by D. J. Heart
“I guess. But wouldn’t it have been better if the police handled it?”
Merchant looks at him like he’s stupid, and Logan has to resist the impulse to shrink in on himself. When Logan doesn’t say anything else, Merchant sighs.
“Geoff Lloyd attacked Peter’s mate. He can’t just sit back and let the police deal with it. People would think he was weak. He’d lose all respect,” he explains, like Logan doesn’t know how alphas work. Logan knows. He just thinks that they should try to rise above their nature.
“I just think it’s silly that other alphas wouldn’t respect him if he let the police do their job. But you’re right. I am glad that Lloyd is dead—not just because he tried to kill me, but because of what he was doing to those omegas.”
Merchant doesn’t answer, turning his attention back to the TV. He seems annoyed, and Logan feels like he’s been dismissed.
It’s not a nice feeling.
Logan sits back and watches the TV, uncomfortable, knowing that once he goes back to his real life he’ll be happy that whatever was happening between him and Merchant crashed and burned before it even got started. He doesn’t even know if Merchant supports omega rights.
Judging from what a typical alpha Merchant seems to be, Logan knows it’s unlikely that he does.
The best thing Logan can do for himself is to get through his time with Merchant without offending his alpha sensibilities further, and then go home and forget him.
Glancing at Merchant’s frowning face out of the corner of his eye, the separation can’t come soon enough.
***
Merchant knows that he shouldn’t be annoyed with Logan. He’s a beta. Of course he doesn’t understand.
But what does that mean for Merchant’s chances of Logan ever accepting him? Merchant is not a nice person by any standard. He’s killed, bullied, and intimidated people for a living for most of his adult life. If Logan knew what he was really like, he’d run screaming.
And Merchant really doesn’t want Logan to run screaming.
“I’m sorry. I know that betas don’t have the same instincts when it comes to these things, and I shouldn’t have expected you to react like an alpha. I just don’t have a lot of beta friends. Most of the guys I hang out with would have wished they were right there with Peter, and I kind of forgot that for you it would have been scary.”
Merchant stops talking, pretty pleased with himself for backing away from his angry reaction so gracefully. Logan’s expression, however, does not change for the better.
“It’s fine. We’re different, that’s just the way it is. Let’s just put it behind us and move on.”
Merchant frowns. Logan sounds like he wants to put everything behind them, and Merchant finds that this idea upsets him.
It’s weird. Merchant has always preferred fucking betas to either alphas or omegas, but he’s never really spent much time with a beta that wasn’t in some way related to fucking them: either as foreplay, aftercare, or the act itself. It’s frustrating that he doesn’t know what to do to make Logan like him as a person.
Merchant wants to say something more, to fix whatever just went wrong, but someone calling his cell interrupts him. He mutes the TV and answers the call.
It’s Peter.
“Hey Peter, saw you on TV,” he says, the approval evident in his voice. He gets up and walks away from the couch, Logan following him with his eyes as he heads into the kitchen.
“Merchant. Sorry you didn’t get to have any fun,” Peter says. Merchant grins, thinking back on his evening with Logan. He wouldn’t say he didn’t have fun.
“I did okay,” he says. He knows he sounds smug and happy. There’s a pause.
“You didn’t,” Peter deadpans, and Merchant laughs.
“No. Not on the job.” Merchant reaches into the fridge, grabs the carton of milk, and takes a sip.
“Chad isn’t going to like this,” Peter warns. He doesn’t sound angry though, so Merchant takes it as a win.
“I don’t care what Chad thinks,” he says. “As long as you’re not telling me to stay away.”
He knows that he’s on thin ice. Peter has in recent months had a very thin skin where Chad is concerned, and even innocuous comments can make him go into a rage.
“It’s none of my business,” Peter says, and Merchant grins. He’s not sure what he would have done if Peter had told him to stay away from Logan.
“Thanks, but I’m assuming you didn’t call to talk about my love life?”
“Your love life?” Peter asks. He sounds amused, and Merchant cringes.
“You know what I mean,” he says.
“Sure. I’ll tell Chad not to get in the way of your love life. Give you a chance to nurture it and let it blossom into a beautiful flower.”
“Ugh, you fucker. You’re one to talk.” Merchant feels embarrassed, but not in an altogether bad way. The idea of nurturing a relationship with Logan, sappy as it is, sounds strangely appealing.
Merchant shakes his head at himself. He’s never felt like this about someone before, and especially not someone he just met. He doesn’t know what it is about Logan that he just likes so much.
“You’re right,” Peter says. “I need you to take care of something for me. Lloyd didn’t build the bomb himself. I’m sending you the names now.”
Merchant hears a beep, and when he pulls his phone away from his ear there’s a new message from Peter with a list of three names and an address.
“I’ll deal with them. What about Logan?”
