Bite of the Moon: Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Boxed Set (67 page)

Quinn wanted to knock her into next week, but she was trying to stay in control here, even though her wolf was clawing to get out.  She inhaled deeply to try and calm down, but what she smelled almost knocked her down. Alice was right; she could smell Arden on her. 

“Alice, the Alpha is going to be mad,” Jade was trying to help, but it was true.  Arden’s scent was all over Alice.

“Can it, Scarface.  Miss Witch here needs to realize that she has competition. I will challenge you everywhere you go.”  Alice was jerked back when Bane grabbed hold of her from behind.

“Alice, I don’t know what kind of games you’re playing, but the Alpha has declared no challenges until we find and handle the rogues.  Get out of the store.  You have no business here.”  Bane growled the last part, and Alice and her friends all walked out.

When the doors closed, Bane shook his head. “I hope you know how to fight because that one is going to need to be taken down or she’ll continue to be this way forever.”

“Why do I have to know how to fight?  I haven’t done anything to her,” Quinn protested.

“Listen, Quinn, things are different for wolves.  When we want a spot in the hierarchy, we fight for it.  Like me being Beta.  Just because my father was Beta didn’t mean that I would inherit the position. The moment Arden announced that I was his choice to be Beta, I got challenged.  I won, of course, but after about the tenth time, I told them the next one would be to the death and nobody challenged me again.  Arden was different, because all of his were to the death. 

“Alice has fought her way up, and she’s the head bitch in charge in the pack, literally.  No other female out-ranks her, and she does like being in power.  Maybe too much. I’ve been watching her, and she definitely needs to be challenged and taken down.  All Alice wants to do is belittle the females and tell them what to do. She’s not a real leader.”

“I know how to do some fighting, but not in wolf form.  I don’t get it,” Quinn said with a sigh.

“I know there are a lot of things you’ll have to get used to, Quinn, but Alice isn’t a wolf you’d want to meet in a dark alley.  From what I saw when you were first turned, you’re a natural-born fighter, and if you’re interested I can help you out with this.”  Bane shrugged.  “But it’s up to you.”

Judging by the way Bane spoke about Alice, and from what she’d seen already, the woman was going to be a problem.  The issue at hand, though, was why she smelled of Arden.  She must have misread him when he kissed her, and all this crap about being mates wasn’t true.  She needed to ask about this mate thing from someone other than Arden.  Apparently he couldn’t stop screwing the women in his pack.

“I have some time once I unload this box.  You got a minute for some questions?”  Quinn asked.

“Sure.” 

“Good, but let’s go over here so we can talk in private.”  Quinn walked over to where her office was going to be, and allowed Bane to go in first.  She closed the door, then sat down behind her desk. “I have some questions about mates, and the pack in general.”

“What kind of questions?” Bane waited.  She could tell he was eager to talk about pack life with her, which was good because she wanted some personal answers, too. 

“I haven’t gotten a chance to meet anyone much, but how many are in the pack?”  Quinn asked.

“Before you and Finley we had one hundred and nineteen. That includes the Elders and the young pups.”

“Elders?”

“We have older wolves who act as Elders for the pack. They know and keep all the history of the pack.  Some of the younger pack members are away at college—we’re not just country bumpkins—but most come back here and bring back the knowledge they got from college, or they meet their mate and join another pack.  We have a festival here during Christmas, and so far two packs are joining us. We have all kinds of events and just some fun times.  It gives the wolves a chance to meet others and maybe meet their mates. So far ten pack members have met their mates that way. Some stay here, and some go to the other packs.”

  “You said something about Alice being head bitch. What does that mean?”  Quinn asked.

“Well, we have a hierarchy here in the pack.  You have the Alpha, of course, and then the Beta, which is me. Then we have Lieutenants or Guards. There’s a similar hierarchy for the females, and since we didn’t have an Alpha’s mate—which is you, by the way—Alice challenged everyone who was even a contender. She keeps things running pretty smoothly, and no one’s complained about her.”

