Chapter 30

(Chapter song ‘Look What You Made Me Do' by Taylor Swift, ‘Thank You' by Dido)

QUINN My claws dig into the stone and pieces of rock fall to the street below. I listen intently as she basically mocks me. She won’t tell me directly. This must be a big game to her. Her sick version of hide and seek. I’ll play only because she has Paisley.

‘You know, Quinn. One thing I learned in life is that when something is pushed hard enough, it reacts to that velocity in a way that’s always surprising to the observer. The science is predictable to a point. Mass vs velocity. The problems is the variables. The little bumps in the road that can change everything. It makes the outcome not what one would expect. One little action that’s seemingly innocent and non damaging, can change everything.’

I sit on the rooftop and listen. My body heats and my skin sweats as the pieces fit together. My eyes wildly search for understanding as her words fill my mind. ‘No.’

‘Oh yes, Quinn. You should really watch who you bite.’ She snarls. ‘The clock is ticking Prince. You have my scent. Find me.’

I search my brain for the scent I haven’t smelt in years. My Lycan raises his nose to the air of the city and sniffs.

A million smells past through my olfactory system. The information runs past my receptors. Nothing’s registering.

I shift and jump to the street. Block after block, my nose searches. One thing about Lycans in mating season, their scent can linger for days or even weeks depending on the age of the Queen. Shifter scents disappear after a few hours. Lycans breed cycles are so important, we’ve made it so the scent of the Queen can be easily tracked by her males.

I run up second main street and sniff the air. A scent hits my nose. My Lycan wolf head whips to its direction. The Unit.

I run to the gate and jump the car stop bar onto the property.

Once in the lot, I sniff her out. My Lycan walks around the east side of the building with caution. The Lycan Queen is much like a female spider. She can be bigger and damn strong. She will want to see if the winner is worthy of breeding her so she sets a trap. An ambush in her nest. If the male is unprepared for her, he’ll die in her attack. If he bests her, then he can breed her. I need to be prepared for anything.

I follow the scent to the school. I run to the side door and pull on it. The lock is broken. She cut the alarms. Smart.

I shift and walk through the door. The school is dark except for the pulsing orange light from the moon.

My bare feet step softly through the halls. I can smell her scent. It’s stronger now, but there’s also another even more powerful scent.

I stop and turn my head to a hall. “Paisley.” I mutter quietly.

I step down the hall. I ready my body for an attack from any direction. Every sense is on high alert.

A door closes behind me and I whip around. My breath sounds like a windstorm even though I’m trying to practically hold it.

I walk back up the hall and push open the door to a stairwell. I take a few steps down and look over the railing. Both scents rise out of the dark pit of the school.

I cautiously descend the steps and listen. I walk down the steps and I see deep claw marks down the walls. I run my fingertips through them as I pass.

The sounds of the heating and electrical systems hit my ears, there’s another sound. A soft whimper or cry. I found you.

I get to the bottom landing. There’s two doors in the little square space. One side is all the things to make the building run. The other side is storage.

I step into the storage area. I can feel her. My Lycan can sense her. His need to have her fills me. This is where I need my shifter. My Lycan can’t get distracted.

I try to normalize my breath, but it’s hard to breathe down here. It’s stuffy. The electrical equipment is messing with my senses. All the hairs on my body stand up in the electrical field.

My Lycan is fighting my reason. He wants to breed. He wants something. The Queen. He wants…wait…

I step into the back area of the room. It’s filled with lab equipment and other pieces of machinery.

The whimpering is louder and my body heats even more. The air is even thicker.

My heart is racing even though I’m not exactly frightened or nervous. I’m pissed, extremely pissed.

It’s not just anger. Everything I feel is magnified. My shifter is going nuts. Spinning in my ribs. Clawing and barking. He’s pushing on me. There’s something here he wants too.

I walk out from between some large experimental energy booths and she comes into view.

She’s scared, gagged and wrapped in silver chains. She covered in blood and cuts. She screaming at me, but I don’t hear her. The room disappears and Paisley is the only thing I can focus on. The high windows in the room cast orange glows everywhere. I feel a pull to her. I feel everything. None of it makes sense. Something is happening that I can’t explain, but whatever it is, it’s telling me to get to Paisley now.

“PAISLEY!” I yell as I snap out if it.

I break into a sprint, but I’m hit from the side just a few feet from her. Paisley screams as me and a black blur go flying across the room and smash into some shelves.

The black blur disappears and I’m left groaning on the floor.

“You thought it would be that easy, Quinn?” Her voice echoes through the room.

I get up on all fours. “Rita…” I cough.

“Rita’s dead! You killed her.”

I roll my head to Paisley who’s big blue eyes are wet and scared shitless.

“I’m sorry.” I say as I get to my feet.

I’m hit in the front and we both fly into another set of shelving. My back takes the edge of the shelf in the middle of it and I cry out.

She disappears again as I fall to the floor.

“You’re sorry.”

