Taste of Wolves

Chapter 2

Aria ran all her aunt's errands but her mind kept going back to that giant of man who wore the strange leather vest and was covered in ink. He intrigued her and she kicked herself for not at least catching his name. This was a relatively small town so she was sure she'd run into him again at some point. When she returned home, she gave her aunt the mail she'd picked up and all the packages she'd been sent to get earning a wide smile in thanks. She headed down to the basement to finish getting her rig set up and then begin testing everything to make sure it was working properly. A few hours later and her aunt was calling her to lunch. She kept her tests running while she went to eat with her aunt.

She thanked her aunt for making them some lunch even if it were just some grilled cheese sandwiches. Linda told her it was no problem since she had a little energy that day. As they ate, Aria asked what her aunt wanted for dinner. They chatted about various dishes Aria could make and foods that Linda was able to eat and keep down. It was finally settled on spaghetti for dinner as they finished up their lunch. Aria took out a pound of hamburger meat to start thawing before heading back down to her office to continue running her tests and making sure her system was hooked up right.

After a few weeks, the pair had gotten into a routine. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays she had to take her aunt for her cancer treatments. While her aunt was busy with her treatments, she ran any errands that Linda needed her to run. Each day after breakfast, Aria cleaned up the house of what little needed to be cleaned. After they returned home, she watched some tv or a movie with her aunt until lunch time where she made them lunch for them. After lunch, Aria headed to her office to start her first stream of the day. She streamed until dinner time where she ended the stream so she could make and eat dinner. After she cleaned up from dinner, she headed back down to her office for her second stream of the day. Once a week on Sunday Aria would do the grocery shopping for that week. Saturdays were laundry day.

It was a nice schedule for them both and it was a great help to Linda to have someone keep the house clean and get her to and from her treatments. She was always extremely tired after the treatments but she knew her niece would help her into the vehicle and into the house. Linda knew she'd made the right choice in asking her niece to move in and help her instead of begging her son and guilt-tripping him into doing it. Although she wasn't sure "streaming" was a legitimate job, Aria made money from it and she wasn't selling herself to do it so Linda never said a word to her about her activities.

Aria kept thinking back to the monster of a man she'd met shortly after she'd arrived in Charming and wondered what he was up to. Was he single? Married? What was with the vest he wore that she vaguely recalled the other members of his party all wearing too? How many tattoos did he have? Sometimes she drove herself crazy at night thinking about him as she laid in bed trying to go to sleep. There was something almost calming about his presence even though he exuded danger and mystery. It was a combination she found herself attracted to as she thought of him.

Two months had passed and Quinn was going crazy trying to find this mystery woman. He hadn't seen her vehicle whenever he went out in town and he was certain she hadn't left town yet. He looked every time he left the clubhouse hoping to find her vehicle. There was none like it that he'd seen in town so he figured it he saw the vehicle, he could catch her. He wasn't sure what he'd say to her all he was focused on was finding her again. The perpetual funk the large man seemed to be in was concerning to Chibs but each time the Scotsman asked Quinn about it, he always said he was fine and it was nothing. Chibs never believed him but didn't call him out on it since he was still able to do his duties to the club.

One evening Quinn was out for a ride trying to figure out a way to find the mystery woman who was haunting his dreams when he came upon a scene he had to stop and check out. He had been riding past the local diner around dinner time and he found a woman being pushed up against a car. There was a bag on the ground near her feet and she was trying her best to push the man off her. Quinn quickly parked his bike, stalked over, and shoved the guy away from her. She watched on in disbelief as the creep who'd tried attacking her rushed at the man who had shoved him. She stared, slack-jawed, as the bigger man punched him in the face making him stumble backwards and fall to his butt.

He quickly got up and rushed at the bigger man again who quickly grabbed him by the throat and threatened great bodily harm if he didn't leave immediately and never look at, interact with, or think about touching the young woman again. The bigger man had him standing on his tippy toes with his large hand firmly around his neck squeezing. He just nodded before the big guy let him go. She turned to get a better look at her savior and was shocked to discover it was the long-haired, tattooed hottie she'd noticed that day over two months ago on the sidewalk as she was running errands for her aunt. He quickly turned his attention to her making her heart race.

"Are you ok?" He asked, eyes scanning her body and then her face.

His pulse quickened as he realized who she was. It was the mystery woman he'd been searching for!

"I'm, uh, fine. Thanks for that. It's greatly appreciated." She stated as she stared up into his eyes.

"It's no problem. I don't take too kindly to that kind of stuff." He stated, "I'm Rane. Rane Quinn. Everyone just calls me Quinn."

She thought his rambling was rather cute as she smiled up at him.

"Aria. Aria Westwood. But everyone calls me Wolfie. It's nice to meet you, Quinn." She stated making his heart do backflips as she said his name.

He wondered why she was called Wolfie. It was a strange nickname!

"Aria. Pretty name for a pretty lady." He stated making her face flush.

"I should get going. Our food is getting cold." She replied as she bent down to grab the bag that held their dinner in it.

His heart dropped out from under him. He hadn't thought about the possibility of her having a man in her life.

"Who's we?" He blurted out making her smile at him.

"My aunt and I." Aria replied, "I live with her to help take care of her while she's fighting cancer."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. If you need anything, please let me know." He quickly told her.

"And how will I do that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Give me your phone and I'll input my number. Call me anytime you need anything or need some help." He held his hand out for her to take seizing the opportunity to get her number.

"You don't have to do this." She stated as she took her phone out of her back pocket.

"It's my honor." He smiled as he began adding his information into her phone, "I'll get your number too so I know it's you calling and I don't ignore it."

He thought his reason for getting her number was smooth as he handed her phone back and dug his out of his kutte.

"Sounds fair." She said before giving him her number, "Thanks for helping me out tonight. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Aria. Hopefully I'll see you around." He told her as he put his phone back into his pocket.

"Maybe. I don't go out a lot." She replied.

"How come?" He asked.

"I work from home and I need to be there to help my aunt." She explained earning a head nod.

"Well maybe we can get together sometime that you can get away." He said, eyes wandering over her tiny body.

"Maybe." She winked bringing another smile to his face, "Now, I really must get going before our food gets cold."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Aria. Drive safe, ok?" He said as she opened up the driver's door of the car she'd been leaning against.

"I will. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance too, Quinn. Be safe out there." She replied before climbing into the car and shutting the door.

He sighed as he watched her back out of her space and leave the lot. At least he got her name and number. Now it was just a matter of finding the time to take her out on a date. With his main goal accomplished, he hopped back on his bike and headed back to the clubhouse. He wondered about the vehicle she'd been driving that night. It wasn't the same one he'd seen her in the day he'd seen her out in town. Which was her vehicle? When he returned, Chibs noted the big man seemed relaxed and almost happy again. 'Wha' in the world 'appened while 'e was out tonight?' the Scotsman thought to himself.

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