by Kym Grosso
A tear ran down Jake’s cheek as he gave a small jerk of his chin in acceptance. No matter the pain.
Logan stared into the young wolf’s eyes, until Jake averted his gaze. “Concentrate, Jake. Here we go. One. Two. Three.”
Effortlessly, Logan transformed into his wolf. Yet he was unable to supervise the ease of Jake’s shift. But at this point, Logan didn’t care whether or not his transformation went easily. The only thing that counted was that he shifted. Logan howled, his gray wolf scenting Jake’s. A whine alerted Logan that, even though Jake had experienced considerable torment, the shift was complete and effectual. Logan licked Jake’s snout affectionately, relieved at the outcome.
Barking at Dimitri, he signaled for the group to move out. Since the one SUV was destroyed, they’d take the other vehicle. Zeke opened the hatch and Dimitri moved to lay down with Wynter. Thinking better of it, he merely sat in the back, holding her, waiting for Logan. Jake, as wolf, jumped into the back seat.
Logan shifted back to his human form so he could address Léopold, who’d been sniffing around the wreckage.
“Vampire,” Logan called out to Léopold.
Léopold approached cautiously, recognizing the Alpha was in a fierce state of protection. Between his mate getting injured and the near death of another wolf, Logan would snap if pushed. Léopold held up his palms, lowering his eyes in an attempt to get the human part of Logan to rise to the surface.
“This! This! This cannot happen again, you hear me? Unacceptable, Devereoux. Who’d you get the intel from?” he growled.
“‘No worse fate can befall a man than to be surrounded by traitor souls,’” Léopold quoted cryptically. “William S. Burroughs.”
“But who is the traitor? You said yourself that someone in your line was at Dana’s apartment. I’m tellin’ you right now, you’d better deal with this. He almost killed Jake and Wynter tonight,” Logan yelled, angered by Devereoux’s games. “We can’t afford any more mistakes.”
“He plays with us,” Leo pondered. “But for what purpose?”
Logan raked his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. As much as he hated to admit it, Léopold was right. Whoever had done this knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted to demonstrate power, drawing out the expectation of kidnapping Wynter. It was a show. And the show was meant to intimidate and instill fear.
“Perhaps, but assuming that’s true, then our friend doesn’t know me very well. Because now I’m just pissed. And from what I’ve seen of you, he’d have to be a damn idiot to take on his sire.”
“Well, he wouldn’t be the first to lose his head. And I mean that quite literally. This person is not a direct child, but in my line. Clearly he’s a little power hungry, no? I assure you that this isn’t the end. No, merely the beginning. If I have to stake every last one of my children, he’ll be found.”
Logan turned to leave and paused. “We need to get him before he goes for Wynter. We’re moving out of the city tomorrow night. Be in touch, Devereoux.”
“That I will, mon ami. That I will,” Léopold assured the Alpha, fading into the darkness.
Logan walked to the SUV and sat next to Wynter. He gently took her into his arms and rolled onto his back so she lay atop his torso. With a nod, Dimitri closed the hatch, jumped in the car and they sped off toward his mansion.
Chapter Eighteen
For days, the Directeur had grown dismayed and impatient; it had proved more difficult to kidnap her than he’d originally planned. But all the negativity was now erased by a single blast, replaced by self-gratification. He puffed his chest, exceedingly proud of his plan. It had gone off brilliantly. The Alpha had been delightfully put in his place, unable to protect his scientifique. Like a fool, he’d left her alone with a guard dog. Not entirely alone, as he’d hoped. But this small display of his power would show them how weak and pathetic they all were. The arrogant ancient one would never find out it was he who led him down this path of destruction. He loved watching the vampire squirm, dreaming of the day he’d stake him into ashes.
He silently rejoiced as the Alpha was forced to relinquish his mate. As he predicted, the Alpha would save the burned wolf. The dogs would always choose their pack over her. He restrained himself from laughing at the irony. The mongrels would never accept her, because she’d never truly be wolf.
