‘Oh don’t worry about him’ Quinn’s voice called out, ‘he’s just my stalker, for some reason he likes to follow me around even when I make it very clear I don’t want him too. He won’t hurt you and if he does, I’ll send him back to his pack in a small box’ Quinn added with a smirk.
Realising she’d known he was there all along, the Alpha sheepishly stepped out of the trees, moving nearer as the man who had spoken to Quinn first stepped to the side, placing himself in front of the woman and pups.
‘Uh, I don’t mean any harm’ he said quietly, holding his hands up to show he wasn’t looking for trouble. ‘I just saw Quinn and um . . wondered where she was going.’
Quinn snorted as she rolled her eyes, ‘more like he’s a nosy git and feels the need to know all my business’ she retorted before moving toward the tents and taking a seat. The strangers, watched Hudson warily for a moment before following her, the pups sitting down on either side of the teenager, practically in her lap as they tried to huddle close to her.
‘Sit down Hudson’ Quinn ordered, without turning around, ‘you are making Hugh nervous, Celia is with pup, and having a big Alpha wolf towering over her is putting his wolf on edge.’
Sitting down next to the little girl, he was surprised when she turned her big blue eyes toward him and smiled brightly. ‘You Quinny’s friend?’ she asked in a little voice that had a slight whistle as her two front teeth were missing.
Hudson smiled back and nodded, ‘I go to school with her’ he replied.
The little girl beamed, ‘you must be a really nice Alpha to be Quinny’s friend’ she stated warmly.
Beside her, Quinn choked back a laugh, covering her mouth as she rummaged in her bags and pulled out three knitted hats and scarves that she handed to the she wolf who had sat down in front of her, the blonde man beside her. though he was still sending nervous glances toward Hudson.
‘These are for the kids’ Quinn said as she handed them over to the woman, ‘the cold will be coming soon, so make sure they wear them, I’m not sure how easy it will be for me to get medicine this year if they get colds.’
The she wolf nodded, taking them gratefully and placing them carefully inside her tent.
Next Quinn brought out some wrapped meat and bread along with bottles of water and finally she pulled out three small toys, handing one to each child before handing the third to the other man who had remained silent.
‘For Esme’ she said quietly, holding out a small box that seemed to contain building blocks.
The man nodded, taking it from her and walking to the second tent to place it inside.
‘Look Quinny’ the little boy said, drawing her attention as he pulled the string on the line of ducks she had given him, making them walk across the hard ground.
‘Do you like them Ivar?’ she asked, watching him happily as he smiled widely, nodding emphatically.
‘What about you Keta?’ she added, turning to the little girl who was clutching the small doll to her chest in awe, her gaze riveted to the rag doll’s face.
‘She’s beautiful’ she breathed out.
Quinn ran a hand over her hair, ‘not nearly as beautiful as you my little Keta’ she sighed.
‘My mama is the most beautiful’ Keta replied, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Her mother laughed as she started to put some sandwiches together with the food that Quinn had given her, ‘you are biased my child’ she teased.
The tall blonde man wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against his chest, ‘my daughter speaks the truth’ he growled affectionately, ‘no-one is more beautiful than my mate.’
The woman slapped his arm playfully, ‘you are even more biased than these two’ she replied though her pink cheeks let everyone know that she liked her mate’s compliment.
Handing out sandwiches to everyone, the she wolf hesitantly offered one to Hudson who held his hands up, ‘no, that is your food’ he said quickly, shaking his head.
Giving a small nod, the woman handed it to her husband instead who took it, placing a kiss on her temple as he smiled down at her.
The two children destroyed their small meal in record time before jumping up to chase each other again.
Quinn quietly asked about Esme, the black haired man’s face falling slightly as he shook his head making the teenager look at him sadly.
‘I’m sure she’ll be OK, Patterson, you just need to keep asking the Goddess, she will answer you.’
The black haired man nodded, ‘hopefully Quinn’ he rumbled, his voice scratchy as if he rarely used it. ‘She brought us you after all, so I believe she has a plan.’
Quinn nodded as she stood up, brushing off her jeans and reaching down to shake each adult’s hand. ‘I shall come back in couple of weeks’ she said earnestly, ‘if you need to move on before then, I hope you stay safe.’
The three wolves gripped her hand in turn, the she wolf holding on to the teenager slightly longer than the two men.
‘We shall leave you a message if we need to leave’ she said quietly, pointing to the tree behind the tents.
Quinn nodded her understanding before turning to the children and giving them each a tight hug.
‘You leaving Quinny?’ Keta asked sadly.