“You’re still there?” Peter sounds surprised. He shouldn’t be. Merchant was told to guard him, and he’ll do so until he’s told to fall back. Though he won’t mention the fact that he took Logan to his place rather than just guarding the beta in his own home.
“I’m keeping watch until you say otherwise.”
“He should be safe now, so you can go home. I’ll talk to you later.”
Peter hangs up without saying goodbye. Merchant opens Peter’s message and stares at the three names. The hunt is on, and he grins as he starts planning how to take down his prey.
It shouldn’t take more than a few days to make them disappear.
Chapter 8
Logan sits in his kitchen and stares out the window, feeling at a loss. The insurance money to cover the damage done to his office hasn’t come in yet, and he doesn’t have a computer he can work on from home. The thought is like a stone in his stomach.
He’s going to have to get a new everything.
Pushing out of the chair, Logan refills his coffee cup and walks over to the window, staring at the street below. His mother has just left, and the silence now filling his apartment is wonderful.
To say that his mother is displeased that he didn’t call her after the bomb went off is an understatement. She’d had to find out from the police that he was unhurt, and even then he hadn’t come home until the next day.
Logan doesn’t think she’ll ever forgive him—if only for the ammunition it gives her in her mission to guilt-trip him into going on dates with her friends’ daughters.
She’d cried when he came home, with Merchant dropping him off in a hurry after his call with Peter. She’d launched herself at him when he stepped out of the car, and by the time she let him go Merchant was long gone.
Logan can’t help but feel bitter at how quick Merchant was to get rid of him.
His phone rings, and when he sees his mother’s name pop up on the screen he groans to himself. Still, not answering is not acceptable. He won’t be screening her calls for years if his current level of guilt is anything to go by.
He can’t believe he didn’t call his family and tell them he was okay. He’d called Peter, for fuck’s sake. What’s wrong with him?
“Hi Mom,” he says, lifting his coffee cup to his lips and taking a careful sip.
“Oh good, you answered the phone. I was just making sure you hadn’t forgotten again,” his mom says, her voice sarcastic but loving. Logan winces.
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“It was a traumatic situation. I said I was sorry.”
“I didn’t call about that. I’m calling on behalf of your uncle Eddie. He’s offering you a job with his firm. And before you say anything, please just consider it. You need a job, a real job, and to stand on your own two feet. You’re never going to find a mate if you can’t even afford to rent your own apartment.”
Logan closes his eyes. His mother is taking no prisoners today. It usually takes her a solid twenty minutes to work up to that, and he doesn’t know which point to argue first.
It’s true that his mother helps him pay his rent, but to her credit she’s never used that as leverage to make him do what she wants. Emotional blackmail, on the other hand, she’s more than comfortable with.
“Mom. The work I do is important. We just uncovered a huge scandal, and now that Chad is working with me—”
“No one ever bombed you until that alpha came along,” his mother interrupts. Her voice is pure venom and Logan takes a calming breath.
“Chad is not the reason we got bombed. I was the one who received the file with the incriminating information.”
“But Chad is the one who forced the media to make a fuss about it. If it were just you, the whole thing would have been ignored and you would have been fine.”
“I didn’t want it to be ignored, Mom. That’s the whole point. Look, I don’t want to fight about this. I’m not quitting.”
His mom is silent, and Logan knows that she hasn’t given up. She’s not indifferent to the plight of omegas in society; she just doesn’t think Logan should have to ruin his life to help them. Logan disagrees, in that he’s ruining his life and that he shouldn’t be the one to help them.
“I can’t afford to keep helping you. Not with your sister going to college. I’m sorry, Logan.”
Logan reels. He doesn’t believe that his mom is lying—she wouldn’t—but he was under the impression that his sister had secured a scholarship to cover her tuition. He knows it’s pathetic that he needs a monthly check from his mom to get by, but he still counts on it.
“But what about the sch—”
“I make too much money and she doesn’t qualify. We thought that since I’m a single parent that she would get an exception, but we just got the letter saying that our application was denied.”
Logan sits down, feeling faint. Without support from his mother he won’t be able to afford to do the work he does. At least not without moving back home. He tries to imagine living in his old room in his mother’s house in the suburbs, and he just… can’t.
“I have to think about this,” he says. His mom makes a sympathetic noise, saying goodbye after making him promise to at least give his Uncle Eddie a call. They hang up.
Fuck! What is he supposed to do now? He knows that fundraising isn’t going to get him the money he needs, and any kind of corporate support is a non-starter. Shit!
The doorbell rings, and Logan jumps. As he goes to answer the door he wonders if maybe Chad can help finance them. He’s rich, even though Logan gets the impression that Peter is the one who controls the purse strings. Chad has said when he came to work with him that he couldn’t help financially, but maybe if Logan explains the situation they’re in?