The ungrateful little bitch would learn soon that it was his hand that had granted her the supernatural gift. The Directeur closed his eyes, reveling in his genius. His great experiment had been spectacularly successful. The full moon would rise soon. And his creation, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, would transform. The final test. Ideally he’d have her within her cage in time to witness her shift. They’d celebrate together, making love well into the night. She’d be eternally grateful, begging to live out her life as both his lover and colleague. With their extraordinary minds at work, they’d perfect the viruses in no time at all. His fangs descended, aroused by his musings. As he walked away, he smiled. Very soon, his scientifique would be in his arms, thanking him for his loving gift.
“You can put me down. Really, I swear I’m fine,” Wynter insisted. Logan had carried her from the car all the way into his bedroom. She looked down at her arms, which had been scratched by the airbag. “It’s amazing. I’m healing already.”
“Indulge me.” Logan entered the bathroom and sat her on a settee, one he had argued with the decorator to be unnecessary at the time. “See, we’re already here and now we’re going to take a nice hot bath. Then it’s time for bed.”
The walls and floor of the enormous bathroom were inlaid with black Spanish marble. It housed a blocked glass shower, modern bamboo vanity with double sinks and separate area for the toilet. An oversized, square-shaped Jacuzzi edged the rear wall of the room. Logan had thought, like the settee, that it had been an unneeded extravagance. Yet the tub he’d finally agreed upon was modern and masculine. Reaching over, he turned the spigot on and returned his attention to Wynter.
“Let’s get you undressed first,” he suggested, helping pull her shirt off over her head.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. I feel so dirty from all the smoke,” she told him and started to take off her clothes.
She unsnapped her bra, unzipped her pants and let Logan pull off her jeans and panties in one swift tug. She smiled, realizing that even though Logan had set her down, he’d never once lost physical contact with her.
“Okay, you first. Here we go. Is it too hot?” Logan lifted Wynter up and eased her into the steaming water.
“Feels so good,” she breathed. Whatever soreness remained from the accident seemed to melt away.
Logan undressed quickly, taking time to throw their clothes into a laundry chute. Seeing that the tub was nearly filled, he turned off the spigot.
Wynter’s eyes roamed over his incredibly well-toned body as he readied to join her. When he turned, she smiled, admiring his broad shoulders that tapered into the smooth muscles of his back and buttocks. His bronzed skin accentuated his exquisite musculature. Logan spun around to face her, and the vision of his washboard abs and hardened chest nearly took her breath away. Like the lithe and powerful animal he was, he advanced toward her. Spellbound, Wynter’s eyes fell to his semi-erect cock and then back up to his eyes. Logan shot her a sexy smile, and she knew she’d been thoroughly caught ogling. But she didn’t care. This was her man, her Alpha. All hers.
Logan loved that his little wolf enjoyed watching him, but he fought his own arousal. She’d just been in an accident, and he planned on pampering and caring for her, not jumping her bones. But he could tell she had other things on her mind besides bathing. And the way she looked, so beautifully naked and wet, it would be damn difficult to resist her.
He hissed as he stepped into the bath, and slid behind Wynter so that he could feel her in his arms. Spooned perfectly in place, he moved his hips slightly so that the length of him fit nicely against the cleft of her bottom. Logan couldn’t seem
to get enough of her, and he wondered if the urge would ease once they fully mated. When the car had exploded, he thought he’d die himself. It was then he realized the full extent of his feelings for his mate and the implications of losing her.
Without speaking, he softly rubbed her shoulders. Logan couldn’t resist lifting her hair, revealing his beautiful mark. He knew he needed to talk to her about it and hoped she wouldn’t be mad. Reaching for the small bottle of shampoo, he began washing her hair. He smiled when she released a small moan as he started to massage her scalp. Logan couldn’t remember ever doing this for a woman, and it excited him to know that she appreciated the small gesture, an intimate yet simple task. He lovingly caressed her springy curls and rinsed them in turn.
