Logan's Calling

by Abbey Polidori

  And she was a woman again. Sarah sat on her haunches looking at the bite mark on his shoulder. 'Oh, Logan. I'm so sorry.'

  The throbbing came back again. He gritted his teeth against the pain. 'Don't worry about it. I kinda told you to bite me.'

  She leaned across him and kissed his shoulder, her breasts brushing against his chest. 'And I told you there would be consequences.'

  'So what happens now? Do I become a werewolf? You have a lot of explaining to do.' He smiled at her, trying to lighten the mood.

  Sarah searched among the bed covers for her silver locket and fastened it around her neck.

  'I thought you guys were allergic to silver.'

  'If I had touched this after I had shifted, it would have felt very uncomfortable. When I'm in human form, it doesn't affect me. In fact it helps me. As a shifter, I can control when I shift except during the full moon. If I don't wear a silver locket over my heart during the full moon, I will shift uncontrollably. Wearing the locket gives me a choice.'

  'And Frazier sent you Amy's locket because he knows she is... like you.'

  'A shifter.'

  'A shifter. And he's telling you he knows.'

  She nodded. 'At the next full moon, she will shift and won't be able to control it. Frazier will know for sure that she is what he suspects she is.'

  'And then what? What does he want with her? Is he going to reveal her to the media?'

  'No, something much worse. There are underground groups who will pay very highly for an unmated female shifter.'

  'He wants to sell her?'

  'Not just her. He sent me the locket because he wants me to go looking for Amy and be captured too. A pair of unmated shifters is worth much more to him than only one.'

  'What do these groups want with you? I only just got to know that shifters exist and you're telling me that other people not only know about your existence but buy you? What for?'

  She turned her face toward the shadows. 'These are occult groups, Logan. They would use us in experiments, rituals. Dark things. I can't let that happen to my sister. I can't.' Her eyes filled with tears.

  He sat up and took her in his arms, stroking her hair while she cried against his bare chest. 'Sshhh, nothing's going to happen while I'm around, Sarah.'

  He didn't think twice about what he was getting himself into. It was his job to protect Sarah. Maybe it always had been and he just hadn't realized it. But now it was an unwritten sacred law seated deep within him. Protect Sarah.

  She stopped crying and wiped tears from her face. 'Well at least I'm worth a lot less to them now.'

  'How do you mean?'

  'A shifter is valuable to their rituals but an unmated shifter is worth much more. As of five minutes ago, I lost my street value.'

  'But you said Amy had a relationship with Frazier.'

  'Yes.'

  'So isn't she no longer unmated?'

  She smiled and pressed her head against his chest muscles. 'Having a relationship, having sex... that isn't mating. Only when a shifter feels the calling and acts on it is the act true mating. I felt your calling, Logan, from the moment I first saw you. And you felt it too except you didn't know what it was and just thought you fancied the panties off me.'

  'Well excuse me for not being all read up up on my shifter lore.'

  She nestled her body against his and stroked the bite mark on his shoulder.

  'You and I recognized a deep connection with each other and we consummated that connection with physical action. What we just did, Logan... that was mating.'

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Bite

  They stood in the bathroom and Sarah applied a bandage to Logan's wound. He had put his jeans back on and she had retrieved her silk robe from the hallway and slipped it on, belting it loosely. The stark white light above the bathroom mirror made Logan feel uncomfortable. He had replaced the bulb in his own bathroom with a less powerful one to soften the light. Standing here now beneath this glaring bulb, he felt exposed, as if his scars were on show and looked even uglier than usual.

  'You hate the scars don't you?' Sarah asked him as she wound the bandage around his upper arm.

  'Don't you?'

  She looked at him and shook her head. 'They're part of who you are, what you've done. We all pick up war wounds during our lives, it's just that some aren't so visible.'

  'They're ugly.'

  'I don't think so. I don't find anything about you ugly. Just as you're attracted to me, I feel exactly the same way about you. It's the Calling. I felt your Calling even though you weren't a shifter, and you felt mine and we each responded. It binds us, Logan.'