I’m leaning on the floor, holding my other hand to my back and trying to catch my breath.

“Yes. Rita. I didn’t mean to…”

“You didn’t mean to. That’s rich. We both know that’s a lie, Quinn. You wanted to. You wanted to kill her. You wanted to drink her blood for your sick addiction. You tried to play off the monster you were. You lied to her. You said you weren’t dangerous.” Her voice travels out of sight.

I search the room to prepare for the next attack, but she’s good at using the acoustics of the room to her advantage.

“I didn’t know…” I grind as I use the shelf for support and rise up to my feet.

“Didn’t know…DIDN’T KNOW?!” She growls demonically. “The smartest kid in the class didn’t know that his venom created monsters?!”

“No! I didn’t!” I yell to her, looking between everything in the room for her eyes.

The black blur rushes me and grabs my throat. It’s then I see the scope of my actions.

Her hair is the same, beautiful auburn color I saw that first day of high-school. Her skin still as soft and pretty as I remember it. My fingers tingle as I remember the feel of it. Her lips still as pink and pouty as I remember what they felt when I kissed them. But it’s her eyes that got me. Her big blue eyes were now blue with a brown ring. My eyes. My god. I did it. I turned her. Not only is she a Lycan, she’s a hybrid.

She snarls in my face. “You played with fire, Quinn.”

“Rita…” I choke against her grip. She’s fucking strong.

She tilts her head. “I’m sorry, like I said. Rita’s dead. Long live the Queen.”

She picks me up and throws me across the room into some machinery. My body slams into it and I land on my stomach.

“It could have been so different, Quinn. We could have been happy had you just stuck around.” She walks slowly up to me. “You could have helped me. You could have saved me from Liam when he found me in Axelridge, but you didn’t, did you? No. You ran. Now look what you made me do.”

She stops in front of Paisley. “I KILLED PEOPLE, QUINN! I KILLED THEM FOR YOU! I GAVE THEM AS GIFTS TO YOU! TO SHOW YOU YOU’RE WORTHY OF ME! THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SERVE ME! NOT HER! SHE CAN’T GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT! ONLY I CAN!”

I lift my head to her as she screams at me. Her face is twisted in anger.

“Rita…You’re confused…You need help…” I grind as I get up. My ribs are hurting, but my Lycan healing is working over time.

She storms over to me and picks me up by my throat. “I’m not confused. I know exactly what’s going on. You’re my prince and I won’t settle for anything LESS!” She throws me across the floor.

I lift my head to her and my eyes glow. The room lights up in the most intense orange light I’ve ever seen. My body feels like it’s on fire and my strength seems to increase a thousand fold. My emotions are running haywire. Then the strangest thing happened. What I can only compare to a rubber band, snaps and I see an electric light shoot through the air from me and hit Paisley right in the chest. She jolts back as it’s hits her.

What the fucking hell?

My face falls as I watch the orange light pulse back and forth between us. Paisleys eyes meet mine and a tear falls from her eye. Her face softens though it’s hard to see with her mouth still gagged.

Rita looks between us. “I guess I don’t need this bait anymore.” She extends her long claws as she walks toward Paisley. Paisley begs, screams and cries.

“RITA, NO!” I yell and jump to my feet. I lunge for her and knock her down. She hits the ground and shifts. So do I.

She’s growling, clawing and biting at me as we roll around on the floor.

I kick her off and lunge for her again. Our Lycans exchange blows and I grab her head. I head-butt her and she stumbles back. She grabs me and throws me.

The room is rumbling as our giant Lycan bodies bounce and smash into everything. The demonic growls would make your ears bleed.

Gunfire erupts and bullets hit the floor between us.

“FREEZE!”

We both see the room fill with Dragger and the Enforcers.

Rita roars. The room shakes and she jumps for the wall. Dragger fires on her and she escapes through one of the windows.

I look at Paisley and she nods.

I jump for the wall and climb it as fast as I can. Once outside, I sniff out her direction. She headed to the city. I climb a building. My Lycan huffs out breathes as I chase Rita across the roof tops.

I see Rita jump for a skyscraper and ride her claws down to the street. Stone and mortar fall as her claws destroy the wall.

I follow right behind her. On all fours, we run through the street. I call my power and speed up. I concentrate and call for larger legs. My body swells and my strides increase. I’m right on her ass.

She looks back at me and growls deep. I send it right back. I jump into the air and land on her back.

We roll down the middle of the street right into an oncoming car that skids out.

The driver runs as I pick Rita up and slam her into the hood. I pick her up again and drive her into the engine compartment. The back end of the car lifts off the ground with every hit. She’s yelping, howling and screaming. Her feet kicks at me. She manages to get one on my head and pries herself from my grip. She lunges at me, her teeth sinking into my neck. I scream and land a punch to the back of her head.

I pick her up and throw her into a building.

Sirens fill the streets as I shift.

