My Quiet Mate

Chapter 8: The Ride and Exposed Fears

(Quinn POV)

I chuckled as Eli rubbed against me, then Isaac came up, then Liam and did, and one by one so did the rest of the pack. Confused I looked to Asher who just sat there with his tale wagging and a toothy smile.

Once the whole pack had rubbed against me Asher trotted up and rubbed face on his chest lovingly. We looked at each other and after a second he raised up one of his large paws and rested it gently on my forehead. There was strange feeing, like a serge of power and a slight tingle went through me. It went away after a moment and once it did Asher gave me a big lick and the pack started yipping excitedly.

To say I was confused was the least of it. I looked over to Stephanie who was beaming at me. "What just happened?" I asked as I pushed an excited Eli away from me.

"You have been accepted into the pack!" she squealed and glomped me with a hug.

I hissed in pain when she pressed on my still healing back and she quickly retracted and Asher was by my side in a second to check me over. "I'm fine," I assured him. I smiled at him and shivered in the cold. I hadn't realized that the sun had gone down already and a slight wind had started to puck up, dropping the temperature. Stupid Oregon.

Asher nudged me towards the door of the house and I started walking that way. I opened the door and all of the wolves rushed in as I held the door opened. Stephanie brought up the rear and dragged me into the house. I followed the pack of wolves through the maze of a house and soon came into a large living room with an adjoining kitchen.

My eyes widened at the size of it all. The living room alone was the size of half of my house and everything was modernized. There were large windows lining the wall and you had a full 180-degree view of the forest. I let out an amazed gasp and just soaked in the view. After a minute I let out a large yawn and my eye-lids became heavier.

Asher gently grabbed my sleeve between his teeth and tugged me to some stairs that were in the back of the room. As I let Asher lead me up the stairs I had one last look at the pack that accepted me. My heart swelled with happiness and I let out a large smile.

"Goodnight honey," Stephanie called out softly to me.

"Goodnight everybody," I called back and got a chorus of yips in response.

Asher led me through a long hallway and once he got to the door he wanted he looked to me then to the closed door. I opened it and Asher slipped inside with me close behind. Once I was in he nudged the door shut and I looked around the dim room. It was a bedroom with a large king sized bed that had a dark blue comforter and the walls were painted a light grey. There were two other doors in the room but I was too tired to check out what they were. I made my way over to the bed and crawled under the covers. Asher jumped up after me and wrapped himself around me like he did at the cottage.

I quickly fell asleep with Asher's warmth around me. Right as I was slipping into sleep I thought I felt arms wrap around me, but I trusted Asher to protect me, so I just fell asleep while scooting closer to his warm body.

He was hitting me, again. It wasn't like it was anything new, I don't even know what I did this time. My dad and my brother were going to town on my. My face was a mess of bruises and my bones were broken.

I couldn't move, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. I was choking and my brother and father were laughing. I put my hands over my neck and pulled my hands away to see blood. I let out a silent scream as my brother and fathers faces contorted into hideous shapes. Mocking me.

My eyes snapped open and I took large lungful's of air. I was drenched in sweat and Asher was still curled around me, sleeping peacefully. I ran my hand through my hair and looked at the clock, four in the morning. Stupid nightmares.