Chapter 6

With my heart pounding against my ribcage

and my wolf going absolutely insane I do the first thing that comes to mind, run. I run past the man who I slammed into that spilt all the drinks over me without saying sorry. My main focus was to put as much distance between my mate and me as possible. It was only weeks ago that I thought I was ready to have a mate, but now with that reality being presented to me I feel the farthest thing from ready.

"Wait." I hear him yell from down the hall. His voice strong but gently at the same time probably trying to not scare me any more than he thinks I already am. I don't turn back instead focusing on getting to the stairwell. Thankfully no one is on the stairs as I sprint up them two at a time. My lungs are burning by the time I make it to the fourth floor, yet I don't slow down for a second racing down the hall until our suites door comes into view.

Reaching down to get my key out of my pocket I don't find anything but my empty pockets. My eyes widen as I realize I must have dropped it at some point. With no other option and emotions running wild at this point I start banging on our door.

"Dad! Daddy! It's me open up." I yell desperately while keeping an eye on both ends of the hallway to make sure he doesn't find me. I just need some time.

"What the hell?" Fletcher swings the door open with so much force I stumble through the threshold but catch myself in time. "Oh my god are you okay?" Fletcher's eyes widen with concern as I move around him pointing to the door.

"Close it." I stammer over my words as my brain is processing a million things at once. Ryder comes out of their room looking tired and confused until his eyes land on me.

"Oh my goddess is that blood?!" Ryder rushes over to me as I shake my head vigorously.

"No I think it's wine." I mummer taking a moment to look at the full extent of the damage to my clothes. The drinks staring to dry leaving me feeling sticky, and by the looks of it there is no saving my ruined shirt.

"You were drinking?!" Fletcher booms his eyes hardening with anger. I open my mouth to tell him what happened when there is rushed knocking on our door. I don't hesitate to speed into my room shutting the door behind me. Looking around to find a place to hide and finding nowhere I go into the bathroom locking the door behind me. Leaning my back against the door I rest my palm to my forehead taking deep breaths.

"What the hell is going on?!" I hear Ryder yell as the knocking persists. I press my ear to the door to try and hear what they are going to do. My heart stops as I hear the front door open and my mates voice filters through the place.

"She dropped her key." Shit. Of course I dropped my key with my room number on it and he's the one to find it. I'm such a dumbass. "Is she okay?" My heart flutters a bit from the concern in his voice. He's not stomping around demanding to see me like others would do instead he's asking if I'm alright.

"Quentin what's going on?" Quentin? That must be his name. Wait. Quentin is the name of that Alpha that is trying to get his pack formally recognized. I rest my forehead against the door as the sevarity of this situation starts to set in.

"She's my mate." I hear a quiet gasp as I squeeze my eyes shut wishing this was all a dream. It's dead silent for a solid minute until I hear footsteps heading towards my room. Freaking out I jump into the shower tearing my stained clothes off yelping at the icy water that sprays out of the shower head as I hurriedly turn it on.

"Tessa." I hear Fletcher's soft voice call my name followed by a light knock at the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" I whisper hoping he'll hear me over the sound of the shower running.

"Come out as soon as you can, okay?" He sounds tired making me feel guilty. If I wouldn't have stayed downstairs tonight we could have avoided all of this. I push all of my thoughts to the back of my mind focusing on washing the wine and other drinks off my skin.

Turning off the water I reach out grabbing a towel off the rack wrapping it around myself trying to cover as much as possible. I lean my ear against the door to make sure I can't hear anyone in my room. After a minute of hearing nothing I swing open the door to make a beeline for my suitcase, but almost slip and fall from stopping dead in my tracks at the sight of Quentin sitting at the foot of my bed. He snaps his head up his eyes connecting with mine causing me to grip the towel tighter to my chest.

