Page 231 of His Hungry Wolf

“I don’t know. I just know what he told me. He said that magic exists and I’ve seen it.”

“Quin, I’m a scientist.”

“And so am I. But, I’m also a wolf shifter who was attacked by a dragon shifter and who’s visited a town with a protection spell cast around it.”

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” he said quoting his favorite author.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” I said quoting mine.

“You are truly a wonder, Quin,” he said with a smile. “Does anything of this have to do with why your roommate can’t get you out of bed?”

As hard as it was to find out the truth about my mother, at least it took my mind off of Cage for a moment.

“Yes,” I said feeling the pain come rushing back.

“Is he the dragon shifter you talked about? The Fae?”

“No, he’s like me.”

“A wolf shifter. That’s amazing. So, what went wrong?”

I told my father the story from beginning to end. When I was finished he considered it all.

“I might be a little biased because I will always be on team Quin, but there is something that every relationship needs to last.”

“What’s that?”

“You need a partner who will always choose you. When it’s easy, and when it’s hard,” he said empathetically.

“He didn’t choose me,” I said putting it into words.

“You didn’t choose each other. But even if you had chosen him…”

“He chose someone else.”

My father gave me a tight-lipped sympathetic smile. It hurt me to realize it, but my father was right.

“Do you really want to find a cure for your wolf?” He asked me curiously.

“I think I do,” I told him thinking about how much pain it has brought me, including the pain I felt from losing Cage.

“If you do, you know that you don’t have to be here to learn how, right? I have a lab and I think it’s safe to say that I’m the world’s leading expert in wolf shifter genetics. Why don’t you just come and work with me? I could teach you everything you need to know.

“I never pursued a cure for you because I didn’t think there was anything about you that needed curing. You’re perfect the way you are. But, if you don’t want it, as the person who did this to you, I’ll help you get rid of it.”

My Dad’s words danced through my head.

“Do you think it’s possible that my wolf was just protecting me when it did what it did to Mom?”

“It’s possible. But it’s also possible that it would have done what it did anyway. The question you should ask yourself is, do you think your wolf will bring you more pain or happiness? And, do you think that being a wolf shifter will make it easier for you to find love?”

It only took me a second to answers his question. I knew what I needed to do.

I’m coming home, Dad. I’ll work with you on a cure.”

Chapter 16

Cage