“Logan,” Wynter eventually spoke. “Thanks for getting me out of there tonight.”
“You don’t have to thank me. The minute we walked in there, we all knew something was off. I should have just left.”
“Did you find anything?” she asked.
Corpses. Logan opted to tell her about the computer instead. “The place was empty except for a laptop. Dimitri grabbed it. It’s probably wiped. But if they left anything at all, D will find the crumbs. Let’s hope they got sloppy.”
“Really, nothing else?”
“No, I’m afraid it was all just a ploy to get to you…to us. Devereoux’s a pain in my ass, but he’s right, they’re trying to play with us. Intimidate.”
Wynter didn’t respond, thinking of how easily they’d gotten to her.
“Hey, let’s not talk about this anymore tonight. We’ve got other things to talk about. Lots of things, actually,” he disclosed. My mark. The fact that you’re my mate.
“Okay.”
Logan took the bar of soap and lathered his hands. “We should probably talk about tomorrow.” He blew out a breath. “We’ve got Dana’s funeral. It’s here in the city. At twilight.”
“Don’t wolves usually have some kind of special thing they do? I mean when my parents died, I remember going to Jax’s country house. Mom and Dad weren’t wolves, but Jax, well, he did it his way,” she explained. “Buried them on his property. They’ve got headstones but he told me that wolves don’t.”
“Well, yeah, that’s true. We usually bury the body on our land. ‘From the earth we came and back into the earth we go’ and all that stuff. We use scent and then later, memory, to know where someone’s been buried,” Logan described. “But Dana, she’s a hybrid. She was pretty much raised by her human mother. Her father died in a challenge when she was younger.”
“What happens during a challenge?” Wynter asked.
“Anyone can challenge an Alpha if they want to lead the pack. Honestly, though, it doesn’t happen very often.” Except when you become Alpha like I did. “You fight…as wolf.”
“Do challenges always end in death?”
Logan paused, wondering how much he should tell her. Marcel had killed Dana’s father during a particularly nasty battle for power. Everyone in the pack knew and accepted the fact without bitterness. It was pack law. He himself had threatened to kill the next wolf who challenged him, to quell dissension.
“Not usually but occasionally it happens. Not all with wolves is dark, nor is it light,” he asserted. “The bottom line is that too many challenges to the Alpha disrupt the flow of nature. When it’s going on, there’s no peace. It’s not good for anyone in the pack.”
“Yeah, I can see how if people are always peckin’ at the Alpha, they wouldn’t ever feel like they could rest. I mean, how is the Alpha supposed to be leading if he’s always in a sparring match?”
“So like I was sayin’, Dana’s mother raised her. And her family’s plot is in St. Lafayette cemetery. She’ll be interred there.”
“But why at sundown? Don’t the cemeteries close at night?”
“Yes and that’s exactly why we prefer it at night. She may have human family, but she’s got us too. Wolves may want to shift. We don’t need spectators or tourists. No, this’ll be private. It may not be what I would want for myself, but the least we can do is support Dana’s wishes. Generations of her kin have been put in that plot.”
“I’ll come with you if you want,” Wynter offered quietly.
“Of course you will, sweetheart. I’m not leavin’ you alone for a second,” Logan told her with a kiss to her shoulder. “After we leave the funeral, we’re taking off. Goin’ bayou. It’ll make it harder for this psycho to find you. Plus the full moon is in two nights.”
“It is?”
“Yes, it is. But you know that, don’t you?” he chuckled.
“Yes. But that doesn’t mean I want it to come. I mean, who knows what’s going to happen to me? Could be anything. Or nothing.”
“Or something in between. Either way, I’ll be there for you, Wyn. No matter what, you can count on me,” he said with conviction. “You can trust me.”
“Logan,” Wynter paused. The thought of shifting was terrifying. “I’m scared. I know I can’t control what’s happened. But I do…I trust you.’”
Logan’s heart warmed at her words. She really did trust him and not just with the shift either. Yet he still hadn’t told her that he’d gone and marked her. That wasn’t the kind of man he was. To go any longer withholding the truth would not only be disingenuous but could forever fracture their relationship.
