Hunter's Heart

Chapter 32

Something gripped her arms tightly, shaking her. She fought against it, lashing out, consumed by grief and terror. "No!"

Her nails connected with something, raking downwards, and she heard a grunt of pain. "Quinn, it's me, damn it! STOP!"

The command hit her like a tidal wave, stopping her as she was going for a punch this time. She blinked and the terrible vision faded until she saw a pair of ice blue eyes watching her anxiously in the blue-grey gloom of a moonlit room.

"Christian?" Quinn's voice was barely more than a whisper and she watched the Alpha's body visibly relax as he leaned over her, though the concern didn't leave his eyes.

She took a moment to look around and saw they were in his bedroom, where they had been before she had let herself drift off to sleep.

She had no idea how long she had remained in the gallery after Caine had left her, trying to hide her distress from her Alpha. He didn't need the added stress of her emotions when things were so tense with the other Alphas. By the time Christian had found her, having become tired of waiting for her to return to their suite and unable to sense her emotions, Quinn had huddled in a ball with her head pressed against her knees as she fought off a panic attack.

Caine's expectation was clearly for her to take his place as Alpha Prime. When she'd mentioned that she didn't want the job, he hadn't told her he would reconsider his choice. He seemed to really believe that she had what it took to lead his people. The weight of such expectation was almost too much to handle. She barely understood her own place in her pack, let alone the world. Could she really be responsible for so many lives?

"Do you want to talk about it?" Christian asked, breaking Quinn from her thoughts. "What you were dreaming about?"

Of course he would know what she was dreaming about, thanks to their bond. Quinn said nothing and rolled onto her side with a sigh, her whole body tense. She was still a little too raw to break down what she'd seen in her dream, what she'd felt.

She felt him shift until he was lying behind her. Then she felt his fingers start to massage the back of her neck, just to the left and right of where it met the base of her skull, in an effort to get her to relax.

"It was just a dream, little wolf," she heard him say softly. "You know that, right? Nothing is going to happen to anyone in our family. Nothing is going to happen to you or to me. I won't let it."

Quinn closed her eyes and tried to focus only on the movements of his fingers, feeling an easing of the tension in her body if only a slight one. It felt as if everything around her was in chaos and she was standing still, unable to do anything about it. Her thoughts, her dreams, the course of her life, her Alpha's position in the werewolf circle of leadership, all of it swirling around her. It was almost a blessing to have a quiet moment with Christian like this, however fleeting, and it was so tempting to just lose herself in it. It was enough to make her feel like purring.

A low chuckle sounded behind her and a moment later Christian brushed his lips against her neck. "A wolf purring? What an imagination you have, little wolf."

Quinn grabbed a pillow and pulled it over her head to hide her embarrassment. Purring? Seriously? What was wrong with her?

She felt Christian shift and then she could feel him lying on top of her, pulling the pillow away from her face.

"We can certainly try and see if wolves can purr," he said with a smirk that had her blushing. "I'm sure I can find ways to make you purr."

The knowing twinkle in his eyes told Quinn he knew exactly what kinds of thoughts his words were putting in her head and, not for the first time, Quinn found herself irritated with her mental connection with the Alpha. There was no space for her to work through her thoughts and emotions when he teased her like that and he knew it. It certainly didn't help that he found her reactions terribly funny. Just once, she wanted her thoughts to be her own again, to be able to think what she wanted without having to remember to try and censor what was going on in her head for fear of embarrassment or judgement.

"Is that what you want?" Christian's voice was hard now, all the humor gone from his expression. "For our bond to be gone?"

She looked up at him, seeing the hurt in his ice blue eyes that he couldn't quite hide from her.

"No," she admitted softly. "I don't want it gone. I just want to know when I'll stop thinking stuff that makes me cringe when you're around."

Christian looked at her for a moment longer and then his face lit up in something that looked suspiciously like a goofy grin. Before she could get a better look at it, however, he rolled onto his back and pulled her against his side, keeping her there by wrapping an arm around her back.

For a long while, Quinn lay there listening to his strong, steady heartbeat, wondering how much longer she would be able to fall asleep like this. Christian had bitten her in a state of high stress, when his wolf was in control. In that moment, Quinn hadn't wanted to be bound to him and his human side certainly hadn't wanted it, so the bond was temporary. In just two or three days the bond between them would be gone and there was the very real possibility that the closeness they now shared would cease to exist.

"Stop obsessing," he said softly into the quiet. "Everything is going to be fine. We're going to be fine. I promise."

With the sound of Christian's heart as a lullaby, Quinn let herself drift off into another restless sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Finally, a new chapter in Quinn's story. Sorry for the crazy long delay in posting. My work life has gotten unbelievably busy and I'm still working on fitting in time for writing. A short one this time, but I felt it was important to get this into the story.

Keep watching this space. A new chapter is coming soon!

xxx