The Wolf's Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna

by R. E. Butler

  She said, “I wouldn’t change anything either.”

  He held her until she fell asleep. He watched out the window as the sky began to lighten with the coming dawn. It was the start of a new day. Last night, he had nearly lost his mate forever, but fate or luck or whatever you wanted to call it had been on her side as well as his. In a short amount of time she had come to be the very most important thing in his world, and he swore to himself that he would be the most vigilant, protective mate that a wolf had ever been. She would know that she was loved and protected, and some day, when they had cubs, he would protect them, too.

  It was a big job, but he was just the wolf to do it.

  Chapter 15

  Jenna peered inside the shed Wednesday afternoon. Logan had removed the broken door and purchased materials to make a new one. He was working on it in the garage. Cades and Karly had been over earlier while Jenna was asleep and cleaned up the mess in the shed. The logs that had been tossed through the window had destroyed nearly all of the ingredients she had laid out and some of her equipment, but it wasn’t a complete loss. She would need to replace the things that had been broken and ruined, but that would be easy enough with one trip to the other realm.

  The floor was still wet from where it had been scrubbed free of blood and the window was missing, but otherwise the shed appeared as it had the day before. One of the first things she had done when she woke that afternoon was find out if Douglas was okay. He had recovered quickly at the hospital and was fine now. She was relieved that no one else had been hurt. Then she contacted her parents and told them what happened. They were furious. Her father told her that Maximus was still under medical care. The damage to his body from his broken wings was far more extensive than the healers had originally thought. It was no longer a question of how much damage his body had sustained but whether he would ever wake up. She had mixed feelings about Maximus. On one hand, she loathed him with every fiber of her being for betraying her. But after Logan’s confession last night about not changing anything bad in his past because it all led to her, she realized she felt the same. The short time she had been held captive and nearly died, coupled with the terror of the previous night were things she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy. But she wouldn’t change them, either.

  She felt him come outside and she turned and found him watching her from the back patio. He closed the distance to her quickly with long strides. His arms closed around her and she relaxed, not realizing how tense she felt.

  He just held her. They didn’t speak because they didn’t have to. All the important things had been said the night before.

  Jenna heard the sound of wings buzzing and Darlie joined them. She hovered in front of them. “Brute, I’m calling in the debt you owe me.”

  “Ask away, Darlie,” Logan said, his voice filled with humor.

  “I need acorns and twigs.”

  Jenna could tell Logan was confused, so she said, “She’s going to build furniture. Sprites always use things found in nature when they’re building their home.”

  Logan said, “Then let’s find you the very best twigs and acorns that we can.”

  They left the shed and walked into the woods. In no time, Logan’s big hands were filled with acorns, twigs, leaves, and long grasses to tie the twigs together. When they had returned to the house and Logan had deposited the collection near the portal where Darlie had made her home, he said, “I’m not going into work tonight.”

  She opened her mouth to tell him that she would be fine, but the truth was that she was glad he was staying home.

  “How’d I get so lucky, Logan?”

  “I’m the lucky one, Jenna.”

  On Thursday morning, Jenna and Logan went through the portal and brought back new supplies to replenish the things that had been ruined. They stayed long enough to have lunch with Raynir and Kari, and then headed back through the portal. Logan helped her unload the items that she had asked her mom to get for her.

  “What’s this?” He held up a long wooden trough.

  “It’s a soap mold.”

  “What’s in the bodywash that’s in the shower?”

  “Cherb butter and vanilla.” She arranged the jars of extracts by name.

  “What is cherb butter?”

  “A cherb is a big hoofed animal with scales along its back and a big tail with spikes on the end. Their milk is really creamy and sweet-tasting. Did you like the bodywash?”

  His eyes flashed as he snagged her around the waist and drew her close. “Very much.” He dropped his head to the crux of her neck and inhaled deeply. Lifting his head, she caught a flash of amber in his eyes. “You always smell good to me, though.”

