The Wolf's Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna (26 page)

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.

“You can go with him,” Reika
said from behind her.

Jenna looked over her
shoulder.  “He needs to hunt; I’d just slow him down.”

Reika sat down on the top
step.  “I don’t think Logan’s going to leave without you.  Yes, he needs to be
in his shift, he needs to hunt and run.  But that doesn’t mean he can’t also be
with you, too.  That you can’t join him.”  She looked thoughtful.  “Bo and I
are used to going out together.  We do hunt a little, but it’s more just being
together, playing, chasing.  It’s very freeing, but it also helps us to feel
more connected.”

She thanked Reika, and when
she had left her and Logan alone, Jenna looked down at him.  “I’m wondering if
our blood bond is making it a little more difficult for you to leave me,
especially since it was so recently that I was attacked.”

He made a humming sound of
agreement.

Standing, she walked into the
house to tell the women that she was going for a walk with Logan, and then met
her mate at the bottom of the steps.  They walked through the yard and into the
woods, away from the full moon meeting place.  He paced beside her.  The full
moon was bright in the sky and allowed her to see where they were going.

Eventually she filled the
silence between them with chatting, talking about her childhood, and her hopes
for their future together.  She loved that he made little wolfy noises to let
her know he was listening.  She’d stopped walking to tell him how much she
loved him, when she heard branches cracking nearby.  Logan’s head snapped to
the side and he lifted his head to sniff the air.

“Race you!” she whispered and
took off in the direction of the noise.  She was not stealthy at all as she
ran, but she didn’t care because Logan was running with her.  She tore through
the trees as fast as her feet would move.  Past a dense thicket, she caught
sight of a deer as it bolted away from them deeper into the woods.  They chased
after the deer until a stitch in her side made her slow down, and she eased to
a walk and then leaned on a tree, easing down to the ground and gulping in oxygen.

Logan pressed his nose
against her throat, his scratchy tongue licking her pulse.  She shivered and
hugged her arms around him.  “That was fun.  You could have gotten the deer,
though, right?”

When she looked at him, she
was positive that he rolled his eyes.  She leaned her head back against the
trunk and Logan sat on his haunches next to her until she caught her breath and
was ready to go back.  There was something utterly peaceful about the two of
them in the deep woods alone at night.  She loved it, and she wanted to do it
again.  The woods were getting darker and she knew that meant the moon was
setting and Logan would be able to shift back into his human form.

They meandered back to Jason
and Cades’ home, and by the time they crossed from the woods into the backyard,
the house was dark and it appeared that everyone had gone home.  She picked up
Logan’s clothes from the steps as he shifted.  She handed him his jeans and
whispered, “Wonder what time it is?”

“Pretty late, if everyone’s
gone home.”

He tugged the shirt on and
picked her up in his arms, walking towards the front of the house.

“I can walk,” she said as she
snuggled closer against him.  He smelled wild, like the woods and his wolf.

“You just romped around the
woods with me for hours, baby.”  That was his only argument and she didn’t
disagree.  She did feel worn out, but deliciously, happily so.

When they were in the truck,
she leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

“Sleepy, baby?”  He kissed
the top of her head.

Opening one eye to see what
the clock on the GPS screen said, she closed it and said, “Nah, it’s only four
a.m.  We could go dancing.”

His shoulder shook when he
chuckled.  He slipped his arm around her.  “I think you’ve had enough
excitement for the evening, sweetheart.  You can sleep now, I’ll take care of
you.”

And she knew he would.

Chapter 16

*Three Weeks Later*

Logan waited at the door to
the garage while Jenna retrieved something from the shed.  She came into the
house with two glass bottles filled with tinted liquid and a fabric sack.  She
elbowed the door shut and he took the sack from her, surprised to find it
heavy.  “What’s all this?”

“Some of the she-wolves liked
the soap I gave to Reika so much that I’ve had requests.  Reika made me promise
that I would charge for them, so I took some orders and I thought I’d deliver
them while we’re at lunch since they’re all going to be there with us.”

Jason had called for a
high-ranked meeting, and Jenna was welcome as Logan’s mate.  The mates were
going to hang out together while the males, and Cades as female alpha, talked
pack business.  Jenna was excited to spend time with the other mates.

“How much are you charging?” 
He opened the door to the garage for her.

“I thought two dollars a bar
and maybe five for the shampoo?  What do you think?”

“I think you’re really
talented and you could charge a lot more and people would still pay for it.”

She quirked her brow.  “Yeah,
but would they pay it because they liked it or because they thought you might
pound them flat if they didn’t?”

He laughed.  “I guess you’ll
have to take a chance on never knowing.”

She opened the passenger door
and he said, “Would you like to drive?”

Her excited grin lit up her
face.  “Oh yes!”

She darted around the back of
the truck and opened the driver’s door, putting the two bottles in the cup
holders.  He stowed the bars of soap on the floor between his feet as he
settled in the passenger seat and buckled himself in.  He’d helped her study
for her temporary license and had taken her to a two-day driver’s education
course.  She passed the exam and he’d been taking her driving a couple hours
each day since.  She was still learning, but overall had come very far in a
short amount of time considering she hadn’t ever driven anything with an engine
before.