The Breed: Nora's Choice
Read The Breed: Nora's Choice Online
Authors: Alice K. Wayne
The
Breed: Nora’s Choice
Alice
K. Wayne
Copyright
© 2015 Alice K. Wayne
All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or
other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of
the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law
Editing work done by: Taylor Branch
Cover Photo by: Corinne Press
Acknowledgements
In my first book, I
thanked all of my family and friends for helping me on this journey. In this
book, I would like to thank the people in the literary world who helped me
along my journey, and have shaped me into the author I am today.
Firstly I would like to thank Sarah
Ferguson, AKA my Ninja. I’ve never called her my “personal assistant” because
she’s more than an assistant could ever be. She’s a secret keeper, a shoulder
to lean on, a fireman every time I seem to burst into flames, and above all,
she’s one hell of a friend.
I would also like to thank Taylor Branch
and Nichole Watson, the two girls who practically run my street team, and who
are my biggest promoters and fans. I love you two like sisters and I cannot
believe how blessed I am to have met you, but now you’re stuck with me for
life.
My street team is the sexiest, craziest,
wildest, most loving group of girls I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of,
and you all make me feel beautiful, grateful, humble and squishy inside every day.
Lastly I would like to thank Yolanda
Olson, Melodye Tess Quarles, and Elizabeth Evans, my two book mama’s and my
Yolanda bear! They’ve always had my back, never gotten frustrated with me for
how ignorant I can sometimes be about the book world, and have happily guided
me every step of the way to where I am now. Hugs and kisses!
Nora
paced the hallways of her apartment contemplating her battle plan. Quinn was
returning from his two week reunion with his parents today, and she knew that
if she didn’t break the news to Tessa about their bond, he would.
She had
procrastinated this moment for weeks now, and had absolutely no idea how to go
about things. She wasn’t someone who dealt very well with other people’s
emotions, especially when they were so far against her own. She wasn’t a
coddler, and wouldn’t hesitate to shut Tessa down quickly and harshly, if she
couldn’t see things from her perspective.
Every minute
away from Quinn had been squandered and used selfishly, she should have done
this the minute he left, but the further away from him she was the weaker the
bond between them became and for the first time since she had laid eyes on him,
she could breathe again.
Her
thoughts hadn’t been consumed by his presence, and the nagging fear that she
might have another PTSD attack had all but vanished.
It was
neither of their faults that they had bonded, but she flat out refused to
accept her fate. She had gotten away with ignoring her problem through the
madness of the hunters re-igniting, but she knew she was on borrowed time; With
Tessa on his side he would never give up battling to win her over.
Since
bonding with Casstiel, Tessa had come out of her shell, becoming bolder and
more confident with each day. This combined with her extreme protectiveness
over her brother spelled disaster for Nora. She needed Tessa on her side to
help convince Quinn to forget about the bond and her.
The girls
had made a date to go shopping and Nora was counting on her favorite sport to
give her the strength to break her news.
Gathering
up her resolve she flung open her apartment door ready to head to war.
The
first hour of shopping was filled with so much talk of Casstiel and how amazing
he was that Nora wanted to vomit. Looking next to her she could tell Remy was
suffering as well.
“I
mean, he’s never built anything before, so building me this library with his
bare hands is so, so…” Tessa let out a dreamy sigh, and Nora felt her eye
twitch.
“So
anything new with
you
?” she asked Remy, blatantly cutting Tessa off.
She
absolutely could not listen to one more minute of the romantic blubbering.
“Um let’s
see….” she paused, and Nora was sure she would come up with anything to keep
Tessa from rambling on anymore, “well I decided to start taking basic nursing
classes with a couple of the doctors back at the embassy. It won’t hurt to have
more than just my gift to lean on…. Oh and I’ve got a date this weekend.”
“Nursing classes?”
she asked, more interested than she thought she would be. Now that she was
living at the embassy instead of hiding away in the shelter, she needed to find
something to keep her busy and productive.