Kneeling down in front of her, Quinn pushed the little girl’s blonde hair from her eyes, ‘yes, I have to go now’ she replied, ‘but I’ll be back in a few weeks, OK?’
Keta nodded, though she glanced at her parents questioningly, both of whom avoided the little girl’s gaze.
Straightening up, Quinn gave one last wave before walking away, Hudson lifting his hand awkwardly before jogging to catch the she wolf up.
They walked silently back through the forest until the reached the edge where Quinn suddenly turned and grabbed Hudson’s arm, spinning him around before shoving him in the chest.
‘Those are good people’ she growled, getting into his personal space as her face hardened, ‘if you or your pack so much as breathe in their direction I will personally rip your heart out and feed it to my pet lizard.’
Hudson stared at her in shock, ‘why would I hurt them?’ he asked.
Quinn frowned, ‘you know what they are’ she replied, a tinge of anxiety in her voice. ‘They are nice wolves, they just don’t have a home that’s all.’
The Alpha released a breath as the she wolf stepped away from him, ‘I know they are Rogues’ he said quietly, ‘but they are not feral, I can tell that they are not threat to my pack.’
Quinn nodded curtly, ‘no they are not, they just want to live in peace’ she muttered as she started to walk again.
Falling into step beside her, Hudson studied her out of the corner of his eye, ‘you seemed to think that they won’t be there the next time you go to visit’ he commented.
The she wolf shrugged, ‘they don’t tend to stay in the same place very often. The last time they came through here, they stayed a month and then moved on, though I think some pack wolves found them that time’ she added bitterly.
‘What is wrong with the other little girl, the one who wasn’t there? Esme?’ Hudson asked curiously.
Quinn sighed, ‘she’s delicate’ came her mumbled reply, ‘there is something wrong with her, she gets sick easily which is odd for our species. Patterson, he picks up odd jobs as they travel but he can’t find steady work that would give him the money they need to see a proper wolf doctor and with no pack, they have no access to a pack medic.’
Hudson’s heart twisted, ‘how old is she?’ he questioned worriedly.
‘Four’ the she wolf replied sadly, ‘they don’t think she’ll reach double figures, each illness is worse than the last. She fights so hard, but it’s taking it’s toll on her, I'm pretty sure that she has gone to the human town with her mother, probably trying to get seen at the human free clinic, they were talking about it the last time I saw them.’
The Alpha frowned, a human doctor could not deal with a wolf child’s health issues, she needed a doctor of her own kind.
Stopping by an alley way, Quinn turned to Hudson, suddenly vulnerable, ‘I trusted you today’ she stated. ‘When I knew you were following me, my gut told me to lead you somewhere else, but I needed to see them before they moved on and give them those supplies. I accepted your rejection, so you need to do something for me, keep the knowledge of them secret.’
She waited for Hudson to nod before turning on her heel and walking away, disappearing into the alleyway and turning the corner, out of sight.
Heading back to his truck, Hudson climbed inside, his head buzzing with the knowledge of what his ex mate had done. The story of the little girl and her mysterious illness also bothered him, tugging at his mind as he drove back toward the pack house.
Reaching the territory, he pulled up outside of the packhouse and parked up, setting off up the stairs toward his room. As his foot stepped onto the landing of the Alpha floor, Tilly’s door flew open to reveal his sister in a pink dress with a bow in her hair.
‘Hey Tilly, you look pretty’ he said as he turned and made his way toward her.
His sister beamed, ‘Wayne and I are going to have a tea party at his house’ she exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly.
Hudson frowned, ‘the boy who tries to kiss you?’ he growled making his sister roll her eyes.
‘Wayne doesn’t want to kiss me Huds, he’s my friend’ she scoffed, ‘plus boy kisses have cooties, eww!’
A grin splitting his face, Hudson ruffled her hair, earning a slap to his hand as his sister glared at him whilst trying to smooth her hair down again. ‘You keep on thinking that boy kisses are eww’ he said happily, ‘and tell Wayne that if he ever starts thinking that your kisses are not eww that he and I will be having a chat . . in rogue territory.’
Shaking her head, Tilly hugged him tightly before skipping down the corridor and descending the stairs, her voice carrying up to him as she called out to their mother that she was leaving.
Heading to his own room, Hudson spent the rest of the day mulling over Quinn and the things she had said to him.
Sunday passed quietly, no attacks, fires or deaths that he knew of. Quinn was never far from his mind though and as he fell asleep that night he knew, even though he was sure he’d broken the loop with their rejections, he needed to find her tomorrow and try to help the little girl who was ill.