The Wolf's Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna

by R. E. Butler

  He said, “Did I make a face?”

  She laughed. “A little. And it’s understandable, since it has a blue bone.”

  “Sorry.”

  Rhoswen held a porcelain bowl that contained some kind of mashed vegetable and took a scoop onto her plate. “Are there no blue-furred boars in the Mortal Realm?”

  Logan shook his head. “It’s not a natural color where I’m from, except for maybe birds. But I doubt their bones are blue.”

  “Strange,” Rhoswen said with a shake of her head, passing the bowl to Brokk.

  Logan snorted inwardly. Indeed.

  Later that night, after he and Jenna had made love in the shower to mask the noise and then retired to bed, he held her close and looked out the window into the darkness. Gas lamps lit the street outside, but they were dull by comparison to the harsh electric lights he was used to. It was quiet here. Peaceful. No cars driving by with headlights chasing across the walls. He’d thought his own home was quiet, but it was nothing compared to the stillness here.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Jenna whispered, her lips grazing his chest.

  He tightened his hold on her. “Do you miss being home?”

  “Yeah, but we’ll be home in a few days.”

  It took him a moment to realize that she wasn’t talking about her own realm anymore, but his. She laughed lightly. “Anywhere you are is home to me, Logan. I miss my family, but it’s no different than moving to another state in your realm. I can always come here to visit, but my home is with you because you have my heart.”

  “You have mine, too, baby.”

  * * * * *

  Logan drank the fae version of coffee on Saturday morning and watched Jenna cooking in the kitchen. Qafo, as they called it, was made with some kind of dried root and tasted like very mild French roast. It wasn’t bad, but he was looking forward to having a cup of dark roast once they were back home.

  Jenna set a plate in front of him filled with eggs and some sliced meat that reminded him of country ham but which was brown streaked with white. “Juice?” she asked.

  “Nah, I’m good baby.”

  She joined him with her own plate, and they ate together. When he told her how good the meal was, she beamed.

  After they had cleared the dishes, there was a knock at the door, and it swung open to reveal a tall blonde woman and a man with short white-blond hair.

  “Kari!” Jenna said, racing to meet her friend. They hugged and kissed each other on the cheeks, laughing and talking.

  Jenna slipped into Logan’s arms. “Logan, this is my best friend Kari, and her betrothed, Raynir. This is my truemate, Logan.”

  Kari looked Logan up and down and then hugged him. Logan was too surprised by the burst of affection to hug her back, and she darted back into Raynir’s arms. “We’re almost family, Logan. You saved my best friend. You’re golden in my book.”

  Raynir stuck his hand out and shook Logan’s firmly. “It’s good to meet you, wolf. Thank you for returning Maximus. You’re a better male than I. I would have left him to rot for what he did to Jenna.”

  Logan’s brow rose. “I promised Jenna’s dad that I would bring him back for punishment.”

  Raynir nodded. “He’ll get it, too, once he’s out of care.” He glanced at Jenna. “They had to remove both wings. The one was completely dead, and his father said not to leave him with just one since it would be useless anyway. He’ll recover in a few weeks and be ready to spend a good length of time in bondage.”

  At Logan’s confused look, Raynir told him that betrayal between faes was considered one of the great crimes of their people, especially when the betrayal involved outsiders like werewolves, and most especially when it involved criminal activities. Once he was healed, Maximus would be sentenced by the high courts for his crimes and would serve his punishment by working to repair the damage that had occurred from opening the portal and allowing Jasper and his pack in.

  Kari giggled. “Translation: he’ll be picking up garbage and paving the roads brick by brick for the next five years.”

  Logan thought that was hardly a fit punishment considering that he had almost cost Jenna her life. Raynir rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If he wasn’t crippled now, the punishment would have been far harsher. Losing his wings means he’s lost his ability to earn a living through traditional means. He’ll have to rely on his family for support, or hope to marry a fae that comes from a wealthy family.”

  Logan looked at Jenna and she smiled. “He wasn’t popular when he had wings. He’ll be a leper now.”

