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

She laughed and the sound was so sweet and pure that he
thought it must be what angels sounded like when they laughed.  Leaning back
slightly in his arms, Jenna cupped his face with her small hands and smiled. 
“You saved my life, Logan, without knowing who or what I was.  You could sprout
horns and hooves and it wouldn’t change how grateful I am to you for what you
did, or the fact that we belong together.  When I whispered the truemate spell,
I wasn’t sure it would work.  I was afraid you wouldn’t find me in time, but
you did.  And I’m glad.”

Their eyes met and held, and Logan felt like he could see
everything about their future in that one, hot second.  The life they would
build in Allen, their children, the family they would have.  Her eyes slipped
to half-mast; she tilted her head ever so slightly and her full lips parted,
inviting him to taste her, to seal this relationship with a kiss.

Heart pounding in his ears, Logan moved forward
fractionally, closing the distance to her mouth.  Just before their lips
touched, there was a knock on the hospital door and then it opened abruptly,
breaking the mood instantly.

Logan spun, shifting Jenna carefully behind him so she was
hidden from view, snarling softly in warning to whoever was coming into the
room.  To his surprise, it was Brigid.

She walked brusquely to the bed and put her patchwork bag on
the table.  Logan felt Jenna peek around his shoulder and she said, “Oh, you’re
a fairy!”

Brigid introduced herself and said, “I felt you awaken. 
Before you and your wolf consummate your mating, I wanted to speak to you
both.”

Jenna covered herself with the blanket again, her cheeks
darkening in a blush, as she scooted closer to him on the bed.  Logan wanted to
tell Brigid that she didn’t know what she was talking about, but judging from
the knowing look in her eyes, the old woman knew that it wouldn’t be long
before Logan would feel compelled to mate with Jenna and make her his in
truth.  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that wolves mated their
mates when they found them, and delaying that just made them cranky.  Like he
was feeling now.  He wanted to go back to that almost-kiss and find out if she
tasted as good as she smelled.

Brigid took one of Jenna’s hands in hers and rubbed her
thumb across the place where the iron-induced wounds had been.  “You feel
well?”

Jenna cleared her throat.  “Pretty good.  A little weak, I
guess.  It was close, wasn’t it?”

Brigid nodded.  “Another hour and you would have been too
far gone.  But your wolf wasn’t about to let that happen.”  Brigid smiled,
briefly, and then said, “I wanted to explain about the blood bonding.”

When Jenna looked confused, Brigid told her about using
Logan’s blood to heal her.  Jenna turned her left hand over and looked at her
palm, which now had a star-shaped wound in the center like Logan’s.  Brigid
explained what she had done to Jenna to save her.  Jenna held her left hand
next to his, looking between their palms at the matching scars.

“A blood bond between a wolf and a fairy is different than a
normal bond between two wolves,” Brigid said, clasping her hands together. 
“When Logan’s blood entered your body, Jenna, it bonded the two of you together
in a supernaturally powerful way.  You’ve taken wolf blood into yourself, and
although you won’t shift into a wolf, you will most likely discover some slight
changes.”

Her voice squeaked.  “Changes?”

Logan felt compelled to comfort her and slipped his arm
around her shoulder.  She relaxed against him immediately.  He hoped she felt
safe with him.

Brigid hummed.  “In truth, I’ve never known a wolf and fae
to enter into a blood bond under these circumstances, so I’m not certain what
might come.  I would simply suggest that you stay vigilant.”

Jenna looked up at him, and her silver eyes were filled with
worry.  Brushing a thumb across her cheek, he said, “Whatever comes,
sweetheart, we’ll get through it together.  You’re safe with me.”

She smiled, but the worry in her features didn’t ease. 
Turning back to Brigid, Logan said, “Is there anything else?”

Brigid shook her head, opened her bag, and pulled out a
bundle of folded papers and scrubs.  Handing the scrubs to Jenna, Brigid gave
the papers to Logan.  He opened them and found discharge instructions from the
hospital.  When he scanned the last page, which was the bill, he found the
amount paid in full.  Looking at Brigid in confusion, she shrugged lightly and
said, “Fairies look after each other.  I wish you and your mate well, young
wolf. 
Licht ir faun vulfen lar portaly.”
  Bowing her head slightly, she
plucked the bag from the table and left.

