Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Gravity

Hours of suffocating darkness passed before Quinn heard the lair’s door creak… then slam.
A snarl. A bump. Soft laughter.

Calista’s.

Quinn shifted, inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing the tension out of his shoulders and his jaw. He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles, feigning nonchalance.

As if he wasn’t teetering right on the edge of snapping.

The door handle rattled. Another growl.

“Fuck, Cali, you smell so good. I need inside of you so fucking bad right now.”

Alpha.

Quinn gritted his teeth, swallowing the low rumble that rose in his chest. Every instinct screamed at him to tear the fire ghoul apart the second he walked through the door, but he kept his cool. For now.

They stumbled in together, all tangled limbs and wandering hands. Drunk on lust.

Oblivious to the seething presence who waited for them in the darkness.

Bile rose in Quinn’s throat, and his stomach dropped, feeling like he was going to vomit, but he kept perfectly still. Watching. Waiting. Every muscle aching to lash out.
Hidden whilst Alpha and Calista clawed at each other like starved animals.

She shoved Alpha against the door, hands going between them to work on his pants.

Fiery eyes snapped up and met Quinn’s, widening in horror when his presence registered. Alpha growled, grabbing Calista’s wrist to still her, wary gaze fixed on him.

Quinn smirked and let just enough fang show, eyes burning blue in the dark.

Alpha shoved Calista behind him, shielding her with his body and flicking the light switch. Illumination spilled across the room, exposing them. The shadows retreated, leaving nothing to hide.

“Fuck,” Alpha rasped, hoarse voice cracking with doused desperation.

Calista peeked out from behind him, pure shock on her face when she saw Quinn sitting there, perfectly at home in the shadows.
Her expression would have been comical, had this happened under different circumstances.

For a long moment, they were frozen, the air between them drawn taut. They didn’t take their eyes off Quinn.

He eyed them with the measured stare of a predator sizing up his prey. Unblinking, poised like a rattlesnake ready to strike.

Enough of this shit.

He rose. Stalked closer. Eyes blazing.

So close to ripping Alpha apart, just as viciously as he’d torn up the boar a mere few hours ago.

“No. I don’t think there is going to be any fucking in the near future for you, Alpha.” Quinn flicked his eyes to Calista. “Not anymore.”

Calista’s breath hitched, and she gripped the leather of Alpha’s jacket like it was a lifeline. The fire ghoul reached back and patted her hip. Quinn followed the movement and narrowed his eyes, tilting his head at the casual, familiar ease with which Alpha touched her.

And she let him.

His eyes flared brighter, and Alpha came to his senses. Finally.

“What the fuck are you doing in my room? Get the fuck out!”

Quinn sighed in a bored way, a humourless grin curling his lips. It was all teeth. A predator’s smile.
As if he was just going to leave, now that he’d caught the two of them.

“I had a little inkling something was amiss. My curiosity got the better of me. I was right. As per fucking usual,” he snarled, restraint slipping. He got to his feet and closed the distance between them, invading Alpha’s personal space. Quinn focused on him, but addressed Calista. “Really, little one? How long have you been slumming it? I thought you had better taste than that.”

The surge of absolute fury from her was a surprise, and she shoved her way out from behind Alpha, getting between them and baring her fangs at Quinn, chin tilted defiantly.

“No, Quinn. You don't get to say shit like that. Not to me or to him! What I do is none of your concern. How long? None of your business!” she snarled, temper snapping.

Quinn eased back a step, brow arched, while she bristled, shoulders squaring, a low growl vibrating from her chest.

“Really, Calista? None of my concern? None of my business?” he sneered. “You are wrong. You’ve always been my concern. You are mine to protect. I went through seasons and seasons of torment searching for you and worrying about you, and suddenly now you are none of my business? No.”

Her eyes flashed in temper, and she gave an indignant snort. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“I am not yours.” She stepped forward, jabbing a finger at his chest. “You don’t get to dictate who I can and cannot fuck just because of our history. I love you, Quinn. I do. And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But this?” She gestured between her and Alpha. “You don’t get a say in this.”

Quinn let out a slow, bitter exhale, eyes narrowed.

“I think I do, Calista. I think I get more of a say in this than anyone.”

She frowned, pursing her lips, and Quinn could feel the dismay in her emotional grid. How the fuck had she expected he’d react, though? The fact that she’d hidden this from him meant she’d surely known.

The tension ratcheted tighter when Alpha’s hands closed on Calista’s shoulders, guiding her aside with a gentleness that belied the rage Quinn sensed he fought so hard to contain.

“Fuck this,” he growled. “She’s right. This isn’t your fucking business, Quinn. She doesn’t need you or Air to protect her now. Calista can look after herself. And she’s got me now.”

Alpha’s words hit Quinn’s chest dead centre. The walls he’d built to contain the pain and rage cracked and Quinn lunged. Grabbed Alpha and spun him around.

Quinn pinned him to the wall, using superior height and strength to hold him there, pushing his face into the brick.

The breath left Alpha’s lungs, body tense against him. Alpha struggled, trying to throw Quinn off, but it was no use. Not when Quinn had the weight of this betrayal behind him.

“And look what a stellar job you’re doing right now, Alpha,” Quinn gritted out. “It seems to me Calista’s been scratching an itch with you. Before long, you’ll get bored and hurt her. I cannot... No, I will not, let that happen. I will tear out your throat when it does.”

Calista yanked at Quinn’s arm, a frustrated whine escaping her.

