Inevitably Yours

Michael kept periodically calling and texting me. I was ignoring him, my mind not made up about how to feel. Saturday, I raced in the morning, took a nap afterward, then went out with Brina, Carl, Reese, and Kyle. We went to laser tag first, then ended up at a bowling alley in the human town. Brandon showed up halfway through our first game with a girl none of us knew. It was a weird night, but I stayed close to Brina and tried to have a good time.

Sunday, Christy showed up randomly, and we spent half the day baking. When she left with a box of cookies and brownies for herself and her boyfriend, I retired to my room to do my homework.

Over the next couple of days, I tried not to think about Michael. I ignored his calls and didn’t listen to his voicemails, but I peeked at his texts. They were primarily apologetic and asked me to let him explain.

Wednesday night, I laid in bed reading when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, expecting it to be Michael again. I didn’t recognize the number, so I answered. “Hello?”

“Finally,” Michael said. “You haven’t answered in days.”

“Did you not realize that was by design?” I said, sitting up.

“I don’t want you to be upset with me,” he said. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Do you know she keeps appearing at school? Like I turn the corner in the hallway, and she is there,” I told him.

“Are you serious?” he asked.

“Very,” I said. “Why would you have a girlfriend but spend all that time with me? What could possibly justify all that?”

“I meant it when I said I haven’t even seen anyone but you since we met,” he said. “I know I should have talked to her that night, but there has been a lot going on.”

“You keep saying that. Stuff going on, family stuff. And you just left. You keep asking me to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I need something here. We spent all that time together; we had dinner, and you slept in my room with me. Please tell me that wasn’t all some weird game to you.”

“No! Quinn, absolutely not. It wasn’t a game, none of it,” he rushed out.

“Well, it feels a little like you were playing with me right now. Michael, that girl is absolutely terrifying.”

“I know, I know. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about all of it. It’s my fault, and I don’t know how to fix it,” he confessed.

“Tell me something,” I said. “Help me understand. I desperately want to believe you, but I’m struggling here.” I played with the pilling on my shorts, my book now abandoned next to me. It was a simple truth; I needed answers so I could really believe him.

He sighed but was quiet on the other end of the phone. Saph was sad that I was putting him in this position, but I had to have something to cement my belief in him. It was too easy to blindly stand by him when my heart wasn’t mine anymore.

“Okay,” he finally said. I bit my l*p waiting for him to continue. “My family, the Alpha family, isn’t all it appears to be.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Shortly after I met you, I found some things out. It took me a while to get to the whole truth, which is why I kept disappearing.” He paused, and I patiently waited for him to continue. I couldn’t guess where this was going.

With another deep breath, he continued. “Alpha Lawrence isn’t my father,” he whispered.

“What?” I gasped. “How is that possible?”

“It’s a really long story, and I think it’s best if I don’t give you all the details for now,” he said. “My whole summer has been consumed by it. When I wasn’t trying to find the truth about it all, I was with you. You were the only thing that kept me going. All the time we spent together was so real. I meant it every time I said it was exactly what I needed.”

“Oh, Michael,” I said, tears rimming my eyes. “I’m so sorry. I-I…” I had no idea what to say to him. That was such a huge thing to keep inside for so long.

“It’s okay,” he said. His voice was low and trembled slightly. I wanted to hug him, comfort him.

“No, it isn’t. Clearly. You had to leave,” I said. “I’m sorry I doubted you even for a moment.”

“It’s okay; I probably would have too. I really am sorry about the Andi thing,” he apologized again.

“Can you explain what happened? Please? Just give me some peace of mind….”

