Chapter 10 Calm Before the Storm

About a week had passed since we dealt with Chad and his thugs, we heard nothing from them since.Things calmed down sort of… Phoenix, Jules, Ellis and Kai started to open up to me very slowly. My heart ached as I watched them tiptoe around me, they clearly expected some form of punishment. I knew it would take time, but it sucked to see them in so much pain. Quinn helped me with them, watched over them, laughed and interacted with them. The way she treated them made me think of the way I wish my mum had treated me.

Everything was nice and peaceful, except Sloan. He was his hyper outgoing, excitable, frenzy of personality. He was overjoyed to learn more about wolves from an actual pack. He hung on Casey’s every word like his life depended on it. The other wolves didn’t understand how someone could be so interested in something so horrible and permanent. It was classic Sloan, just how he was. I knew Casey would never, but I made sure to tell them to not turn Sloan. I also told Sloan that no one was permitted to turn him so don’t ask people. I knew my new wolves wouldn’t turn him, they firmly believed only the Alpha should turn humans into werewolves.

In fact I overheard Casey explain to Sloan the odds of transformation from a bite were extremely low, death was more probable. This was not true of course but the lie seemed to cool Sloan off. Sloan made friends quickly among my wolves. ’

’, it still felt weird and uncomfortable. River was polite yet very vocal about her concerns for his safety. He blew off her concerns, but I appreciated her and made sure to let her know. Sloan greatly enjoyed the pack on social outings.

Each day that passed my small pack grew closer and closer together and soon we felt more like a family. I was the Alpha, Quinn was the matriarch, Casey and River were like the fun aunt and uncle, Sloan was the goofball, and the rest were content to be with us. It finally felt like a family, like the way I always dreamed family should feel. It was remarkable how so many different people with such different backgrounds could become such a warm and affectionate group. I felt happy, content, like life had gotten better. I was determined to enjoy it.

Things were even slow at school, classes kept on and nothing noteworthy happened. Seemingly overnight, posters, banners, and flying were everywhere, which promoted a four week long break. The little town had several extra days of traditional festivities which accompanied the typical winter holidays. Lucky for us, winter here was just rainy and somewhat chilly. Snow was mostly unheard of. It suited me just fine, I hated snow and extreme cold. Sloan was over the moon with these traditional festivities, he bounced off the walls and excitedly chatted about how much fun and spectacular these events were expected to be. The whole town was involved in holiday preparations. Some of these activities were to be scavenger hunt, an ice water dunk tank, even rumors of a performance by a local garage band. It felt more like a carnival to me, I didn’t care. I wasn’t interested.

Quinn was excited too, although for a different reason. She got to travel to see her family for two weeks during the Winter Break, and she wanted me to join her. The chance her family was sweet and romantic, yet at the same time, it induced anxiety . “If you want, you can come. If you don’t, I understand. It’s a big step. It’s been a weird few weeks for you.” She was so kind and considerate. In the end, the thought of isolation from her for two weeks measured up to be worse than anything her family could do to me. So I told her I would go with her. Her smile lit up the room and she hugged me, topped with a passionate kiss. She always made my head swim in a good way.

I was concerned that my pack would be without me for two whole weeks. Casey calmed my fears, “River and I can look out for them, no problem.” River chimed in, “You should go Reese, you need a chance to decompress, it’s been a hectic few weeks for us all.” Both of them were so warm and thoughtful, I was glad they were part of my little family. Sloan was kinda bummed that we would be gone but he had the whole town to keep him entertained on this winter break carnival thing. He would be fine, wouldn’t even miss me. Jules and Phoenix were a little worried about me leaving until I told them that Casey and River would be close by. I told them that Casey and River would’ve been my pick to be the Alphas instead of me. This helped Jules and Phoenix settle down.

Pretty soon, it was time to leave for vacation with Quinn’s relatives. I was nervous and excited, it would be a two hour drive to the airport, a three hour flight, and then a forty minute drive to her family’s ‘summer home’ as they called it. Campus security was kind and bored enough to give us a ride to the airport. It seemed their presence was more of a formality, but I figured with the increased werewolf population, they would be needed sooner than later. Once we arrived at the airport, Quinn navigated the labyrinth of terminals and people with ease. I hung onto her hand for dear life, so many people, so many noises. I was quite overwhelmed.

