When Jeremy came home cradling a wolf pup against his chest, Quinn’s first thought was fleas. Her second was that her son hadn’t smiled like this in months. She should have said no. What kind of mother lets her ten-year-old keep an apex predator?
But the boy had been so quiet since they moved to Pine Haven, and the animal was so well-behaved, watching her with big, pleading amber eyes. “Just for tonight,” she said. She had no way of knowing the wolf was actually a nine-year-old girl named Eva, or that the girl’s father, an alpha werewolf, was tracking his daughter’s scent straight to Quinn’s front door. Jeremy named the wolf Fangs and smuggled him—her—up to his room.
The pup was a good listener. Better than anyone Jeremy had met since the move. He told her about school, about how the kids made fun of his glasses, about how it felt like no one wanted him around. Fangs just sat there, ears perked, like she understood every word.
Then the wolf yelped, bolted across the room, and dove into Jeremy’s closet. When he yanked the door open, he found a girl wrapped in his favorite blue sweater. A girl with wild red hair, freckles, and eyes that matched Fangs’. “Where is he?
” Jeremy demanded. The girl bit her lip. “Fine, you win. I’m Fangs.
”
Her real name was Eva. She was a shifter, part human, part wolf, and she’d run away from her pack because she couldn’t control her shifting. “My best isn’t enough,” she mumbled. “Other wolves my age have no trouble.
I’m a pretty bad shifter. ” Jeremy thought it was the coolest thing he’d ever heard. He’d never had a friend before. He wasn’t about to lose one now.
“It’ll be our secret,” he promised. The next morning, Quinn noticed Fangs was a girl. She also noticed her son was acting strange, hiding something behind his eyes when she asked about school. But breakfast service was starting, Mrs.
Henderson needed her coffee exactly at seven, and the inn was full of weekend guests. She didn’t have time to press. When she walked into the dining room with a stack of pancakes, Meg was at the front desk, flirting shamelessly with a tall man in an expensive suit. Quinn’s heart stopped.
She knew those shoulders. That jaw. Those hands. She dropped the coffee pot.
The man turned, and their eyes locked. Amber eyes. Mason Keane. The love of her life.
The man who’d left her ten years ago without a word, whose family had arranged his betrothal while Quinn was dreaming of their future. He was here, in her inn, looking at her like he’d seen a ghost. “I’m afraid we’re fully booked,” she said coolly. Meg looked confused.
They weren’t fully booked. Mason said nothing. He just stared, his brows furrowed, tension stiffening his shoulders like he’d been caught. “Indefinitely,” he finally said when Meg asked how long he’d be staying.
Quinn decided then that she hated him. She hated the way he looked at her, the way his presence made her feel like she was nineteen again, young and stupid and desperately in love. She hated that she still remembered the exact way his hands felt on her skin. And she hated that when Meg flirted with him, Quinn snapped, “Give it a rest, he’s married.
” Mason blinked. “I’m not. ” “Engaged, then? ” “Widowed,” he said quietly, and Quinn froze.
His wife was dead. He’d married someone else after leaving her, and now he was here, and Quinn didn’t know what to do with any of it. He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. “Wait, Quinn.
” She looked at his hand, at the gold specks flickering in his eyes, and she remembered everything. “Let go of me, Mason. ” He did, slowly, reluctantly. She walked away before he could say another word.
While Quinn dealt with the ghost of her past, Jeremy was hiding from Eva’s father. The man with the amber eyes was walking the grounds behind the inn, searching, and Eva knew he’d tracked her scent. “He’s my alpha,” she whispered, shrinking back from the window. “He’s my dad.
But the alpha comes first, dad second. Always has. ” Jeremy watched the man scan the property with an intensity that made his chest ache. His own father had never even sent a birthday card.
Eva’s dad was tearing apart the world to find her. “Maybe you should go to him,” Jeremy said. Eva’s eyes flashed. “You don’t understand what alphas are like when they’re angry.
”
They tried to slip out the side door, to make a run for the tree line, but the man appeared behind them. “That’s an unusual dog you have there. ” Jeremy’s mouth went dry. “She’s a husky mix.
” The man stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the wolf trembling at Jeremy’s side. “What’s her name? ” “Fangs. ” The man just stared at the wolf with an expression Jeremy couldn’t read.
Then he said, softly, “You shouldn’t be out here alone. She’s scared of strangers,” Jeremy blurted, his voice cracking. The man’s hand reached toward the wolf, and Fangs growled. The man growled back, and suddenly Jeremy knew he was doomed.
Then he spotted his mom on the back porch, wobbling on a ladder. “Mom! ” he yelled. The man turned just as the ladder tipped.
In a blur of movement too fast to follow, he was at the porch, catching Quinn before she hit the ground. Jeremy grabbed Eva’s leash and bolted for the trees. Quinn was still trying to catch her breath when she realized Mason was holding her cradled in his arms. “Are you hurt?
