Page 34 of Reclaiming Quinn
There was a moment of silence, then a shout in the background. “Give me the phone!” A moment later a soft voice came on the line. “Deke? Are you okay?”
Quinn’s voice. Oh, it was so damned good to hear. “Q…. Yes, I’m okay. How are you?”
“You’re my mate.” Sniffle. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He knew! Quinn knew he was Deke’s mate. Oh, how his heart broke at that moment. He wanted to tell Quinn everything, to say how much he loved him, but Klein ripped the phone from his hand and disconnected the call.
“For your sake, you’d better hope Blackthorn listens.” He reached out and put a hand on Deke’s shoulder. “You’re far too pretty to kill.”
“DEKE? DEKE!”Quinn peered up into Lyram’s eyes. “He’s not there.”
“Klein probably took the phone back.” He huffed and turned to Gareth. “He says if you don’t back off, he’ll….” His gaze shifted in Quinn’s direction.
“I understand,” Gareth grumbled.
“Well, I don’t!” Quinn wailed. “What’s going on? Why does he have Deke?”
“Maybe you should go lie down and—”
Quinn whirled around and leveled a glare at Gareth. “Don’t you fucking tell me to go lie down! He’s got Deke, and I want him back.”
At that moment, Sean rushed forward and wrapped an arm around Quinn. “Maybe we should—”
Quinn jerked out of his grip. “Maybe you should all stop treating me like a fucking thing that’s going to shatter when you touch me. He has Deke. My Deke! And none of you want to tell me what’s going on. I get it, okay? I know how messed up in the head I am, but Deke makes it better. I can’t… I can’t function without him. You don’t know what it’s like. I’m on the edge, and all of you seem determined to push me off.”
He’d put his foot in it this time. Not only had he been told by Lyram how close he was to a challenge, but now he’d just stood up to the Supreme Alpha. And for the first time in his life, Quinn didn’t give a damn. He was sick to death of being afraid all the time, of worrying that he might say the wrong thing and end up getting beaten for it. But there comes a time when that can’t scare you anymore. And losing Deke showed Quinn this was that time.
“I’m not afraid. I can’t be. Not right now. Maybe when I get Deke back, I’ll collapse into a puddle again, but I need to be strong for him and for myself.”
Gareth stepped in, and a shiver of dread rolled through Quinn. When Gareth got close enough, he leaned in and whispered in Quinn’s ear.
“I would like very much to hug my brother-in-law. Is that okay?”
Overcome with emotion, Quinn nodded. A moment later, he was crushed up against Gareth’s chest.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m sorry if I was rude.”
When Gareth leaned back, Quinn noted the expression on his face. It wasn’t annoyance, it was… holy hell, Gareth really was proud.
He touched Quinn’s cheek and smiled when Quinn leaned into the touch. “You’re right of course. We weren’t being forthcoming about what was happening. We didn’t want you to worry, but that was wrong of us. Deke is your mate, and you need to know what we’re up against.”
Gareth gestured to the chairs, and Quinn dutifully sat, his hands folded in his lap. Gareth moved into the center of the room, and all eyes were on him.
“After we left Lydon, Sean and I came to Chicago and made inquiries into Klein’s leadership abilities. I already knew firsthand from what Sean had told me, but even he scarcely scratched the surface. Klein has been stealing the money from his pack and using it to buy personal things, like the jet we appropriated. But even with a pack the size of Chicago’s, there’s hardly enough for something with leather seats, a crew, and all other kinds of bells and whistles. He had to have another source of income. Through persuasion—”
“He means threats.” Gareth glared at Sean, who shrugged. “What? It’s not like I lied.”
“I’m going to stick with persuasion, thank you.” He frowned at Sean. “You make me sound like I don’t have a decent bone in my body.”
“Well, you had a decent one in me last—” His eyes went wide as his gaze shifted from person to person. “Oh shit.”
Gareth shook his head and looked away, but Quinn detected the stain in his cheeks. “Anyway. We went to Klein’s family, most notably his brother Eric, who, it turns out, was more than happy to talk with us. He informed us that Klein had some sort of incoming cash from outside sources, but he didn’t know what it was. He spoke of packages that Klein received. Initially I thought drugs. What I found out made me wish it had been that simple.”
Gareth’s voice was choked with emotion Quinn didn’t understand.
“Klein has been trafficking in humans. Most notably children, but we believe he’s not being overly picky. He sells them to the highest bidders, and he’s making a lot of money from it. I’ve reached out to Alphas who’ve contacted me, wanting to curry favor. Apparently being Supreme Alpha has advantages. Anyway, through them I have people checking to see if they can track down the buyers. We’ve found three so far, but we believe there are many more. From everything we’ve uncovered, he seems to have a network. People bring them to him, and he sends them out to others after receiving payment.”
