Logan's Company [Soldiers of Passion 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Dace Everan

  “Get your dweller ass out of here, you little bitch!” snarled Ben, dragging Logan’s limp body closer to him. He hefted him up and over his shoulder, keeping his gaze on the large black werewolf. Her green eyes glowed in the darkness and her teeth smeared in Logan’s blood glistened in the dark. She was a magnificent beast. He’d run across a few of her pack but she seemed large for a female. “Get now!” he ordered, backing toward the entrance. She growled, taking a start at him. He stopped and held his ground. He crouched low and balanced Logan on his shoulder. “Bring it on, little bitch. I will rip you apart,” he threatened, opening and closing his hands.

  Celeste growled and the hairs on her shoulders rose. She released a long, low howl. Her gaze fixed on her mate, slung over the shoulder of the giant of a man. Her heart cried out at the loss. She should have gotten him on his way up when he was alone. Why had she waited till he was with this giant of a man? She howled, hoping her bite had already started the transition. He would hear her cry for him. When he was ready on the full moon, he would come to her. She once again cried for him to be with her.

  Ben shivered at the haunting sound. That was something he’d not experienced up close and personal with these creatures. He watched as she backed away her green eyes watching him as he stood his ground. When the big black beast was gone, he made his way to the exit. Once outside, he did a quick scan of the area, seeing no signs of her brethren. Good, the last thing he needed was the pack following him.

  Deni and Rachel worked on the wound quickly. Blood still seeped from Logan’s neck. Deni worked as fast as she could to stitch up his torn skin. “What happened, Ben? Why did it attack him? What did he do?”

  Ben shook his head, replacing the bloodstained water with a clean basin. “Nothing. She sought him out. I don’t know what she wanted. I told you I cannot read them,” he said, his hands shaking as he watched more blood drain from Logan. “Will he live?” Guilt filled him. It was an emotion he had been dealing with lately. Of course with Deni’s help. Guilt. Something he had not been programmed to feel, but since they had removed their chips they had all experienced a lot more than they had thought they would have to. “She jumped at him and had every intention of taking him with her.”

  Rachel looked at him. “Are you sure it was female?”

  Ben nodded, pressing his hand to Logan’s neck, trying to staunch the flow of blood as Deni grunted in frustration at the needle and medical thread she always kept on hand. She was not trained to fix people. She was trained to take them apart mentally and physically. But she had tried to teach herself the skills to help humans. “Yes, I know the difference. She was a big one. I’ve never seen her before, though. I usually see the males, and if there are any females, there is always a male with them.”

  Deni furrowed her brow. “Where is the fucking doctor? I called for him hours ago.”

  Ben nodded. “He should be here soon. He doesn’t look good, Deni. We should call his people.”

  Deni shook her head. “Not yet. We will not return him dead to them. He will get better.” She looked at Rachel. “Is there anything you can do?” she asked, frustrated that she was having so much trouble simply stitching up his wounds. This never happened with the other humans. The stitches on Logan were not taking. As soon as she put one in and started on the next, the first one had dissolved. Was something wrong with his blood?

  Rachel grimaced. She could, but he wouldn’t be the same. Would he want that? Morally she couldn’t bring herself to do it unless Logan gave her permission to. “I… I would want his permission,” she whispered, her hands trembling at the thought of sharing her nano-bytes with him. All she had to do was slice her hand and hold it to his wound and they would go to work fixing him. “And if I did that now the doctor would know something was up,” she said, worry filling her eyes. She didn’t want the humans to know what they were.

  Deni inhaled a slow breath, looking at Ben. “If he’s not here in the hour we may lose him.” She looked at Rachel. “You will do it then, and I will answer for the decision. Until then all we can do is try to stop the flow of his blood.”

  * * * *

  Logan groaned at the sharp pain in his shoulder. His hands tingled and it felt as though thousands of little bugs were crawling through his neck and shoulder. He fought to open his eyes. Fought to yell out for help. He felt a burning sensation deep in the pit of his belly. His hands clawed at his stomach and he growled out, his body bowing off the bed.