  He had to admit that the connection he felt with Sarah was stronger than anything he had ever felt with any of the women in his life before he went to war. It was crazy but it was also undeniable. 'How could I do this Calling thing if I wasn't...like you?'

  'It's rare for a shifter to sense a Calling from a non-shifter. Usually the overwhelming desire to mate and bond is only present in shifters. Sure that emotion can be felt by everyone but wanting it so much that I sensed it and responded? That's special. You must be very in touch with your inner animal senses.'

  'And it sounds like soon I'll be a hell of a lot more in touch. So what happens to me now I've been bitten?'

  'In three nights, at the full moon, you'll shift. There is nothing you can do to prevent yourself from shifting during the first full moon after you're bitten. Even wearing a silver locket or amulet won't let you control the first shift.'

  'Is it going to hurt?'

  'Maybe. I've been a shifter all my adult life so it's hard for me to remember.'

  'When did you get bitten?'

  'I didn't. My grandfather was a shifter. So is my father. Amy and I inherited the genetic code. When I first shifted at the age of sixteen, I was prepared. My dad taught me what to expect. Same with Amy.'

  Logan tried to get his head around the fact that he would soon change the same way Sarah had. In just three nights he would be half-wolf. He didn't fear the change. His life had been so restrictive and lacking freedom that anything different would be welcome. Maybe he would be able to leave the house when he was a wolf. Yeah, and when the neighbors saw a half-man half-wolf heading down Arroyo Street, they wouldn't be terrified and call the police at all. Maybe this wouldn't be the game changer he had thought, maybe it would be just same shit different day. Or different form.

  'When you change, do you go out into the woods or something?' he asked Sarah.

  'Of course. But I would usually go to the woods first and shift there. When you shift, you won't want to be trapped in a house...you'll experience a need for the wild. We can go out to the woods in Algonquin when you're going to shift. You'll find it much easier.'

  'We can't do that. Sarah.'

  'Why not?'

  'Because we have to get your sister back.'

  'We need to get her back before the full moon. She'll shift without her locket and Frazier will know how valuable she is to the Temple of Thul. We'll get her back before then, won't we?'

  Seeing the worry in her eyes, he nodded. 'Temple of Thul? I assume that's the occult group you mentioned and not a division of the Mennonites?'

  'It is. There are other groups but the Temple of Thul is the most active when it comes to using shifters and other creatures in their rituals. They're rumored to have an ancient book of spells that use paranormal creatures in their casting. If Amy falls into their hands...' She broke down, trying to hold back the tears but unable to stop the swell of emotion. Logan took her in his arms and held her tightly.

  'Don't worry, Sarah, we'll get her back.'

  'The Temple of Thul is dangerous. They have members everywhere, in all walks of life but mainly in positions of power. As I said before, you don't have to...'

  'Don't even say that. You know I'm in this just as deeply as you are. I'm going to be there for you. I need to protect you. If I didn't do that, a part of me would die inside. So don't think I'm going to aba
ndon you and make you deal with this alone, that isn't even an option.'

  'Thank you, Logan.' She kissed his shoulder lightly and said, 'You're all patched up.'

  'Thanks. So what is our plan for rescuing Amy?'

  'We don't have one yet.'

  'Yeah, we do. Frazier wants you as well as your sister so we use you as bait. He doesn't know I'm in the picture at all so we have an advantage. I have skills from my time in the Rangers and I have weapons. I'm the ace in the hole. Frazier put his return address on that package because he thinks you're going to go there looking for your sister. You are. But what Frazier doesn't know is that I'm going to be there too.'

  She nodded slowly. 'But what do we do when we get there?'

  'First we need to establish if Amy is there. The address sounds like a cabin or cottage. Lakeside Road, Great Bear Lake. There should be plenty of cover for me to sneak around. If I find her there, I get her out. Simple as that. If she isn't there, we need to make Frazier think that you're going there alone. If he's holding Amy at another location, he'll take you there so he has both of you. Then I rescue you. Tell me more about Frazier.'