"Sorry, I'll let you get dressed." His eyes never stray from my own as he talks. My cheeks heat up as the air chills my skin reminding me just how exposed I am at the moment. Without another word Quentin stands up walking straight out of the room closing the door behind him. I walk over to my suitcase pulling out a pair of black sweatpants and a white tank top along with underwear. I dress quickly not wanting anyone else to barge in then sit down on my bed resting my head in my hands.

"Hey, is everyth-. Oh sweetie." Della pops her head, but fully walks in shutting the door behind her once she sees my tear soaked cheeks. I can't help but let the hiccup escape as she sits down nexts to me pulling me into her arms.

"I'm sorry." I feel horrible for causing such a disruption so late when I got plenty of sleep and they didn't. She shushes me brushing my hair out of my face.

"Don't apologize you did nothing wrong." She wipes some tears off my cheeks with her thumbs. I try and regain control of my emotions but fail. "If it makes you feel any better I think the men are doing much worse than you." She snickers making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "I don't think I've seen my brother this shocked before. To be honest they are all shocked. Quentin though looks shocked in a different sense, more so stunned." She smiles down at me but my lip continues to wobble as my emotions start to flare.

"I feel terrible. I ran from him." I choke out, but Della just smiles shaking her head.

"Sweetheart you have nothing on me an Aidan. I know I've told you bits and pieces but how about I tell you about the first time Aidan and I met." She looks away bitting her lip clearly reliving it in her head. "You know I was a rogue on his territory, and I couldn't leave until I spoke to him which was the last thing I wanted to do. I decided it was my best option so I stayed. Violet brought me up to her room and some teenagers saw and mind linked Alex because they thought I had or was going to do something to her. Alex came storming in thinking I was trying to manipulate Violet so I could escape." She looks down as sadness passes through her eyes, but she quickly recovers.

"Thinking my mate had died I reacted horribly when I saw Aidan. I screamed, thrashed around, and eventually passed out. Tessa not everyone's first moments with their mate is some romantic fairytale, but that doesn't mean that it relects how the rest of the relationship will pan out." I sniffle as the tears die down. Leave it to Della to always be the voice of reason during chaotic situations.

"Thank you." I whisper wiping away the remainder of the tears on my face. There is no avoiding it I need to go talk to Quentin. I just hope he isn't too hurt by my reaction.

"No problem. If ever need to talk I'm only a phone call away." She pushes a stray hair away from my face, and I pull her into another tight hug. Della has always been there for me my whole life despite not being my mom, and I will forever be grateful. "I'll give you a minute." She stands up walking out of the room shutting the door behind her.

I stand up walking back into the bathroom looking in the mirror to see if I look prestable. Let's just say seeing my reflection causes me to cringe. My eyes are slightly bloodshot, my cheeks blotchy, and my hair a tangled mess. Jumping in the shower without washing it only accomplished getting certain areas of my hair wet and knotted. I sigh walking back to my suitcase grabbing my brush and running it through my hair until it's smoothed down. Splashing some cold water on my face I mentally prepare myself for facing everybody.

I open my door and it takes everything in me to look up. Fletcher and Ryder are seated on one counch with Della resting on the arm of the couch next to Fletcher no doubt keeping him calm. Aidan is here as well barely awake but here. Guilt settles back into the pit of my stomach as I notice everyone's darks circles reminding me how I'm keeping everyone awake. Despite my mind wanting to overthink all that he still manages to catch my attention.

Quentin is sitting on the other couch staring straight at me with his mouth slightly agape. I look down creating a curtain with my hair so he can't see how my cheeks flush because of his stare. His reaction is not what I expected but I'm still not sure whether it's good or bad sign.

"I'm sorry for all of this. You can go back to bed." I apologize to my dads, Aidan, and Della. Sensing my embarrassment Della takes ahold of Aidan's hand dragging him out of the room. I give them an akward wave as they walk out the front door. Turning back around I almost jump at Ryder proximity.

"Congratulations baby." He pulls me into a hug so I don't see the tears welling up in his eyes, but it's too late I already saw them. Fletcher gives me a tired smile from behind him, and tugs him back pulling him to his side.