  Ben knelt next to the bed, holding Logan in place. “Ease up, man… Relax, we are here, Logan,” he purred, wishing this man he liked to call friend would not thrash so violently. Rachel had applied her nano-bytes to him and they were slowly fixing him, but Logan fought and fought hard to tear at them. Rachel had said he may feel them. That it may feel like bugs crawling on him. But the reaction he was having was not what they had expected. Deni wrapped the thick straps around Logan’s legs, binding him in securely, then did the same over his chest and shoulders. Last were his hips. Ben released heavy breaths as Logan’s body eased and his breathing calmed from the gruesome growling that had just emitted from him. “What’s happening to him?” he asked, looking back at Rachel.

  Rachel shook her head. “They should have fixed him. It looks like his body is rejecting them?” She had not ever seen anything like it before. Her nano-bytes always fixed within minutes. For hours Logan had been struggling, and she could feel her little nano-bytes faltering as they struggled to fix him. “They are slowly dying,” she cried, her sight seeing her little nano-bytes like they were her children. She turned tear-filled eyes on Deni. “His body is rejecting them,” she cried.

  Deni knelt next to Logan, examining his wound. “I am sorry for your loss, Rachel. When your nanos have passed, we will try to sew him up again and he will be the one to decide whether he will live or not.”

  Ben looked at her with surprise. “It’s a fatal wound, Deni! He doesn’t have enough blood in him to survive this on his own.”

  Deni shook her head. “We did all we could, Ben. The doctor was a no-show. Logan’s body is rejecting Rachel’s nano-babies. We have to trust that he can fix himself.” Rachel’s Nano-bytes were a part of her. It was suitable to call them her nano-babies.

  Ben clenched his teeth. Humans didn’t just go fixing themselves without some sort of help. Deni reached out for Ben. “Remember, Ben. Our kind can do it. So can his.”

  Ben shook his head standing. “If he dies, you will tell his people. You will contact them and see what it was they wanted. What had been so important that he died for!” With those words he stomped from the room and slammed the door of the cabin, leaving the women alone with Logan.

  Chapter Four

  Celeste paced the small glen. The must from the moss wafted through her senses. The sweet pine assaulted her. She fell to her knees. Her hands trembling and her breath ripped from her lungs in painful bursts.

  “You shouldn’t have bitten him, Celeste.” Her mother’s voice was soft and comforting as a blanket was wrapped around her bare shoulders. “It is not our way of doing things.”

  Celeste turned her bright green eyes on her mother. Her canines were out and not retreating. “He pulled me there, Mama,” she slurred, her tongue stinging from the sharpness of her canines, biting them at speaking. She hugged the blanket closer around her shoulders and shivered. “I couldn’t stop myself, Mama.” She turned scared eyes on her mother. “My heart beat faster, my haunches were aching and… and…” She shook her head. You’d think you would be able to tell your own mother that you wanted to fuck the bejesus out of the man.

  Kolana smiled and lowered to her knees in front of her daughter. “You can’t go chasing your inner needs, my girl. Your mate has been chosen for you already. Going and making the choice to transform a human will not change that fact.”

  Celeste’s world came crashing down around her. It wasn’t bad enough she just took a bite out of a human, but now her mother had to remind her that in a mere few days she woul
d be handed over to the neighboring pack’s leader. She shuddered. She hated, no, despised Farron Weldering. Not only was he an arrogant asshole, he liked his women and there was no way she was sharing her mate. She refused to go to that runaround, disrespectable asshole! “No. Law states, if I change a human, he is my responsibility.”

  Kolana laughed out. It was short and had that sarcastic tone Celeste was used to her mother using on the arrogant women of the pack. Never on her own children. Hurt filled her heart. “Oh darling, you have taken too big a bite out of life. You will go to Farron and you will take your new pet with you.” Kolana rose to her feet in a fluid movement. “Let’s just hope he is okay with two mates rather than one.”