“What did she say?”  Logan asked, standing from the bed and
reaching for his jeans, which were laying over a nearby chair.

Jenna’s head popped free of the scrub top and she untucked
her hair with a flip of her hand.  “She said that I was lucky to find an
honorable wolf for my truemate.”

After securing the zipper and button of his jeans, Logan
finished dressing, turning away to pull on his shoes while Jenna wiggled into
the scrub pants.  He gathered his things in the bag that Toby had brought and
shouldered it.

“We’re free to go, Jenna.  Let me carry you.”

She said, “I’d like to use the bathroom first.”

Idiot.  Of course she would.  She was unconscious for a
day, abused for a day before that, and nearly poisoned to death.  Get your head
out of your ass!

He lifted her into his arms and strode to the bathroom,
putting her down gently.  Opening his bag, he handed her a spare toothbrush and
toothpaste and a hairbrush.  She smiled and shut the door.  Logan leaned
against it, dropping his head into his hands.  If he wasn’t careful, she was
going to think he was a mental patient who had never been around women before.

When she was finished in the bathroom, he replaced the items
in the bag and lifted her back into his arms.  She circled her arms around his
neck and rested her head on his shoulder.  It amazed him how right she felt in
his arms.  He was six-six.  He didn’t think she was even five-six.  He felt
like a giant next to her, and carrying her petite form in his arms made him
feel even more protective of her than he had when he’d been with her in the
hospital room.

He walked briskly through the hospital towards the exit
where his truck was parked.  No one questioned him or tried to stop him, which
was definitely a wise choice, considering how impatient his wolf was.  Unlocking
the truck, he set Jenna down on the seat and buckled her in, shutting the door
and then walking around the front to his own side.  As the truck rumbled to
life, Jenna giggled.  When he looked at her questioningly, she met his eyes and
said, “I’ve never been in such a big vehicle before.  It’s a truck, right?  My
cousin has a sedan.”

Shifting into gear, Logan left the hospital parking lot and
headed towards Allen.  “Yes, it’s a truck.  You don’t have cars in your realm?”

“Oh no, they’re illegal because they pollute.  The Harom
Glen where I live — I guess you would call it a city — is not so large you can’t
get where you’re going with a horse and carriage.”

“Tell me about your realm, Jenna.”

With no further prompting, Jenna told Logan about her
world.  Fae-Glens were realms that were not visible to the naked eye.  In order
for someone like Logan to see the glen, he would have to go through a portal
with her.  Once there, he couldn’t return to his own realm without a fairy
helping him through.  Fairies came into the Mortal Realm all the time,
shopping, traveling, and visiting their relatives.  Logan was surprised by how
many fairies lived among humans and other supernatural creatures, without
anyone really knowing about them.

“Fae like Brigid who choose to live in the Mortal Realm tend
to keep to themselves, but do normally offer help when needed.  And for the
fairies that mate with supernatural creatures, fae-mates are protective,” she
supplied.

Logan understood that completely.  Clearly, fairy powers could
be used for criminal purposes, such as those the wolves that had taken her
planned to do.  Keeping her safe was his number one priority.

Although curious about the Mortal Realm, Jenna was familiar
with most everything.  She’d watched movies on television, gone shopping at
some of the largest malls in America, and had done a lot of sight-seeing around
the country.  Her parents weren’t wealthy, but they saved throughout the year
so they could take one nice annual vacation.

When asked, she told him that fae traded in gems, coins,
goods, and services.

She reached for the steering wheel when he stopped at a red
light.  She didn’t touch it, her fingertips hovering just above it.

He circled her wrist with his fingers and drew her hand to
the wheel.  It surprised him that she lived in a world without cars or trucks,
but it was probably a lot less noisy and a lot more beautiful there.  She
grasped the wheel and gave him a heart-stopping grin.  “This is so
resh
.”

“
Resh
?”  He chuckled, pressing on the gas and keeping
one hand on the other side of the wheel, to keep them moving in the right
direction.

“I think you would say
cool
?”

“Would you like me to teach you to drive, sweetheart?”

