Quinn stares into her son’s hopeful eyes as he cradles the furry creature to his chest. The puppy is suspiciously still, watching her with almost pleading eyes. “He’s so well behaved, Mom,” Jeremy argues, his voice rising with enthusiasm for the first time since they moved to Pine Haven three months ago. “Baby, this isn’t a dog,” Quinn says, bending down to eye level with the creature.
Jeremy blinks, looks at the pup in his arms, then back at Quinn. She narrows her eyes, observing the distinctly pointed muzzle, the thick coat, and the unmistakable wildness in its amber eyes. “Where did you even find it? ”
“In the woods behind the playground.
He was hurt. See? ” He gently reveals a small bandage on the animal’s front paw. “I used the first aid kit from the bathroom.
”
“Oh, sweetie, you can’t just bring wild animals home. They’re not pets. They probably have all sorts of diseases and parasites. ”
“And I checked for ticks,” Jeremy interrupts.
“That’s not—” Quinn starts. “Please, Mom,” Jeremy whispers, his voice cracking. “He needs me. ” The wolf looks up at her with big, sorrowful eyes.
It whimpers softly, lowering its head in what seems like a deliberate appeal to her sympathies. Quinn feels her resolve weakening. The phone rings from the living room. “That must be Meg from downstairs.
I’ll be right back,” Quinn says. “But what about fangs? ” Jeremy calls after her. “You named it Fangs?
” Quinn asks, turning back with a raised eyebrow. “He’s got good ones,” Jeremy replies. “It can stay tonight,” Quinn concedes. “Just tonight.
” Jeremy’s eyes light up with hope. Downstairs, Quinn sorts out a booking mess at the front desk with Meg, then mentions her new crisis. “Well, the saint has brought home a wolf pup. ”
Meg’s jaw drops.
“You can’t be serious, Quinn. Wolves are dangerous. Not appropriate for a child, or an inn for that matter. ”
“Look, I know, okay, but the kid had such a rough time since we moved here.
First real smile in months. ”
“So, get him a Nintendo like every parent does,” Meg argues. “With what money? ” Quinn sighs.
“At least the wolf is free. ”
That night, in his bedroom, Jeremy sits cross-legged on the floor, arranging a small pile of beef jerky strips beside his new pet. “It’s going to be okay,” Jeremy whispers. “Mom said you can stay for now, and once she really gets to know you, she’ll let you stay forever.
” Fangs tilts his head, eyes fixed on Jeremy’s face. Suddenly, Fangs yelps, a high-pitched, almost human sound, and bolts across the room, diving into Jeremy’s closet. Strange noises come from the closet, rustling, thumping. Jeremy’s heart pounds.
He inches toward it, yanks the door open. Wrapped in his favorite blue sweater, clutching it around herself like a makeshift dress, is a girl. A girl who definitely hadn’t been there before. So naturally, Jeremy screams.
Reflexively, the girl screams right back. “What are you doing here? Where’s Fangs? ” He pushes the closet door wider.
No wolf. The girl has wild red hair, which reminds him of Fangs’ fur, and is about his age, with freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks. “Um, he left,” the girl tries, biting her lip. “Fine, you win.
I’m Fangs,” the girl blurts out, throwing her hands up. Jeremy blinks. “I’m him, the wolf. Well, I—I was always a girl.
I switch forms, not genders. ” The girl adds like this is somehow the most relevant piece of information here. “You switch forms? ” Jeremy’s mouth hangs open.
“I can prove I’m Fangs. You fed me beef jerky and saltine crackers yesterday. You told me your mom would be mad if she found out you were sneaking food from the kitchen. And you read me three chapters from that book about the kids who find a magic wardrobe.
” She points to his copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on his nightstand. “My real name is Eva,” she says, extending her hand like an adult would. “Eva Keen. ”
“But how?
” Jeremy shakes her hand automatically. “I’m a shifter. Part human, part wolf. I can turn into either one.
”
“Why didn’t you just say so before? ” Jeremy asks, thinking it must have been awkward for Eva to act like a pet when he’d scratched behind her ears. Eva rolls her eyes. “Because I can’t talk as a wolf, duh.
”
“Okay, well, why didn’t you just turn back and tell me? ”
Eva looks embarrassed. “I’ve been having trouble switching back and forth between forms,” she mumbles. Jeremy gapes.