  Celeste looked up at her mother. If Farron did not accept this man she had bitten, he would kill him. Her heart sank and real fear filled her. She wasn’t sure who this man was, but he belonged to her. She had felt his soul pulling for her to go to him. Her stomach clenched with anxiety at the thought of losing him. She could run with him. Run and hope to the Gods that the packs did not hunt them down. She would never be welcome to any other pack. Her heart cried out at the thought. Wolves didn’t belong alone. They belonged with their people, their packs. Most who wandered off turned feral and ended up being hunted down by the humans and slaughtered then put on display. She did not dare have that happen to her nor to this man who had called out to her inner beast. A shudder tore through her at the thought of him. Her fangs stung painfully and she could still taste him on her tongue in her mouth. Her tongue slid over her upper lip and her eyes closed in utter bliss.

  “Goodness, my girl. The scent coming off you will have males coming from all around,” her mother replied, settling next to her with her hand cupping Celeste’s jaw. She studied her daughter’s face and appearance. “We will call a meeting with Farron,” she replied after long moments of examination. “Perhaps your father can come up with something.” She tucked her daughter’s hair behind an ear and smiled at her. “You need to go retrieve this man. He will need guidance in his transformation.”

  Celeste nodded in agreement. She had tried to drag him away, but the large man had had a firmer grip even than her and she had been afraid she would rip her man apart. Celeste shook her head as a second thought occurred to her. Her mother would expect her to share the man with Farron! “I won’t share him, Mama. He’s mine!” she cried, knowing full well her father would do anything to assure the safety of their people as well and request that her man be used by Farron as a slave of some sort. If giving his oldest daughter to the neighboring pack to strengthen their packs was an option, anything was an option to her father. Her child with Farron would be in control of both packs when it came of age and proved itself strong enough.

  Kolana shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, my girl. You and Farron will unite and mate.” She hated having to do this to her daughter but having given no sons to her husband, this was the only option.

  Celeste tore away from her mother’s touch and stood. “I can’t believe you and Papa would give me away like this!”

  Kolana rolled her eyes heavenward. “Oh goodness, child, give it up. It isn’t the end of the world. Every single bitch in the area yearns for that man. You should consider yourself fortunate he wants to breed with our pack.”

  Celeste growled at her mother, anger seething through her. “Why! Because our pack is below his? Because he is of the almighty goddamn originals?” she yelled.

  Kolana all but shot out a hand and grabbed her daughter by the jaw. “You will not disrespect me by yelling in my face, daughter. Yes, he is descendent of the originals. You will take him and accept him and give him sons.” She released her daughter’s face and stepped back. “You will take pride in being his first bitch mate.”

  Celeste snorted. “If he takes any others I will leave,” she threatened. And that she damn well promised! Her father had never taken any second or third bitch. There was no way she would allow her own mate to take another bitch. She was strong enough to handle her mate and be his one and only.

  Kolana returned the snort. “This coming from the woman who just changed a man to mate with when she full well knows she is promised to another. Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”

  Celeste snarled and backed away from her mother. She was right. She shouldn’t have claimed the man.

  * * * *

  Logan groaned as he felt himself being lifted. He reached out to grab but felt nothing. Pain seared through him like a burning flame. His insides fought to get to his outsides and his head felt hotter than the Nevada desert.

  “Shh, I’ll take care of you.”

  And just like that, with the words of the angel, his temperature cooled and he settled. Who was this voice that spoke to him? Was he dying? He struggled to open his eyes. He tried to lick his lips but his tongue was thick and felt like carpet. He groaned then moaned as sweet moisture struck his mouth and spilled into his mouth. He felt tiny hands on his throat, coaxing him to drink. “Rachel,” he whispered in a raspy voice. It had to be her. Only she would have a soft touch like that.

  “No… my name is Celeste.”

  Chapter Five

  Celeste glanced behind herself at the large man and two women as they watched her. “I need to take him to the forest to heal.”

  Deni shook her head. “No.”

