Inevitably Yours

QUINN

“Just what in the hell is he thinking?” Christy ranted. We sat in her room the morning after Stary High prom. Wild High had their prom on the same night, but Christy didn’t find out that I didn’t attend until she called me to get ready together. She was still upset. “Aubree tried to call him to see what was up, and he just said it wasn’t your thing!”

“It kind of isn’t….” I said quietly. I couldn’t tell her that I was relieved he hadn’t asked me to go. After the bonfire at Aubree’s, we didn’t talk about what happened. We continued like life was normal, or sort of normal. He still called and acted the part of my boyfriend, but I couldn’t find words much of the time. With everything involved with graduation and finals, we barely had time for each other anyway. Every time I thought about telling Christy, I chickened out, worried about what she would think of me.

“It doesn’t matter! It was his senior prom, and you are his girlfriend! He is supposed to take you and make all those other catty bitches jealous! Why would he go with his neighbor?” she complained.

“Wait, neighbor?” I asked, confused. I knew he went but didn’t care as nothing sounded worse than fake smiling and walking around in heels all night.

“Yea,” she said, her face growing concerned. “There is this little freshman girl that lives on his street that has been trying to get in between you guys since last year. Aubree told him to be careful forever ago. Another one of their friends sent him a picture last night and asked if Jaxx had a new girlfriend.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling hurt and confused. I didn’t understand why it hurt me.

“I don’t get what is going on in his stupid head. You are THE BEST girlfriend, and he’s just f*****g things up. Oh, Goddess! You don’t think she is his mate, do you?” she exclaimed.

“He would tell me if he found her,” I said, looking away from my best friend. This was awful, and I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “Can we just drop it? I’ll ask him about it later.”

“Oh, Q! I’m terrible. I’m sorry. This is totally something you guys need to talk about together, and here I am just ranting on and on!” Christy threw herself on me, knocking me back on her bed. She hugged me tightly. “Let’s go get brunch with Carl! We haven’t seen much of him lately.”

“You have to let me breathe to accomplish that,” I choked out.

“Whoops,” she laughed, sitting up. She stood from the bed and grabbed my arms. “Come on! My treat!”

–

I fiddled with the hem of my blouse. Christy was already inside lining up for graduation, and I had the tickets for Aubree, Jaxx, and myself. I was still waiting on them to show up. I wore pants and one of my mom’s nicer blouses today instead of a dress; it felt safer.

My phone chimed in my pocket, and I checked it to see a message from Michael.

MICHAEL“Be calm!” Sapphire urged. We hadn’t been getting along recently, but it was more my fault than hers.

“I’m calling in regards to your work application. You are aware that all work applications must be approved by the Alpha for jobs within pack borders, correct?” he asked.

“Oh, um, no, Alpha. I wasn’t aware of that,” I said. I tried to rack my brain and figure out when that became a thing.

“Yes. You’ll need to interview with me before I can approve your job application,” he said.

“Okay,” I said, not sure what else to do. I didn’t have much other choice. My parents said I could have a job within the pack, but they didn’t want me leaving pack territory for work. I needed a job because fees for band were increasing and I wanted to buy my own car. Plus, it would keep me busy.

“I have an opening in my schedule on Monday. Will that work for you?” Alpha Lawrence continued.

“S-sure,” I said. “I mean, yes, Alpha,” I corrected quickly.

“I’ll see you at the packhouse at 10 AM then, Miss Samuels. Have a good day,” he said. He hung up without my reply.

I stared at my phone. I had already interviewed with the manager of the ice cream shop, but they never called me back. I assumed I hadn’t got the job, but maybe I had? My parents didn’t mention this Alpha approval thing when I started applying for jobs a few months ago.

“Should I tell Michael?” I thought.

“Maybe you should,” Sapphire encouraged.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“But I don’t know what went on other than the fact that Alpha Lawrence isn’t his father,” I reasoned. “Maybe I shouldn’t for now.”

“This just seems odd. Why would an Alpha want to approve everyone’s jobs personally?” Sapphire questioned.

My phone rang again, and it was Jaxx. “s**t, I’m late.”

–

Jaxx was waiting outside for me when I got to his graduation. He sighed as I ran up the steps. “You really need to learn to park straight,” he said.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“Come on, you’re late,” he said, holding his hand to me. I stepped up next to him, ducking my head.

“Jaxx, let’s go! You’re supposed to be in line with your class!” his sister called to us, sticking her head out the door. She laid her eyes on me and frowned.

Jaxx grabbed my hand and started up the rest of the stairs. I tried to pull it away, but he held it firmly. When we got up to the doors, his sister said, “Quinn can just come with me. You go.”

“Hold on, I need to talk to her for a second,” he said. “She’ll come find you guys.”

“Can’t this wait?” she snapped at him. Irritation flickered across his face.

“I will speak with my girlfriend; then she will be in to get her seat. Go,” he growled at her. I shrunk some, not wanting to be in the middle of their fight or know what Jaxx wanted to talk about. People were filing into the auditorium, and there was no escape.