“Oh, Logan, would you?”  The utter awe in her voice made his
chest tighten.  Shit.  Had he been that excited when his grandmother’s friend
taught him to drive all those years ago?  He didn’t think so.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

She laughed and it made Logan laugh.  He was going to see
the world through her eyes in a whole new light.

Pulling into the garage of his small home, Logan wished to
hell that he’d had the foresight to clean up.  He wasn’t a messy person, but
he’d been neglecting his laundry and he knew for sure there were dishes in the
sink from two nights ago when he went with the kids to the dance.  Hopefully
she wouldn’t notice.

“I asked my friend’s mate if she would buy some clothes for
you, since you didn’t have anything.  I saw a package on the front porch, so I
hope that’s it.”

“That’s so nice of your friend and his mate.”

Logan carried Jenna into the house, kicking the door shut
with his foot.  Sighing in relief that the only dishes in the sink were a small
plate and a coffee mug, he carried her into the family room and set her on the
couch.  “Do you think you can walk? Would you like a tour?  Do you want to call
your family?  Are you hungry?”  The questions tumbled from his mouth before he
could stop them.

Jenna shook her head with a laugh.  “Yes, yes, yes, and
yes.  But I can’t call my family until the sun is up and I’ll need to be in the
woods.”

He gathered the bag on the front porch and brought it
inside, grateful to Bo and Reika for their help.  Then he offered Jenna his
hand, after she insisted she could walk, and gave her a tour of his home. 
Before that moment, he hadn’t considered it a home, just his house.  But with
her here, suddenly it seemed that the word ‘home’ fit it much better.

The two-bedroom house was nestled in the woods a mile away
from Jason and Michael’s homes.  There were other homes available, but Logan
liked the privacy that the woods gave him, and being close enough to the
alpha’s home to walk when the weather was nice.  Old hardwood laid by hand
covered most of the floor, from the eat-in kitchen to the family room to the
formal dining room, which he used as an exercise room.  The bedrooms were
carpeted, the master in navy blue and the second bedroom, which sat empty, in
dark green.

Jenna walked into the master bedroom, stopping in the center
of the room and turning around in a slow circle.  The walls were plain white,
and only two pictures hung on them, in matching frames.

She moved to the wall that held both large pictures,
paintings that his grandmother had done before she died.  He’d made sure to
save the paintings from the bank sale of her home and belongings that was used
to pay off her final debts.  Jenna’s fingertips touched the ornate frame of a
woodland scene, sunlight streaming through the trees.  It was the view that
he’d had out the kitchen window every morning when he sat down for breakfast
with her.  Jenna moved on to the other painting, of a she-wolf lying with her
cubs.

“Someone special to you painted these?”  She looked up at
him.

“My grandmother,” Logan said, and then, after a short pause,
he began to tell her about his life.  He had been raised in a pack in central Tennessee,
in an industrial town named Crier.  His father had taken off when he was only a
baby — he had no idea what the guy’s name even was.  His mother settled down
with the alpha of their pack, but he didn’t want Logan hanging around his house. 
His grandmother, who lived outside of Crier and wasn’t involved with the pack,
took him in and raised him.  Logan grew up in the pack, learning how to fight,
and worked his way up in the ranks.  When his grandmother died when he was
twenty, he was so angry that the only person that had ever cared about him was
gone from his life.  He lashed out, picked fights, and caused trouble.  He
didn’t care about anyone or anything, except for fighting his way up the ranks.

And then the alpha died and Logan’s
mom just took off.  One day she was there, and the next she was gone.  He had
no idea where she was.  The alpha had a son from another mating, named Yoric,
and he took over the pack.  Yoric decided that he wanted to hold rank fights
once a month.  Suddenly, the pack was in an uproar.

Before, rank fights were only
approved by the alpha and only for certain reasons.  If a wolf was injured and
couldn’t hold his position, if a wolf left the pack and the position needed to
be filled, or if a wolf was behaving in a way that endangered himself or the
pack.  Logan had been highly-ranked in his old pack when the new alpha stepped
in, and he’d assumed that the rank fights were just a way for the new alpha to
assert his authority and evaluate his people.  Logan had been dead wrong.