  Celeste narrowed her eyes. These humans were not quite what they seemed. She wasn’t sure what they were but she could smell something different about them. “He will die if you don’t allow me to take him.”

  Deni again shook her head. “Not until you explain to me what it is you did to him and why.”

  Celeste released an exasperated breath. How many times did she have to tell this twit what she had done? Ben grunted and moved toward Logan. “I will go with her, Deni. I can take this little wolf bitch.” He bent over and picked up Logan’s limp form and looked at the wolf bitch. “Lead the way. I stay until he is conscious.”

  Celeste’s upper lip twitched in annoyance. She didn’t want this giant with her while she took care of her wounded mate. “You don’t touch me or him when I am helping him,” she ordered, turning on her heel and heading toward the entrance of their small abode. She shivered as she felt the cloak of the human façade the three were putting on. There was indeed something different about these three. Her nose twitched. They smelled metallic. Like metal and wires.

  Celeste led him to the outskirts of their territory, finding the large bunch of trees where she had stashed a change of clothes and blankets. The giant held on to her man as she laid out a blanket. “Lay him here, please.” Ben did as instructed then settled in next to him. “You may not want to be there.” She pointed to the crowd of trees opposite. “Over there.” She grabbed up another blanket and tossed it at him. “I will be changing and don’t want you near me when I am tending to him. I may bite you.”

  Ben took the blanket and went to where she instructed. He went to argue when she started undressing Logan, but halted when he saw she only meant to take his shirt off. She removed his bandages and poured water over the dried blood and then gently cleaned him up. When she was done she stood and looked back at him. “Could you turn away, please?”

  Ben furrowed his brow and didn’t move. There was no way he was not watching what the fuck she was going to do to Logan. She could go bite herself if she thought he was not keeping an eye on her.

  Celeste released an uneasy breath. She’d gotten naked in front of the males in her pack before and nudity wasn’t something that normally concerned her, but with this man here it bothered her. She started with her shirt, pulling it over her head then unclasped her bra. She peeked at the giant and was relieved when she saw that he was looking away. “Thank you,” she whispered, making quick work of the rest of her clothes. It was when she was folding her jeans and placing them on her pile of clothes that she heard the movement in the trees to her left. She froze and inhaled the air. Male, wolf. Alpha. Her jaw clenched. “Who goes there?” she aske
d loudly. She glanced at Ben and motioned for him to stay silent and still. The giant didn’t move.

  “Celeste?”

  Celeste stiffened. Farron? What in the hell was he doing out here? He was never on this side of her territory. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, reaching for her clothes. Coming to a halt as Farron stepped into view, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. Tall, muscled, a thick build, and dark skinned. His long hair fell carelessly over his shoulders and his mouth was curled into a devilish grin. “I knew I was making a good choice in picking you over Janelle.”

  Celeste narrowed her eyes. They had given him the choice of her and her sisters? She snarled. “Pig,” she uttered, grabbing her shirt.

  Farron released a soft laugh. “Oh, don’t think too badly of me, Celeste. I know you hate me. Always have. Janelle has always looked at me.” He stepped closer, grabbing hold of her shirt and taking it from her, tossing it to the pile. “No need to hide from me, woman. You’ll be mine in less than a week and I will have you naked at all times,” he assured her.

  Celeste notched her chin. “Fuck you, Farron.”

  Farron laughed out. “Oh don’t be like that, Celeste. You could learn to love me.”

  “I highly doubt that,” she answered again, reaching for her shirt.

  Farron grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her close. “Listen here, bitch. You will be my mate. You had better get used to taking orders here and now,” he snarled in her face.

  Celeste didn’t back away, the fine hairs on her body rose and her canines elongated. “An Alpha needs his bitch to be compliant. He also needs her to be loyal. You had better find a better way than that to make me loyal to you,” she uttered.

  Farron narrowed his eyes. “Oh, and would that be letting you keep your little toy here?”

  Celeste narrowed her eyes and growled. “You touch him and I will kill you.”