‘I, Hudson Shadow of the Shadow Rock pack, reject you, Quinn Redwood as my mate and Luna.’
‘You can’t reject me, the Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes’
‘Well, she did this time’
‘Are you sure? You want to break our bond?’
Hudson’s eyes opened, snapping to Quinn’s sad face, ‘You are alive! Thank you Goddess, I take it back!’ he shouted, ‘I didn’t mean it, I take back my rejection.’
Quinn’s eyes widened, ‘y . . you do?’ she asked uncertainly, completely confused by his sudden change of heart.
Hudson nodded, closing the gap between them and wrapping his arms around her, picking her up off the ground. ‘Mine’ he growled, crushing her to his chest and breathing in her scent.
‘But . . what about my status?’ she gasped out, trying to get air in her lungs as he held her tightly.
‘You could be human and I wouldn’t care’ he rumbled, pressing his nose into the crook of her neck making her inhale sharply from the sparks.
Wriggling, she finally managed to free her arms and placed them on his chest, pushing herself away from him. ‘You literally just said you didn’t want an Omega for a mate’ she frowned, bewildered.
Hudson shook his head emphatically, ‘I’m an idiot sometimes, I say stupid things that I don’t mean. I promise, I absolutely want you, the Moon Goddess chose you for me, you are my perfect other half.’
Quinn studied him for a moment before her shoulders relaxed slightly, ‘you accept me? As I am?’ she checked once again.
The Alpha nodded, ‘I one hundred percent accept you, Quinn Redwood as my mate and future Luna’ he replied solemnly.
The she wolf gave him a small smile, ‘I accept you, Hudson Shadow as my mate and Alpha’ she murmured softly, a slight tinge of pink dusting her cheeks as she looked up at him through her lashes, biting her lip.
Hudson growled, as he reached up and pulled her lip from between her teeth, ‘don’t bite that little mate’ he rumbled, ‘it makes me want to kiss you till you can’t breathe.’
Quinn flushed at his words, hiding her face in his chest as he chuckled, placing a finger under her chin, he tilted her face up toward him, pressing his lips against hers as Harvey purred happily in his mind.
Pulling away, he grinned at his mate, the she wolf tilted up toward him, lips slightly parted, her eyes still closed.
‘You are beautiful’ he murmured, placing her gently on to the ground and brushing her hair behind her ear.
Quinn laughed, ‘I’m alright’ she retorted, embarrassed, ‘averagely pretty by werewolf standards anyway.’
Hudson’s chest vibrated with the unhappy growl from his wolf, ‘Harvey doesn’t agree’ he replied gruffly, ‘no-one is more beautiful than our mate, how could they be? You are perfect.’
The she wolf averted her gaze, biting down on her lip again, ‘you don’t have to say that’ she whispered.
He pulled her lip again, leaning closer, ‘I do, because it’s true, and I shall continue to tell you and everyone else that until my last breath.’
Turning serious, the Alpha placed his hands on the young girl’s arms, holding her still as he held her gaze. ‘I need to tell you something’ he started seriously. ‘It’s going to sound crazy and I can’t tell you how I know but I need you to accept that I’m telling the truth.’
Quinn froze at his words, worry creasing her brow, ‘what is it?’ she asked quietly.
Hudson sighed, rubbing his thumb over Quinn’s sleeve as he held her, ‘Esme, the little girl in the forest with the Rogues? She’s ill right?’ he asked.
The she wolf startled, trying to back away from him but he held her in place, ‘how do you know about them?’ she whispered fearfully.
The teenager smiled sadly, ‘I don’t mean them any harm baby, I know you help them by bringing them food and essentials that you buy with your own money. No-one else knows about them, not even my Beta and it will stay like that, but we need to help that little girl before it’s too late.’
Quinn searched his face silently, ‘her mother was taking her to a human doctor, they don’t have much money and can’t afford the werewolf hospital’ she muttered. ‘They are doing their best for Esme but she’s not getting any better.’
Hudson nodded, ‘I know angel, and she won’t until we get her away from her mother’ he replied. As Quinn started to protest, he silenced her with a kiss before leaning his forehead on hers. ‘I’m sorry, I know it’s awful to think about but her mother is poisoning her, she’s dosing her with wolfsbane. She did the same to her mate, that’s why he couldn’t defend himself when he was attacked by the pack who found him. He couldn’t run away because his wolf was compromised by the poison in his system.’
Quinn shook her head disbelievingly, ‘no’ she whimpered, ‘Lilith wouldn’t do that, she’s so dedicated to Esme, always reading to her when she can’t get up and spoon feeding her if she’s too sick to do it herself.’
The Alpha pulled her against his chest, ‘it’s horrible’ he agreed, ‘and I didn’t want to believe it either but it’s true, I can prove it. If she’s being poisoned by wolfsbane there will be a rash on her body, it’s specific to that type of poison.’ He rested his chin on top of her head, ‘we need to get Patterson to go and get them back from the human town, and check her for the rash.’