  'He's just a nasty man, not big time or anything. It isn't him I'm worried about, it's the Temple. They're a whole world ahead of Frazier in terms of power and evil.'

  'We have to assume he hasn't contacted them yet. He needs to confirm his suspicions about Amy being a shifter and he can't do that until the full moon. I don't think he'll contact them until he knows for sure what he has to offer them. Besides, he wants you too and he doesn't have you yet.'

  'I don't understand why he hasn't come here and tried to kidnap me.'

  'Sarah, you're a private detective right?'

  'Yes.'

  'You own a gun?'

  'Yes.'

  'You know self defence? A martial art?'

  She nodded.

  'You're a pretty tough cookie. Frazier is probably working alone. The way he's engineered this... sending you Amy's locket... you come to him. It's much less risky for him than abducting you from your home or car.'

  She looked at him and when he saw her beautiful blue eyes he wasn't looking into the eyes of his sexy neighbor anymore; they were the eyes of his mate.

  'Logan, I may be a tough cookie but I need you to stay with me tonight,'

  He nodded. 'You couldn't keep me away.'

  *

  He took her into the bedroom and they stood in the shaft of silver moonlight shining through the window as they undressed each other.

  Logan took her into his arms, her toughened nipples brushing against his pecs as he picked her up gently and lay her on the bed. Straddling her, his rock hard cock pressing against her thigh, he supported himself on all fours above her and looked down at her moonlit face.

  'You're so beautiful,' he whispered.

  In response, she raised her mouth to his and kissed him hotly and deeply. One of her hands went to the back of his head and her fingers lightly stroked down over his shoulder blades. Her other hand slid down over his stomach, her fingertips playing over the excited flesh of his shaft.

  Logan groaned and took his weight on one elbow, allowing one of his hands freedom to explore the soft swells of Sarah's breasts. He found her erect nipples with his fingers and stroked them teasingly, playing with the distended nubs and surrounding puckered flesh. Sarah's breathing became quicker and she kissed him with a more fervent urgency driven by the sensations of his fingers brushing against her nipples. She encircled his shaft with her hand and pumped him gently, making him groan again as he broke from her mouth and kissed a hot trail down her neck to her breasts. He twitched excitedly in her hand and she ran her nails down the underside of his thick shaft to his tight balls, caressing him there and making his cock twitch more as her fingernails stimulated the sensitive nerves at the base of his penis.

  He wanted to be inside her so bad it was almost a physical painful longing but he also wanted to experience as much of her as possible before the inevitable release and the dulling of these hypersensitive sensations burning through his body like wildfire.

  He found a nipple and took it between his teeth gently. Sarah arched her back and pulled his head to her breast as if trying to get as much of her sensitive flesh into his mouth as possible. Logan sucked the nipple into his mouth, opening his jaw as wide as he could so he could suck on the areola and the surrounding flesh. Sarah moaned as his tongue went to work on the engorged bud of excited flesh, flicking against it and tracing hot circles around it until he had explored every part of her sensitive nipple.

  She didn't shift form this time. They had already mated as man and she-wolf and now they would mate as man and woman. When Logan shifted under the next full moon, they would mate as wolf and she-wolf, experiencing each other in every way possible.

  Moving his body down along hers, he trailed kisses over the underside of her full breasts and down over her taut stomach, seeking her pleasure center, the intimate part of her that sent irresistible pheromonal signals to his brain that drove him crazy to mate fully with her.

  Gripping her inner thighs, he parted her legs, displaying her wanton sex before his gaze. She was ready for him, wet and glistening in the moonlight. Logan pressed his mouth to her sex and ran his tongue up and down her wet slit. She tasted so fucking sweet and good. His tongue found the little bud of her clitoris and he licked at it gently, teasing it out from beneath its hood. Sarah moaned and pushed herself against him, needing more of the stimulation he was giving her.