“We got together right after school let out last spring. She was…” he trailed off for a second. “This is going to sound awful. Please don’t judge me.”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“She was easy and a good time. She just wanted attention, and it wasn’t hard to give her what she wanted for the most part. She got clingy and annoying like other girls did, and I got bored. I was already planning on dumping her; I just wasn’t in any rush. Then, I had to take Tyler to the pool, and I met you. She was totally out of my mind after that. She got in trouble with her parents, so she couldn’t call or come over to the packhouse to bug me. I was so wrapped up in you and the stuff about my dad that I didn’t want to talk to her. I knew she would make a huge thing over it, and I didn’t have the energy to deal with her.”

I was quiet for a minute. “Thank you for telling me,” I finally said.

“Are you mad?”

I moved my head from side to side, weighing my opinion. “No,” I decided. “I guess I am a little disappointed you didn’t feel like you could tell me before, but I understand.” My voice was quiet, mirroring my sadness for him.

“I didn’t want to involve you in my mess,” he admitted.

“I would have helped you sort it,” I told him.

“I know,” he said, a smile seeping into his tone. “But it wasn’t your problem to solve.”

“Are you okay?” I couldn’t imagine finding out my dad wasn’t my dad. And him thinking he was the next Alpha was probably an even more significant blow.

“Now that I know you aren’t mad, yea, I’m okay,” he said. “Everything isn’t fixed, but I’m okay.”

“I’m really sorry about your family. I wish there were something I could do,” I said.

“Just be you, okay? That’s all I want, Quinn.”

“I can do that as long as you keep being Michael. This Michael, my Michael,” I told him.

“Deal.”

MICHAEL

Now that I knew Quinn didn’t hate me for the mess with Andi, I felt better. I didn’t like that Andi was stalking her, though. I got the sense that she was the type of girl to hold a grudge, but I didn’t realize to what extent. When Quinn wanted to go to bed, I took a minute to call Andi.

“Hello?” she answered.

“We need to talk,” I told her.

“Are you coming home, then?” she asked excitedly.

“Not about that. Andi, you need to leave Quinn alone; I’m serious.” Eros matched my disposition, growling softly in my head.

“I haven’t touched her,” she defended. “She deserves whatever she gets, though. Someone should teach her not to play with things that aren’t hers.”

“I’m not yours, Andi. You know you aren’t my mate; it was never going to be. You need to move on and let Quinn be.”

She snarled under her breath. “So, what? I was just another notch on your belt?”

“It doesn’t matter now. I am not even in Stary. You should forget about me,” I told her.

“You so slept with her! Goddess, I thought she just blew you or something. Once I got a good look at her, I didn’t believe it. She’s so plain and weird. You honestly think she was better than me in bed?”

“Enough!” I barked at her. “I’m done with your attitude. I am not yours, not your boyfriend, and not your mate. Leave Quinn alone; it is the last time I will warn you.”

“What are you going to do if you aren’t here to stop me?” she challenged. My b***d cooled immediately, but I wouldn’t let on the slight fear her threat registered.

“I have ways. I knew you were following her around, didn’t I?” Andi just huffed in response. “I will not let you get away with this any longer. Leave her alone.”

“I thought you loved me,” she started to cry. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, trying to reign in my patience.

“I cared about you, but it wasn’t like that, and you know it,” I told her as calmly as I could.

“But… but…” she whimpered. “We’re supposed to be mates.”

“Stop,” I said firmly. “I am going to hang up. Tomorrow and going forward, you will not mess with Quinn. Goodbye, Andi.”

I didn’t wait for any more of her games; I hung up and collapsed into bed. I scrubbed my hands over my face. I knew I probably deserved my fair share of drama for dating so many girls, but that was more than I had the energy to resolve. My mom knocked on the door.

“Are you done with my phone?” she asked.

“Yea,” I said, sitting up. She came in and held her hand out. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I hope you were able to contact whoever,” she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“I know you are disappointed that you haven’t gotten much time to get to know your father yet. We put you in school because I don’t want you and your brother to fall behind. You should both get a good education like we spoke about,” she said.

“Okay,” I said, confused. “What am I missing?”

“Lawrence knows where we are,” she said.