“That’s so cool,” he exclaims. “Can I be a shifter, too? ”
“No, you have to be born one,” Eva explains in a tone that suggests she believes Jeremy to be particularly slow. “Isn’t there like a thing where if you bite me, I’ll turn into one?
”
“Well, yes, but you wouldn’t survive. It would kill you,” Eva says matter-of-factly. Jeremy gulps. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite you.
Ever. It’s forbidden. ”
“By who? ”
“By our alpha, obviously.
”
“What’s an alpha? ”
Eva’s eyes widen. “The alpha is the pack leader, the strongest, fastest, most powerful wolf in the whole pack. Everyone has to do what the alpha says.
He protects everyone and makes all the important decisions. And he can even command other wolves with just his voice. ”
“And is he, you know, nice? ”
Eva blinks at him for several seconds.
“He doesn’t have to be nice,” she tells him slowly. “He’s the alpha. ” Then she concedes with a pout. “But I guess he does tell nice bedtime stories.
Not that he’s done it in a while. ”
“Your alpha reads bedtime stories? ”
“Not usually, no, but he does with me ‘cause he’s my daddy. ”
“Crap,” Jeremy says.
“You probably need to get back home or something now, don’t you? ”
To his surprise, Eva vehemently shakes her head. “Definitely not,” she says. “The alpha will be furious that I’ve left.
Who knows if he’s going to let me back in at all. He was already very disappointed in me for not being able to shift back. ”
“Is that why you ran away? ”
Eva shrugs, looking away.
“It’s not your fault you can’t shift back,” Jeremy protests. “I’m sure you did your best. ”
“My best isn’t enough. Other wolves my age have no trouble shifting back.
I’m a pretty bad shifter. ”
“That’s not true,” Jeremy says firmly. “You’re super cool. ” He gets her to demonstrate, and for a moment, nothing happens.
Then suddenly, where the little girl had been sitting, there’s now a sandy colored wolf pup. Jeremy’s jaw drops. “Wow. That’s so cool, Fangs.
”
Eva gives a happy little yip, her tail wagging furiously. “Oh my god, Mom is going to freak when I tell her about this,” Jeremy exclaims. Eva barks sharply and backs away, shaking her head vigorously. “Wait, you don’t want me to tell her?
But why not? ” Eva just looks at him, those amber eyes somehow managing to look pleading. “Okay, okay, I won’t tell. It’ll be our secret,” Jeremy promises.
The next morning, Quinn insists they should take Fangs to the vet. Jeremy’s spoon freezes halfway to his mouth. “Fangs is a girl,” he says, purposely ignoring the rest. Quinn studies her son, asking if things are okay at school.
Jeremy’s eyes shift away from hers. “Fine. ” Quinn doesn’t push further, guilt gnawing at her because back in Portland, Jeremy had friends. Here in Pinehaven, he seems more isolated than ever.
But when her grandma Mabel died and left Quinn this rambling Victorian where she’d grown up, it had seemed like a miracle—her own business, a dream come true. Except at what cost? Her son’s happiness. Later, while Quinn is refilling coffee cups in the dining room, Meg is at the reception desk talking to a tall man with his back to the room.
Broad shoulders beneath an expensive suit, dark hair neatly trimmed. Something in the way he carries himself draws Quinn’s attention like a magnet. There’s something familiar in that posture. He half turns to sign whatever paper Meg has given him, and Quinn sees his profile.
The world drops away completely. Those hands. She knows those hands. Ten years, and this is Mason Keen, the love of her life.
Or so she thought, because while she was falling madly in love, his family was arranging his betrothal. And while Quinn was imagining their future together, he already had a future planned out. One that did not include her. “Mr.
Keen here wants to book a room,” Meg says brightly, looking excited and flustered. “I’m afraid we’re fully booked,” Quinn says coolly. “No, we’re not,” Meg says, confusion crossing her face. Mason just stares at Quinn, brows slightly furrowed.
“How long will you be staying for, sir? ” Meg asks, batting her eyelashes. Quinn wants to scream at her friend for flirting shamelessly with yet another unavailable man who happens to be her ex. “Indefinitely,” Mason says, never taking his eyes off Quinn.
Quinn can’t take anymore. She can’t, because Mason left her. Left what barely remained of Quinn after him. And she went and threw herself into the arms of the first cute guy who would have her to forget him, and got pregnant, and then got left again.