“IT’S OVER, RITA! STOP THIS!” I yell as I walk to where she landed.

“It’s…not…over. It’s never…over" She pants as she gets to her hands. “You don’t walk away from this. You know that.” She grits.

“No, but you learn from it, Rita. You try. You try to be someone better than the monster inside. It’s only over if you don’t give up. Let me help you.” I stop on the street and try to show her I still care a lot about her.

She shakes her head. She laughs as she stands. “Oh my god.” She leans on the wall. “THAT’S SUCH BULLSHIT! YOU CAN'T FIGHT THIS! YOU CAN’T, QUINN! YOU CAN PRETEND TO BE THE SHIFTER SIDE, BUT THE LYCAN IS JUST TOO DAMN STRONG!”

“NO, IT’S NOT! It’s not, Rita.” I step onto the sidewalk. “Look. I know the addiction is damn powerful. I know. I kicked it and you can too. You can stop this. You don’t have to give into the instinct.” I plead with her.

Her chest heaves as she stares me down. Her once pretty face is dirty and filled with death.

Memories of my 17 year old self holding her. Laughing. Kissing. Telling her how much I loved her fill my mind as I look at her broken body.

“Please, Rita. I’m so fucking sorry. Please. Let me help you.” I step closer to her.

She looks around as her eyes well with tears. She slowly turns her blue exotic eyes to me.

Her lip curls. “No.”

She lunges and I fall to my back, bracing for her attack when a gun goes off and Rita is thrown to the side. She rolls down the street and rests on her stomach.

I turn to Dragger holding his gun on me.

“QUINN!”

Paisley runs to me and she slams her arms around my neck, straddling me. I slowly wrap my arms around her as my head turns to Rita on the ground and back to Dragger. He holsters his weapon and starts barking orders. The area fills with red and blue lights. Medic truck sirens sound through the streets behind us.

She lifts her head to me and I move her hair out of her face. I wipe the blood off her cheek. I get lost in her big blue eyes. “Hi.” I whisper.

She sniffs and smiles. “Hi.” She chokes a little laugh.

“You ok?” I ask as I look her over.

She nods. “I’m ok. What about you?”

“Well, I’m tired and could use a cheeseburger, but I…I think I’m ok.” I smile.

She lets out a little giggle as she holds my cheeks. She looks to Rita and back at me. “Is it over?” She chokes.

I take a deep breath and nod. “Yeah. It’s over.”

She leans to my lips and kisses me as the band snaps over and over between us.

Her taste and the softness of her lips were now even more intense. I wrap my arm around her head as my tongue explores every inch of her mouth. The snapping feeling sends wave after wave of everything I feel for her through my body. I can’t get enough of her. I want all of her. I want all of Paisley forever.

I pull back because my brain is just going wild with this. “Ok. I have to know what the hell happened in there?”

She laughs as her thumbs rub my cheeks. “Quinn. You don’t recognize the fate bond?”

I look up at the orange moon and back down to her. “But it’s not blue.”

“Yes it is. What do you see?” She looks at me confused.

I look again. “It’s orange.”

“No. Quinn. Tonight’s the blue moon. You can’t see it?” She stares at me.

I think about it. “The hormonal trigger Rita’s scent put out must have changed my optic nerves. My Lycan eyes in heat phase don’t recognize the indigo color of the spectrum refracted by the sun’s rays off the moons surface through the atmosphere. The breed call must also have messed with my neurological pathways and changed the way…”

“Quinn?” She gets my attention.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and kiss me.” She smirks.

I smile and devour her lips. She starts laughing and so do I.

She pulls back and rests her forehead on mine. She looks into my eyes. “Blue or orange, it still says the same thing.”

‘What’s that?” I give her little kisses.

“You’re forever mine.” She grins.

“If I’m yours does that mean you’re mine?” My brows go up.

She nods fast.

I grin big. “I love you so much!”

“I love you too.”

I kiss her hard as Enforcers walk around, taping off the scene, medics check on Rita and witnesses start to gather behind the tape.

A throat clears.

We break apart and look up at Dragger.

He’s standing with his hands on his hips. He looks around then back down at me. “You got 48 hours. Then I’m coming for you.”

I look at Paisley and back at him.

He turns and walks away.

“Mark her quick, Quinn. And treat her right!” He yells without looking back.

I turn to Paisley. “What do you say? Life on the lam?”

She grins. “Sounds like fun.”

“Let’s go.” I push her off and shift to my wolf.

Paisley shifts too and the two of us book it out of the city.

We’re not really running from the Enforcers, we're running off to start our life together as one. I’m going to do everything right for her. I’m going to be that man she needs. My days of blaming others for my problems is over. I know that everything that has happened is because of me. Not only from my actions, but how I handled it. I had a lot of growing up to do. I still do and from now on, everything that happens will be because of me and I will do it for Paisley. I’m not a Lycan. I’m not a shifter. I’m a hybrid and I’ll be the best damn hybrid Paisley could ever need.