“Get a grip, Quinn!” she snapped, trying and failing to pull him away. He grunted but didn’t loosen his hold. “Do you hear yourself? It doesn’t matter if he hurts me. That’s part of life! I’ve got my own life now! I need to live it how I want to. I need to take my own risks! I understand this is a shock for you, and I didn’t want you to find out this way. Maybe I should have mentioned it to you.” Quinn snorted at that. Seriously? “But I need to make my own choices and figure things out for myself.”

Somewhere deep down, Quinn knew she was right, and that only made this hurt more. Made his already battered and bruised heart stutter as his stubborn anger swelled.

“No!” Quinn snapped, turning to her. “I don’t want this for you! You need someone who will take care of you and love you. Someone safe. Someone gentle. Not some hot-headed, damaged fire ghoul with an impulse control problem and a fucking death wish!”

He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth, trying to rein himself in. He was hurt, yes, but he didn’t want to push her away. “This ends now, Calista. Before it gets any worse. You’ll get over it,” Quinn said more reasonably.

Raw agony ripped through him. Not his own, though.

Alpha’s.

So potent that just for a moment, it completely disoriented Quinn.

The fire ghoul took full advantage of his distraction, shoving him off and knocking him to the ground. Within a heartbeat, the tables had turned, and Quinn lay on his back, Alpha’s heated forearm pressed into his throat.

Alpha’s eyes burned with amber flames, and he leaned in, nose almost touching Quinn’s. A low growl rumbled from Alpha, and if Quinn hadn’t been so shocked right then, he would’ve been impressed with the other ghoul’s tenacity.

“This is not about what you want. It’s about what Calista wants,” Alpha gritted out. “I may be hot-headed, and I may be fucking damaged, but at least I don’t try to dictate what she does. If you knew her at all, you would know what she wants. She wants to be free. She wants to have fun and live her life to the fullest without anyone telling her what to do or who she should be with. Lista is absolutely fucking spectacular, and I will be proud to call her my mate!”

Quinn blinked eyes flaring, and he lifted his lip from his fangs.

What the fuck did Alpha just say?

It rendered Quinn momentarily speechless.

“Do not tell her what she should and shouldn’t do. That is up to her and her alone,” Alpha spat.

Quinn’s focus was now completely on Calista. She carefully reached out and put a hand on Alpha’s shoulder. Her touch calmed him instantly, some of the tension leaving his body.

“What did you just say, Alfie?” Calista said uncertainly.

Alpha inhaled slowly and blew the breath out. He backed away from Quinn, removing the arm from his throat.

Quinn stayed still, gaze sliding from Calista to Alpha and back again.

A flicker of a bond glowed between them, like delicate strands of flame and water intertwining, fuzzed around the edges with tendrils of mist.

Tentative. Vibrant. Beautiful.

Absolutely agonising.

A deafening rush in Quinn's ears. As brutal as if he was standing waist-deep in the ether’s river again, its current surging through him, threatening to pull him under.

His vision narrowed, breath catching on a whine that he forced back down before either of them noticed.

Quinn’s world fell away. Hurtling through the air towards the ground. Free falling and spiralling completely out of control.

He’d seen their potential and dismissed it.

That had been a grave mistake.

“I said I’d be proud to call you my mate,” Alpha murmured. “I think that’s what you are, Lista. I’ve thought it for a while. And Meg thinks so too.”

The bond between them flared, brighter. Quinn’s mind blanked for a heartbeat, a surge of anger and devastation rising up and threatening to overwhelm him.

Pure joy from Calista. Relief and love from Alpha. She cupped his cheek and pulled Alpha closer.

Bile stung the back of Quinn’s throat once again, and he clawed his way back, away from them.
But he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He climbed to his feet, cold anger settling in his gut like lead.

“Are you fucking serious?” Quinn growled.

Calista’s temper seared the air, and she turned on him.

“Open your eyes, Quinn,” she said. “You’re quintessence! Surely you can see what’s going on here?”

He scowled, the manifestation of their bond more and more obvious the longer he stared. Taunting him. Rubbing salt into the now gaping wound in his soul.

First his fight with Air, and now this.

Quinn shook with rage, knuckles white, as he clenched his fists with the effort of trying to contain it.
He bared his fangs in frustration.

Because she was right.

He should have seen what was going on. Should have realised. Should have been happy that Calista was finally able to live.

So why did it feel like he was losing her all over again?

“Fuck this!” he snapped, turning his back on them and stalking towards the door.

He threw it open so hard it slammed against the brickwork, sending chunks of debris flying.

It didn’t matter.

He needed to get the fuck away from them before someone ended up hurt.

Someone other than him.

The walk back to his lair didn’t register. Nor did letting himself into the apartment.

Before he knew it, he stood by his and Air’s bedroom door, hands braced on the jambs, forehead to the wood once again.

He sensed his mate on the other side. He’d probably been sleeping. Wasn’t anymore.

Quinn felt him approach. Felt him steel himself on the other side of the threshold. Heard the weary sigh of resignation.

The door opened and Air stood there, hair mussed from sleep, shirtless, purple eyes glinting...

Quinn’s sanctuary. The only place he could ever feel safe.

He studied Quinn for a moment. Tilted his head and frowned.

The air seemed to still around them as the universe held its breath. Two stars flickering in the darkness; one on the verge of collapse, the other guiding him back into its orbit.

A moment of silence. Two.
And then?

Air closed the distance between them, fisting Quinn’s shirt and dragging him inside. Smashing their lips together with a snarl.

Quinn let him.

How could he even try to resist when his universe was falling apart, and the only thing he could still cling to was here in this room?