Belonging Quotes

“It was long past lunch time, but there were people at nearly every table, more milling around with trays. I stayed back just inside the door and scanned the sea of faces.
Beside me, Simon murmured. "One, two, three--"
"There," I grunted and strode toward Chloe's table.
"Damn," he said as he jogged to keep up. "Three seconds. That's a record."
I scowled at him.
"What?" he said. "It's cute."
My scowl deepened.
"So cute," he said, grinning. "Incredibly, adorably cute.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“I opened the bag and pulled out a small box of chocolates. “Happy anniversary.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She flashed me a huge smile that would have looked totally real … if I didn’t know her better.
“Simon said that’s what I should get you. That or flowers. So you like it?”
“Sure.”
“Liar.”
Her face went bright red now as she stammered, “N-no, really. It’s great. It’s—”
“Completely and totally impersonal. Like something you’d buy in bulk for all your teachers.”
“No, I like this kind. You know I do and—”
She stopped as I held out the bag.
“Your real gift,” I said.
She looked in and let out a choking laugh. Then, still grinning, she reached in and pulled out a penlight, a Swiss army knife and a purse-sized can of mace.
She sputtered another laugh. “This is …”
“Practical?” I said.
“In my life, it is definitely practical. But I was going to say thoughtful.” She smiled up at me. “The most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten.”
“And the most completely unromantic? Simon almost had a heart attack when I showed him. He made me get the chocolates, as a backup.”
“I’m sure he did. Which I suppose explains why I ended up with you instead.” She rose on tiptoes again and put her arms around my neck. “Because buying me gifts to keep me safe? That’s my idea of romantic.” ”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“I grabbed her by the waist and swung her around to face me. As I bent, I closed my eyes … and kissed air as she ducked out of my grasp. I opened my eyes to see her dancing backward along the path.
I made a noise in my throat.
“Don’t growl,” she said. “Aren’t you always complaining that you don’t get enough exercise?”
I lunged. She backed away.
I let out another growl and crossed my arms. “Better watch out. I might decide the prize isn’t worth the effort.”
She grinned, blue eyes dancing. “Oh, you know it is. And you know it’s never as sweet as when you have to work for it.”
She wheeled and ran. As I went after her, adrenaline pumped through me, like liquid fire. There was nothing quite like a chase, and one that ended with this reward was the best chase of all.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“Okay, so on anniversaries, I need to give her something. An incentive.”
Simon almost walked into a tree. “What?”
“An incentive. Like in third grade, when Mrs. Nestor gave me a cookie every day that I didn’t read during class and promised me a candy bar if I didn’t read all week.”
“You never got that candy bar.”
“Because it wasn’t worth listening to her yammer about stuff I already knew. But this anniversary gift thing, is like that, right? An incentive for Chloe to keep going out with me.”
He sighed. “No . . . It’s just a gift.”
“To thank her for going out with me?”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “I could use the fresh air. I think that put my brain to sleep.”
She pointed at the text as if it was a piece of rotten meat.
“Physics?” I said. “You must need a more advanced text.”
“No, it’s just boring.”
I picked the book up and double checked the title, to make sure I hadn’t misidentified the subject.
“Boring?” I said. “How can physics be …?”
I looked up to see she’d already left the room. Simon pointed at the text, grinned and faked a yawn.
“Hold on,” I said, striding after her. “Physics is not boring. Maybe you just need me to explain it better. Chloe? Chloe!” ”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “Chloe isn’t flirting with that guy,” Simon said.
“Course not.”
“I mean it. She’s—”
I glanced back at him. “I’m not blind. She’s only paying enough attention to him to be polite. He’s the one flirting, which is bugging her and that’s why I’m pissed off. She’s trying to eat her fries and he’s interrupting.”
Simon chuckled.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “It’s our three month anniversary.”
Her eyes widened in panic. “Today? I thought … I was counting three months from—”
“Doesn’t matter.” I paused. “Or I guess it does or we’ll keep getting confused. Can we use today—three months back, I mean?”
She smiled. “We can … if you don’t mind getting your gift late.”
“I don’t care if I get one at all. Just as long as I keep getting anniversaries.”
She blushed and lifted on her tiptoes to kiss me. “You will. For as long as you want them.”
Which was pretty much the best present she could give me”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“I walked over to the paper and bent as the pencil began scribbling across it.
You look OK. Are you OK?
“Liz?” A stupid question. Liz was the only poltergeist I knew. But if she was here, that meant. “Chloe?” My heart started thudding again. “Where’s Chloe. Did they—?”
She’s outside.
I took a deep breath. “Good. Okay. My dad’s there, too?”