Quinn turns to Meg. “Give it a rest, won’t you? He’s married. ” Mason looks properly startled.
“Look, sir, are you single? ” Quinn asks him directly. “My friend here always goes for the married ones. So, can you please tell her you’re married so we can all move on?
”
Mason’s mouth opens and closes once before he finds words. “I’m not,” he says cautiously. “Still engaged? ” Quinn insists.
“I’m—” Mason begins. “See? ” Quinn says to Meg triumphantly. “Widowed,” Mason concludes, and Quinn freezes, her victory evaporating into thin air.
His wife is dead. “Sorry for your loss,” she mutters, and moves away abruptly to return to the kitchen. Mason moves so swiftly she doesn’t see it coming. His fingers grasp her arms, spinning her back toward him.
“Wait, Quinn? ” He sounds affected for the first time since he came here. There are specks of gold in his irises, just like she remembers, flickering to life when he’s emotional. “I said let go of me, Mason.
” Quinn snaps. He does slowly, reluctantly. “I apologize,” he murmurs. “For what?
” she challenges. When Mason looks startled and as sad as she feels, she grins bitterly and says, “Yeah, I thought so,” and walks away. Back in his room, Jeremy tells Eva they could go to the park. “Mom gave me $5.
I can bring some clothes for you, too. ” Eva’s face lights up, but then she goes still at the window, pointing to a tall man in dark jeans and an expensive-looking sweater walking the grounds behind the inn. “Probably a guest,” Jeremy tells her. “He’s not a guest.
He’s my alpha,” Eva whispers. “He must have tracked me here. If he looks up right now, he might sense us watching. ”
“Can he—can he break down doors or walls?
”
“If he wanted to,” Eva says simply, eyes wide and serious. Jeremy watches the man outside, Eva’s father. There’s something about the intensity in his search that makes Jeremy’s chest ache, not with fear, but with something else. His own father left before he was even born.
Didn’t even care enough to send a birthday card. Yet Eva’s dad is here searching for her. “Maybe you should go to him,” Jeremy suggests hesitantly. “He must be worried about you.
”
Eva’s eyes flash with something between fear and defiance. “You don’t understand what alphas are like when they’re angry. When I ran away, I broke Pack law. In the old days, wolves were banished for less.
”
“But he’s your dad,” Jeremy protests. “He’s the alpha first, dad second,” Eva says bitterly. “Always has been. ” She peeks out the window again, then quickly ducks down.
“Get down. He’s coming this way. ”
Jeremy’s mind races with comic book scenarios of walls being smashed and doors being ripped from hinges. “What do we do?
”
“We just need to be extra careful. If he tries to take me through a fit, tell everyone I’m your wolf. He won’t want to make a scene. He’s obsessed with keeping our existence secret from humans.
”
“Okay,” Jeremy swallows hard. “You should probably be Fangs when we go out. ” Eva nods, then shifts smoothly into wolf form. They head downstairs, Jeremy trying his best to look casual.
They make it to the back hallway that leads to the garden door, but through the window, Eva’s father is right outside examining something on the ground. They back away, Eva tugging Jeremy toward the laundry room, which has a side door guests never use. Through its window, they can see Eva’s father has moved to the front of the inn. “Now is our chance,” Jeremy whispers, easing open the side door.
They slip outside, sticking close to the building’s shadow, heading for the tree line. They’re almost there when Jeremy hears a deep voice behind them. “Excuse me. ” Eva’s father stands twenty feet away, his amber eyes fixed on Eva.
“That’s an unusual dog you have there. ”
Jeremy’s mouth goes dry. “She’s a—a husky mix,” he manages. The man takes a step closer.
Eva presses against Jeremy’s leg, trembling slightly. “Don’t come any closer,” Jeremy blurts out. “She’s scared of strangers. ”
“What’s her name?
” the man asks. “Fangs,” Jeremy answers, remembering Eva’s instructions. The man reaches a hand toward Eva, who backs away, growling softly. And suddenly this very dangerous man looks—well, sad.
“Eva,” he says quietly, his voice deep and certain. “Come here. ”
Jeremy feels his stomach drop to his shoes. “Her name is Fangs,” he defends.
“And she’s my pet. ” Then, like an answer to a prayer, he spots his mom on the back porch up on a ladder trying to change a light bulb. Except the ladder wobbles precariously beneath her. “Mom!
