The Wolf's Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna (15 page)

“Afternoon, sweetheart.”  He smiled
when she opened her mouth and he popped the fork inside.

With a groan of pleasure, she
licked her lips.  “Afternoon?”

“It’s almost four.  Your
stomach was growling in your sleep, and I felt bad so I made you something.”

She wiggled herself up to a
seated position.  “The last thing I remember is you biting me.”

He grinned.  “That’s because
you passed out after that.  I carried you back here, cleaned you up, and put
you to bed.  I’ve been up since about two.  I was damn tired from shifting
twice, but I loved being out in the woods with you.”

She took another bite of the pancakes
that he offered to her.  “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’re my mate, sweetheart. 
I will
always
take care of you.”

He told her that Teller had
stopped by and picked up her gown and the iron shackles that she had been
imprisoned with.  Teller was a tracker.  Most wolves had very good senses of
smell and sight, but a tracker had extraordinary talents and could find most
anything.  Teller had been given the coordinates where Logan had found her off the
highway, and was going to start there.  Jenna didn’t understand how Teller
would be able to find where she’d been held captive if they’d driven her in a
vehicle, but Logan had utter faith in his friend, so she decided she would, too.

He fed her four pancakes and
three sausage links, which he swirled through the syrup.  After a refill of her
orange juice, he slid under the covers and pulled her into his arms.

“Now that your belly is full,
Jenna, is there anything else I can do for my wonderful mate?”  She loved the
heated look in his eyes.

“Make love to me,” she cooed,
running her fingers through his hair.

“My pleasure.”

* * * * *

After making love and then
taking a long shower together, Logan asked if she’d like to go to Bo and
Reika’s home for dinner and she happily agreed.  Now that she was an honorary
member of the pack, and since Logan was a high-ranked member, she needed to get
to know his people better.  And it was a good chance to make a better
impression than she had the night before.

Bo opened the front door of
their home and Logan ushered Jenna inside.  The house was cozy and warm.  Reika
gave Jenna a hug and said, “I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”

Logan winked at Jenna. 
“There isn’t too much a good run can’t fix, right baby?”

Jenna blushed, thinking about
how she’d stripped herself naked in the woods and attacked him.

Jenna helped Reika bring the
dishes to the table and they sat down together.  Logan and Bo waited while
Jenna and Reika fixed their plates and then they fixed their own.  Jenna had
noticed that Logan always made sure she had her plate filled first before he
filled his own, and she figured it was something that male wolves did with
their mates, to make sure they were taken care of first.

Reika had made a dish she
said was called lasagna, and urged Jenna to take a square of the concoction. 
It looked strange, but it smelled like tomatoes, meat, and cheese, and Jenna
was willing to give it a try.  Jenna took a bite and was surprised how good it
tasted.  She complimented Reika on her ability to make something so delicious,
and Reika explained that her younger brother, Ben, was the cook in her family
and had given her the recipe.

As the meal wore on, Reika
and Jenna shared family stories.  Jenna wasn’t surprised that the wolves didn’t
really know anything about fairies.  Her people were secretive and those that
lived in the Mortal Realm didn’t advertise their abilities.  Reika had healing
abilities in her wolf-shift, and was the pack healer, working with Bo’s Aunt
Lia who dabbled in natural healing.

Bo and Logan began to clear
the table, and when she and Reika stood to help, both men told them to go into
the family room and relax.

Reika kissed Bo on the cheek
and told him that he was very well trained.  He swatted her behind with a
playful growl.  Jenna and Reika sat down on the couch and Jenna sighed.

“Are you okay?”  Reika asked.

“Yes, it’s just…about last
night —”

Reika raised her hand and
waved it dismissively.  “It’s all good, sweetie.  Don’t even think of
apologizing.  First of all, you already apologized last night.  And secondly,
everything that happened was entirely out of your control.  It would be like
the clouds apologizing for a storm.  Whatever passed between you and Logan that
saved your life drove you into a frenzy that you couldn’t stop.  I saw your
eyes, honey.  You couldn’t help what you were feeling or what your body was doing,
and no one is going to hold that against you.”

Jenna felt her eyes sting at
Reika’s sweet, encouraging words.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  Our mates
are close friends and I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, too.”

On the way home, Logan held
her hand, his thumb rubbing circles over the top of her hand as he watched the
road in silence.

“Did you have fun tonight,
sweetheart?” he asked, breaking the quiet hum of the wheels on the road.

“I did.  Thank you for taking
me.”

He glanced at her.  “Wolves
are social, and not only on the full moon.  Jason and Cades have dinners
frequently at their home for the high-ranked members, and as my mate you’ll be
joining us.  Bo has been a good friend to me since I joined the pack and so
have Jason, Michael, and Linus.  You’ll fit right in with the mates and the
she-wolves, too.”

“I’m looking forward to
getting to know everyone without feeling like my bones are trying to rip
through my skin.”  She shivered and unbuckled her seatbelt as he pulled into
the garage and turned off the truck.

He flashed a smile as he got
out of the truck and came around to her side.  Opening the door, he pulled her
into his arms, maneuvered around the open door and kicked it shut before
heading into the house.  “I’m sorry about everything.”

“You didn’t know what I was
going through, don’t apologize.”  She hugged her arms around his neck, taking a
deep breath of the spicy, male scent of him.  “Let’s put it behind us.”

* * * * *

On Sunday, Teller called Logan
to say that he had tracked Jasper and his pack to a cabin in a wooded area
twenty miles west of Allen.  The cabin was empty.

“Is that it, then?” she asked
Logan when he told her.

“Is that what?”

“I mean, what’s going to
happen now?”

