by Sara Summers
“The news Laren told you is fake. Logan and I have only known each other for a day and a half, and we’re not married, we’re soulmates. I’m a wolf shifter.”
The horrified gasp from the crowd was much louder than I would’ve expected. Then again, the room was very full.
“I grew up in what you call the Dumpster, not Idaho. I’m a shifter, and when Logan touched my hand, he became one too.”
“Where’s your proof?” Someone demanded from the crowd.
Just as I lifted my hair, Logan waltzed up onto the stage and grabbed me around the waist, throwing me over his shoulder just gently enough that my hair didn’t fly out and flash my cotie at everyone.
“Sorry, everyone. My wife had a few too many glasses of champagne. I’d better get her home before she tells anyone about the contract I just signed.” He winked at the crowd before stepping off the stage and out of the room.
“I knew my grandpa wasn’t asking about me.” He growled, striding through the hallway quickly.
“This is the first time you’ve even seemed a little wolfy.” I remarked.
I debated letting him win this time, letting him continue carrying me over his shoulder. But I wanted more than anything to know if there was any wolf in him, and I knew that if there was a wolf in him it would respond to a challenge.
So, I dropped my left shoulder and rolled myself out of his arms, landing on my feet in those ridiculous shoes in the middle of the hallway. We both knew people would be leaving the party any minute, and some of them would probably be heading straight toward us.
“I’m not a wolf.” Logan snarled, his fists clenched at his side.
“Then what does the marking on your neck mean?” I taunted him. “Cover it with as much makeup as you want, it’s still there.”
I heard a door open down the hallway, and I spun toward the noise.
Logan turned too, and I knew. I knew without any doubt that my soulmate was, in fact, a wolf. If he wasn’t, there was no way he could’ve heard that door open
The knowledge brought a massive grin to my face.
“You’re a wolf.” I smirked.
He shook his head and grabbed me around the waist, hurrying down the hallway.
“And you know we’re never going to make it out of here before someone catches us.” I said.
Logan groaned, and I could hear that growl again. It was the sexiest noise on the planet.
He looked around the hallway and, when he saw a door, pushed it open and pulled me inside. The room was dark, but I could still see alright. It was a large room with stacks of chairs on both sides and tables set up around the entire space.
“We’ll wait here until everyone’s gone.” He told me, but I could hear that he was still angry with me.
Anger was good; anger could make him feel challenged, and a challenge could connect him to his wolf.
“Don’t try to pretend you aren’t a shifter, Logan. You know you could shift if you wanted to.”
“That’s all in your head, Emma.” He narrowed his eyes at me. I was getting there; I just needed to keep making his wolf feel challenged.
“And that makes it wrong?” I folded my arms and tilted my head to one side. “I know that you think my opinions are insignificant, that you think your life is better than mine. That I should be happy with whatever you pity me enough to give me.”
“That’s not true.” His voice was low and gravelly.
“Isn’t it? Look at me.” I gestured to myself, with my makeover and the short silver dress that was practically molded to my body. “I have to look sexy to get your friends to like me. My face is caked in makeup because you don’t think I look good the way I am. Who I am isn’t good enough for you.” I glared at him, stepping closer.
He eyed me warily, and I could tell he was fighting off the animal inside him whether he realized it or not.
“You’re perfect for me.” He swallowed.
“Yeah, I’m perfect for you, but that doesn’t mean I fit into your world.” I pulled my hair to the side of my face, revealing the marking that we shared that he hid. “This is something people wear with pride where I come from. You hide yours with makeup like it’s something dirty and disgusting. You don’t want me; I’m just a big inconvenience to your perfect world.”
“Stop, Emma.” Logan growled and stepped so close to me that our chests were brushed up against each other. I looked up into his eyes.
“Or what?” I lifted an eyebrow.
While I was only saying it to push him into shifting, I wasn’t saying anything that I didn’t believe was true. I think maybe that’s what hurt him so much.
“You’ll take me away from my family and force me into a life that makes me uncomfortable? You’ll tell your friends that I’m drunk to hide the truth about who I am?” I watched the hair raise on his arms.
“I didn’t force you into anything.” He snarled. I knew that I only needed to say one more thing.
“No, you tricked me into thinking that you wanted to be my soulmate when you really just didn’t want to have to sleep alone.”
The expression on his face contorted and I stepped back. He tried to grab my arm, but I stepped away again as he lost himself to the wolf in him. Logan had no control of his shift, so I hurried to get back so I wouldn’t get scratched or tackled by his massive wolf.
“I knew it.” I smiled and looked him up and down. His wolf was a little bigger than mine, but not much. His dark-colored fur was the same shade as his hair in human form, and his eyes were still a bright, distracting color of green.
He was incredible.
Logan’s wolf looked down at his paws and around the room quickly before he shifted back into human form.
“What did you do?” he demanded, stepping up close to me again. When he realized he was naked, he grabbed a piece of the shredded clothing he’d been wearing and used it to cover himself.
“I challenged your wolf.” I folded my arms. “Male wolves have this thing against hurting their soulmate. I told you how you hurt me, and the wolf in you took over. Until you fought him off, of course.” I gestured to him standing in front of me in human form.