” Jeremy calls out just as the ladder tips. Eva’s father turns, sees Quinn falling, and in a blur of movement that no human could possibly match, he’s at the porch catching her before she hits the ground. Jeremy and Eva bolt for the trees. Quinn finds herself in Mason’s arms, struggling to process what just happened.
“Are you hurt? ” Mason asks, his voice pitched low and intimate. Quinn becomes suddenly aware that she’s still in his arms. “You can put me down now,” she points out, a flush creeping up her neck despite herself.
Mason carefully sets her on her feet, but his hands linger at her waist a moment too long. “Where did Jeremy go? ”
“He ran off with his dog when you fell. ” Then Quinn’s mama-bear instincts flare.
“Why were you talking to my son? ”
“Well, I thought his dog was my daughter,” Mason says. Then he corrects himself somewhat awkwardly. “I mean, I thought it was my daughter’s dog.
”
Quinn stares at him. So, Mason has a daughter, a daughter who lost her mother. “Well, it’s not,” Quinn says. “That’s not a dog.
That’s a wolf. ”
“You don’t say,” Mason quips, though he doesn’t look surprised. “The wolf is very well behaved, if you must know,” Quinn defends, crossing her arms. “Hey, you’re not going to call animal control on my kid, are you?
Because I’ll have you know—”
“No,” Mason raises his hands in appeasement. “I really did just confuse the wolf with my daughter’s pet. That’s all. ” Something flickers in Mason’s eyes.
Pain quickly masked. “Where is your daughter then? Did you leave her alone with the cult? ” Quinn asks.
Mason flinches at the term. “My family is not a cult, Quinn. ”
“Really? Because from the outside it sure looked like one.
You were always together, never letting outsiders in, controlling who everyone talked to, who they married. ” Her voice catches on the last word. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mason protests. “Of course I do,” Quinn snaps.
“Your father decided who you could be with and you just went along with it. ”
Mason’s face closes. “I apologize. ”
“For what exactly?
” Quinn challenges, unable to stop herself. “For showing up at my inn after 10 years like it’s nothing? Or for—? ”
“For all of it,” Mason interrupts quietly.
Quinn looks away. “So, is your daughter still there being groomed for whatever future your father has planned for her? ”
Mason’s jaw tightens. “My father is gone.
I lead the family now. ”
This catches Quinn off guard. “Gone? ” she repeats incredulously.
“After what happened with my brother,” Mason says, his voice carefully controlled, “things changed. ”
“What happened to Elliot? ” Quinn asks, her anger momentarily forgotten. Mason’s older brother, Golden Boy, heir apparent.
The one who could do no wrong in their father’s eyes. Mason looks away. “He’s gone, too. ” The pain in his voice is real, and Quinn feels a pang of sympathy despite herself.
“And to answer your original question, no. My daughter isn’t with the family. She ran away. ”
“Wait, what?
Is that why you’re here? Are you looking for her? ” Quinn whispers. Mason nods, his face unreadable.
“She’s not in danger, but—” he trails off, looking toward the woods where Jeremy disappeared. “She doesn’t want to come home. ”
“I’m so sorry,” Quinn tells him. “That must be awful.
”
“I believe I’ve failed her as a father,” Mason says quietly. They talk, and the conversation turns to Jeremy, whose father left before he was born. “He abandoned his child,” Quinn says. Something dangerous flashes in Mason’s eyes.
“He abandoned you. ”
“He wasn’t the first to do so, was he? ” Quinn snaps. Mason flinches as if she’d slapped him.
“I never lied about wanting you,” Mason says, stepping closer. “Surely you know that. ”
“Stop it,” Quinn warns. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.
” This Mason, older, carrying new burdens, simply nods and steps back. That evening, Jeremy and Eva spend the day exploring the town park. Eva’s never been on a swing, never had ice cream from a truck. “We don’t have anything like this in the pack territory,” she says.
“Dad says it’s too dangerous to play with human children. ” Jeremy grabs her hand. “Come on. ” They sail paper boats on a pond, and Eva sighs happily.
“This is way better than training. ”
“What kind of training do you do? ”
“Mostly shifting and tracking and fighting. Future alphas have to be the strongest, fastest, and toughest.
All I ever do is train. I never get to just—” She gestures around the park. “Have fun. ”
Back at the inn, Quinn has ordered pizza and they watch a movie.