Jaxx’s sister stomped away from us, and he turned to face me. “Quinn, this needs to stop. People are going to get suspicious. We’re fine,” he said. I stared at him blankly, trying to figure out where he got any of that. When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “Stop acting like a wounded b***h. I was there; I know you liked it. Your body doesn’t lie. If you keep acting scared of me and making people ask questions, I will mark you.”

I gasped, recoiling. He didn’t mean that. He couldn’t mean that.

“Stay calm,” Sapphire said in my head. “Nod your head. Act the part.”

“O-okay,” I whispered. He grabbed my face, pulling me to him to k**s me. I didn’t k**s him back.

“Go find my family to sit with,” he said as he let go of me. He turned and left, heading in the opposite direction. I took a shuddering breath, hugging myself.

“How the f**k did I even get here?” I cried silently.

“It’s okay. We’ll find a way to get out of it. Just keep him happy for now,” Sapphire said.

“I’m gonna be sick.”

–

Jaxx’s graduation party was at a park in Wild Paws pack. After people started arriving, I moved around the party with Jaxx, smiling and being the perfect girlfriend. His friends were all surprised to meet me, almost acting as if they thought I was made up.

When his grandmother arrived, Jaxx’s dad came over to tell him he should speak to her. He also asked to talk with me for a moment. Jaxx left us, and his dad steered me toward a table, offering me a seat.

“You know, his mother and I are very grateful for you,” he started.

“Oh,” I said, not expecting the conversation to go in that direction.

“I know we have not made the best impression, and I apologize for that. I’m sure Jaxx has mentioned some of the difficulties our family has been dealing with,” he explained.

“He has. I am so sorry for all that has been going on,” I told him. I did feel bad for the man; by all accounts, he was just trying to keep his family together.

“I thought I should tell you that the only thing Jaxx’s mother and I have been able to agree on in the last year is that we are happy that he found you. He has been more responsible since you two began seeing each other. We haven’t had to get on him about school or his chores. I wish he would have gotten a job, but that’s not the worst thing to have happened,” he explained.

“That’s very nice, but I really don’t think it is my doing,” I said.

“We’ve always given him a great degree of freedom, granted he had his school work turned in and took care of his at-home responsibilities. We used to have to gripe at him quite a bit to get them done, and in the past year and a half, it hasn’t been like that,” he said. “You have been a great influence on him.”

“Well, um, thank you,” I said quietly. I peeked a look at Jaxx; he was speaking with his grandmother, but his eyes darted to me. I quickly looked back at his dad.

“I know we don’t deserve to ask you of this, but I feel like it’s my only option at the moment,” he continued.

“Ask what?” I replied, curious now.

“I’m a little worried about his future. He hasn’t shown interest in much of anything, and we obviously want our pup to succeed. Do you think you could push him a little? Maybe help him find a college or career training program to apply for? Or maybe a job that would interest him?”

My mouth fell open. “Me?” I asked stupidly.

“Right now, you are probably the only person he will listen to, being his girlfriend. I remember being that age; I thought with my heart and h**s, not my head. You have a good head on your shoulders, though, and I know you could help him even if you aren’t mates,” he clarified. “Please. It would mean a lot to his mother and me.”

“Um, okay,” I agreed. “I guess I can try.” My phone rang, interrupting our conversation.

“You can answer that. I’ll go distract my mother so you can have your boyfriend back after your call. Thank you, Quinn. You are a good girl, and we appreciate you,” Jaxx’s dad said, standing. I nodded, and he left me at the table.

I picked up the call quickly. “Hello?”

“Hey, Blue,” Michael said. I closed my eyes, warmth filling my chest. My heart calmed; I didn’t even realize how anxious I was. “What are you doing?” Someone was talking in the background.

“I’m at a graduation party,” I said carefully. I didn’t want to ruin a minute of relief by telling him it was Jaxx’s.

Michael said something I couldn’t hear. “Sorry about that. I can call you later if you’re busy,” he said, coming back to me. I looked up to see Jaxx walking toward me.

“That might be a good idea,” I told him. I wanted to talk to him, but I was still sitting right in the middle of Jaxx’s family and friends. “Are you free tonight?”

“After training,” he said.

“Don’t overdo it,” I said as Jaxx took the seat across from me. He frowned. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye!” I quickly hung up, knowing I would have to explain later. Thankfully, Christy and Aubree chose that moment to join us.

“We seriously need to ditch the grandparents and cousins and go have some fun,” she complained.

“There is actually a party out at the bluff tonight,” Jaxx said, his eyes still on me.

“Actually, I have a meeting in the morning with our Alpha. I don’t think I should go,” I blurted out.

“Alpha Lawrence has a screw loose,” Christy said. “All these new rules are getting out of hand. Soon he’s going to tell us we can’t leave the packland without permission.”

“Well, if he doesn’t give me permission, I can’t work and pay my school fees,” I explained.

“I guess we’ll miss you for this one,” Aubree said commiserately. I gave him a tight smile.

“Guess so,” I said.