  “As long as you approve, sweetheart,” Logan said. “That works for me.”

  She nodded. “I do. It’s knocked his family down a few pegs and he’ll have a permanent reminder of what betrayal costs.”

  Kari rubbed her hands together. “It’s time for the men to leave so Jenna can get ready.”

  “For what?” Logan asked.

  Kari rolled her blue eyes to the ceiling. “The joining ceremony.”

  Logan’s eyes widened. “That’s not for eight hours!”

  Raynir said, “Come on out with me. I’ll give you a tour of the glen and we’ll hang out.”

  Jenna smiled encouragingly. “Be back by five so you can get ready. My dad will be here to help.”

  “Eight hours is a long time to be apart.” He snagged her around the waist and jerked her against his body.

  “That’s so romantic,” Kari sighed.

  Jenna blushed and wrinkled her nose as she smiled. “I’m one lucky fairy.”

  “Not as lucky as the wolf holding you.”

  Kari made another exaggerated sighing sound and Raynir groaned. “You’re killing me, man. Let’s go before I have to buy her something sparkly to make up for my romantic shortcomings.”

  Logan laughed and kissed Jenna, releasing her and following Raynir out of the house.

  A small black carriage was waiting at the end of the walk, attached to a navy blue horse with a pale blue mane. Raynir climbed in first and Logan followed, sitting on a cushioned bench.

  Raynir clicked his tongue and the horse took off. “I’ve never seen a blue horse before,” Logan commented, his hands gripping the edge of the seat. He felt like he was going to fall out of the carriage, the way it rocked along the cobblestone road.

  “Kari’s father is a breeder and he’s got all different colors. Kari’s favorite stallion is bright pink.” He glanced sideways. “It’s hard to feel manly when you’re sitting behind a pink horse.”

  “I’ll bet,” Logan chuckled.

  “You’re the first wolf I’ve ever met. You’re not at all what I expected.”

  “Yeah?”

  Raynir touched the reins gently and the horse turned left down a street. They had left the neighborhood where Jenna’s home was and were now entering what looked like a downtown area, with shops and restaurants. “We’re raised to believe that the glen is perfect and that nothing good exists in the outer realms.”

  “But doesn’t that go against the truemate spell?”

  “Yeah, but fae also recognize that not everyone will find their lifemates within the Fae Realm. Rather than our people wandering around for decades looking for love, the truemate spell helps them go directly to the one person meant for them.”

  He was still amazed by the magic of the spell. Several minutes later, they stopped in front of a large stone building. “This is where the party will be after the ceremony. I promised Jenna’s dad I’d stop by with you so we can help do manly stuff like move tables.”

  Logan was happy to help and had wondered where her parents had gone off to so early. He greeted her parents and her father set him and Raynir to work immediately, rearranging tables and chairs in the large open space. Several hours later, Raynir suggested it was time to relax and they headed back through the small downtown where he stopped the carriage in front of a tavern.

  After lunch, a few rousing games of polsi, which was a lot like darts, and two mugs of sweet beer, it was time to h
ead back to the house to get ready. Raynir dropped him off in front of Jenna’s home and said, “I’ll see you at the ceremony. It was good meeting you, Logan.”

  “Thanks for the beer,” Logan said.

  “Thanks for letting me win at polsi.”

  Logan walked into the house and found Jenna’s dad in the kitchen.

  “Are you ready, cher?” he asked, folding a towel and turning around to face him

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go get you ready to meet your bride.”

  He followed Brokk up the stairs. It wasn’t the first time since he’d arrived that Brokk had called him son. It touched something deep inside him. It was no wonder Jenna was the spectacular person she was. She came from good people.

  Brokk opened Jenna’s bedroom door and Logan walked inside. Clothing was laid out on the bed. A white dress shirt, dark trousers, and a length of silver fabric. Brokk said, “When you’re cleaned up and dressed, give me a yell and I’ll fix the sash on you. We need to leave in an hour and a half, so no dilly-dallying.”