“Hell, Bane, they’re scared to.  Do you know what she calls your sister?”  Quinn asked, and the smile fell off Bane’s face. “She calls her Scarface. That bitch has made your sister’s life miserable, and all the other kids her age, too.  She’s threatened by them.  So what if they’re different; hell, I’m different.  I don’t like her, and when I get the chance she won’t have to worry about challenging me because I’m going to knock her down all on my own.” 

Quinn stopped and took a deep breath.  “Let’s talk about something else.  So, I take it that since you haven’t found your mate yet, you go out like normal people and date and have sex a lot?”

Bane laughed.  “Of course we have sex.  Look, here it is in the simplest of terms: we can date, or have sex with, as many women as we want, but once we find our mate things are different. Our mate is our lifeline, our soul mate.  Once we find our mate, we’ll never want another female like we will our mate.  All we think about is our mate: we think about sex with our mates, but we also dwell on their safety, who they’re with, or even who is touching them.  That’s why Arden gets crazy around you.”

“You’re wrong about me and Arden being mates.  You see, you just answered a lot of questions for me.”  Quinn knew something was going on, and Arden was wrong, or lying, about them being mates.

“No you’re wrong, you’re the Alpha’s mate.”  Bane narrowed his eyes at her in confusion.

“No, because if Arden was my mate then he wouldn’t still be sleeping with Alice. I know what Arden smells like, and she was drenched in him.  She even told me that she just left his bed.  He must do the old ‘mate’ thing with all the new wolves so he can get them in bed. Make no mistake; this is one wolf that he won’t have. Now let’s go practice.”

Bane got up without saying anything.  He looked just as confused as he walked out of the office.  “We can go over to the gym.  I know nobody is using the room in the basement, and I have the keys to lock up the doors so nobody will see us.”

“Okay, let me tell Finley and Jade that I’ll be back in a few.”  Quinn walked off.  Even though Bane had explained how it worked, she was sick over knowing that Arden had lied to her. And apparently Bane, too, since he’d looked just as shocked at what she said. 

Chapter 8

Bane walked into Arden’s office, frowning.  “Are you still fucking Alice?”

Arden looked up. “What are you talking about? You know that Quinn is my mate.  I’m just giving her some time to get used to being turned before I jump her bones. So, hell no, and why are you even asking?”

“Because Quinn told me earlier that you were still screwing the women in the pack and that you must tell all the women that they’re your mate so you can have sex with them.”

“What?”  Arden yelled.

“Just saying that you need to get that under control, because if you don’t you might not have a mate soon,” Bane warned him.

“What the hell happened?  After I left she was smiling, and I thought she enjoyed the kiss and…other things.”  Arden put his head in his hands and let out a deep sigh.  “I think I’m losing my touch.”

Bane chuckled.  “No, I think you have a certain wolf who doesn’t want to let you go because she knows she won’t be the HBIC anymore.” 

Arden picked his head up and frowned.  “You’re so strange. What does HBIC mean?”

“You know, ‘Head Bitch in Charge.’”  When Arden continued to stare at him, Bane rolled his eyes.  “You know,
Alice
.”

“There are times when I have to ask myself why you’re my second in command.”  Arden asked, still confused.

“Come on, dude. Alice came into the store today and she smelled like you and she rubbed it in Quinn’s face. Quinn is a new wolf; I’m sure the mating pull is something strange to her and she doesn’t realize what she’s feeling because she is feeling so much right now.  Hell, her body is going haywire with scents, but I bet she smelled you on her.”

“Shit, I should’ve known she was up to something.  Earlier today, I found Alice in my bedroom, naked, and before I knew what she was doing, she rubbed all over me.  Shit, I bet she did it on purpose.”  Arden got up.

“Where are you going?”

“To see my mate and explain this.” Arden answered, walking out the door.  “Also, don’t forget about the patrols tonight.  I want this pack found and dealt with.”

“Yeah, yeah old wise one,” Bane muttered.