Quinn nodded into his chest, ‘OK’ she mumbled against him, ‘I’ll go and ask Patterson to fetch her back, I don’t know what I’ll say to explain it as I doubt he’ll accept me saying my newly found mate thinks her mother is poisoning her as a reason.’
Hudson frowned for a minute, ‘tell them that my pack doctor wants to check her over, that I asked her as a favour because it’s so important to you and you are my mate so I want to help’ he offered.
Quinn smiled up at him, ‘you are a bit of a sweet talker aren’t you’ she accused him softly, ‘I’m going to have to watch you.’
The Alpha chuckled, ‘only for you angel’ he replied gruffly, ‘everyone else thinks I’m a bit of an asshole.’
Giggling, Quinn wove her fingers into his, stepping back as he reluctantly let go of her waist, turning quizzically toward the parking lot. ‘Which is your car?’ she asked, surveying the sea of expensive vehicles that had filled the spaces.
Striding toward his truck, Hudson tugged the she wolf behind him, circling to the passenger seat and opening the door for her, only releasing her hand when she was sat inside.
Jogging around the front, he opened the driver’s door and slid inside, starting the engine and pulling out of his space, heading toward the town.
Soon they were pulling up at the market, Hudson killing the engine and hopping out, hurrying around to open the door for his mate as she raised an eyebrow at him.
‘Are you really like this or is this some ruse to soften me up before your true colours come out?’ she asked, allowing him to take her hand and help her out of her seat.
Hudson grinned sheepishly, ‘I like people to think I’m a bad ass’ he admitted, ‘but this is really me, so if you could not tell anyone else what I’m like, that would be great.’
Laughing, Quinn pushed his shoulder with her free hand, finding nothing but muscle under her fingertips, the Alpha not moving an inch. ‘Your secret is safe with me, if anyone asks, I’ll be sure to tell them that you make me carry your books and ride in the back when you drive me anywhere.’
Walking toward the woods, the young woman turned toward the Alpha in surprise, ‘you really do know where they are’ she murmured in shock.
Hudson nodded, ‘did you think I was lying angel?’ he asked, amusement playing around the corner of his lips.
Quinn flushed, ‘um no, of course not’ she hurried out, ‘I just thought maybe you had a vague idea of their location.’
Hudson chuckled, shaking his head, ‘I know they live in two tents in a clearing ahead, the one couple have two kids that adore you, Patterson is Esme’s uncle and Lilith is his dead brother’s mate.’
The she wolf gaped at him, ‘have you been stalking me or something?’ she finally demanded.
The teenager shook his head, ‘I only met you half an hour ago’ he reminded her, ‘how could I possibly have stalked you?’
Quinn nodded thoughtfully, ‘true, today was my first day, I only arrived an hour ago and had just picked up my timetable when you knocked me down.’
‘I did not knock you down!’ Hudson huffed, ‘you ran into me and bounced off my deliciously hard abs’ he added with a smirk.
Quinn rolled her eyes, ‘ego much?’ she shot back sassily, ‘and they are not that hard, I’ve seen and felt better.’
Hudson growled, coming to a sharp stop where he spun the she wolf around toward him, crushing her to his chest. ‘Mine’ he rumbled loudly, ‘I do not want to think about you touching another wolf’s body.’
From the centre of his chest, her face muffled by his shirt, Quinn giggled, her shoulders shaking until he let her go, ‘not funny little mate’ he grumbled.
‘Yes it is’ the she wolf replied, pressing her lips together to try and stop her laughter. ‘I do train you know, of course I’ve felt other werewolves chests, they try to pin me because they think I’m weak, it’s fun to prove otherwise.’
The Alpha huffed, still unhappy that his mate had been pressed against anyone else.
‘So you beat everyone?’ he asked curiously as they started walking again, ‘you’re strong?’
Quinn shrugged, ‘I’m OK’ she replied, ‘not the strongest by a long shot, River can get me on the floor in under twenty seconds, it sucks because he is such a bad winner’ she muttered.
Hudson’s chest tightened, ‘River?’ he repeated, trying to remain casual, ‘who is he?’
The young woman smiled up at him slyly, ‘why?’ she asked in mock innocence, ‘are you worried about him? Can’t say I’m surprised, he is very very strong and the muscles? Wow!’ she added, fanning at her face with her hand.
A possessive growl left Hudson’s throat as his eyes flashed to Harvey’s, ‘you like him?’ the wolf grumbled, jealousy swimming in his eyes.
Quinn reached out and patted the Alpha’s arm, ‘hello Hudson’s wolf’ she said softly, ‘it’s nice to meet you.’
‘You too my mate’ Harvey rumbled, his arms wrapping around the woman and pulling her closer to him so he could bury his face in her neck. ‘My name is Harvey, you are my mate.’
Quinn giggled, ‘yes, I think we established that’ she replied cheekily, ‘but could I have Hudson back as I think I need to explain who River is before you both get the wrong idea.’
Harvey placed a kiss on her forehead as he nodded, ‘Ok, but if he tries to take what is mine, I will rip him apart’ he mumbled without humour as he receded back into Hudson’s mind.
‘So who is River?’ Hudson asked immediately as he eyes changed back to their original colour showing he was back in control.