I watched the paper. Nothing happened.
“Liz? My dad is with her, right? She called him, didn’t she?”
Couldn’t.
“What do you mean she couldn’t. She has her cell—” No, she didn’t. We hadn’t taken them into the forest. If Chloe had managed to follow me straight from there …
I swore. “Tell her to get to a pay phone. Call collect. Get my dad and—”
No time. They’re packing the van.
“Then you ride with me. You can find out where we go, and return and Chloe—”
We’re getting you out.
“What? No. Absolutely not. Tell Chloe—”
Girls rule :D ”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “So what’s it tonight?” she asked. “Tag? Hide and seek? Fetch?”
I gave a soft growl at the last one and she laughed.
“Someday, I’m going to teach you to fetch,” she said.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“Something hit the floor with a crack. Nate turned and looked down to see his cell phone on the floor. He patted his back pockets, as if to be sure it was his, then swore and reached down. The phone slid across the floor.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
It slid faster now, scraping and bumping along.
“Carter!” Nate growled. “This is not the time for pranks.”
As he took off after the phone, I looked out the bathroom door to see it rise a foot off the ground, then fall with a crack.
Nate swore and picked up speed, loping down the hall, muttering. “If you break it, Carter, I swear you’re buying me a new one.” ”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “You still taking him for his house-breaking lesson tonight?”
I flicked an eraser at him. He ducked it and threw me a grin.
While I was getting my Changes under control, we’d decided I should try once a week. While Simon was joking about house-breaking, that’s kind of what it was like—take me outside regularly, where I’d attempt to perform a bodily function, and hopefully train my body to do it on a schedule. So far, I felt like a month-old puppy, struggling to control my bladder before it was ready to be controlled.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“Yeah, I worry what will happen when we stop running. When we go back to school. When she meets other boys. Boys who don’t argue and snap at her. Boys who don’t obsessively worry about her. Boys that could take her to a movie and stay right until the end, not have to leave halfway through because he started turning into a wolf. But she wouldn’t pick up some random guy in the mall. Ever.
So why was I over-reacting? I don’t know. I saw the guy and something ignited in my brain, a flash-fire that burned away reason and common sense. If Simon hadn’t stopped me, I’d have made an idiot of myself and called attention to us. Worse, I’d have embarrassed Chloe. I was over-protective enough as it was. Frothing at the mouth because a guy talked to her? Really not going help us get to that next anniversary.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“Just a guy. A college-aged guy. Talking to Chloe.
I watched him bend over the table, hands planted on it, his gaze fixed on Chloe, his lips parting in a smile as he said something to her. A slow burn started in my gut, and before I could stop myself, I was barreling down on them, Simon’s protests fading behind me.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “I’m going to tell myself that you’re just cranky because Chloe’s at the mall with Tori, and you weren’t allowed to go. I could point out that if you did go, you’d be even crankier, and you’d make everyone miserable. Especially me.”
“You wouldn’t have to go.”
“Sure I would. I’d need to run interference when Tori asked how a new shirt looked and you told her the truth.”
“I’m honest. Honest is good.”
“Not when it comes to girls and clothes. You need to gauge their reaction first. If they aren’t happy with it, you suggest they try something else, even if it looked fine. If they love it and it looks like hell, you say it’s not bad and hope they try something else.” ”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging

“ “But you know a way to catch him?” Nate said.
“I do.”
Brad slapped another photo on the table. A smiling teenage girl with blue eyes and blond hair streaked with red.
“Cute,” Carter grunted. “Let me guess, this guy has a crush on her.”
“More than just a crush. It’s his girlfriend.”
They looked surprised. The cute smiling girl definitely did not seem like a romantic match for the scowling brute in the other photos. But Brad had done enough surveillance to be sure of his facts.
“She’s another subject, one who escaped with your grandson and his foster brother. She’s a necromancer.”
Carter’s face screwed up. “A what?”
“Someone who can speak to the dead,” Theo said. “Like the Alpha’s girlfriend. The one on TV.”
“She’s hot,” Nate said.
“Little young for you,” Carter said, still eying the photo.
“I meant the one on TV,” Nate said. “So the kid’s got it bad for this girl?”
“He does, and he already has a werewolf’s protective instinct in spades. He’s the same way with his foster brother, which would be the backup plan, but the brother is a sorcerer and knows self-defense. A necromancer has no defensive powers and this one’s a tiny thing. She’s his weakness. That’s how Liam and Ramon got close enough to fight him. They made a tactical mistake, though. They settled for teasing and threatening her, which only pissed the boy off enough to fight. If you want him, you just need to take her. He’ll come running.” ”
― Kelley Armstrong, Belonging