  “Yes, sir,” Logan said. When the door shut, he showered and took extra care to make sure that he did a good job shaving. Jenna didn’t mind his scruffy cheeks when they made love in the mornings, but he wanted to look his best. He had no doubt that she would look amazing.

  He wasn’t sure how they’d found clothes big enough for him, but the trousers and shirt fit perfectly. The shirt had a high collar and French cuffs, and he looked for cuff links on the bed but didn’t see any. He called for Brokk, who opened the door and walked in, carrying a wooden box.

  “You look good, lad,” Brokk said, putting the box on the bed and opening the lid. He pulled out cuff links and fixed them, and then reached for the silver fabric.

  “When our kind — by which I mean lockinfae — bond in matrimony to our mates, we show our pride for our heritage by wearing a metallic object. This looks like fabric, but it’s made up of thousands of tiny links of different metals and has been passed down in my family for generations. I wore it to join to Rhoswen and I’m giving it to you, to wear to join to Jenna. And someday, when you have children, whether they are wolf or fae, you’ll give this to them to wear, also.”

  He draped the sash over Logan’s right shoulder and caught the ends at his left hip, where he fixed them together with an intricately braided metal brooch.

  “It’s time, Logan,” Brokk said, as Logan looked at himself in a full-length mirror on the back of the door. The male staring back at him looked different than he was used to seeing in his reflection, and it wasn’t just because he was wearing fancy clothes. His life had been changed the night that Jenna had cast the spell for him and he rescued her from death. The man staring back at him didn’t look like the world-weary male that had left his home pack and started his life over in Allen last summer. He looked happy. Complete. And the reason for the amazing feelings was the sweet fairy that had captured his heart.

  Chapter 11

  After Logan left with Raynir, to do whatever men do before they join together with their mates, Jenna and Kari left to go to Madame’s to get pampered. Jenna had been to Madame’s once several years earlier, when Kari had surprised her with a visit for her twenty-first birthday. Kari’s driver stopped the carriage in front of the small building and stepped down, helping Kari and Jenna onto the cobblestone sidewalk.

  “We’ll be three hours, Laun, and then we’ll be going to lunch at Fedwig’s.”

  “I’ll be waiting, Miss.” He bowed slightly and climbed up into the carriage and left.

  Kari hooked her arm through Jenna’s. “Let’s go get pampered, Jen.”

  Several hours later, after Jenna’s skin had been scrubbed, massaged, oiled, buffed, and left glowing, she was sitting next to Kari while their nails were done.

  Kari cast a surreptitious glance at Jenna. “So, how are things in the Mortal Realm with your wolf? He’s devastatingly gorgeous. You’re so lucky.”

  “Raynir is handsome,” Jenna said. But not as handsome as Logan.

  “Of course.” Kari rolled her eyes. “But he’s not a wolf, and he didn’t rescue me from near-death. That’s so romantic.”

  Jenna grimaced. Nearly dying from iron poisoning was hardly romantic, but she didn’t shatter her friend’s perception. She told Kari about the pack and the town, and how much she was enjoying herself now that she was settling in.

  As the beauticians began to work on their hair, Kari sighed wistfully.

  “What’s that big sigh for?” Jenna asked, reaching her newly manicured hand over to squeeze her friend’s.

  “I’m just gonna miss you, Jen.”

  Tears stung Jenna’s eyes. “Oh, you’re going to make me cry.” She sniffled and smiled. “You can come visit me in the Mortal Realm anytime, and I’m just a portal-call away.”

  “It’s not the same,” Kari said, and then smiled. “But I am happy for you.”

  By the time they’d had a light meal and were getting dressed at Kari’s home, it was nearly time for the ceremony. Her mother and Kari’s mother had joined them for the meal, and the two older women shared the stories of their joining ceremonies.

  Two carriages appeared outside of Kari’s home when it was time to go to the ceremony. Jenna and Kari’s mothers got into the front carriage, which was led by two navy blue stallions, and Kari and Jenna got into the second carriage, which was led by two bright pink mares. As the drivers led the horses down the street, Kari said, “I almost forgot.” She held out the necklace that she had given Jenna on her birthday.