  After they finished putting the supplies away, they walked into the house. He said, “Reika and her brother Ben are coming over to give you a cooking lesson. She said you’d understand.”

  At first she was elated, but then she remembered he was going to work. “Oh, but you won’t be home to taste what I make.”

  “I’ll love whatever it is, even reheated, I promise. You’re a great cook, baby. I don’t think you need lessons.”

  She appreciated his enthusiasm. “The food here in the Mortal Realm is so different and varied. I’m excited to make something new.”

  When the doorbell rang at four, Logan let in Ben and Reika. Reika carried a large metal pot with a glass lid and Ben carried numerous fabric sacks filled with groceries. They greeted each other and Ben and Reika headed into the kitchen while Jenna walked Logan out to his truck in the garage.

  Logan pulled her close and nuzzled under her ear. “I’ll leave you in their capable hands.”

  “When will you be home?”

  “About three. Don’t wait up for me. I don’t want you to be tired.”

  “You could wake me up, I wouldn’t mind that.”

  A low rumble in his chest alerted her that his wolf thought that was a good idea. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  They kissed once more and she walked into the kitchen and found Ben and Reika waiting expectantly. Ben said, “First things first, we wash our hands.”

  One by one they moved to the sink and washed up, using Jenna’s homemade soap. Reika lifted the bar and sniffed at it. “Holy crow that smells good. What is it?”

  “It’s carunga and lime.”

  “It smells like coconut,” Reika sniffed again, a soft smile playing across her lips.

  “I just got the ingredients to make some more of it. Carunga is naturally anti-bacterial and it won’t dry your skin out. Would you like a couple of bars?”

  “Really? I’d love them. How much do you want for them?”

  “What? Nothing. You can have them because you’re my friend, and you brought your brother over to teach me how to cook.”

  “Okay. But you have to let me pay you for them if I get any more, okay?”

  “Sure,” Jenna laughed.

  Ben declared that it was time to cook. The menu was ziti with meat sauce, garlic toast, and a tossed salad. She followed his directions carefully, stirring the fresh pasta so it didn’t stick, browning the meat, and tasting the sauce to make sure the seasonings were right. As she and Reika scraped garlic cloves across slices of Italian bread, Ben said, “I’m really glad that you are okay now, Jenna, and that you and Logan found each other. He’s happy now.”

  “He wasn’t before?”

  Ben shrugged. “He was happier here than he was with his old pack, but something was missing from his life. Clearly it was you.”

  Jenna loved that she made Logan happy, because he made her happy, too. After draining the pasta and mixing it together with the sauce in a casserole dish, Jenna grated mozzarella cheese over top of it and put it in the oven to melt, along with the toast.

  By the time the salad was finished, the cheese had melted on the pasta and the bread was perfectly toasted. Reika opened a bottle of wine that she had brought along, and the three of them sat down at the kitchen table and ate.

  Jenna took a bite of
a sauce-and-cheese-covered noodle and was surprised at how good it was. “This is great. Thank you so much, Ben.”

  “You did all the work. I think you could work from a cookbook really easily, and once your garden comes in, there are so many cool things you can do with fresh veggies.”

  Reika said, “Logan will love it, I’m sure. It’s really sweet that you’re learning to cook things he likes.”

  With the leftovers she made a plate for Logan and put it in the microwave. It was after ten when they left, and she yawned and stretched, ready, as Logan would say, to “put a fork in the evening.” She made sure the doors were locked and headed back to the bedroom where she stripped and climbed into bed. She dozed off, thinking about Logan waking her up when he got home.

  * * * * *

  Late Friday afternoon as Jenna searched in the closet for comfortable shoes, Logan came into the bedroom and plopped down on the bed. “You ready, baby?”

  “Sure, just a sex. Oops, I mean sec.” She blushed sharply at her word slip, and her cheeks heated further when Logan laughed loudly.