When Quinn steps out to handle a guest complaint, Eva shifts back and asks to see Quinn’s paintings. In the spare room studio, they find a large portfolio. Eva flips through it and gasps, holding up a portrait. It’s a detailed pencil drawing of a man who looks just like Jeremy’s dad—and, as it turns out, just like Eva’s dad.
There are at least a dozen drawings of him. “I don’t understand. Why would Mom have all these drawings of your dad? ”
“Because, Jeremy,” Eva whispers.
“She’s totally crushing on him. ”
Eva’s eyes light up with a new plan. “If your mom started dating my dad, my dad would let us hang out. And your mom is so much cooler than all the women his council wants him to remarry.
We need to get her together with my dad. ”
“No offense, but your old man’s really scary,” Jeremy says. “He’s not so bad. He makes mean enchiladas.
”
“I love enchiladas. ”
“See, it’s perfect. You get a new dad, I get a new mom, and we all get enchiladas. ”
A few days later, they’ve engineered a plan.
Jeremy bursts into the kitchen, eyes wide with panic, babbling about losing his father’s compass—the only thing he has from the father he’s never met—while exploring the woods with Fangs. Quinn doesn’t hesitate to go find it. In the darkening woods, Quinn grumbles about stupid trees all looking the same. A twig snaps behind her.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” a familiar deep voice says. Mason has followed her. “I thought you might need help,” Mason says. Mason finds the compass, and they walk back toward the inn, talking about their children.
Mason laughs, a warm sound that sends an unexpected shiver down Quinn’s spine. “She’s braver than I ever was,” he murmurs. “Follows her heart without hesitation. ”
As they approach the back door, Quinn pauses.
“Thank you for helping me find the compass. It belonged to Jeremy’s dad. It means a lot to him. ” Mason steps closer, just a fraction, and Quinn is vividly reminded of another night, years ago.
Mason’s hand rises to her cheek, his touch feather light. For one suspended moment, she’s certain he’s going to kiss her. Then something shifts in his expression—a flash of what looks like fear—and Mason pulls back abruptly. “I’m sorry,” he says, his voice strained.
“It’s not what you think, Quinn. There are reasons. ”
“There always are with you,” Quinn mutters. “Always secrets.
Always something holding you back. ”
“Quinn. ”
“Good night, Mason,” she says firmly, stepping inside before she can do something even more foolish. Longing aches in her chest.
The days that follow shift into a rhythm Quinn doesn’t recognize. Mason Keen is everywhere. When the coffee maker dies, he appears with a toolbox. When the spring rain comes, he’s under the gazebo with her.
When the water heater fails, he’s already halfway down the stairs. He appears on her morning walks, unloads the firewood, and she finds him in the library reading Blake—her favorite poet. Jeremy is thriving, happier and lighter, laughing more, especially when Mason’s daughter Fangs is around. One evening, on the back porch painting the sunset, Quinn feels the air shift.
“You still paint,” Mason says, voice warm against her ear. He stands close. Too close. “It’s beautiful.
” Her hand tightens on the edge of the easel. Then Meg calls her away. The next morning, Mason appears with something clutched in his hand. Her stomach drops.
It’s her sketch folder, the one filled with a younger Mason—shirtless, asleep, laughing. “I found these in my room,” he says, voice unreadable. “You weren’t supposed to see those. ”
“You kept them.
” He holds out a drawing. “This one. Me on the balcony reading. ”
“They’re private.
”
“You kept them. ” His voice is quiet, steady. “Why did you make so many portraits of me if—”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Mason,” Quinn snaps. “Like you needed any more proof of how much I loved you.
Wasn’t it obvious? I loved you so much it scared me. And then you left. ”
Mason steps closer.
“What about now? ” he asks. “How do you feel now? ”
His hand cups her cheek with aching gentleness.
“It matters to me. ” Then he kisses her. Ten years of longing crashing into one breathless, desperate moment. She drops the folder, pages scatter, her hands bury themselves in his shirt, his hair.
It’s reckless, messy, unforgivable. It’s everything she’s missed. Eva and Jeremy are thrilled when they find out. “They actually kissed in the breakfast room,” Eva whispers.
“He smelled like your mom’s perfume and happiness. ” They high-five, grinning like co-conspirators. “Operation Parent Trap was a total success. ”
But one day, Jeremy confesses his glasses are broken again—for the second time this week.
“It’s no big deal,” he mumbles. Eva’s eyes narrow. “It shouldn’t happen,” she says, her amber eyes flashing. “Who are they?
