My Mate Next-Door

16: Quinton's Special Place

We left early in the morning to get there before too many people were hiking, so his secret spot would be safe. The trees were poking us as we went through the secret pathway. I thought to myself for a solid ten minutes that Quinton was getting us lost for sure. Soon, it opened up into a solid rock wall. Perplexed, I looked up at Quinton, trying to give him my best, WE ARE LOST face. Quinton laughed and showed me to the side of a jutted out rock, revealing a secret entrance to a cave. Heading inside, we found a huge opening in the ceiling, where water poured down inside in a beautiful waterfall. It was beautiful. I had never seen anything so pretty before.

"I've got express permission from the tribe who lives in this cave to visit whenever I want. We should go say hello, though, just to be polite." Quinton told me proudly. Soon, a few people appeared out of the darkness from the carved stone doorway off in the distance. Monsters. I backed myself behind Quinton, scared out of my mind. Why would monsters fraternize with a human?

"Ah! QUINTON!" The man bellowed with gusto. The woman smiled and gestured towards me, "A new pet of yours, Quinton?" She asked inquisitively. Quinton laughed and moved aside so they could see me.

"No, Cocoa is a job assignment from my work with the FBI. How's the family doing, Benton?" Quinton asked as he sat down on a rock. The man, Benton, laughed at Quinton's relaxed demeanor and replied, "We just recently received some new souls. If you come back in eight or so months, you'll be able to meet the babies." I growled at his blatant show of kidnapping to my face! How dare he take those innocent women! And now he was going to steal away their babies for more monsters like him! I barked at them and pulled against the leash to lunge at them.

"Cocoa, please! If you keep tugging on the leash, the collar will activate!" Quinton begged, but I didn't listen. A minute later, volts of electricity rippled through my body, and I fell down to the ground in pain. "Oh, poor baby!" The woman cooed at me in feigned sympathy. Quinton sighed and apologized to them. They laughed and waved his apology away.

"It's a delight to see such a specimen under your care, Quinton! It gives me ideas on how to deal with the wolf problem we have ourselves." Benton said, smirking at me, struggling to stand back up. Quinton nodded and smiled at them.

"Oh, of course. I remember you telling me about the wolf issue last time! Did the traps my friend send you help any?" Quinton asked. I looked back at Quinton in horror that he had been helping them. Benton shook his head sadly, and a few tears escaped his eyes, "Unfortunately, they killed more than one of our targets. Souls were lost. We stopped using them after that night." Quinton apologized again, and the man and woman headed back inside their home.

Quinton stood up and walked over to the waterfall, sticking a hand into its cold water. I lay down next to him and huffed angrily. If I could talk to him, I would've given Quinton several earfuls. Quinton patted my head and sighed, "You shouldn't have pulled! I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen, Cocoa!"

I looked into the water and stuck a paw inside. It was cold and deep, but I could feel it swirling down, probably out to a river or the ocean. Pretty pink flowers lined the walls of the cave, their scent like that of marshmallows. It gave the whole cave a fairytale feel.

We both stared into the water, sadly. So much had happened in the span of six months. I thought back to the years I had spent in the laboratory. Being poked and prodded, shocked, and cut open on multiple occasions. It was such a hard ordeal for me. At one point, I had given up on life and just let them do their experiments on me. I was so skeptical of ever leaving there that when Quinton had shown up, I thought he was trying to trick me. I had to take the chance, though. I had to try for the possibility of freedom.

Quinton soon sighed and walked us back to the car. He buckled up and took off, finally setting us on the long journey back home.

I thought of Damien and his pack. The wolf nation would surely need a king if they wanted to deal with the monster problem. Although, for Damien to be king, he would need a queen. Usually, that was the King's fated mate, but would I be willing to fill that role? It was a huge responsibility, and I wasn't sure if I was up to snuff.

I let myself drift off to sleep, ignoring all my thoughts and anxious feelings. When we arrived home, I could smell something different. I wasn't sure what, but the house no longer smelled how it did when we left.

Quinton went up to bed without me, and as soon as I lay down on the couch, a man appeared out of the shadows. I growled, but he sped over and clamped my mouth shut. The pressure hurt, and it felt like he was going to break my snout.

"Tell me why I shouldn't suck you dry right here right now." He asked me menacingly. Because I'm not what your after. Otherwise, you would've done it already.

"I want to know why you and that human went to our cave. Father said not to worry about Quinton but you came along as well. Why?" He seethed. I had no choice. I am under his care currently as I am wolfbound.

"If I find out at any point you've lied to me, I'll take you as my own personal blood bag for the rest of your miserable life." He whispered into my ear and then disappeared into the night.

It was hard to sleep after that but just right before dawn my mind finally turned off enough to drift off.