Page 97 of Reclaiming Quinn

“Oh? Who won’t be coming?”

Zach turned his gaze to Rupert. “I will be staying in Lydon.”

“Excellent,” Gareth said, a wide grin splitting his face. “Because I have a task for you as well.”

“Alpha Lyram has already offered me a job, and I would like to take it.”

Gareth scratched the back of his neck. “Well, this isn’t a job, per se. What I want is for you to put together as much of our history—yours and ours—as you can recall. Talk to whomever you need to, or go wherever you have to, but we want to avoid the mistakes of the past, and we can’t without knowing what they were. I guess what I’m asking is, would you be willing to be our historian?”

Dark eyes widened. “I… would be honored.”

“And you’ll need help, so if Rupert is willing, and if Quinn doesn’t mind, I would like to suggest he helps you in his spare time.”

“But my duties here—” Rupert began.

Lyram cleared his throat. “Gareth and I hashed this out last night. I believe it can work, and it’s important. I realize it’s a lot of effort on both your parts, and you can say no, of course.”

The smile Zach gave Rupert was surprisingly sweet and tender. “It would be an honor,” he repeated, tilting his head. “If Rupert is willing.”

“I’d love to!” Rupert cried out, his gaze locked on Zach.

“Excellent. Does anyone else have anything they’d like to say?”

Deke raised his hand. “I do. By now I’m guessing most of you know that Quinn is my mate. I’d like to ask Lyram for permission to build a house for the two of us. Somewhere with room to run.”

Lyram laughed. “About four miles out of town, next to the lake, is a plot of land where I’d started building my own home.”

“I saw that place,” Deke said. “It looks amazing.”

“Good, I’m glad you like it. It’s yours.”

Deke reared back. “What? No, we couldn’t—”

“Stop, okay? I’m living here now, so that house isn’t needed anymore. I would be honored if you and Quinn took it and finished it up to make it a home for the two of you.”

The offer was… incredible. “Thank you, Alpha. Quinn? What do you think?”

“I didn’t even know there was a house there.”

“How about this, then. You and me can shift so we can run over and take a look at it together.”

“Really?” Quinn’s eyes sparkled. “I’d love that.”

“Lunch is almost ready,” Dani called out as she stepped out of the kitchen.

“We won’t be joining you,” Deke replied. “Quinn and I are going out so he can get a feeling what it means to be a wolf again.”

“I figured you’d say that,” Dani said, grinning at Quinn. “I’ll keep something warm for you, just in case, you know, neither of you can take down your own food.”

Everyone in the room went “Ooooh” and Deke laughed, grateful to have these people in his life. “Challenge accepted. Quinn? Should we go?”

If he thought Quinn would be shy in front of the others, Deke was mistaken. He unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it to the floor. “You’re on.”

No one spoke as Deke and Quinn finished undressing. Once naked, they shifted into their wolf forms and gave a whine. Dani strode to the door and pulled it open, and together they rushed out into the yard, turned, and gave a bark. Then they headed off into the woods of home.

About halfway there, Deke charged Quinn and bowled him over. He got up, shaking off the leaves, then cocked his head.

Why did you do that?