"We'll give you guys sometime alone and talk in the morning." Fletcher kisses my forehead before intertwining his and Ryder fingers together walking them both back to their bedroom. "Goodnight." He smiles before stealing one last glance at Quentin and shutting their door.

I take a deep breath looking over to where Quentin is sitting casually on the couch. He's watching me with inspectful eyes waiting for me to make the next move, so I take a moment to look him over now that we are alone away from prying eyes. His eyes are a bit brighter than earlier. The specks of blue around the grey shine under the dim lighting in here. His straight black hair looks like it was styled to be pushed up out of his face, but a few pieces have fallen accentuating the pale skin of his forehead.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" His calm voice cuts me from my staring contest with his face. I quickly nod my head before turning on my heal to walk to the front door so he doesn't see the blush creeping up my neck to my cheeks. Less than a minute in to us talking and I've already embarrassed myself.

I open the door holding it for a few seconds longer assuming he's behind me. Letting go of the door I instinctively check my pockets for my key, so when I pat my empty pockets I panic. Spinning back around I bump right into Quentin's chest causing him to stumble back a step. Two for zero and we have barely made it out the door. I close my eyes praying to the goddess that embarrassing myself in front of him doesn't become a pattern.

"The key." I mumble out while looking up at him through my lashes. He just looks down at me his height giving him a genours half a foot over me. I try my hardest to avoid his eyes, but to no avail I get sucked in. We stare at each other for a good minute before he snaps out of it lifting the key up so I can see it.

"I still have it." He holds it out for me to take. I wrap my fingers around the key doing my best to avoid touching Quentin. I'm already feeling the effects of the bond more than I thought I would, so I don't need to make it worse. I slip the key into the pocket of my sweatpants making sure it won't slip out again before heading down the hallway towards the elevators. Quentin follows behind me silently giving me enough space that allows me to sort through all my jumbled thoughts. I press the button for the elevator which opens immediately not surprisingly considering the time. We step inside and I press the first floor button wanting to head outside to get a bit of fresh air.

"I'm sorry." I whipper out since there isn't a ton of space in the elevator. When he doesn't say anything I lift my eyes from my feet to look at him. Quentin is standing less than a foot away from me looking down at me with concern.

"You don't need to apologize. Trust me when I say you running off didn't bother me at all. The shock of meeting your mate can cause your brain to focus on weird things, so considering the fact you had a tray of drinks spilled all over you, running to clean up is not that big of a deal." He shrugs nonchalantly stepping out of the elevator as the doors open. I follow behind him feeling a bit better now that I know he's not taking offense to me running away. He stops in the middle of the lobby turning back around with a raised eyebrow.

"Can we go outside?" I ask him hoping he'll agree. Now that I know why my body was heating up and wolf was going insane I don't feel as anxious, but I still need a bit of air after that whole dibocal. Quentin nods giving me a small smile leading the way to the front door. He holds it open for me as I walk past letting the cold breeze cool my heated cheeks. I walk down a couple steps before sitting down on one of the bottom few. Quentin sits down on a step below me so we are equal height wise.

"You know I was shocked when you ran at first. I thought maybe somehow I did something wrong, but when your dads opened the door it sort of clicked." He chuckles looking off towards the fountain. I feel like he skipped a chapter in that story. I turn to him looking extremely confused. His eyes go wide when he sees that I'm not getting what he's talking about. "You're dads called me on your birthday to keep an eye out for you." I sigh out in frustration, embarrassment, but also relief. I was worried he was going to say something nasty about my dads, but knowing Quentin knows about my atrocious birthday doesn't make me feel exactly joyful.

"Got it." I play with my fingers on my lap while keeping my eyes glued to the fountain. The sound of the water splashing and trickling helps me ease my nerves. I can see Quentin shift from the corner of my eye.

"Can I ask you something?" He looks torn intriguing me. It's not hard to read his emotions, but so far I can never sense his motives.

"Yeah." He looks down for a second as if choosing his next words wisely. I'm about to speak up when his eyes connect with mine holding me still.

