Inevitably Yours

QUINN

I was sitting up in bed with a book resting against my knees. Christy had called a little while ago to ask if I wanted her to do my hair and makeup for the parade. I had to remind her that band girls were just supposed to wear ponytails; she then proceeded to spend twenty minutes trying to convince me to switch to flags with her. She was growing on me but was still a lot of energy at times.

I finished the book Michael brought me already and was waiting for an opportunity to return it to him. I might have brought it to him if I knew where he lived. My eyes wandered over to it sitting on my desk. He promised he’d be at the parade in the morning, but he had been utterly absent since last week. It left an uncomfortable pressure in my gut.

My phone went off on the nightstand next to me. Grabbing it, I perked up, seeing his name.

MICHAEL

| ready for tomorrow?

I sent my reply immediately, not wanting him to disappear again.

ME

| maybe

| still going to be there?

MICHAEL

| wouldn’t miss a chance to see you

ME

| you miss every band practice

MICHAEL

| I told you. I have other stuff going on.

I bit my l*p, rereading his message. It was sort of short, and I immediately worried that I was making him angry. Before I could craft a response, he texted me again.

MICHAEL

| I can’t wait to see you march and play.

ME

| let’s hope I don’t fall

| Stuart will annihilate me

MICHAEL

| f**k that douche

| he won’t mess with you when I am around

ME

| how do you know?

MICHAEL

| don’t you trust me?

ME

| well, yea

MICHAEL

| then don’t worry about anything

He made everything sound so simple. I wasn’t exactly sure that Stuart would fall in line if Michael told him to be nice. Neither of them seemed like they liked to be told what to do.

I looked at the clock and begrudgingly acknowledged that I should probably get some sleep before tomorrow. Although running practice was canceled in favor of the pack holiday, my mom still needed help with her barbeque preparations. Many pack members celebrated with a party at the packhouse but not everyone. My parents usually hosted friends and family at our house after the parade. I preferred it because there was less of a crowd and I could escape to my room when I was bored of the party.

ME

| we should go to bed. tomorrow is a long day

MICHAEL

| I guess I will see you in my dreams

| night Quinn

My cheeks warmed reading his parting message. I shoved my book and phone away and shrank down into my covers. Why was he always catching me off guard like that?

–

I stood toward the back of the parade line, the rest of my section milling around near me. Our section was almost at the back. The trombones would line up in front of us with only the baritones and tuba section behind us. I figured that Michael probably marched with the tubas.

I craned my neck as my sweaty hands gripped my neck strap. We only had a few minutes until we would be brought into position, and I still hadn’t seen him. I was already nervous about marching and playing simultaneously; at practice, I realized I was adept at marching and could play the music well, but chaos ensued when I combined the two.

“He’s coming; he promised,” Sapphire reassured.

“What if he has more family stuff?” I shot back.

“The whole pack celebrates today. He will be here,” she said.

I kept looking around the crowded street. “Looking for someone?” a voice said behind me. I turned around, smiling. Relief swam through me.

“There you are!” I said happily. “I thought you would miss this.”

“Told you I would come,” he said with his charming smile. His sax hung around his neck, large but suiting his size. He looked a little tired, but his smile was big and genuine. “I’m also not the only one showing up for the first time today. Seniors can parade in their sleep.”

I looked around and realized he was right. There were some unfamiliar faces among the group. I scowled at him. “No excuse,” I said.

“It’s Founder’s Day,” he smiled at me. “Lighten up. It’s going to be fun.”

“You’ve got to be f*****g kidding me,” Sandra blurted out behind me. Michael looked over my shoulder, his smile not faltering.

“Problem?” he said. I turned to look over my shoulder at her face that had a scowl on it. She shook her head and walked away. I realized other people were staring at us. Was that because of her outburst or who I was talking to?

“Why is everyone looking at us like that?” I asked, turning my attention back to Michael.

Michael shrugged. “Who knows?” he laughed. I think he knew exactly why, so I frowned at him. Before I could pester him further, a whistle blew, telling us to get in position. Michael reached up and pinched my cheek softly. “I’m back here. See you at the packhouse.”

He turned to head to the back with the tubas. I went to get into my spot too, but I heard him call my name before I got there. “What?” I called back.

“Don’t trip!” he laughed. My cheeks flushed red, and I spun around, purposely not responding. I lined up in my spot between Stuart and Mitch; Stuart gave me an angry glare.

