’m not ready to talk about.Let’s just say those things skewed my opinion of mates and leave it at that.Kyllian is a good male, and my Wolf is ripping me a new one for not claiming him already.I need time, Dad.There’s more to being mates than a bite on the neck.There are logistics.Personalities.Lifestyle differences.I need to work through all these before I give in.”
Trenton nodded, then went back to fixing dinner.She left him to it and went upstairs for a shower.In her bedroom, she crossed to the window and opened the blinds, searching for the male who was never far from her thoughts.She caught sight of his Eagle and couldn’t help but wonder why his wings were blue.It was another thing she didn’t know about her mate.Instead of joining them for dinner, Kyllian remained outside until after Quinn went to bed.Her lupine hearing allowed her to follow every step he made from the back door opening to him pulling his plate out of the fridge and reheating it in the microwave.He didn’t linger over the meal.He ate in record time before he rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher.The back door opened again, and by the time she fell asleep, he hadn’t returned.
The next morning, Kyllian was already out the door by the time Quinn woke and met Trenton in the kitchen for breakfast.Her dad attempted to make small talk, but it was strained.He wanted what was best for her, but Quinn didn’t know if that was Kyllian or not.After helping him clean up, she kissed him on the temple as she retreated to her office.Kyllian came in for lunch.The two males chatted while they ate, then Kyllian was gone again.Quinn appreciated him giving her space, but she needed to spend time with him to know if they could make things work.For the next six days, Kyllian made himself scarce, and Quinn was getting tired of it.She was barely maintaining control of her Wolf.It demanded they find Kyllian and spend time with him.The animal rumbled in her head often, but it wasn’t conversing with Quinn.
Kyllian had been there a week before she saw him again.She was in her office having received another request for a job.Just as she was typing the intended mark’s name into her search engine, the gate alarm sounded.Quinn turned to the monitor to find a woman standing at the gate.Trenton was adamant that he be the one to respond to anyone who pushed the button, so Quinn ignored the woman, stood, and went to wake her father if he were sleeping.When she opened the office door, Trenton and Kyllian were moving her way from the kitchen.
“Who is at the gate?”her father asked.
“Some woman, and she’s on foot.”
Trenton froze, and Kyllian looked between them.“I take it that’s unusual?”
“Unless her car broke down somewhere nearby, then yes.”Trenton went to the intercom and stared at the screen.“I don’t recognize her,” he said before pressing the button.“Can I help you?”
“I need to talk to Quinn.It’s about her daughter.”