” he asked, his voice low and intimate in a way that made her skin prickle. She scrambled to her feet. “Where did Jeremy go? ” “He ran off with his dog when you fell.
” Quinn’s instincts flared. “Why were you talking to my son? ” Mason’s face flickered with an emotion she couldn’t name. “I thought his dog was my daughter.
” Quinn blinked. “I mean, I thought it was my daughter’s dog,” he corrected. He had a daughter. A daughter who’d run away.
Quinn felt a surge of sympathy despite everything. They talked for longer than she intended. He told her his father was dead, his brother too. He told her he led the pack now, that his daughter had run away, that she didn’t want to come home.
“I believe I’ve failed her as a father,” he said quietly. Quinn’s anger softened. She told him about Jeremy, about the move, about how she worried she’d made the wrong choice. “You did what you thought was best,” Mason said.
“Did I? ” she sighed. “Or did I do what I wanted and tell myself it was for him too? ”
She mentioned Jeremy’s father.
“Boy knocks up girlfriend, boy runs for the hills. He abandoned his child. ” Something dangerous flashed in Mason’s eyes. “He abandoned you.
” Quinn snapped. “He wasn’t the first to do so, was he? ” Mason flinched like she’d slapped him. “That was different.
” “Was it? ” He stepped closer, close enough that she could see the flecks of gold in his eyes. “I never lied about wanting you, Quinn. ” She stepped back.
“Stop. Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. ” He stopped. He nodded and stepped back.
Over the next few days, Mason Keane was everywhere. When the coffee maker broke, he appeared with a toolbox, sleeves rolled up. When the spring rain trapped them under the gazebo, he stood close enough to feel the heat of his body. When the water heater died, he was in the basement with a wrench.
He changed light bulbs, unloaded firewood, and read Blake in the library. Quinn hated how natural it felt. Hated how her hands ached to touch him. Hated that she still remembered reading poetry to him in bed, his fingers tracing lines over her stomach.
And Jeremy was thriving. He was laughing more, talking more. But Quinn noticed something strange. In the hallway, she heard him say, “Of course she’d want extra pepperoni.
Mom always forgets. ” There was no one else in the room. “No, I didn’t tell him. Should I?
” Quinn frowned. Kids and their imaginary games, she thought. She had no idea her son was speaking to a wolf in wolf form. Then Mason found her sketch folder.
The one she kept hidden in the bottom drawer, filled with portraits of him from a decade ago. “I found these in my room,” he said, his voice unreadable. “You weren’t supposed to see those. ” “You kept them.
” “It doesn’t mean anything. ” “It does. ” He stepped closer. “Why did you make so many portraits of me if—” Quinn snapped.
“Wasn’t it obvious? I loved you so much it scared me. And then you left. ” “What about now?
” he asked. “How do you feel now? ” She couldn’t answer. He lifted his hand, cupped her cheek, and kissed her.
It was ten years of longing crashing into one breathless moment. She dropped the folder. Pages scattered. She buried her hands in his shirt, his hair, his everything.
Their secret didn’t last long. Eva could smell it on her father. “He smelled like her perfume and happiness,” she told Jeremy. “Everything has a smell.
” They celebrated their victory. Operation Parent Trap had worked. But then reality intruded. “What happens when your dad goes back to the pack?
” Jeremy asked. “Will you go with him? ” Eva’s smile faded. “I don’t know.
I haven’t thought about it. ” They both knew they couldn’t think about it. Not yet. One week later, Jeremy came home with his glasses held together by tape.
“Just got bumped in gym class,” he mumbled. Eva knew he was lying. “I can smell it,” she said. “It was Tommy Wilson and his friends,” Jeremy admitted.
“They’re jerks to everyone. ” “Why haven’t you told your mom? ” “Because she’d make a big deal out of it, and it would get worse. Besides, she’s happy right now.
I don’t want to ruin that. ” Eva growled. “This isn’t right, Jeremy. In the pack, no one would dare treat you this way.
You’re my pack. Pack protects each other. ” Jeremy had never heard those words before. He’d never felt like he belonged to anyone.
“You’re not alone anymore,” Eva said. “You’ve got me. ”
Quinn never found out about the bullying. She was too busy falling in love again.
One afternoon, she lay with her head on Mason’s chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Why did you leave? ” she asked. “Really.
What happened? ” Mason’s body tensed. “My family was in crisis. They needed me.
” “Does this have to do with Elliot? ” He looked away. “Yes. ” She waited for more, but he said nothing.
“What are you so afraid of? ” she asked. “Myself,” he answered simply. His voice was hollow.
“Just promise you won’t leave me again,” she said. “Not like before. Not without explaining. ” “I promise,” he said.
