When they were almost home; he heard from Quinn who had just arrived.

[Quinn wants to know if you can organize with Abigail for a double date tomorrow night?]

[That will be nice.  I am sure Abby would like to see him.  What are we going to do?]

[I will leave that up to you two girls to organize that for us.  Just tell me where to point the nose of the car and I will take you there.]

[When is he going to tell her?]

[If I remember correctly, he said she said that she thought it would be better if they got to know each other much better before she would even consider introducing him to her parents.]

[Hmm.]  Mandy said as she followed Tyler as he took her directly to her home.  [Hey Tyler?]

[Yeah?]

[Didn’t he agree to that before he found out she knew about us?]

Tyler took a few minutes to consider.  [You’re right.  He was not aware that she knew when he agreed to give her some time to get to know him first.]

[That’s what I thought.  I think I must make the arrangements so that she can spend most of the day here.  He needs to tell her that she is his mate.  Otherwise she will never give him the time of day.  She knows all about mates Tyler and she most likely thinks that she is dispensable to him right now, just like she was with all those other guys.]

[He is going to be so upset with himself.  I wonder; do you feel up to going out tonight?]

[I always do.]

Stopping so sudden that Mandy nearly barreled into him; he turned to keep her balanced; even a wolf could become unbalanced under the right circumstances.

[Have I told you today that I love you?]

[Hmm; I’m not sure; it would most probably be best to say it again.  That way we will know for sure.]

[Well; I do.  You are my whole world Mandy.  I cannot imagine a life without you.]

[I love you too Tyler.]

They indulged staring in the other’s eyes for only a short time before Tyler sighed.  [OK then; I should take you home now.]

Wolf Mandy actually managed to roll her eyes.  [I know where my house is Tyler; I can find it on my own.]

He snorted, rustling the fur in her neck with his warm breath.  [Not while you are in heat.  My dad would be very upset with me if I kill any of the unmated males when they look at you the wrong way.]

[Honestly!  Are you really going there?]

[I am there already Mandy; don’t punch my buttons more than what’s necessary right now; please?  It is hard enough for me, if any of them look at you as if they wanted you; I would honestly lose it right now.]

[Well; you are going to have to come to terms with it and pretty soon too.  What do you think is going to happen when you have to leave?]

Growling harshly he towered over her in an attempt to dominate over her.  Irritated, Mandy shuffled away from him but quicker than she had ever seen him move before, he closed the gap between them and pushed her down with his body weight as he grabbed a firm hold of the fur and skin in her neck between his teeth while he towered over her.

[You are mine!  If they know what is good for their health; they will leave you alone!]

The wolf part of her nature was torn in two.  One part of her instantly needed badly to buck him off and show him that she would not take this kind of treatment lying down.  The other part of her wished desperately that he would tighten his hold on her neck and break her skin to mark her as his.  As it is; all she managed to do was growl a warning at him in pure frustration.

Her warning was enough to clear his head.  Loosening his grip on her he lay down more of his weight on her, enjoying the feel of her against him more than he was willing to admit to himself.  And then just to prove to himself how big a fool he is; he took in a deep lung full of her scent, shuddering as the scent of his mate burned a path through his whole being as it set him alight.

[You smell so divine I can hardly resist sinking my teeth into the soft flesh of your neck.]

Mandy knew he was deadly serious when she felt the trembling of his larger body.  And it seemed to be contagious.  She knew the exact moment Tyler became aware of her state of mind because she felt his body shudder on top of hers.  The natural instinct to rub against him was impossible to stop; and who cares anyway because she did not want to stop it at all; this felt simply too good to deny.

[We should go.]  Tyler was not conscious of speaking at all; but he knew he should listen.  If they did not leave now, things could get out of hand.  [Mandy; we should really go.]

[Hmm?]

Her voice sounded so adorably dazed that it made him smile.  It also cleared his head.  As soon as the thick fog lifted, he was able to concentrate on what was happening and he immediately stepped away from her.  But not too far.  He was not strong enough to do that.

[Mandy, come on; let’s get going.  It’s long after lunch time and Quinn is wondering what we are up to.]

Puffing loudly she sighed dramatically.  [I suppose we have to eventually.]  With a companionable silence they trotted up to Mandy’s home.

Tyler did not wait for her to change and go inside.  Instead he reminded her to arrange their double date with Abigail so that he could get Quinn off of his back.  He wished her a quick goodbye before he could place himself in a difficult position.  When he reached the pack house Quinn was already waiting for him with a change of clothes; but instead of handing it to him he asked Tyler if they could spend some time in the sauna.

They had just gone inside after Cassy called them for dinner when Mandy let him know that Abigail asked that they pick her up early in the morning as her parents were going away for the day and wanted to make sure she was in safe hands before they left town.  That was also why her parents preferred her not to go out tonight.

Quinn was extremely happy that their day together would be starting that early in the morning and he and Tyler spent the rest of the evening making plans for a full day tomorrow.