  He sucked the bundle of excited nerve endings between his lips and caressed it with his tongue, sending Sarah into a shuddering build up to her climax.

  'Yes, just there!' she moaned, grabbing his head with both hands and holding him against her sweet pussy as she writhed and ground herself against his face.

  Logan lapped at her little pleasure bud and sent her over the edge. She screamed out and threw her head back, eyes closed and mouth parted as she experienced her orgasm. Logan pressed his tongue against her clit but didn't move it, knowing it would be too much for her as her climax made her too sensitive. She came against his face and the taste of her sweet arousal made him want to plunge himself deep inside her right now but he waited as she rode the wave of pleasure and came down from it gasping and panting and moaning his name over and over.

  It was too much. Her taste, the sound of her pleasurable moans, the sight of her full breasts rising and falling in the moonlight as she breathed, each rounded swell topped with a hard excited nipple, at all made him need to bury himself deep inside her now. Right now.

  Sliding up against her body, he found her entrance with the head of his cock and pushed inside. The hot tightness that enclosed his manhood made him groan and push his hips forward so he sank deeper into Sarah's willing sex. She pressed her hips up to meet his and draw him deeper into her body. They kissed passionately as if they couldn't get enough of each other. Their bond was beyond that of a man and woman. They had Called to each other and now they were mates, a bonded pair. This act simply symbolized that bond, strengthened it.

  Logan felt himself losing control and his thrusts became more erratic as he tried to get himself as deep inside Sarah as possible for the moment he reached his inevitable climax. He broke the kiss and arched his back, closing his eyes and moaning with the pleasure he felt rising from his balls along the length of his sensitive shaft.

  Sarah raked her fingernails lightly over his chest and that sent him into an explosion of pure bliss as he erupted deep inside her. The Calling and the mating led them to this act of absolute unity where they gave each other pleasure and shared a moment of ecstasy that made their bond even stronger.

  Logan gave himself fully to Sarah and remained inside her after the sensations subsided within him and they kissed tenderly, both of them hot and breathless and satisfied.

  When he finally pulled out of her it was with regret and he felt an emptiness that he didn't feel when he was physically one with her.

  They lay to
gether in the moonlight and Sarah looked at him, her blue eyes seemingly flecked with silver, and smiled. 'This feels good, lying here together.'

  'Yes, it does. It feels right.'

  'How is your shoulder feeling?'

  He hadn't thought about it since she had bandaged it but now he gave it his attention, he felt a dull ache there. It throbbed.

  'It's a little painful.'

  She lifted herself up on one arm and looked intently at his face. 'You don't look so good.'

  'I thought we had a discussion already about my scars.'

  'I don't mean that. Do you feel hot? Feverish?' She placed the back of her hand on his forehead, testing his temperature. 'It's hard to know if you're hot because you're ill or because you just had sex.'

  'I don't feel too bad. Hot, yeah, but like you say that could be because of the sex.'

  'Do you want a cold drink?'

  'I could use a glass of iced water right now.'

  She slid off the bed and walked naked to the door, looking back at him over her shoulder and saying, 'I'll go get it. Back in a minute.' He watched her ass as she left the room. Damned gorgeous.

  He wasn't cooling down, despite the fact that Sarah's overhead fan was revolving above the bed. He shouldn't feel this hot. And his shoulder ached like a son of a bitch. He needed that drink. His mouth felt dry. And he was suddenly tired. So tired.

  Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a few seconds, he would feel better.

  He rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes and...

  CHAPTER SIX

  Cage

  He woke up feeling disoriented and dazed. It was light outside and the brilliant sunshine made him squint against the brightness of the day. What the hell time was it? The digital clock on Sarah's nightstand said it was 17:48. Jesus, how had he slept for so long? Why hadn't Sarah woken him? They had plans to make, things to do. Sitting up groggily, he called her.