Arden decided that it was time for his mate to understand that she was it for him.  He shifted and ran to the store, hoping to explain everything.  What he wasn’t expecting was to see his guard Pete Moss looking in the store window like a stalker.  He turned around and frowned when Arden shifted and stepped up on the porch.

“What are you doing?” Arden asked.

“She’s crying,” Pete said, concerned.  “I heard her and came to check on her.  She was on the phone, and then she started crying.”

Arden looked in the window and watched as Quinn laid her head down on the table, boxes scattered around her.  He could hear her pain as she sobbed.  He knocked on the window, and Quinn looked around until she saw him.  He pointed toward the door.  For a minute he thought she wasn’t going to open it, but she got herself together and unlocked it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.  I’m just tired,” Quinn answered, but he could tell she’d been crying for a while.

Arden pushed himself inside and then closed the door behind him.  “I’m not screwing around with Alice.” 

“What?” 

“I’m not screwing Alice. Not since I first saw you,” Arden repeated.

“Well, she sure smelled like you, but it’s none of my business who you have sex with.”  Quinn waved him off then walked back to the table and started unpacking some candles.  He could see her jaw tense up and her mouth was pursed angrily.  She was trying to keep it together, but he could see it did matter to her.

“Of course it’s your business.  I’m your mate.”  Arden didn’t understand why that was so hard for her, but he could hear his mother telling him that just because he thought something, it didn’t always mean that others felt the same way.  He needed to show her how he felt. 

“Look, she already told me she’d just come from your bed, and she smelled of you, so you don’t have to make up lies.”

“Lies!  I’m not lying.”  Arden pulled her hands to him. “Listen.”  He lowered his voice.  “Earlier, after I left here and went home, I found Alice in my bedroom naked, and she jumped on me.  I should’ve known she was up to something when she kept rubbing all over me even after I told her to leave.  I threw her off me and told her that you were my mate.” 

“You did?”  Quinn asked, surprised. 

“Of course.  I couldn’t have sex with her.  Hell woman, I can never have sex with anyone but you.  Nobody will ever make me feel like you do,” Arden explained as he walked over to her and gently wiped away her tears.  “Nobody will ever be as beautiful as you.  I only see you, and I only want you.”  Tears fell down her face as she listened.  “Why are you so sad?”

Quinn swallowed hard and closed her eyes.  “Because my father hates me.” 

He shook his head. “Nobody could hate you, Quinn.” Arden pushed her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ears.

“My father does.  He’d rather see me married to a man I don’t want than see me happy, and I’m not going to marry someone I don’t love,” Quinn said.

“You’re my mate, and I won’t let you marry another man,” Arden answered, but he could feel his wolf pushing to get to her.  The mere mention of another man with his mate made him defensive and almost crazed.  But he had to remember that Quinn was a young wolf and wouldn’t understand how he was feeling. It would scare her, and he couldn’t let that happen. 
Calm yourself, old boy,
Arden said to his wolf. 

“
You
won’t.  Don’t you see that you’re acting just like him when you say things like that to me?  You don’t own me, Arden.   Why do you do that?”  Quinn blew out her breath.

She was getting upset, so he needed to diffuse this.  “Quinn, I’m not trying to take control. It’s just who I am, and most wolves are like this.  You will be too once you get older.  You’re still a young wolf.  Look, I don’t want to argue, but you need to get some of that frustration out before you explode on someone. Let’s go run.  The stars are out, and it’s a great night.  Come on.” Arden pulled on her hand, leading her to the door.  “Come on, you know you want to.” 

The corners of Quinn’s eyes crinkled as a small smile spread across her face.  “Take off your clothes, and we can leave from here.  I want to show you a place.” 

Arden opened the door.  “Pete, we’re going running.  Lock up the store and we’ll be back later.”  When he turned back around, Quinn had already shifted and was waiting on him. 

“You’re getting fast, little wolf.” Arden touched the end of her nose, then took off his clothes as she watched him get undressed.  He smiled, then shifted and took off out the door.  He didn’t have to turn around to know she was following him.