“I need to have some time alone with Abigail tomorrow.  Sometime in the afternoon I think would be best.  Once I am able to convince her to introduce me to her parents; I don’t want her with too much time to change her mind.”

“How ‘bout we arrange a picnic for a latish lunch at the waterfall.  Then Mandy and I will take a run and you can have some alone time?”

“Sounds good to me.  Did Mandy say when we had to have Abigail back home again?”

“It sounded like early evening to me; but she hoped that they would be able to convince her parents to allow her to sleep over for a night or two.”

“Even better.”

Tyler snorted at Quinn.  “Do you seriously think her parents are going to allow her to sleep over if they know about you?”

“Damn!  I should have taken the time to go and see Uncle Brian.  He would have been able to give me some tips about how to go about having a human mate.”

The next morning Tyler could feel an excited buzz coming off of Quinn.  It was a bit stronger than he would have expected, but because he was so preoccupied with Mandy he did not pay as much attention to his cousin as he normally would have.  That is why he was stunned when Quinn got out of the car when they stopped at Abigail’s house.  But then Quinn took her overnight bag from her when she came out and carried it to the car after taking her hand.

A flustered Abigail watched as Quinn put her bag onto the back seat.  When she bent down to slide into the car; he stopped her by pulling on her hand.

“Give me a minute; will you?”  He asked Mandy and Tyler in the front seats as he leaned past her.

Tyler nodded after shaking his head to clear the fog that had settled in at Quinn’s odd behavior.

Quinn shot a quick glance around to see where he could have a talk with Abigail.  After a quick scan, he decided that the best spot would be under a huge tree in a front corner of their property.  He was able to pull Abigail half way there before she protested and tried to pull her hand out of his.

“Abigail please, I have to tell you something.  It is important.  Please?”

She reluctantly allowed her to pull her along and when he sat down on the grass in the shade, she quirked and eyebrow at him.

“Please?”

Half annoyed she sank down onto the cool but thankfully dry grass, folded her arms and let them rest on her knees as she looked up at Quinn.  She was expecting him to tell her that he was no longer interested in getting to know her more and she steeled herself against his next words.

“Do you remember when we talked the last time and you said that you wanted us to get to know each other better before you would introduce me to your parents?”

She took a deep breath as she fought a choking feeling that threatened to cut off her air supply.  “Yeah, I remember.”  She saw him nod his head and quickly spoke up to interrupt anything he had to say.  “Look; I understand, don’t worry.  No hard feelings; alright?”

If she wasn’t turning to stone on the inside, she would have laughed at the confused expression on his face.

“I don’t think you understand.”

“I do.”  She said as she stood up on her shaking legs.  “And you should seriously give me more credit than that.  I can be civil you know.  Just because you don’t want to get to know me does not mean I am suddenly going to become a nasty bitch about it.  I am not a child anymore.”

In a single movement he rose and caught her body and pushed her into the tree, caging her in with his hands planted next to her sides.

“You really do not understand at all.”  Abigail tried to interrupt, but he frowned at her and she snapped her mouth closed.  “The reason I reminded you about that conversation is because I also needed to bring to your attention the other conversation that took place on the same day.”

Quinn felt his heart melt at the sight of her confused face and he desperately wanted to kiss those soft looking lips.  “Do you remember on the way to the pack grounds that we found out that you know about werewolves?”  He waited until she nodded, her face still scrunched up in an adorable little frown as she tried to put two and two together.  “Well; if the conversations had been switched around; the outcome would have been very different.”

“Wh…?” 

The confused noise that escaped her made him smile and this time he allowed himself to peck a quick kiss on the tip of her scrunched up nose.

Bending his knees slightly so that he would be closer to her eyelevel, he searched her eyes.  “If I had known that you knew about what I was, I would not have agreed to wait to meet your parents.  Abigail, you are my mate; there is no reason for me to wait.  I am never going to stop wanting to be with you.”

Waiting for her to say something; anything took forever, and still she did not say a word.  The only reason he knew she was still conscious is her eyelids that fluttered furiously; almost as if she were trying to do an extremely complicated math problem in her head.  At last she managed to croak out a few words.

“Say what?”

Taking a deep breath to calm down, he repeated himself.  “You are my mate Abigail.”

“Your mate?”  Her voice was squeaky when she spoke but neither of them paid any attention to it.

“Yes, you are my mate.”  When his confirmation had no real effect on her he started to panic.  “You do know about mates, don’t you?”

She nodded her head absentmindedly.  “Yeah.  Tyler and Mandy and mates?”

“And you know what that means for us, for me?”

Abigail swallowed nervously as she gave her head one quick nod.  “That you will always want to be with me?”

Quinn was bursting to tell her how inadequate that statement was to how he felt about her already.  That he needed to know she was safe and happy.  That she had anything she wanted.  He wondered if she would believe that at night before he fell asleep, the last thought to cross his mind was her.  Just being with her would never be enough; he would constantly be striving to care for her, shower her with his attention and affections; hold her and treasure her until they were old and grey together.  “That is a big part of it.”

“What else is there?”