”
“Just some fifth graders. Tommy Wilson and his friends. They’re jerks to everyone. ”
“Why haven’t you told your mom?
”
“Because she’d make a big deal out of it. She’d go to the school and talk to the principal and then it would get worse. Besides, she’s happy right now. I don’t want to ruin that.
”
Eva growls, an actual growl that sounds distinctly wolflike. “This isn’t right, Jeremy. In the pack, no one would dare treat you this way. ”
“Well, I’m not in a pack.
”
“So, you’re still Pack,” Eva declares with such conviction that Jeremy blinks. “You’re my Pack, and Pack protects each other. ”
“I am? ”
“Of course you are.
Being Pack isn’t just about being a shifter. It’s about loyalty and trust and having each other’s backs. ”
Jeremy smiles, his throat suddenly tight. “I’ve never been anyone’s pack before.
”
“Well, you are now. You’ve got me. ”
Meanwhile, Quinn lies with her head on Mason’s chest, content. She asks him why he left, really.
He finally tells her about Elliot—his brother who fell in love with a human, who lost control and attacked a group of men to protect a woman from town, killing one. “He was executed for his crime,” Mason says. And their father died of a broken heart shortly after. Mason became alpha not because he was ready, but because there was no one else.
“And that’s why you left me,” Quinn realizes. “You were afraid of what you might become. ”
He turns to her, gratitude and anguish warring in his eyes. “I want to tell you everything, but—” he trails off, looking torn, almost frightened.
“What are you so afraid of? ”
“Myself,” Mason answers simply. “Just promise you won’t leave me again,” Quinn says. “Not like before.
Not without explaining. ”
“I promise,” Mason says, meeting her eyes. The next day, Quinn decides to surprise Jeremy and pick him up from school, and she impulsively asks Mason to come along. “We could get ice cream afterward.
You in or what? ”
A slow smile spreads across Mason’s face. “Yes. ”
They walk toward the school, Fangs trotting obediently beside them.
Suddenly, Fangs stops walking, her ears perking up. She begins to whine, a high-pitched sound that sends chills down Quinn’s spine. “She’s never acted like this before,” Quinn says, struggling to keep hold of the leash. “Something’s wrong,” Mason mutters, his expression darkening.
Fangs suddenly bolts, yanking the leash from Quinn’s hand. “Eva, no. ” Quinn barely registers the strange name as they both break into a run. When they round the corner of the building, Quinn’s heart drops.
Jeremy is backed against the wall, surrounded by three larger boys. One of them, a bulky kid with a buzzcut, holds Jeremy’s glasses just out of reach. “Give them back, Tommy,” Jeremy says, his voice steady despite his obvious fear. “Make me, four-eyes,” the boy taunts.
Fangs launches herself at the bully with a ferocious growl, knocking him to the ground, standing over him with bared teeth. “Fangs? No! ” Jeremy cries.
Mason surges forward. “Eva,” he commands, his voice carrying a strange power that makes the hair on Quinn’s arms stand up. “Stop now. ” To Quinn’s astonishment, Fangs immediately backs off, her head lowering in submission.
Mason grabs her by the scruff, his face drained of all color. “How could you? I taught you better than this. This boy is human.
Do you understand what could have happened if I hadn’t been here? ” The wolf whimpers, cowering under his gaze. “Mason,” Quinn calls, confusion swirling inside her. He doesn’t seem to hear her.
His hands are shaking as he lifts Fangs into his arms. Quinn rushes to Jeremy, checking for injuries. “I’m fine, Mom,” Jeremy insists. “It wasn’t a big deal.
”
When Quinn turns back to Mason, he’s cradling Fangs, his expression stricken. “What happened? What did you call her? ”
Mason backs away, his face a mask of anguish.
“This was a mistake. I’m sorry, Quinn. ” He turns and strides toward the parking lot, placing Fangs in the passenger seat of a black SUV, and climbs in after her. “Mason!
” Quinn shouts, but the engine roars to life, and the car pulls away, leaving her standing in the schoolyard, holding Jeremy’s broken glasses, her heart cracking open all over again. “Mom! ” Jeremy’s voice is small and frightened. “What just happened?
”
Quinn pulls her son close, watching the SUV disappear around the corner. “I don’t know, baby,” she whispers, a cold certainty settling in her gut. “But I have a very bad feeling about it. ”
Back at the pack house, Eva is heartbroken.