"Why did you run away on your birthday?" His eyes hold an innocence behind them letting me know he isn't asking to pry he's just genuinely curious. I can't blame him either because if the roles were reversed I would want to know just as much if not more. Sadly for both of us it's not as exciting as it sounds.

"If I told you you would think it was idiotic." I snort remembering how young and naive I was only weeks ago. It feels like I've aged years over the small amount of time. I guess heartbreak can do that to a person.

"I could never." Quentin voice sounds stern but his eyes are soft glowing almost silver in the moonlight. I let out a sigh slapping my hands down on my thighs. He's going to find out whether I tell him or not so he might as well hear it from me.

"Alright. I was convinced since I was younger that my best friend was going to be my mate. We grew up together and have always been extremely close. The night before my birthday I told him how I felt over the phone and he said he reciprocated my feelings. I wake up the next morning get all ready to finally live our lives together, but when I run downstairs he's got his arm around some girls shoulder sporty a fresh mark." I'm murmuring the words by the end. Not because it hurt, but because I don't feel the pain anymore. I can feel the loss of the pain, but any attraction towards Asher is so minuscule almost not even there that I don't feel the heartache. It makes me almost feel dizzy with shock.

I whip my head towards Quentin with a big smile on my face knowing I don't have to worry about the pain of seeing Asher with his mate anymore. Maybe I can get my best friend back now. Quentin looks stiff with clenched fist throwing me off guard. I reach out delicately touching his shoulder which seems to relax him a fraction.

"I don't feel anything towards him anymore just so you know." I say with so much certainty that there is no way thinks I'm lying. He shakes his head furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'm not mad about that. I'm mad because he had the audacity to bring his mate fully marked and all in front of you with no warning. On your birthday none the less. I'm sorry you had to go through that." He rants the apologies which warms my heart that's he's so considerate even though he wasn't there. I lean back waving him off nonchalantly.

"It's seems so minuscule now." I laugh humorlessly at how small it became the minute I was alone and lost in those woods. "Also I didn't run away. I only intended to take a run to get away from everyone for a bit, but I ended up getting lost." He leans back against the step behind him turning his body so he's facing me.

"How?" He sounds confused, and scrunches up his face shaking his head. "That came out wrong. I mean didn't you stay within you're own territory?" I look anywhere but his eyes because I have a feeling he probably doesn't want to know the answer. He growls out under his breath when it clicks. "You wandered off into neutral territory?!" He booms looking horrified.

"It's not like I'm some child who can't defend herself." I defend myself even though that's exactly what it felt like at the time. "Listen nothing happened Jasper helped me find my way back, and I wasn't even injured just a little dehydrated and exhausted." I roll my eyes as his widen in shock.

"How long were you out there?"

"Like twenty four hours." I utter under my breath hoping he doesn't hear it or mistakes it for a lesser amount of time. Unfortunately he hears me crystal clear because he stands up walking down the steps and paces in front of me. I let him take a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Promise me nothing happened out there?" He looks so scarred it hurts. The reality of us being mates is starting to soak in, and I don't know whether I'm more terrified or confused. I can see and feel the way our bond is already binding us to each other in such a short amount of time. I've heard a ton of stories growing up but nothing could have prepared me for the real thing.

"I promise no one or nothing hurt me in any way while I was out there." I keep eye contact with him the whole sentence so he can see how honest I am. He visibly relaxes walking back over sitting next to me.

"I'm sorry, my wolf went crazy at the idea of you being out there all alone lost and scarred, and we couldn't do anything."

"It's not like we knew each other then." I point out hoping to make him feel better.

"You said Jasper helped you get back home. Who's Jasper?" I really appreciate the fact he doesn't turn into some jealous monster when talking about other guys with me. I smile thinking about Jasper wondering how he's doing. I wish there was a way to call him to check up on him.