  “I knew you were trouble, baby. So the reason you’re taking so long to get ready is because you want to seduce me again?”

  She stood with a pair of tennis shoes and said, “Me seduce you? You were the one that woke me up last night with your clever tongue.”

  He grinned broadly and a happy growl rumbled from his chest. “If you don’t want me to rip your clothes off, then we should leave. I’m about two seconds from throwing you onto the bed.”

  Shaking her head, she stepped into the shoes and said, “It’s no wonder I have sex on the brain. You and your horny wolf wouldn’t let me out of bed all day. We missed breakfast and lunch.”

  “Exactly. We’re starving so let’s get something to eat.”

  She considered teasing him a bit, but judging from the occasional flashes of amber in his eyes, he was not kidding when he said he would rip her clothes off and toss her onto the bed. She didn’t want to be late, and her stomach was definitely empty after spending half the night and all day in bed.

  As they drove to Jason and Cades’, Logan told her that he would take her to get her temporary driver’s permit once she felt she was ready to take the written test. She’d started reading the book he brought home earlier in the week. It was daunting, but she knew there was no time limit. She could renew her permit however many times she needed to, until she’d learned how to drive at her own pace. She was looking forward to Logan teaching her and someday, maybe even having a vehicle of her own.

  When they arrived at Jason and Cades’ home, he parked his truck between Michael’s SUV and Bo’s truck. He came around to open her door and when he shut it, he planted his hands on either side of her against the truck and trapped her between his straightened arms. Leaning forward, he kissed her slowly. When the kiss broke, she looked into his eyes and saw they were a mixture of blue and the amber of his wolf. “Hi big boy,” she whispered.

  Logan’s lip curled into a snarl. “Careful, sweetheart, my wolf is getting a big head over all the attention.”

  “You’re not jealous, are you?” She raised her brows.

  He looked thoughtful. “I’m not, but he’s scrambling to break free.”

  “Then let’s eat so he can come out and play.”

  Logan sobered. “Are you feeling okay? Be honest with me.”

  “I promise I feel good. Except for being hungry.”

  “I’m a pretty poor excuse for a mate if I can’t even keep you fed properly.”

  She hooked her arm through his as they walked up the front porch steps. “I wasn’t complaining at the time,” she reminded him.

  He hummed non-committally. Her nerves kicked in as she heard the chatter in the house. Would they be afraid of her because of her behavior at the last full moon? Her cheeks heated as she remembered how badly she’d acted. True it hadn’t been in her control, but that didn’t change what had happened.

  Logan patted her hand, which was tight on his arm. In a low voice he said, “I promise that the last full moon is water under the bridge.”

  Deciding to take him at his word, she shook off the embarrassment that heated her cheeks and smiled when they walked into the big kitchen.

  Cades, with her daughter on her hip, turned and said, “I’m glad you guys made it. Hungry?”

  “Starved,” Jenna said, kissing Cades on the cheek and brushing a finger over baby Lyric’s chubby cheek.

  Cades smiled knowingly. “Males.”

  Jason joined them. “I don’t know if I like being lumped into that category when you make a face like that, sweetheart.”

  Logan said, “My mate’s starving because I’m completely addicted to her.”

  Jason grinned. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  Jenna and Cades both laughed, shaking their heads. Logan left Jenna in the kitchen with Cades and went outside with Jason to get steaks off the grill.

  “How are you feeling?” Cades asked, stirring a pitcher of lemonade on the counter.

  “Good. Tired.”

  Cades flashed a grin and said, “Jason won’t keep his hands off me on the full moon. I love it. And little Lyric got to play with her great-grandpa Abraham today so we had the house to ourselves.”

  Logan appeared with a plate containing two steaks and led her over to a chair between Bo and Reika and Michael and Shyne. Both women were sitting on the laps of their men, and Jenna found herself in the same position.