Her father comes to her room, finally explaining everything. She understands now—his fear wasn’t disappointment in her. It was terror at what might have happened, what they might have lost. “So, I guess I’m grounded, huh?
”
“For running away? Absolutely. For a very long time. ”
“And Jeremy and Quinn?
”
“It’s better for everyone if we stay away. For their safety as much as ours. ”
A week passes. Jeremy can’t sleep.
He hears his mother crying at night, and one night he finds her in her studio, holding an old photograph. “You loved him,” Jeremy says. Quinn sighs. “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 stares at his hands, guilt churning in his stomach. He knows why Mason left.
But he’s promised Eva he wouldn’t tell. That night, he creeps down the hallway to the bathroom. But as he pushes the door open, a strange sensation hits, like walking through static. He’s not in the bathroom.
He’s in a narrow aisle between towering bookshelves in a bookshop. He finds a young woman named Iris, and then a man—Adrien, a magician. “I grant wishes,” Adrien explains. “The shop merely provides a meeting place.
People like you arrive here when they truly desire something. Something they cannot obtain through ordinary means. ”
“Can you really grant any wish? ”
“There are limitations,” Adrien says carefully.
“And consequences. I take whatever you value most. ” Iris warns him that Adrien takes what matters most—the ability to love, memories of a dead grandma, something tragic. Jeremy thinks about his mom, about Eva and Mason.
“I want to bring Eva back,” he says slowly. “And her dad. I want my mom to be happy again. ”
“You have to understand, Eva.
My brother was the most controlled person I knew. And even he slipped. ” He tells Jeremy the cost: “What you value most, Jeremy Davis, is the hope of meeting your father someday. If you make this wish, that possibility vanishes forever.
”
Jeremy swallows. His absent father. But then he pictures Eva’s sharp grin, his mother’s warmth. “I don’t need a dad who doesn’t want me.
I need my mom to be happy. I want us to have a real family, one who loves us back. ” He takes a deep breath. “I wish that my mom and I could safely be turned into wolf shifters if we wanted to, to be with Eva and Mason.
”
The shadows in the shop deepen, coiling around the magician. When Adrien opens his eyes, they glow with an unearthly light. Quinn wakes to silence. Jeremy is already at school, and the bed feels too big, too empty.
When she opens her door, she freezes. Fangs is sitting on the threshold, her sandy fur glowing in the morning light. “Oh my god! Fangs, you’re back.
” Quinn drops to her knees, throwing her arms around the wolf’s neck. But Fangs pulls away and trots purposefully into the apartment, disappearing into Jeremy’s room. She emerges with one of Jeremy’s oversized sweaters clamped in her jaws. Then Quinn screams.
Where the wolf had been standing, there’s now a small girl with wild red hair and bright blue eyes, clutching Jeremy’s sweater to her chest. “Please don’t be afraid,” the girl says. “My name is Eva. ”
“Eva, as in Mason’s—his daughter?
” Quinn’s legs threaten to give out. Eva explains everything, how she’s been Fangs all along, how Mason is a shifter too. “If a werewolf bites a human, it kills them. That’s what happened to my uncle Elliot.
He bit someone to protect a friend. The human died and Elliot was executed for it. That’s when my dad had to become alpha and leave you. ”
The pieces fall into place with devastating clarity.
Mason hadn’t chosen his family over her. He’d been thrust into leadership during a tragedy, terrified of repeating his brother’s mistake. “He really didn’t want to leave,” Eva insists. “He loves you.
”
“I’d like to say goodbye to your father, too. Let me take you home,” Quinn says gently. They’re just standing up when there’s a knock at the door. Quinn opens it and finds herself face to face with Mason, his amber eyes wide with shock.
And beside him stands Jeremy. “I have your kid,” Mason says finally. “And I have yours,” Quinn replies weakly. They stare at each other.
Then simultaneously they begin. “I shouldn’t have left the way I did,” Mason says. “I think I understand why you did,” Quinn says quietly. “She told me.
”
Mason’s face tightens. Quinn reaches out, taking his hand. “Is it true? ” He admits it is.
Quinn nods, the weight of his secrets finally making sense. So many times he wanted to tell her, he says, but he couldn’t risk hurting her or her child. “I just didn’t trust myself with you. ”
“Well, about that,” Jeremy interrupts, stepping forward with a confidence Quinn’s never seen before.