"I was lost and Jasper came out of nowhere it seemed. He was just a teenager who helped me get going in the right direction towards home. I offered him help if he needed it because it seemed he was out there all alone, but he just smiled and said he was okay." I stop there choosing not to tell Quentin that Jasper said to come find him if I ever need help in the future. It feels as if that was meant for just the two of us.

"So a rogue helped you." He raises a brow looking slightly condescending.  If he thinks that I'm just going to let him bad mouth rogues he's in for a treat.

"You're still technically a rogue." I snap narrowing my eyes at him. The conners of his mouth lift up into a goofy smile.

"Touché." He leans is elbows against the step behind us letting out a content sigh. I watch him as he looks up at the sky taking in the breathtaking view. The moon is high in the sky casting a haunting glow over everything in its path. We sit in comfortable silence just enjoying each others presence. I try my best to surpress the yawn to no avail it pushes its way forward and Quentin notices.

"Lets get you back so you can get some sleep." He doesn't give me time to protest as he takes my hand in his helping stand back up. Without letting go of my hand he walks us through the deserted lobby over to the elevators. Same as before it doesn't take more than a second for the elevator doors to open since no one else is awake.

"We didn't even get to talk that much." I protest as he pulls us into the elevator pressing the fourth floor button.

"We have plenty of time to get to know each other, but right now you need sleep." He pulls me closer looking down into my eyes. I suck in a breath as I stare deep into his eyes quickly shifting my gaze down as the elevator feels like it's getting smaller. Unfortunately when I look down my eyes zone in on his lips. I gulp focusing my attention back onto his eyes hoping he didn't catch me staring again, but the minute my eyes connect with his I know he saw. His pupils are dilated and I swear I can see his pulse thumping on his neck.

The bond seems to explode as I lean forward smashing my lips to his. It takes me a moment to realize what I just did, and the second it clicks in my head I throw myself backwards stumbling into the wall behind me.

Quentin stands there frozen obviously not expecting me to pounce on him like that. His eyes are a glossy and out of focus still trying to process what just happened. I on the other hand plaster myself against the wall wide eyed holding my breath waiting for a reaction from him.

"Thank you." He still seems to be in a daze as he thanks me confusion written all over his face as he speaks. My heart begins to start beating again as I raise my eyebrow at his response. I purse my lips holding back the giggles that want to escape because of the look on his face. I feel bad as I bend over bracing my hands on my knees as I burst out laughing, apologizing profusely while attempting to stop.

"I'm sorry I just didn't think you would react like that." It's his turn to blush, and I have to admit it's the cutest thing I've seen. His pale skin flushing bright red as he smiles innocently. In the short amount of time I've know him he's shocked me many times, and it seems to be a pattern that we embarrass ourself in front of each other.

I let one last breathily laugh as the elevator doors open on my floor. We step out walk quietly so we don't disturb all the other people on this floor. The full weight of my tiredness hits me as we approach my suite. My eyes feel heavy but my heart and brain are still wide awake as long as Quentin's with me.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I turn facing him as we stand in front of my door. Quentin nods his head as the corner of his mouth lifts into a half smile. His cheeks still have a rosy tint to them.

"I'll meet you here in the morning and we can talk more over breakfast." The mention of breakfast reminds me why we're here. We still have days of meetings to go through regardless of the fact we just found out we are mates. Plus the added pressure because he is here to get his pack fully recognized by the council.

"Okay." I whisper not sure how to say bye when I really don't want to. There is still so much more to discuss but we really do need to get some sleep if we want to make it through tomorrow.

"Goodnight Tessa." He starts to take a step backwards as I put the key into the lock opening the door. Still holding the door open with one hand I lean up pressing a feathery light kiss to his cheek before darting into my room sticking only my head back out.

"Goodnight Quentin."

***********

Song: Where We Come Alive by Ruelle

Sorry for such a late update, but I hope the longer chapter will make up for it! It was hard to find a good point to stop this chapter and start the next one so that why this chapter has 1,500 more words than usual. It's only going to get better from here now that Quentin is in the picture trust me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did don't forget to vote and comment! Until next time.

~Stella Gordon