Page 29 of Wicked Wolf

“We’ll figure it out, Quinn. We’re not going to lose him.”

Spent, Quinn sat down and rested his forearms on his knees. “I don’t know what I’ll do if…”

“Stop it. Don’t even say it. We’re going to figure it out. Now, tell me exactly what happened when it first started.”

“I’ve already told you and Walker. Brandon too.” He’d done it without emotion, without looking at them. His eyes had been on Jesse, as if he could will his son to shift and be healthy.

“True, but I want to hear it again. Maybe there’s a detail I’m missing. Maybe there is something we can do to slow the progression so we have more time.”

Time. God, he just wanted more time. Jesse was only five years old. He deserved more time.

He took a deep breath, his wolf calming down at his Alpha’s presence. Maybe he wouldn’t need that run after all. Maybe just getting out of the situation for a few minutes would work.

“After Gina left—”

“After you kicked her out,” Gideon cut in.

Quinn let out a growl. “You know why I did that.”

“Yes. I do. But that doesn’t mean you had to do it that way. I haven’t heard from Kade yet, but I have a feeling I might.”

Quinn closed his eyes and let out a curse. “What happened between me and Gina happened between me and Gina. Not between the Packs. We can’t let everything we’ve tried to do for the strength of our Packs fall apart because we chose not to mate.”

Gideon sighed, and Quinn opened his eyes. “True, but you were an asshole according to Walker. There are going to be consequences, but we’ll deal with those when the time comes. The fact that you could have mated at all is a step in the right direction. You’re the first to feel your mate in years, Quinn. Add in the fact it’s a cross-Pack potential mating, and it’s a good thing.”

He swallowed hard and rubbed the spot over his heart. “I can’t talk about her, Gideon.”

His Alpha leveled him a gaze. “You might not have a choice, but we’ll move on for the moment. Tell me what happened after she left.”

“Walker reamed me a new one and left.”

“Good for him.”

“Gideon.”

“Keep going.”

Quinn sighed. “Like I said, Walker left soon after, and I made dinner for me and Jesse. He hadn’t eaten before he’d gone to sleep, so I knew he’d need some protein.”

“You’d just shifted with Gina.”

“Gideon,” he whispered.

“Go on.”

“I woke up Jesse, and we ate.” Quinn ran a hand over his face. “I could tell he was a little more tired than usual, but I thought it was just because I’d woken him up from his nap. He’d also played with Walker that morning. I thought he was just tired.”

“What happened next?”

“We finished eating. Jesse wanted to shift to his wolf because it had been a few days. Normally, that’s not a problem, you know, sometimes we just want to let our wolf roam. I didn’t want to go to the clearing and deal with people, and if Jesse was still tired, I didn’t want to make it worse. So instead, I let Jesse try to shift in the living room.” He paused and met Gideon’s gaze for a moment before turning away from the power in that stare. “Tried, Gideon. Tried. He couldn’t. He screamed like someone was trying to kill him, and I thought I’d died right with him.”

Gideon gripped his shoulder. “You got Walker right away and held your son. You did all you could do.”

“It wasn’t enough.” God, he wasn’t enough.

“It’s not your fault, Quinn.”

“We’re not going there.”