He tugged her into his lap on
the couch and wrapped his big arms around her.  Immediately she felt at peace. 
“Teller is going to do some more digging.  Bo’s really good with computers, so
he’s going to help out.  Don’t worry baby.  We’ll find Jasper and deal with him
appropriately, and that little punk Maximus.”

The problem was that she was
very
worried.  She didn’t want anything to happen to her mate.  Jasper was as
unhinged as they came.  He’d stormed into the fae-world and had no regard for
who he harmed in his path to doing whatever he wanted.

She kept her worries to
herself.  Logan was the sort of man that wouldn’t want to hear that his mate
was questioning his ability to keep her safe.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust
him, because she did.  She just didn’t trust anyone else.

His phone buzzed, and she
scooted off his lap, mouthing that she was going out to check on the garden. 
He gave her a look that told her he expected her to stay at the garden and not
wander, and she gave him a saucy salute and headed outside.  It hadn’t taken
the garden long to become established.  Plants had an instinctive knowledge
when they were being tended to by fae.  She closed her eyes and let the
sunshine bathe her face as she stood on the back patio for a long moment.  It
amazed her how quickly Logan’s home had come to feel like home to her as well. 
He’d graciously opened his home to her without reservation.

Stepping down onto the soft
grass, she slipped off her sandals and stepped over the low fence.  She checked
on the plants, running her hands lightly over the rosemary and bringing her
palms to her face to inhale the scent.

She settled in front of the
fairy ring and pulled off her top, letting her wings free.  Laying her palms on
the stones, she concentrated on her friend Kari, reaching out to her through
the portal with the same ease that Logan called his friends on his cell.

The portal shimmered and
strengthened like glass, and Kari’s face appeared.  “Jen!  Are you okay?”

“I’m great now.  How are
you?”

Kari made a face.  “I’m
angrier than a hungry
mullen
.  I knew Maximus was a slimeball, but I
didn’t know he’d betray you and your power.  His family is in a tizzy, trying
to distance themselves from what he did.”

Jenna wasn’t surprised. 
Max’s family had high standing within the fae world, and his betrayal would be
seen as a reflection on them and their character.

“Your mom told me everything
that happened.  How is your mating going?”

Jenna blushed sharply and
Kari made an interested sound.  “Oh, spill!  Tell me all the juicy details.”

“Well,” Jenna said, “I won’t
tell you
everything
, but you won’t believe what happened to me on the
full moon!”  Jenna told Kari what had happened to her, from her strange
feelings to the run through the woods.

“Oh, wow.  That’s so
resh
!” 
Kari gushed, fanning herself.  “You’re lucky your truemate is amazing.  I can’t
wait to meet him for your joining ceremony.”

Jenna and Kari chatted about
the joining ceremony, which would happen on Saturday.

Kari sighed.  “I’m going to
miss seeing you all the time.”

“You’re about to marry Raynir,
Kari.  We wouldn’t have been seeing each other as much, anyway.”

“I know, but at least we
would have been in the same realm!  Oops!  Looks like you have a little guest!”

Jenna turned, thinking Logan
was behind her, but didn’t see him.

“Guest?”

“Below you!”  Kari whispered.

Jenna looked down and found a
tiny sprite sitting on one of the nearby mushrooms, watching her intently. 
“Oh!  I see I do.”

“That’s good luck, you know. 
They only hang out where our kind are.  She must have felt your energy.”

“
Resh
.”  Jenna smiled
at the little sprite.

Kari inclined her ear to the
side and said, “My mom’s calling, I have to go.  See you on Saturday, lovey!”

Kari blew kisses at Jenna,
and she returned them, cutting the connection.  The portal disappeared.  Jenna
let her wings recede and slipped her shirt back on.

Looking down at the sprite,
Jenna smiled.  She was pale green from head to toe, with green-veined wings and
long, dark green hair.  She wore a tiny skirt and top that looked suspiciously
like they were made from the leaves of her new fairy roses.

The sprite was no bigger than
Jenna’s palm, sitting perfectly still on the mushroom with her thin arms
wrapped around her knees.

“My name is Jenna,” she said,
settling back on her heels.

The sprite cocked her head to
the side with a curious look and said, “My name is Darlie.”

“Where are you from, Darlie?”

“I lived in the woods.  I saw
you and the wolf running together.  I followed your energy here after you were
gone and I waited for you to come out and visit your garden.”  She rubbed her
tiny hands on the mushroom cap.  “It’s quite lovely.  Do you live here?”

“I used to live in the Fae Realm,
but I live here now in the big house, with my mate.  His name is Logan.”

Darlie stood slowly and
smoothed the petals that made her skirt.  She zipped to the rosemary and landed
on one of the branches.  Jenna heard the back door open and Logan came out. 
Darlie was hiding from Logan.

“Come see our guest, Logan,”
Jenna said, smiling at him.

He joined her in the garden, squatting
down with an amused expression on his face.  “Guest?”

Jenna said, “It’s okay,
Darlie.  This is my mate, Logan.  He won’t hurt you.”

“If you’re certain?  He’s
awfully big and he’s scowling,” Darlie said from the depths of the rosemary.

“Who said that?”  Logan asked
in surprise.

“A sprite.  Her name is
Darlie.”

“A sprite?  Like an elf?” he
asked and Darlie huffed, storming out onto the rosemary branch.

“An elf? How dare you, sir! I
am Darlie of the Flaxe House.  An elf, indeed!”

Logan gave Jenna an incredulous
look, but managed to contain the smile that she was sure was desperate to break
free.  “I’m sorry, Darlie.  I didn’t mean to upset you.  I’ve never met one of
your kind before.”

Darlie harrumphed, turning
her back to Logan and tapping her little bare foot in annoyance.