“Seriously?” he hissed at me.

“What?” I asked.

“The school year hasn’t even started. Are you the freshman slut or something?” he said in a low voice. My jaw dropped; I knew he didn’t like me, but where did that come from?

We were called to attention, so all I could do was focus on marching and playing. His words hurt, though, and I wondered if I made a mistake joining the marching band at all. I was no stranger to bullies or generally ugly people, but I never expected it to be so easily directed at me.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

The parade moved through the pack. We played song after song as pack members cheered from the sidelines. All the little pups seemed the most excited. I remembered coming to the parade with my parents, always enthralled with the musicians. I planned on staying at the party for a short time, only enough to see Michael for a bit and then escape all the commotion. With how my classmates were acting around me after talking to Michael, I wasn’t too excited to stay at all.

I tried to look around in my peripherals at all the happy pack members in between songs. A couple of times, I caught Sandra and Stuart giving me seething looks from their spots at either end of the line. I tried not to show it physically, but it made me wither a bit inside.

We made it to the end of the parade, right on the edge of the packhouse’s expansive lawn. A large trailer had been brought over with all the empty instrument cases so we could pack away our things. I was happy to have made it through without tripping, but I had only pretended to play during a couple of songs that I couldn’t quite remember the music.

“You didn’t fall!” Michael said, joining me in the queue to grab our cases.

“No, I didn’t,” I said with a half-smile.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his face falling a little.

I looked around. “I just want to get out of here. I don’t like crowds.” It was true, just not the whole truth. I didn’t want to admit how much the weird looks were bothering me.

People were beginning to converge on the packhouse as the parade procession came to an end. Michael and I got our cases and moved to the side to pack away our things. “You did well,” he said. “Now the first time jitters are gone.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I said. “I’ve raced plenty of times, and I still get nervous. Can you honestly tell me you never get nervous when you go wrestle or play?”

“Not really,” he said, shutting the clasps on his case. “I know what I can do. I just don’t let anyone else do what they want to do.”

I rolled my eyes. Once our things were put back away to be taken back to the school for us, Christy came running over to me.

“Hey!” she said excitedly. “Come eat with us!”

“Actually, I wasn’t really going to stay-” I said.

“She is busy right now,” Michael cut in. Christy stopped and looked at him, just realizing he was standing with me.

“Quinn, what are you doing with him?” she asked, her eyes darting between us.

My eyebrows knitted. “What do you mean?” I asked.

She didn’t answer me. Stuart called her name, and she looked over her shoulder. “Just, uh, call me later or something,” she said, turning back to me. She gave Michael another lingering look and then ran away.

“Why is everyone acting so weird?” I thought.

Michael reached out and grabbed my hand. “Come on,” he said. He led me away with him. There were some startling gasps as he headed toward the packhouse with me in tow. When we got around to the side away from people, he stopped.

“Why is everyone acting that way?” I asked.

“You really don’t know still?” he asked, coming closer to me. I stepped back involuntarily until I hit the brick of the packhouse. We were well out of eyeshot from the crowd gathering as people arrived from the parade. Music was already being fed through a speaker system, creating a hum in the air. I suspected only someone walking close by would hear us.

“Know what?” I asked. My eyes searched his, trying to find the piece I was missing.

Michael laughed. “Goddess, you’re cute,” he said. He placed his arms on either side of me, caging me in. I looked at him in confusion. His proximity made my heart speed up, but I didn’t feel scared. “Quinn, I am the Alpha’s son. All those people are whispering and talking because you are hanging out with the future Alpha of the pack.”

My jaw opened in shock. “What?” My mind was spinning. I spent all this time with the Alpha’s son, and I had no idea. “Wait, everyone was saying that you have a reputation… that you get with all the girls.”

Everything started to fall into place, but my brain was only slowly processing it all.

He laughed again. “Yea, I guess I do,” he said as he shrugged. “It wasn’t a hard reputation to earn, though.” The look he gave me made my insides warm. He looked at me like a predator playing with its prey.

“So it’s all true?”

“I’m sure there are bits of truth in all the stories,” he answered. He leaned in closer, his face only inches from mine. His breath was minty and cool. Goosebumps raised on my skin.

“Wait, then why are we here?” My voice was almost a whisper; I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

“Because, Quinn, I like you. I thought I had made that clear already. I like you, and I have wanted to do this since I met you at the pool,” he said. He leaned down, and I froze. His lips met mine in a soft, firm k**s.