“Listen, Wynter, I’ve got to tell you something…something I should have told you earlier,” Logan began.
“Hmm…yes.’ Wynter reached out, seeking Logan’s wrist. Once found, she wrapped her hands onto his forearms, and brought them around her waist.
“Today, in the conference room.” How the hell was he supposed to tell her he’d lost control?
“Ooh, is this dirty story time? Because that one is my favorite,” she joked, trying to lighten the mood. All the talk about the funeral and death weighed heavily on her mind. “Once upon a time there was a wolf and his secretary. I love this one.”
Logan laughed. “Well yes, something like that.” He cleared his throat and dramatically continued. “Once upon a time, there was a smart and sexy princess who was very brave. This princess, she’d been captured by terrible monsters; monsters who wanted to keep her in their tower. But the princess outwitted the monsters and escaped. The monsters were angry and roamed the kingdom looking for her. But a prince found the princess and rescued her. And he slayed the monsters.”
“Ah, sounds like a very interesting premise. Seems as though I may have heard this one before,” she teased.
“You see when the prince rescued the princess, he thought she was the most beautiful and courageous girl he’d ever met. The prince, he was quite taken with the princess. But it was complicated because there were many others who wanted her.” Logan wasn’t sure where he was really going with this story but thought he might as well keep at it.
“One day, the princess and the prince decided to make love…in a conference room,” he laughed. How corny could he get?
Wynter also chuckled. “Here comes the dirty part.”
“Don’t laugh. The princess had been a naughty girl, and in the prince’s defense, he can’t stop thinking about her. He cares about her very much.”
“Does he now?”
“Yes, you see, even though they like making love,” Logan cringed at how he was going about telling her. Almost there. “The princess, she’s in his heart. He’s been alone a very long time. The princess, she makes him feel alive. He wants her, like no other woman. She is his. He just knows.”
Wynter’s breath caught. She knew full well she was the princess. And he was the prince…the prince who wanted no other. What was he trying to say? She prayed he wasn’t going to break her fragile heart.
“So what did he do?” she asked innocently.
“Wyn, I’ve got something to tell you.” Logan spun Wynter around until she straddled him. Face to face, he’d tell her what he’d done. “I know this seems a little fast, but my instinct never fails me. We’ve
only been together a few days, but when you’re a wolf…sometimes your wolf, it knows things.” Goddess, he was fucking this up.
Wynter searched his anguished eyes. What was he trying to say?
“Earlier today…in the conference room. You need to understand, the urge was so strong. I should have talked to you but it just happened.”
“What happened?” Wynter asked in surprise.
“When we made love today…it was amazing. I’d been fighting it, but I just couldn’t any longer. I know I should be sorry but I’m not. I care about you…a lot. I want you to stay here with me,” he told her.
“What, Logan, what did you do?” she whispered, taking his face into her hands. As she leaned into him, her breasts brushed his chest. Her lips were mere inches from his.
Logan held her eyes, distracted by the caress of her soft nipples against his chest. Concentrate. This is how you got into trouble in the first place.
“Logan,” she repeated, her eyes growing concerned.
“I marked you, Wyn. Goddess help me, I did. I know we should have talked about it, but it just kind of happened. You and I… today… it was so intense, so fucking perfect. And before I knew it, my fangs were at your shoulder.”
“So am I really your girlfriend?” she asked. A coy smile broke across her face. A small part of Wynter wished Logan had shared this information prior to biting her, but a bigger part, her heart and wolf, rejoiced.
“Yes you are. But Wyn, it’s more than that. You do understand, right?” She thought this was funny? Jesus almighty, he’d been full of angst over telling her and she was joking?
“I know it’s important to wolves. But you know I’m not all wolf, at least not yet.” She stole a quick kiss, catching him off guard. “Guess that means you’re my boyfriend.”
“Yes I am,” Logan agreed, pulling her toward him. “And so much more.”