Alpha’s Relic

Episode 13: Mine

Quinn blinked at him, hurt flashing across her face. Her voice broke when she whispered, “You want me to leave?”

His grip on the wheel tightened. Jaw locked so hard it ached. His wolf pressed under his skin, claws raking. Vision tunneled. Ears rang with the memory of whispers in the diner. He hadn’t meant to snap, hadn’t meant to tell her to leave, but watching her with Ciarán had burned through every shred of control. The sidelong looks. The averted eyes. Each cut into him like blades. They’d all seen her laugh with another man. They’d all seen her let him touch her.

His stomach hollowed. Breath caught in his throat.

The cab pressed in, suffocating. Outside, the night wrapped around the truck in silence. Wind rattled the frame. Headlights strobed through the trees, white fire slashing the dark. Inside, his breath filled the space. Harsh. Uneven. Beating in time with his heart.

Her scent curled around him, wild and sharp. Her wolf rose. Defiance in the tilt of her chin. She had never been the kind to yield.

The thought of her in another man’s hands dragged a growl from his chest.

“I can’t do this,” he muttered again, words jagged as they scraped free. “Not when every part of me burns for you, and I can’t think straight when you’re near.”

She turned, eyes blazing. Her words wavered, catching before she forced them steady. “That’s not my fault. I never asked for any of this.”

His knuckles whitened against the wheel. Heart hammering. Relentless. Hot. “You think I asked for this? You think I wanted to walk into that diner and see his hands on you, see your smile that used to be mine?”

“You were the one who let me go,” she snapped, tone raw, each word ragged. “You let me walk away like I was nothing, and you didn’t fight for me.”

His chest tightened. Breath knocked out. He twisted toward her, fury and regret knotting together. “You think I didn’t fight? You think I didn’t bleed when you walked away? I’ve been empty without you, Quinn. Every night. Every damned breath since.”

Her chest rose and fell in quick, shallow bursts. Each trembling breath reached him. Her wolf crackled through the air between them. For a moment, nothing existed but the thud of his pulse, the tick of the cooling engine, the creak of leather beneath her restless shifting. Then her wolf surged, answering his. Hunger blazed in her eyes, matching his own.

Her breath hitched. Her gaze locked with his. “You have?”

Her question shattered what little control remained. His hand shot to the back of her neck, dragging her across the console. Their mouths crashed together. Desperate. Bruising. The kiss ripped him open and gave fire back to his lungs. Her lips parted. He devoured her. Years of silence burned away in a single moment.

Her fists tightened in his shirt, tugging him closer until the buttons strained. A growl rumbled from his chest. The windows fogged. Their mingled scents of sweat, pine, and wolf thickened the cab. She climbed onto his lap, straddling him, and the kiss turned feral. Teeth. Tongue. Need. His hands mapped her back, her waist, the curve of her hips. Relearning her piece by piece.

“I hate you,” she gasped, hips rolling against him.

“Then hate me,” he growled, teeth catching her lip, “but you’re mine.”

Clothes tore away in frantic jerks. Shirts yanked overhead. Buttons scattered across the floor. Her skin seared beneath his palms, fevered and slick with sweat. When her breasts pressed against his chest, he groaned into her mouth. She ground down against the hard line of him. He almost lost it.

He shoved his jeans down far enough to free himself. She guided him in with a gasp that broke into a moan. Her lips parted, eyes closing as he sank into her. Slow. Relentless. Stretching her until her breathless gasps filled the cab. She seized around him, molten and wet. His vision blurred. He buried his face in her neck, breathing her in as he thrust upward. Filling her until the truck rocked with her sounds.

Her nails raked across his shoulders. She rode him hard. Each drop of her hips dragged him deeper, her body shaking around his length. He gripped her ass in both hands, pulling her down harder. She bucked against him, sweat-slick and gasping. His name broke from her lips in a ragged cry.

Every thrust. Every kiss. Every gasp. Years of pain and longing blazing into fire. She rode him like she was starving for him, thighs trembling as sweat slid down her back. She caught his hand, threading her fingers through his, clutching like she would drown without him. Her voice cracked on his name. He answered with hers. Guttural. Reverent. His wolf steadied only when she cried for him.

A snarl tore from his throat as he rolled them, forcing her forward over the console. His fist tangled in her hair, bending her until her chest pressed to the leather. “You’re mine, Quinn,” he growled at her ear. “No one else will ever have you.” Her answering whimper trembled through her body. It only drove him harder.

His grip locked on her hips. He drove into her. Each thrust brutal. Possessive. Her cheek pressed to the console. Her breath misted the glass. He took her with ruthless hunger. Her moans broke into cries as she tightened around him. He pounded harder, claiming her until his vision blurred.

Her cries rose, raw and wild. He felt her body quake as release ripped through her. She snatched his hand, locking it to her hip, refusing to let him go. His climax slammed into him, his roar filling the cab as her name tore from his throat. The world narrowed to nothing but her body gripping him, his length buried deep. Both of them shaking with the force of it.

When it ebbed, he stayed pressed to her back. Sweat slid down his temple. Their breath fogged the glass. His teeth scraped her shoulder before he pressed a kiss there. Not gentle. Claiming.

For the first time in years, he felt whole.

And terrified it would be torn away.

***

Quinn dressed in silence. Fingers trembled as they worked the buttons of her shirt. The leather creaked under her shifting weight. Beyond the windshield, the night held still. Cold air slid in through a cracked window, brushing his damp skin. The heat of what they had done felt almost unreal.

When she finished, he slipped his hand in hers, fingers hesitant but seeking. He brought her knuckles to his lips.

“Are you okay?” His chest ached with the urge to pull her back into his lap and never let her go.

“Yeah.” A half smile. Brittle. Too brittle. He’d never believe that smile. The flicker gave her away. The crack she couldn’t hide. His wolf prowled under his skin, restless, sensing her slipping away.

“Tell me, love.” He tugged gently on her hand until she faced him.

“What now, Declan?” The shutters dropped in her eyes. Walls rising. Shutting him out.

“Quinn, don’t do this.”

His hand raked through his hair. Frustration knotted in his chest. The words ripped free.

“Quinn, I love you. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I want a life with you. Marriage. A home. Children if you want them, or none if you don’t. I’d follow you anywhere. I’d chase you to the ends of the earth. Nothing else matters, as long as you’re beside me when I wake every morning.”

He felt it when her eyes softened. Saw her lips part. His breath stalled.

Her brows drew tight. Confusion clouded her features. His gut twisted. She pressed a hand to her chest, eyes wide. A tremor ran through her. Fingers slipped against the fabric of her shirt as if her strength had been stripped away.

Then she crumpled, falling sideways in the truck, limp as death.

“Quinn!” Panic tore through him. He caught her before she hit the door, pulling her into his arms. Her head lolled against his chest. Lips pale. Lashes fluttering but unseeing. Cold air licked at his sweat as it chilled. Metallic panic coated his tongue. His hands trembled as terror gripped harder than any battle ever had. His heart thundered. Vision narrowed. He shook her gently, pressing his forehead to hers. “Stay with me, love.” His alpha command fell flat, powerless against her limp stillness.

The cab fell silent but for the wind rattling the frame. Her body stayed limp, too still. His wolf howled inside, claws raking at him.

This was no fainting. No exhaustion. He felt it in his bones, fear crashing over him like it had the day she left. Raw. Merciless.