He opens the door, absentminded and pondering his problem, only to find Merchant standing on his doorstep. Logan stares at the alpha, who looks amazing in wool dress pants, a white shirt, and a leather bomber jacket, and wonders what the hell he’s doing here.
“Merchant,” he says, sounding as confused as he feels. He can’t help the now-familiar surge of arousal that wells up inside him. It makes his skin feel too tight and his whole body feel hot.
“Logan. How are you?” Merchant asks. He’s smiling, his expression pleasant and warm, and he’s looking at Logan like he’s extremely happy to see him. It makes Logan forget his resolve that Merchant is bad for him.
“I’m good. What are you doing here?” He blurts the question out, ducking his head and blushing when Merchant’s grin widens.
“I want you to go on a date with me.”
Logan knows he must look like an idiot, his eyes wide and his mouth open in surprise, standing there saying nothing.
“Are you free tomorrow at noon?”
Merchant tilts his head and waits for an answer. Logan nods his head, his insides all twisted up in a mess of want and warning.
“Good. I’ll pick you up. Wear comfortable shoes and layers.”
Merchant takes a step forward, and when Logan stumbles back in surprise, he catches Logan by the front of his shirt and pulls him forward so that he crashes into Merchant’s solid body. The alpha lifts his huge mitt of a hand and puts it on Logan’s neck, holding him still as he leans down for a kiss. It’s quick, a touch of lips and then nothing, but it still sends Logan into a tailspin. He shudders, and if Merchant had asked him to spread his legs and present he would have done so without hesitation.
“Good boy,” Merchant says. His voice is warm and gruff, igniting sparks in Logan’s belly. He feels drunk and excited.
Merchant drops his hand and steps away, leaving Logan’s neck feeling cold and unguarded, and puts his hands in his pockets. Logan watches him turn around and strut away like he just fought a battle and won. The bomber jacket is short enough that Logan has an unobstructed view of Merchant’s ass, and it’s glorious. When Merchant turns to walk down the stairs, glancing back at Logan, he catches him staring. Logan hastily steps back and slams the door shut, embarrassed as hell but grinning nonetheless.
He walks back into his apartment and sits down at his kitchen table, taking a sip of his coffee. It’s gone cold, and he puts the cup down with a grimace.
It’s a weird day. His career as an omega rights activist looks like it might have to come to an end, and he has a date with an alpha. Logan frowns to himself. Comfortable shoes, layers, and he’s being picked up at noon?
What kind of date is this?
Standing up and clearing away his cup, Logan figures he’ll just have to wait and see.
***
Merchant pulls on his good hiking boots and tucks his gloves into his pockets before giving himself a quick check in the mirror. He grins, pleased at the hunk of an alpha that stares back at him, and grabs his keys and backpack before heading out.
It’s time for his date with Logan, and he can’t wait.
Climbing into his SUV, he hopes that he’s not making a mistake by skipping the conventional dinner and a movie. He wants to make a good impression on Logan—wants the beta to know that he’s taking this seriously—and he thinks this is the right move to make that happen.
If all he wanted from Logan was to get into his bed, the whole dinner and seduction thing would be more than enough, but that’s not all Merchant wants. He had some time to think about his strange reaction to Logan while he hunted down and disposed of the three people responsible for building Lloyd’s bomb, and he’s come to the decision that he wants Logan to be his. Completely.
Merchant is an alpha, after all. It was inevitable that he’d one day feel the urge to settle down and take a mate. He’s not sure why Logan is the one to awaken the instinct, but he knows himself well enough to understand that his gut feeling is usually right.
Parking his SUV outside Logan’s apartment building, Merchant feels a flutter of nerves in his stomach—though not as bad as when he’d asked Logan out the day before. He’d spent a whole hour in the mirror before he left, changing clothes and fretting over what he would do if Logan flat out rejected him.
He’s glad he doesn’t have to find out.
Climbing out of the front seat, Merchant makes his way up to Logan’s front door. He rings the doorbell and gives the door two sharp knocks. Logan opens the door like he’s been standing there waiting for him. Merchant grins at the idea.
“Hello,” Logan says, eyes roaming over Merchant’s body. Merchant lets him look as much as he wants, loving the attention.
“Hello. Are you ready to go?” Mercha
nt asks. He looks Logan up and down, checking his clothes to see if he’s dressed appropriately for a hike. He’s happy to see that the beta has followed his instructions to wear layers.
“I think so. Do I need to change or is this okay?” Logan bites his lip and looks uncertain, and Merchant grins.
“It’s perfect, though you might want to bring some gloves and a scarf. We’re going for a hike. You’ll be warm enough when we’re walking, but I brought food and I don’t want you getting cold when we sit down to eat.”
“Let me just grab them…” Logan says, darting back into the apartment and reappearing a second later with a thick pair of mittens and a wool scarf in his hands. “Okay, I’m ready.”