  Jenna clasped it in her hand and ran her finger along the pendant. “I thought it was lost.”

  Kari kissed Jenna on the cheek after putting the necklace on. “It’s made of strong material and will be around forever, like our friendship. No distance or amount of time will sever our bond because you’re my friend and you always will be.”

  “You, too,” Jenna said, trying not to cry and ruin her makeup. The carriage pulled down a side street towards a clearing in the trees where the ceremony was going to take place. Jenna and Kari’s mothers had decorated the clearing, Kari’s mother using her powers over nature to grow beautiful vining flowers that wove through the trees and over the clearing to create a canopy of delicate blossoms in varying shades of pink and purple. Glittering sashes made from tiny links of different-colored metals flowed from the end chairs on each row, creating an aisle that stretched from one end of the clearing to the other, where Logan stood with one of the fae-court judges, who would officiate their ceremony.

  “Are you ready, darling?” her dad asked as he held his hand out to her when she stepped from the carriage.

  “I am.”

  She watched her mom, Kari’s mom, and Kari get led by ushers down the aisle to their seats in the front row.

  Stringed instruments began to play a lilting melody, signaling that it was time for her to meet Logan and join with him according to fae law. She hooked her hand around her father’s left arm and smiled at him. “He’s a good man, Jenna. He’ll make a fine husband for you.”

  She already knew that was true. Even if she hadn’t cast the truemate spell so they would find each other, he was perfect for her in every way. Strong where she was weak. Hard where she was soft. And full of love.

  Logan stood next to Judge Aldaar, looking handsome in his trousers and shirt, with her father’s joining sash pinned across his chest. His eyes were bright and the corner of his lips turned up in that secret smile she loved so much. She walked slowly down the aisle with her father, as friends and neighbors stood up when she passed and lifted their hands in silent well-wishes for the joining.

  Her father stopped them before the judge. Judge Aldaar lifted his voice and said, “Who gives this she-fae to this he-wolf?”

  “Her mother and I do,” her father said, his voice trembling at the end with emotion. Jenna pressed her lips together, afraid she was going to break down and weep, but managed to keep it together as her father kissed her cheek and took her hand f
rom his own arm and gave her to Logan.

  They faced each other and clasped their hands together. Judge Aldaar wove a rope made of honeysuckle, ivy, and fresh-cut grapevines around their hands.

  “We gather today to witness the joining of Logan and Jenna. The rope signifies the strength of their bond, that it may never be torn asunder, that their joining will be sweet and long, and that they will remain forever together in this life and into eternity.

  “Logan, do you join yourself to Jenna as her truemate? Do you swear to honor her heart and soul as if they were your own? Do you swear to love, honor, and keep her safe from harm from this day forward and through all eternity?”

  Logan’s eyes never left hers as he spoke. “I swear.”

  “Jenna, do you join yourself to Logan as his truemate? Do you swear to honor his heart and soul as if they were your own? Do you swear to love and honor him from this day forward and through all eternity?”

  A tear trickled down her cheek. “I swear.”

  The judge placed his hands on top of their joined ones and spoke a short spell of blessing, and then said, “As you have sworn this day, let no one destroy. You may kiss your beloved, Logan.”

  Logan’s hands flexed against hers and he bent forward, pressing his lips to hers with a happy growl. The crowd cheered and clapped as they parted from their kiss. Judge Aldaar unwound the rope from their hands and gave it to Logan, who followed his instructions and wrapped it around Jenna’s waist like a belt.

  “You look beautiful, sweetheart,” he murmured in her ear.

  They walked down the aisle with their hands joined and into the building where the reception was going to take place. Once inside, he stole her away to a far corner and kissed her soundly.

  “I missed you,” he said in a low voice that sent shivers down her spine.

  “I missed you, too.” She hugged her arms around him.

  “How long do we have to stay?”