N. Walters: Quinn's Quest

“It won’t be long now.” Meredith Striker, the owner of Haven and the female alpha of the pack that lived here, slipped onto the bar stool beside him. She usually wore long, slinky dresses and high-heeled shoes when she worked. Tonight she was wearing black slacks and a silk blouse, but still managed to look classy and stylish. Her black hair fell over her back like a curtain. She was a pureblooded werewolf, but she’d adopted four half-breeds, whom she treated the same way she did her two sons. She’d also opened her home to him and his brother.

“I know.”

“We’ll find her.”

Meredith’s words did nothing to buoy his confidence. He’d been making that same promise to himself over and over again this past year and a half. He didn’t know if he believed it any more. It had been too long without a word or a trace of his sister.

Hell, he’d infiltrated and worked with fucking paranormal bounty hunters for a year in the hopes of finding out some small scrap of information about who might have taken Chrissten. But he’d lost his last link to the hunters when he’d been forced to kill one of them to protect another werewolf. Still, his actions had garnered him the unexpected support from two packs of werewolves. Not to mention he’d found his birth father.

He shoved that thought aside. He didn’t want to think about Donovan Brody, the werewolf who’d had a short-lived relationship with his mother before abandoning her. The guy seemed okay, but Quinn didn’t feel any real connection with him and had no time to care.

All his thoughts were of his missing sister.

He was sorely afraid Chris was dead. The only thing that gave him any hope at all was the close bond they shared as twins. In his heart, he didn’t feel as though she was dead.

He rubbed his chest, feeling the ache growing there with each passing moment his beloved sister was missing.

The hair on the back of his neck stirred. Quinn didn’t need to turn around to know who was there. Isaiah Striker, Meredith’s husband and the alpha of this small pack. Quinn was here only because Isaiah had agreed to help him.

“I heard from Damek. He’ll be here after closing.”

Quinn closed his eyes and said a brief prayer of thanks. Until Isaiah confirmed it, he hadn’t believed the meeting would truly happen. He didn’t know who this Damek guy was or why they all thought he might be able to help, but at this point, Quinn would try anything. Isaiah and the rest of the pack had been strangely silent about Damek, telling Quinn next to nothing about him.

He shrugged. It didn’t matter who he was. Not if he could help.

Quinn continued to sit at the bar nursing his beer while Meredith and Isaiah went off to do whatever it was that needed doing. He’d been working at Haven himself for about a week as payment for his room and board. Nothing he could do would ever repay them if they actually helped him find his sister.

“You doing okay?”

Quinn shook his head. “I don’t know.” His brother took the seat Meredith had vacated and leaned his elbows on the bar. Craig was his brother, but he was totally human, the product of a yearlong affair his mother had with a dockworker. His mother had never been good at picking men and Craig’s father had disappeared as soon as he’d known Craig was on the way. Hell, Quinn’s father had left before he’d even known Quinn’s mom was pregnant with him and his sister.

Never in a million years had Quinn dreamed he and Craig would be temporarily living with a werewolf pack, half of which were half-breeds.

He could sense his brother’s excitement. Smell his fear. Craig was only twenty, but he was hell on wheels with a computer. His unassuming, kind face and wire-rimmed glasses hid a deep well of determination. Not that he was weak. Far from it. But he was human and wouldn’t be able to physically defeat a werewolf, not in hand-to-hand combat. His intellect was his greatest weapon and he’d used it these long months to aid Quinn in his search.

“You think this guy Damek can help?”

That was the million-dollar question. He turned to his brother and shrugged. “I don’t know.” He scrubbed a hand over his face as weariness settled over him. He couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that time was running out. “I hope so.”

“If not, we’ll find another way.”

That was Craig. He’d never lost hope, his mind always searching for new ways to work on the problem. “I’m glad you’re here.” And he was. The three of them had been close growing up, but even more so since their mother’s death. He and Chris had practically raised Craig. They were a family. Or they had been before disaster had struck.

“Me too.” Craig snagged a bowl of mixed nuts from a few feet down the bar and began munching. “You were away too long.”

He’d missed his younger brother during the unending months he’d been undercover with the paranormal bounty hunters. His occasional phone call with Craig had been his only connection to his past life, his only link to sanity. He’d missed a year and a half of his brother’s life. Craig was different now—harder, independent and more cynical. He’d matured, losing some of that indomitable spark he’d always had. But there was still a touch of it there, for which Quinn was profoundly thankful.

Unspoken was the fact that he’d been living with paranormal bounty hunters all that time. He’d worked with them. He’d killed with them. Granted, he’d only killed pureblooded werewolves who would have killed any half-breed. He’d also helped save a few of the good ones, like Isaiah and the Haven pack.

But he still had blood on his hands. A lot of it. And nothing to show for it. In all that time he’d never heard a whisper about his sister.

Craig sat beside him, a quiet presence. Quinn was grateful for the undemanding company. He didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to put too much faith in this Damek character. Maybe he could help. Maybe it would be another dead end.

Quinn didn’t know if he could take another disappointment.

Suck it up , he ordered himself. His sister was out there somewhere and he’d find her, no matter how long it took.

The night dragged on and his beer went warm. Craig drifted away at some point and Quinn was left alone with his thoughts. He sat at the far corner of the bar and watched all the people enjoying the club and bitterness coated his belly. His life had been like that once. Nothing more to worry about than earning a paycheck and having some fun. Okay, so his life had never been quite that carefree, but it had been his and he wanted it back.

He glanced down at his hands and saw the light from the flashing neon sign reflect against his skin. Red. White. Red. White. It looked like blood. He raised his fingers and studied them. They were strong and callused and capable, yet he still hadn’t managed to find his missing sister.

The minutes turned into hours and finally people began to leave. Michael, one of Meredith’s sons who was working behind the bar, gave the last call. There were no human members of staff working tonight so once all the patrons were gone only members of the pack, he and Craig remained.

Hank, who was the resident bouncer and a half-breed werewolf, closed and locked the door. “That’s it.” They all scattered, each taking care of the necessary tasks that came with closing down a bar for the night. Quinn knew he should be helping, but he just couldn’t stir himself to care. His gaze was focused on the locked door. How long would they have to wait until Damek arrived?

He finally pushed away from the bar and began stacking chairs on the tables so the floors would be cleared for cleaning. Anything to keep busy. The waiting was beginning to wear on him.

The other members of the pack worked quietly and efficiently. He knew Teague would be in the kitchen, making certain everything was shut down for the night. The tall red-haired male sported tattoos and a trio of gold earrings in his left ear. He was surly with most everyone but he was a hell of a cook and ruled the kitchen.