“I actually fixed it. ”
“You fixed it? ” Eva shouts, her face lighting up. Jeremy nods.
“I met this guy, a magician named Adrien. He grants wishes, but takes something important in return. I wished that Mom and I could be turned safely into werewolves if we wanted to. ”
Quinn’s mind reels.
Her 10-year-old son has made a magical bargain to solve their supernatural relationship problems. It’s absurd, terrifying, and somehow perfectly Jeremy. She and Mason share a look—just a glance, but it carries everything: love, hope, the promise of possibilities she’d never dared imagine. But above all this newfound hope, there’s one overwhelming emotion.
“Jeremy Davis,” Quinn exclaims with the full force of maternal fury, “you are in very big trouble. ”
Later, Eva has snuck up to Jeremy’s room. They watch their parents in the garden below, hands intertwined, bending close together. “You think we’re going to stay together from now on?
” Eva asks softly. “I hope so,” Jeremy grins. “Can’t wait to be a shifter. ”
“Oh, I’ll teach you everything.
How to track, how to sense, how to run super fast. ” Her excitement fades suddenly. “When you made the wish. What did you trade for it?
He takes what matters most to you. ”
Jeremy’s quiet for a moment. “The possibility of seeing my father again. ” Eva’s eyes widen.
“But that’s your father, Jeremy. Doesn’t it make you sad? ”
“A little,” Jeremy admits. “But I guess he’s not really my father, is he?
He left. My mom’s my parent,” he concludes. “Though I do hope one day I’ll know what having a dad feels like. ” He trails off, watching Mason laugh at something Quinn says.
Eva throws herself at Jeremy in a fierce hug. “Thank you,” she whispers. When they look out the window again, their parents are kissing. “They actually did it,” Eva whispers.
Jeremy grins. A year later, the garden behind the inn is unrecognizable. Twinkling lights wrap every branch. White roses bloom impossibly late for October.
Quinn just pledged forever to the man she never truly stopped loving. Now, as the pack celebrates their alpha’s wedding with music and dancing, Quinn finds herself alone with Mason in their bedroom, nerves thrumming for an entirely different reason. “You sure about this? ” Mason asks for the hundredth time, pacing.
Quinn steps in, placing her hands on his chest. “We’ve discussed this endlessly, Mason. I’m sure. The magician assured it would work.
You even spoke to others who used his magic. It’s going to be okay. ”
“Quinn, I’ve never—I can’t bear the thought of hurting you. ”
“This is for us, for our family.
Jeremy’s already asking when it’s his turn. Eva’s planned their first run together. ” The mention of their children softens him. They’re already a family.
This is just the final step. “I love you,” Quinn whispers. “Trust in that. ”
Mason closes his eyes.
When he opens them, the wolf glimmers behind them. “I love you, too, more than I ever thought possible. ” He kisses her deep, tender. When he pulls back, fangs show, and his eyes glow gold.
Quinn lies back. “Do it,” she breathes. He nuzzles her neck before biting. The pain steals her breath—fire in her veins, bones shifting, muscles tearing and reforming.
Mason’s voice soothes her through it all. Then transformation. She blinks. She’s on all fours, her body powerful, covered in thick fur.
Every sense is heightened. In the mirror, she sees a silver-streaked wolf with Quinn’s eyes. And strangely, she can suddenly feel Mason—not just beside her, but inside her mind. His love washes over her like warm sunlight, along with echoes of his fear, his joy, his overwhelming relief that she survived.
“What is this? ” she thinks. “The mate bond,” he answers. “We’ll complete it later.
First, you need to run. ” They slip into the night, two wolves racing beneath the full moon. When they return, they shift back. Quinn stands before Mason, the bond pulsing between them.
“How do you feel? ” he asks. “Alive. More alive than I’ve ever been.
” She kisses him slow and deep. “My turn,” she whispers. She kisses down his neck. He shudders, groans.
His hands tangle in her hair. “Do it,” he breathes. She bites, tasting copper and magic. The bond ignites, thoughts and emotions merging.
When she pulls back, Mason cups her face, eyes glowing with fierce love. “Forever,” he says, sealing it with another kiss. “Forever,” she echoes. Downstairs, Jeremy and Eva laugh, the pack still celebrating.
Her family, her pack, her future. Quinn Davis, Luna of the Pinehaven Pack, smiles against her mate’s shoulder. They finally found their happily ever after.
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