Page 28 of Wicked Wolf

His skin itched, and his head pounded. If he didn’t keep moving, keep pacing, he was going to either go wolf or pass out. Neither of those would do him any good right then.

“Quinn. Go for a run and let some of that energy out. You’re not doing any good here pacing and letting your wolf just get more amped up.”

Quinn let out a soft growl at Walker’s words. He didn’t want the Healer to tell him what to do. The other man might have been more dominant than him, but that didn’t mean he was in the right mind-set to deal with it. He didn’t want to go on a run and let his wolf burn off their energy.

He wanted his son to be healthy.

He wanted his son to be able to shift.

Claws ripped from his fingertips, and he let out a growl that shook the windows.

“Out!” Walker yelled, his voice sharp, deadly. “Your wolf is taking control, and I won’t have you hurting my patient.”

Quinn staggered back, his claws receding. His heart pounded, and his jaw dropped. “I would never hurt Jesse.”

Walker’s eyes glowed gold, his wolf coming to the forefront. “I’m sure you think that, but right now? I don’t know. I don’t know what you’d do by accident. You’ve been a loose cannon since you kicked Gina out of here, and now with Jesse taking a turn on top of that? I just don’t know. Go for a damn run then come back here.”

“I’ll run with you.”

Quinn turned around on his heel at the sound of his Alpha’s voice. “You have more important things to do than babysit me, Gideon.”

Gideon raised a brow. “First, I’m Alpha. You don’t get to tell me what to do. Second, the health and safety of my Pack is the most important thing on my list of worries and duties. So I’m going on a run with you, and we’re going to burn off your energy. Then you can come back here and sit with your son.”

Quinn let out a whimper, his wolf taking over. He looked at the closed door that hid the bed where his son slept.

“I don’t know that I can leave him,” he whispered, hating that he voiced his weakness.

Brandon, their Omega, put his hand on Quinn’s shoulder, and Quinn immediately relaxed enough to breathe. The other man had the ability to take emotional stress into himself—even if it cost him to do so. Quinn could feel some of the tension sliding out of his shoulders, his heart, and his soul.

“Go,” Brandon ordered softly. “We will be here by Jesse’s side. If we need you, we’ll howl. You’ll hear us.”

Defeated, Quinn lowered his head then turned toward the front door. He took a deep breath, knowing he was acting like a lunatic. “Thank you for watching my son.”

“He’s family,” Walker said.

With that, he followed Gideon out of the house and toward the clearing where they could shift. On their way, he could hear people milling about around him. Their pitying looks slayed him, but he did his best to ignore them. The others knew Jesse was ill, knew he might not make it through the week, but there was nothing any of them could do.

There was nothing he could do.

When they made it to the clearing, it was just him and Gideon, but for all the world, he felt like he was alone. Some of that was his doing, he knew, but not all. He couldn’t fix it.

They gave Quinn the space he needed, though it went against their nature to leave a wolf in distress. He couldn’t handle too many wolves though. Not right then and maybe not ever. How the hell was he still a lieutenant?

He didn’t deserve the title. Didn’t deserve the responsibility.

He only wanted his son to be healthy, and yet that seemed to be too much to ask. He’d do anything to give Jesse back his chance at life—only he wasn’t sure there was anything he could do, anything he could sacrifice to make that happen.

“We’ll figure out what’s wrong with him,” Gideon said, as if what he ordered would come true.

Quinn couldn’t lose hope, but right then, it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when his little boy was sick and in trouble.

“He can’t shift, Gideon,” he said, his voice breaking. He refused to look weak in front of the other wolves, but this was his Alpha. Gideon already knew everything about him and his strengths.

He still couldn’t believe it, couldn’t get the image of his son screaming in pain out of his mind. The agony on Jesse’s face…

He fell on all fours and threw up, his body shaking.

Gideon ran a hand down Quinn’s back as he tried to catch his breath.