  She looked at the steaks and her stomach rumbled. Taking the knife and fork that Logan had wedged underneath them, she cut a piece and poised the fork in front of Logan’s mouth. Shaking his head, he said, “You first, baby. I feel bad enough that your stomach is rumbling. I’m not going to take the first bite.”

  “Stop beating yourself up,” she said, popping the steak into her mouth and groaning happily as she chewed.

  Logan groaned, resting his head on her shoulder. “You sound like you haven’t eaten in days. Damn it.”

  She laughed and nudged his chest with her elbow. “Next month, I’ll remind you when I’m hungry, okay?”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes.”

  Satisfied, at least for now, Logan refused to eat until Jenna had her fill, and then he finished what was left.

  When Jason and Cades joined them, along with Linus and Karly, Bo said, “We have really great news, guys.” After a short pause, he said, “Reika’s pregnant.”

  Everyone congratulated Reika and Bo. Karly asked, “Will you be able to heal if you can’t shift?”

  Reika shook her head. “The last time I shifted, I felt a little twinge in my side and now I don’t feel the need to shift. Without being able to shift into my wolf form, I won’t have the healing venom. My mom said that if something comes up she can come down, but if it was an emergency she’s a few hours away and that wouldn’t work.”

  Shyne asked, “Does Ben have any healing abilities?”

  “Only the females in my family can heal.”

  Jason declared it was time to go to the full moon meeting place, and asked Bo and Reika to join him and Cades in the circle to announce the pregnancy. As she and Logan walked through the woods hand in hand, Logan said, “You think about having kids?”

  “Sure. You?”

  “I didn’t until I met you. But yeah, I think about it a lot. Do you know what our kids would be? Wolf or fairy?”

  “They could be either, depending on whether they take more after you or me. But there are rare instances when a child will be both wolf and fairy. They’re called wulfen. They’ll have wings and a fairy ability and they’ll also be able to fully shift into a wolf. I’ve only known of one wulfen, and he was a great warrior for my people.”

  She and Logan stopped just outside the circle, standing next to Linus, Karly, Michael, Shyne, Teller, and the rest of the pack. Bo and Reika joined Jason and Cades inside the circle.

  Logan looked down at her, a small smile curving his mouth. “Whatever our children turn
out to be, I’m glad that their mother is such a loving, amazing woman.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad that their father is strong enough to protect them.”

  “And their mother,” he added.

  Jason announced Reika’s pregnancy and the pack howled in celebration, the human and non-shifting mates of the pack members clapping and cheering. Jenna was glad that her friend was pregnant, and looked forward to the day when she could share the same news with the pack.

  Logan said, “I’m following you back to the house to make sure you get there safely, and then I’ll go hunt.”

  She took his shirt as he stripped and folded it across her arm. “Are you sure you’re not just following me to make sure I don’t have a relapse?”

  “You said you’re fine and I trust you, but I still want to see you safely to the house.” As he shucked his jeans, he said, “It’s my job to protect you, so get used to it.”

  “Yes, sir.” She gave him a little salute and he shook his head and snagged her around the waist with his arm.

  “I love you, little fairy. You make me and my wolf happy.”

  “I love you, too, Logan. And your wolf.”

  His growl sounded a lot like a purr, but she kept that observation to herself as he went to the ground and shifted. Shaking himself out fully, his tail snapping, he whined and nudged her knees. She crouched on the ground and scratched him behind the ears. His head tilted to the side and his tongue lolled out. Smiling, she ran her free hand down his shoulder and then patted his chest.

  “Ready to walk me back?” she asked, straightening and grabbing his jeans.

  He made a short barking noise which she took to mean yes. They walked together back to Jason and Cades’ home and she sat down on one of the steps, putting his clothes next to her. Logan joined her, resting his head on her lap.

  “I got back here safely, you should go hunt.” When he made no move to leave her, she said, “There’s a part of me that wishes I could go running with you again.” She could hear the wistful tone of her own voice as she stroked her hand through his thick fur. He made a soft, whining sound, lifting his eyes to look at her.