It felt like forever, we finally found our way to the right terminal. I breathed a sigh of relief as we plopped into our seats. Something was wrong, it was eerily quiet. “Quinn, what’s going on? Where are all the people? Why is it so quiet?” She looked at me quizzically. “Aren’t flights usually loud and messy with crying babies, farting old men, and nosey old women?” Quinn smiled apologetically, “Sorry, I forgot to tell you. This is my family’s private plane, just you and me and the flight crew, a few stewardesses.” My jaw dropped. “Are you rich,” I whispered. Quinn laughed, “Well kinda, I guess. I don’t like to talk about it. I want people to like me for my awesome personality, not my family’s bank account.” I just stared at her, she was incredible. She was physically stunning, extraordinarily intelligent, kind hearted, gentle…. I pinched my arm hard to make sure I was dreaming. Suddenly I felt terrible, inadequate, insufficient, meaningless. Quinn must have sensed the shift in my emotional state. She picked up my hand and squeezed it twice. “Talk to me, Baby. Tell me what’s going on in that cute head of yours.”

“Quinn, I….,” I struggled to find the right words. “Quinn you could have anyone, movie stars, famous people, rich people. Someone amazing… and you picked…me?” My voice caught in my throat. “Sweetie, she answered, her voice gentle and soft. “I chose you because you are special. You care deeply, you are passionate and real. Most of those movie stars and famous people… they are fake and self centered. Trust me, my sister and brother continuously date those kinds of people and it’s awful. I would rather have something special with a real person, not some online media presence.”

I didn’t know what to say. She had the uncanny ability to pick the right things to say to make me feel better. I snuggled up to her and put my head on her shoulder. “Tell me about your family?” She sighed, “Where to start? My parents are typically too busy with their own lives to bother with us kids. He runs the family business, she spends the money that he makes. My older brother is alright, can be a little creepy. My sister is a little of an air head. Very sweet, kinda dumb. The physical embodiment of a blonde joke.”

“They are good people and they are trying to be better. Just weird… I think you’ll get along with them. That’s one of the reasons I’m bringing you to meet them. Mom is trying to be inclusive and dad just doesn’t care. As long as I don’t cost him tons of money, he doesn’t care.” She fell silent. I got the impression she wasn’t telling me something. I raised my eyebrow at her, “Fine fine. I kinda want you all to myself for two weeks. My family won’t bother us and we can spend some quality time together doing whatever we want. Would you have come if you knew I was being selfish?” I squeezed her hand twice. “Yeah I probably would’ve. Next time just be upfront with me. It’ll save us trouble down the road.” She squeezed my hand twice in return, “You’re right. I’m sorry”. I kissed her slowly. “Hey now,” she moaned. “You’re gonna get me all excited…”

“Maybe that’s what I was trying to do,” I smiled provocatively. “Oh really? Is that how we are going to do it?” she tickled me and I squealed. “Good luck, I’m not ticklish,” she goaded, seeing me trying to pull free from her grasp. “We’ll see,” I gasped. We settled down in a comfortable silence. I felt happy and content. I was glad she brought me along on this trip. I needed it more than I realized. Quinn squeezed my hand twice, I squeezed twice in return. I couldn’t stop smiling. She kissed the top of my head. No one had ever done that before, I felt safe.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, I think I actually fell asleep in Quinn’s arms. The plane bumped a little as it touched the ground. Quinn took my hand, I followed her off the plane and into a limousine that awaited us. I felt kind of nervous inside the limo, like I couldn’t touch anything. Everything looked so expensive. Quinn gently took my chin in her hand, “Breathe. You’re okay. Breathe.” I tried to inhale, but she was so pretty….I forced myself to shakily inhale. “Just breathe, you’re okay.” I squeezed her hand twice, she responded likewise. Quinn told me about the things we could do while we were there, a large shopping mall, an amusement park about an hour away, her parents had a pool in the backyard so we could sunbathe or swim. Honestly, I didn’t care about all that stuff, as long as I was doing it with Quinn. She was the special part. She’s all I cared about.

Pretty soon, the limo pulled up to the biggest house I had ever seen. I could fit maybe 3 of my parents’ houses inside this one. The driver opened the car door for us, Quinn got out and offered me her hand. “Come on, Reese. Don’t be shy.” I stared at this massive structure…”Quinn,” I whispered. “I’m going to get lost in there. Please stay close to me.” Quinn giggled, “Sure thing. No problem.” I grasped her arm tightly, I was beyond nervous. “Breathe, baby, breathe”. I tried to follow her instructions. My lungs didn’t seem to want to work.