And she believed him. She picked Jeremy up from school that day, and Mason came with her. Fangs trotted obediently beside them. But when they rounded the corner, Fangs froze.
Then she bolted. Jeremy was backed against the wall, surrounded by three larger boys. One of them, a bulky kid with a buzzcut, held Jeremy’s glasses out of reach. “Give them back, Tommy.
” “Make me, four eyes. ” Fangs launched herself at the bully, knocking him to the ground with a ferocious growl. Mason surged forward. “Ava,” he commanded, his voice carrying a strange power.
“Stop now. ” The wolf immediately backed off, head lowered. Mason grabbed her by the scruff, his face drained of color. “How could you?
I taught you better than this. This boy is human. ”
Quinn stared at him. “Mason?
What did you just call her? ” Mason backed away, cradling the wolf. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry, Quinn.
” He placed Fangs in his car and drove away, leaving Quinn standing in the schoolyard, holding Jeremy’s broken glasses, her heart cracking open all over again. Eva waited for her punishment. Her father was silent for a full day before he came to her room. “I understand you wanted to defend Jeremy,” he said quietly.
“But using our powers against humans who have none isn’t fair, Eva. It risks exposing our entire pack. I cannot allow you to continue seeing him. ” “But Dad, he’s my best friend.
” “Then you’ll do what’s right for him. ” Eva challenged him. “What about Jeremy’s mom? I know you like her, Dad.
I saw you kissing. ” Mason grimaced. “We can’t be together,” he said. “It’s not right.
”
Then he told her the truth. About his brother Elliot, who’d fallen in love with a human woman. About the night Elliot shifted in front of witnesses and killed a man who was attacking her. “Elliot couldn’t become alpha after that,” Mason said.
“He was executed for his crime. ” Eva gasped. “That’s not fair. ” “A human life was taken,” Mason said.
“There’s only one punishment. ” “That’s why you left Quinn,” Eva realized. Mason nodded. “When Elliot died and I became alpha, I knew I couldn’t stay with her.
What if I lost control? What if I hurt her? ” Eva threw her arms around her father. “I’m so sorry, Dad.
” She understood now. The fear in his eyes wasn’t disappointment. It was terror. Jeremy watched his mom pretend to be okay for an entire week.
She smiled too brightly, laughed too loudly, and never mentioned Mason or Eva. But he heard her crying at night. In her studio, he found her holding an old photograph. “You loved him,” Jeremy said.
It wasn’t a question. Quinn sighed. “When he came back into my life, I was furious. But somewhere along the way, I started to forgive him.
I just wish I knew why he keeps running. ” Jeremy stared at his hands, guilt churning in his stomach. He knew why. He’d promised Eva he wouldn’t tell.
That night, Jeremy needed the bathroom. When he opened the door, a strange sensation washed over him, like walking through static. He blinked, momentarily blinded by daylight. When his vision cleared, he was standing in a bookshop.
A beautiful young woman with strawberry blonde hair shrieked when she saw him. “How did you even get in here? ” “I opened the bathroom door and there I was. ” A deep voice interrupted.
“Iris, did you break something again? ” The man who stepped into view was impossibly tall and thin, with copper hair and eyes so green they seemed to glow. “I’m Adrien,” he said. “This is Iris.
” Then he looked at Jeremy with unsettling intensity. “You arrived here because you desire something. Something you cannot obtain through ordinary means. ”
Jeremy thought about his mom, about Eva and Mason, about the impossible distance between their worlds.
“I want to bring Eva back,” he said. “And her dad. I want my mom to be happy again. ” Adrien’s expression softened.
But the girl named Iris leaned forward. “Look, kid, Adrien grants wishes, but in exchange he takes whatever you value most. It’s never what you expect. ” Jeremy looked at his hands.
“Could I wish for us to be werewolves too? Me and my mom? ” Adrien’s posture changed. “You could.
But remember, I would take what’s most precious to you in return. ” Jeremy nodded. He was sure. “All right,” Adrien said, kneeling to eye level.
“Then I will tell you the price in advance. What you value most, Jeremy Davis, is the hope of meeting your father someday. ”
Jeremy swallowed. The man who’d left before he was born.
He’d held onto that hope, hidden somewhere deep, for as long as he could remember. But he thought about Eva’s sharp grin. His mother’s warmth. Her joy these past few days when they’d all been together.
“I don’t need a dad who doesn’t want me,” he said. “I want my mom to be happy. I want us to have a real family. ” He took a deep breath.
“I wish that my mom and I could safely be turned into wolves, shifters, if we wanted to, to be with Eva and Mason. ” The shadows in the shop deepened. When Adrien opened his eyes again, they glowed with an unearthly light. Quinn woke to find Fangs sitting on her doorstep.
She dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around the wolf’s neck. “Fangs, you’re back! ” But the wolf pulled away and trotted into the apartment. It grabbed Jeremy’s sweater and returned.
Then Quinn screamed. Where the wolf had been standing, there was now a small girl with wild red hair, clutching Jeremy’s sweater like a dress. “Please don’t be afraid,” the girl said. “My name is Eva.
I’m Mason’s daughter. I told my dad I wouldn’t come back, but I had to say goodbye properly. I had to thank you. For letting me stay.
For making me feel like I could have had a real mom. ”
Quinn’s world tilted. The wolf. The girl.
The man she loved. “Your father,” Quinn managed. “Is he—” “A shifter,” Eva confirmed. “Like me.
That’s why we had to leave. If a werewolf bites a human, it kills them. That’s what happened to my uncle Elliot. ” Quinn’s breath caught.
“Elliot bit someone to protect a friend. The human died, and Elliot was executed. It broke my grandfather’s heart. That’s when my dad had to become alpha and leave you.
” The pieces fell into place with devastating clarity. Mason hadn’t chosen his family over her. He’d been terrified, carrying this enormous truth alone, afraid of repeating his brother’s mistake. Eva started crying.
“I would have loved for you to be my mom. In another life, maybe you could have taught me to paint. ” Quinn gathered the child into her arms. “I’d like to say goodbye to your father, too,” she said.
“Let me take you home. ” There was a knock at the door. Quinn opened it. Mason stood there, eyes wide.
And beside him, Jeremy, looking nervous and determined. They stared at each other, the air crackling with everything unsaid. Then both of them spoke at once. “I shouldn’t have left the way I did,” Mason said.
“I think I understand why you did,” Quinn said quietly. “She does, Dad,” Eva piped up. “I told her. ” Mason’s face tightened.
“Is it true? ” Quinn asked. He nodded. “Yes.
”
Mason’s voice broke. “So many times I wanted to tell you. I was going to leave my pack, my family, everything for you. But then Elliot…
” Quinn finished the thought. “Yes. ” “It’s delicate enough telling a human about our kind,” Mason said. “But to tell you and then just leave you…
I just didn’t trust myself with you. I still don’t. Especially now that you have a child. It’s too risky.
” Tears spilled down Quinn’s cheeks. She understood now. “Well, about that,” Jeremy interrupted, stepping forward with a confidence Quinn had never seen. “I actually fixed it.
” “You fixed it? ” Quinn and Mason said in unison. “I met this guy, a magician named Adrien,” Jeremy explained. “He grants wishes.
I wished that Mom and I could be turned safely into werewolves if we wanted to. ” Quinn’s mind reeled. Her ten-year-old son had made a magical bargain to solve their supernatural relationship problems. It was absurd, terrifying, and somehow perfectly Jeremy.
She and Mason shared a look. It carried everything: love, hope, the promise of possibilities she’d never dared imagine. Then maternal fury overtook her. “Jeremy Davis, you are in very big trouble.
”
A year later, they were married. The pack celebrated their alpha’s wedding in the garden behind the inn, twinkling lights wrapping every branch, white roses blooming impossibly late for October. And after the celebration, in their bedroom, Mason asked her again if she was sure. “We’ve discussed this endlessly, Mason.
I’m sure. ” He was afraid. She could see it in his eyes, the terror of hurting her. “Jeremy’s already asking when it’s his turn,” she reminded him.
“Eva’s planned their first run together. ” The mention of their children softened him. She lay back, throat exposed. “Do it,” she breathed.
He nuzzled her neck before biting. The pain stole her breath, fire in her veins, bones shifting, muscles tearing and reforming. Mason’s voice soothed her through it all. Then she blinked, now on all fours, powerful, covered in thick fur, every sense heightened.
In the mirror, she saw a silver-streaked wolf with Quinn’s eyes. She felt Mason not just beside her, but inside her mind. His love washed over her like warm sunlight. “What is this?
” she thought. “The mate bond,” he answered. “We’ll complete it later. First, you need to run.
” They slipped into the night, two wolves racing beneath the full moon. When they returned, breathless and glowing, she stood before him, the bond pulsing between them. “How do you feel? ” he asked.
“Alive,” she breathed. “More alive than I’ve ever been. ” She kissed him slow and deep. “My turn,” she whispered.
She kissed down his neck. He shuddered. “Do it,” he breathed. She bit, tasting copper and magic.
The bond ignited, thoughts and emotions merging. “I love you,” she thought, feeling his answering flood of devotion. “Forever,” he said. “Forever,” she echoed.
Downstairs, Jeremy and Eva laughed, the pack still celebrating. Her family. Her pack. Her future.
Quinn Davis, Luna of the Pinehaven Pack, smiled against her mate’s shoulder. They’d finally found their happily ever after.