Quinn lifted one hand to run a finger along her cheek as he spoke.  “I NEED to be with you so that I can keep you safe, provide for you, make you smile and hear your laughter.  I NEED to be there when you are sad so that I can hold you and tell you that it will be alright because I WILL make it alright for you.  I need to be able to share your life with you.  Abigail, there is so much more to just wanting you that it is impossible for me to say everything.”  He smiled at her impishly.  “I guess I will have to show you instead.”

Thinking was difficult if not impossible to do.  How could she when he had dropped this on her like this?  This was so much different to what she had been expecting.  Knowing that Quinn was a werewolf she had tried her best not to think of him, not to fall for him.  He would have a mate out there somewhere.  And now she was it.  She was his mate.  How on earth did something like that happen?  She came back with a start when he cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head up to him.

“Abigail honey; I am dying here.  Please say something.”  Quinn watched as she blinked her eyes, clearing them from the dazed look they had and he was pleased.  She should not have that look in her face unless he put it there; preferably when he was kissing her silly.

“Please say something?”

Abigail blinked one last time and the edge of her mouth curled upwards in a smirk.  “Boo.”

After only a short moment he drew her into his body and held her tight as he ran his nose along the side of her head.  “That is not what I had in mind.”

She sent him a sassy smile as she shrugged.  “I know.  I just couldn’t think of anything to say right then.”

He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and stared at her.  “So?”

“So?”  Abigail asked back at him.  “What do you want me to say?”

With a frustrated growl he ran his one hand through his hair.  “I really need to know if you are OK with this.  Will you be mine?”

“Be your … what?”  She copied his frustrated growl and threw her hands up in the air.  “Quinn; I am human.  I have not had some epiphany and suddenly knew we were destined to be together.  What do you want me to say?”

“That you are willing to give me a chance to show you how good we can be together.  That’s all.  For now.”  His eyes caught and held hers.  “And you still haven’t told me how you feel about all of this.”

“What do you think?!  I am freaked out as hell!”  She paused a while and it looked as if she was thinking hard about something.  “OK;” she shrugged one shoulder as she continued her rant, “not exactly freaked out as hell; but still freaked out a little bit.”  Closing her eyes she took a slow and deep breath, holding it in for a while and then exhaling slowly.  She did that five times before opening her eyes.  “Quinn, how … What happens now?”

“Now would be a good time for you to tell me if you think this can work for us.”  He hesitated for a short time before speaking again.  “What I would like to do now is to ask you if you would be my girlfriend.”

“Oh.”  Abigail nodded her head in understanding.  “OK then.”

“You’ll be my girlfriend?”  Quinn asked her sounding a bit surprised.

“No.  You said you wanted to ask me if I would be your girlfriend.”

Before he could even begin to feel frustrated with her, he saw the way her eyes were sparkling and he recalled how Mandy had always said that Abigail could take the funny to the extremes sometimes.  “Yes, that is what I said isn’t it?”  He cleared his throat dramatically and took her right hand in both of his much larger hands.  “Abigail, you are my destined mate and even though I have not known you for long; I do know that I would very much like to get to know you more.  I already like what I do know very much.  Would you please be my girlfriend?”  He paused for a while and watched as Abigail waited for his next words.  “Did I do that right or do you want me to try again?”

With a small laugh she dropped her head against his chest.  “You did OK.”  Inhaling deeply she looked up at him.  “Yes Quinn, I will be your girlfriend.  I really like you; too much I think, and I would like to see where this could go.”

“Great!”  With a contented sigh he took her hand.  “Could I be introduced to my girlfriend’s parents?”

Her happy eyes became troubled as she looked up at him.  “Quinn, I don’t know about that.  You know what happened before and right now I honestly do not want to be the girl that managed to lose her boyfriend after only a few minutes.”

“Abigail!”  He pulled her closer and hugged her, almost squeezing the air right out of her lungs.  “I don’t think you can compare me with them.  You are my future and I will not let anybody say or do anything that will change my mind.  Have some faith in me?”

Giving in to his pleading eyes, he took her hand again and gently pulled her along as he quickly went to the car to ask Tyler and Mandy if they would mind waiting a bit longer.  When eventually he had their attention Tyler looked up with a low growl as a pretty blush covered Mandy’s face.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys.  My girlfriend is going to take me in to meet her parents quickly.  You may carry on kissing each other until we come back.”

Quinn followed as she led him through the door and the front part of the house as she went looking for her parents.  Quinn could hear a soft conversation down the one passage and he nudged Abigail in that direction.  As they drew closer the talking stopped and Abigail’s soft knock on the door sounded very loud.

“Abigail?”  A woman opened the door and looked at Abigail in concern.  She did not seem to find anything out of place because the concern made way for amused indulgence.  “Have you forgotten something?”

“No mom.  I would like you to meet someone.”

It was only then that the older woman noticed Quinn and she stood back enough for the two of them to enter into the room.  The man sitting behind the desk looked shocked when Quinn moved into his view and he jumped up from his seat.

“NO!”