“Yeah, it
won’t be as detailed as college classes, it’s all more suited for work at the
embassy instead of a hospital. They’ll start off with the basics, but I might
even get to learn to assist in surgery,” she explained excitedly, “so if I ever
end up without my gift, I’ll still be able to help people.”
“Do you
think they’d mind if I came to?” Nora asked.
She
couldn’t go back to her old ways in the shelter, just laying around depressed
and living off of Memphis. She was ready to make something out of herself,
ready to be more than just the sideshow freak that people whispered about as
she passed.
“I don’t
see why not,” Remy shrugged, “plus you can help keep me on track with studying
because I like to procrastinate.”
“Yeah and
don’t forget to call your mom, you were supposed to yesterday,” Tessa nagged.
“Can you
PLEASE stop breaking into my thoughts,” Remy strangled the air in front of her.
“Sorry…
again,” she sighed, “I just never get to use my gift anymore since I live with
the Breed now… it just slips out.”
Passing the
food court Nora’s stomach growled as the smell of Chinese wafted her way, and
she made a bee line to grab a plate.
“So tell us
about the hot date you’re shopping for,” Tessa winked as they sat down to eat.
“He’s a
doctor at one of the other embassies. It’s no big deal really, he’s not bonded
to me or anything, when he comes around here or I go around there we just hook
up,” Remy shrugged it off.
“But you
like him?” Tessa pried, dumping the entire container of sweet and sour sauce
over her chicken.
“What’s not
to like? He’s successful, gorgeous, and the sex,” she closed her eyes and shook
her head.
“Ew stop,”
Tessa grimaced, “I can read your thoughts.”
“Well get
out of my mind then,” she gave her an angry glare, “anyway, I’m not his mate,
so sex is all it’ll ever be. Being a human is a curse when it comes to the
heart.”
“The right
one is out there don’t worry,” Tessa awkwardly patted her back and looked to
Nora to confirm that was what she was supposed to be doing.
Nora envied
Remy and her simple sex life. She would love to rock Quinn’s world then send
him on his merry way, but after what had happened in the hospital a few weeks
ago, it was simply out of the question.
She had
hoped they would be able to have a physical relationship without feelings or
commitment, like so many others in the Breed agreed to have, but if it would
make her have flash backs and hallucinations then even the sex wasn’t worth it.
“What about
you Nora? I feel like you’ve been waiting to tell us something,” Remy’s steely
grey eyes twinkled at her.
Not for the
first time, she got the feeling that Remy had received more of her gypsy
mothers talents than just the healing gift she presented.
“You have
seemed quiet,” Tessa agreed, not realizing the bomb that was about to be
dropped on her.
She had
dreaded this moment for the last month. It was now or never.
“I bonded
to someone,” she grunted out begrudgingly, “but don’t get excited because
you’re not going to like it.”
She frowned
at the annoying look of joy on Tessa’s face. She was all but bouncing out of
her chair with excitement. Telling her she didn’t want to be with him was going
to be hell.
She looked
over and noticed that Remy didn’t appear surprised in the slightest. Somehow
she always seemed to be more on the up and up than everyone else.
“Who is
it?” Tessa squealed, her face split into a bright smile. She was so excited
that it was painful to continue with the conversation, and once again she found
herself hating the bond.
“Quinn,”
she groaned after a long pause.
“What?” her
eyes lit up, “Nora that’s amazing!”
“It’s not
gonna happen,” she cut her off, “we’re not going to be together.”
Nora rubbed
her temples, the look of pure joy on Tessa’s face was already making her feel
nauseated.
“He can’t
bond? Because of what they did to him?” She asked sadly, and for a moment Nora
wished she could lie to her so the news would be easier to accept.
“No, it’s…
it’s me. I can’t be with him… I can’t be with anyone,” she hated every minute
of this conversation.
“What do
you mean?” her voice stiffened in an unfamiliar way.
“Bond or
not, I don’t want to be with anyone. I have to be alone,” how could she make
her understand? She couldn’t tell her about her past, and certainly didn’t want
to discuss the PTSD attacks that made her feel weak and pathetic.