“So none of that was true.” He looked relieved.
“All of it was true.” I backed away from him a little. “Your grandpa didn’t tell me to announce what I am, Logan. He told me that if I didn’t stand up for what I believed in, I would spend the rest of my life as a doormat under yours and your mother’s decisions. He was right. I’m not going to pretend to be human.”
“I don’t want you to be a doormat either, Emma. I’m just trying to fit you into my life.” Logan said desperately. I could tell he on the border of losing control again. “I just want us to be together.”
“Then stop trying to hide what we have. Stop pretending we’re not shifters.” I demanded.
“Will that stop you from hating me?” he was about to lose it and shift again, I could tell.
My glare softened into a sad smile.
“I couldn’t hate you if I tried.” I placed my hand on the side of his neck and let him feel how desperate I was for him to want me for who I am. There was nothing in the world that mattered to me as much as my soulmate loving me for me.
Logan’s breath staggered when he felt what I did. I wanted him, but I wanted him to want me. Not some image in his head, but me.
He grabbed my waist and pulled me against him with his free hand, capturing my mouth with his. I was more than happy to kiss him back despite his, ah, lack of proper clothing.
The kiss was interrupted when someone opened the door, flooding the room with light. I stepped in front of my soulmate to protect him from going to prison for indecent exposure, but he yanked me behind a stack of chairs so it didn’t matter.
Logan’s hand covered my mouth while we waited for the person to leave.
The door finally closed a minute or two later, taking the light with it.
“We need to find you some clothes and get out of here.” I whispered when he pulled
his hand away from my mouth.
“I couldn’t agree more.” He nodded, taking my hand. “I think I saw a janitor’s closet by the elevator.”
“The elevator? That’s on the other side of the building.” I protested. “Besides, what janitor keeps a spare change of clothes in his closet?”
“What do you suggest, then?” he waited for an answer.
“This is a hotel, isn’t it? Don’t human hotels have maids or something?” I didn’t mention that I only knew that because of an old movie I’d seen.
“It’s called housekeeping, but yes.” Logan nodded. “There’s no way we’ll make it on an elevator, we’ll have to take the stairs.”
“How are we going to find the housekeeping?” I wondered.
“Good question. I have no idea.” He admitted. “There should be some sort of laundry room though. I’d assume that’s on the first floor. They would probably have housekeeping uniforms there.”
“Well is there a way to find out? I still have my phone.” I handed him the small, silvery clutch that matched my dress his mom had forced me to bring with my new phone and a few things of makeup in it. He took the clutch, opened it, and handed me the phone.
“Perfect. Call the front desk and tell them that you’re Emma Lush and you lost one of your earrings during the party. Demand to know where the laundry room is because you think it fell on a tablecloth or something.” He instructed.
I looked at him like he was insane.
“I can’t just make up a story to the hotel workers. You do it.” I tried to hand the phone back to him but he wouldn’t take it.
“They’re going to expect to see whoever calls them. I can’t exactly show up to find your earring wearing this.” He gestured to the shredded clothing that was the only thing protecting him from complete nudity.
I sighed.
“Hey, you could’ve waited until we got home to hurt me enough that I shifted.” He folded his arms.
“You could’ve chosen not to hurt me at all.” I shot back. “Fine. Find me the number and I’ll lie for you.”
Thirteen
He took the phone and handed it back to me a few seconds later.
“Push the green button and wait for someone to answer.” He instructed.
“I’m not an idiot, I know how to use a phone.” I reminded him.
“Sorry.” He raised his hands in surrender.
I held the phone to my ear, waiting for someone to answer. I didn’t have to wait long. They answered with a “hello” and the name of the hotel, which I can’t remember at all.
“This Emma Lush, my husband and I had our elopement party at your hotel. It ended a few minutes ago and I realized that I lost my earring. We looked everywhere but the tablecloths, so I’m sure it must be in your laundry room somewhere. That earring is worth a lot to me, so I would appreciate it if you could tell me where your laundry room is.” I lied.
“Of course. It’s on the fifth floor next to room 512. Someone will be waiting to meet you there, Miss Lush.”
“Thank you.” I hung up the phone and took my clutch from Logan, stuffing the phone inside it. “Fifth floor, come on.” I gestured for him to come with me out of the room.
“Do you know where the stairs are?” Logan checked.
“No.” I frowned.
“Then I’m not walking through the hotel practically naked.” He wasn’t willing to budge on that and I really couldn’t blame him.
“You could just shift.” I reminded him, putting a hand on my hip.
The dirty look he gave me was answer enough.
“You’ll have to go by yourself. Get some clothes from housekeeping for the both of us, and we can sneak out the back entrance together.” Logan instructed.
“So now you want me to go lie to their faces and steal clothes? This is ridiculous.” I protested.
“What other option is there?” he held out the hand that wasn’t protecting my virgin eyes.
Let’s be real; as a shifter I’d seen plenty of naked men that another one wouldn’t bother me, whether or not he was my soulmate. The rest of me was a virgin, but my eyes? They didn’t qualify.