“Because of
what happened to you?” Tessa asked, and for the first time in their friendship
Nora felt her anger.
“Yes.”
“Have you
told Quinn about it? You’re the one who told me that the bond wasn’t like a
simple human crush, you pushed me to work out the bond with Cass,” Tessa
argued, her voice rising.
“Don’t you
get it?” Nora needed to shut her down hard, “I’m fucked up Tessa, really
really
fucked up. Even if he was ok with it and wanted to put up with all my bullshit,
is that fair to him? He isn’t a normal Breed member, so I’m sure the bond isn’t
normal for him, he can go out and find a nice human girl who wants to cuddle
and be loved, not some whack job like me. Every time I look at him I see Billy
clearer than ever, every time I think about being with him, all I envision is
him snapping the way that Billy did. I don’t want to compare them, but I can’t
help it. I don’t want to have these memories anymore, but I can’t help that
either, I can’t make them stop… I can’t fix myself.”
Her
expression began to soften under Nora’s sudden outpouring of emotions.
“What are
you going to do then? I know my brother, he’s not going to give up,” she sadly
poked at her chicken, “he doesn’t like to lose, especially if he knows you’re
his mate.”
Nora
shrugged and looked away. She would just have to outlast him, his will verses
her own in a battle to the death. Her pride and stubbornness had seen her
through much tougher situations than a man wanting to get his way.
“I think
you should just take things slowly,” Remy chimed in as the voice of reason,
“whether you decide you can be with him or not, he’s not going anywhere. He’s
determined to help the embassy and find his pack, so you’ll be seeing him
daily. Why don’t you just get to know him, try being friends maybe?”
Nora
couldn’t help her lip from curling back; she knew exactly where ‘just friends’
could lead you to.
“Remy’s
right, whether you like it or not both of you are going to be living together
for a long time, you may as well be friends,” Tessa replied and she could
already see hope shimmering back into her expression.
“Yeah
friends,” she mustered up her fakest smile, closing the conversation.
Things
hadn’t gone exactly as planned at the mall, but Nora felt that she had made a good
starting argument and hopefully had Tessa at least on the fence about things.
She dropped her bags at her feet then turned around to get the rest.
And walked
directly into a solid wall of muscle.
Quinn. For
a moment she froze, allowing the smell of his masculinity to surround her. His
hands came up to embrace her, but she shoved him away hard, quickly trying to
calm down the erratic beating of her heart as she slammed her apartment door
shut.
“I will
never understand why you’re suddenly giving me the cold shoulder,” he sighed.
“And I will
never understand why you’re on my doorstep. I think I’ve given you the hint by
now that I’m uninterested,” she glared at him.
“You
obviously care for me or you wouldn’t have saved my life, and you
are
attracted
to me or that night in the hospital wouldn’t have happened, so why not just
give it a try and see where this goes?” he stood defensively beside her door,
his posture telling her he was ready to hash everything out for good as he
blocked her way.
She couldn’t
help but notice how much larger he had gotten in their two weeks apart. When he
had first come to the embassy he was starved to the point that only his Breed
blood was keeping him alive. His skin had clung to his bones, and she could
only vaguely guess what he would look like healthy.
Now here he
was three times the size of before and she had to force her eyes to stop
devouring the sight of his broad shoulders and thick biceps.
“I saved
your life for Tessa,” she folded her arms over her chest.
“And the
hospital?” he dipped his head low and took her ear lobe between his teeth.
Her heart
skipped a beat.
She stared
straight ahead like a solider during boot camp, no matter how badly her hands
shook at her sides. After a few seconds her pulse was under control and she was
ready to respond.
“The
hospital was a mistake and I don’t care why I made it, just don’t expect it to
happen again.”
She could
have given him a million excuses why it happened, but excuses weren’t her
style.
“You know,”
he lounged his big body casually against the door frame, “I think all this
trying to avoid me stuff is turning me on.”
“Move,” she
commanded, forbidding her heart to beat any faster.