I would’ve told him that but I figured I’d ticked him off enough for one night.
“You probably shouldn’t say that while you’re naked.” I advised, reaching up to take out one of the earrings that had just been stabbed into my ears.
“Wait, the lady said you’re not supposed to take those out for six weeks.” Logan grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“What other option is there?” I turned his words on him.
Logan rolled his eyes.
“Just cover one of your ears with your hair.”
“Fine.” I pulled my hair to my left shoulder and started toward the door again.
“Wait, Emma.” He stopped me again, and I folded my arms.
“Do you want me to go or not?” I snapped.
Logan hesitated.
“You just need to cover your mate mark, okay? Put your hair on the other side.” He told me reluctantly.
I fought the urge to flip him off.
“I go like this or not at all. It’s your choice.” I was done being told to hide my cotie, so I waited for him to decide.
“Alright, leave your hair.” He sounded apologetic, but I didn’t hear an apology.
Leaving the room, I walked toward the elevator with purpose. As I went, I started to feel a little guilty for the ultimatum I’d given him and decided just to cover the marking on my neck. It wasn’t that big of a deal, right?
So I moved my hair and stepped into the elevator.
A few people inside stared at me when I stepped in, and I ignored it when the one guy pulled out his phone and snuck a picture.
My face warmed through the long, silent elevator ride, and when we stopped on the fifth floor I was actually relieved to get out and go find the person I was supposed to lie to.
I walked down the hallway to the right for a few minutes until I realized the room numbers were going up instead of down—whoops. So I turned around and retraced my steps, reaching room 512 after a few more minutes. There was a man wearing a suit in front of the door, waiting for me.
“Miss Lush?” He held out his hand.
“Yes.” I smiled and shook his hand. He looked surprised when I shook it, so maybe he was expecting something else. I was tired of hugging and of kissing people on the cheek though, so I ignored his surprised expression. “Thank you for meeting me here, I think my earring must be in one of the tablecloths.”
“Our people have been through everything from your party twice already, but they’re going through it again to make sure it’s not there.” He explained.
“Alright, just do your best.” I nodded.
“Is there anything I can get you while you’re waiting?”
I hesitated. This was my chance to tell the truth, or at least a little of it. If I had the chance, I had to take it.
“Actually, there is. Do you have two spare housekeeping uniforms? My husband and I need a way to get out of here without being barraged by photographers.” It was a little uncomfortable asking the question, but well worth it.
“Of course. Just give me a moment.” The man stepped into the laundry room and came out a few minutes later with a hotel bag holding two sets of uniforms in it. He handed me the bag.
“Thank you so much.” I gushed and gave him a big smile. “When you find my earring, just have the hotel call the number for Laren Lush. She’ll take care of it.” I smiled one last time before turning to walk back toward the elevator.
I passed by a mirror on the way there, and as I passed by, I realized that I didn’t even recognize myself.
Fourteen
I snuck back into the room Logan was waiting in and tossed him the bag. He caught it without a problem and unzipped it. The room was dark and quiet, and I didn’t feel like talking after I’d walked past that mirror.
I leaned against the wall, looking off into the darkness while Logan put on
the clothes. I thought about how I’d looked in the mirror—I’d looked pretty, sure, but I’d looked like a pretty stranger. The person in the mirror hadn’t looked anything like me.
“Hey, are you going to change?” Logan checked.
“Hmm?” I glanced over at him. Somehow he still looked sexy in the glorified black scrubs with the hotel’s logo on them.
“I thought you were going to change too.” He said, lifting the second housekeeping uniform from the bag.
“I am.” I reached to the back of my neck and tried to unhook the little hook thingies that secured the skin-tight silver dress. It was a struggle, and I just couldn’t figure out how to get them undone.
“Can I do it for you?” he checked.
“No.” I said sharply, shooting him a glare as I fought with the hooks.
“Why won’t you let me help you?” Logan stepped up to me and rested his hands on my hips.
“The same reason we’ve been arguing all day.” I shook my head and finally got the first hook undone. There were only three others above the zipper.
I started on the next one.
“Because we both want to be together but don’t want to give up our lives?” he raised his eyebrows.
“Yep.” I fiddled with the hook, hoping it would suddenly come undone the way the first had.
“That’s a stupid reason not to let me help you get this dress off.” He remarked.
His hands were still on my waist, and I cursed myself for liking it so much.
I sighed and stopped trying with the hooks.
“Fine.” I forced out the words.
Logan stepped closer, lifting his hands to the neckline of the dress. He got the hooks undone easily, and then started to unzip the dress. He did it slowly, and I heard him growl a little as the zipper reached my lower back.
“Logan.” I warned.
“What?” I heard the gravel in his voice. If he’d touched my neck, I knew I would’ve been overwhelmed with his attraction to me. “I’m allowed to think you’re sexy, aren’t I?”
I sighed and stepped forward, mostly just to get away from him.
“Let’s not do this right now.” I said, tugging on the armhole of the dress. The fabric was so stiff that it barely moved as I pulled on it.