The White Wolf of Wishing Moon Bay

by Raines, Harmony

  “Has Ivan been calling everyone?” Logan asked as he turned his back on his mate but kept his senses firmly fixed on her.

  “Oh, that is a loaded question and one I am not going to answer. You know he’s only got your best interest at heart.” Rift hugged Logan. “Congratulations. I am so happy for you.”

  “Thanks. It’s a little surreal,” he admitted.

  “Was that Penny?” He nodded toward the entrance. “I passed her in the parking lot, the lady with the young son?”

  “That’s her.” His expression clouded. “She’s not from town and had no idea about shifters or any of this.”

  “But she managed to find her way into town.”

  “Because a wrench got stuck in her engine.” Logan arched an eyebrow as Rift’s eyes widened. “It doesn’t sound as if she is here by chance, does it?”

  “And that worries you?” Rift asked. “You can’t accept that she might have wound up in town because it was time for you to find a mate? Or because she needs you? Ivan said she’s on her way to her sister’s.”

  “Ivan has been doing a lot of talking.” There weren’t many secrets between the men Valerie had adopted. Mainly because if you told Ivan anything, he had a habit of sharing it with the others.

  “He’s excited for you.” Rift held up his thumb and finger about an inch apart. “And more than a little jealous. Between us, I think he believes you finding your mate might just break the curse.”

  “Curse?” Logan asked.

  “Yeah, if you hadn’t noticed, none of us have found our mate. You never wondered if we were cursed?” Rift asked thoughtfully.

  “I never did.” Logan spun around and headed for the dining room. “Penny is coming back inside. She wanted to empty her car on her own. I need to look busy.”

  “Then get me something to eat, I’m starving.” Rift followed Logan into the dining room.

  “I’m glad you can still think of your stomach at a time like this,” Logan said drily.

  “Hey, I ran all the way here when I got Ivan’s call. The least you can do is feed me.” Rift headed for a table. “If you want, you can ask your mate to join me and I’ll tell her all your secrets.”

  “I don’t have any secrets worth knowing.” Logan handed Rift a menu.

  “Is that so?” Rift rose to the challenge. “Does she know how you came to be in Wishing Moon Bay? You’re not the only one who wasn’t born here.”

  “We haven’t exactly talked much. All she knows so far is that I can shift into a white wolf and I’m looking after the hotel for Valerie.” He put his hand on his hips as he sensed her coming back into the hotel with Milo.

  “Ivan said she also knows you are lacking in people skills. Something about a warlock and a cold shower.”

  Logan rolled his eyes as he spotted the warlock entering the restaurant. “Thanks, you just summoned him.” He left Rift and headed over to Jeremy. “Hi, how are you?”

  Jeremy eyed him suspiciously. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Do you want me to show you to a table?” Logan smiled, trying to look friendly which only deepened the warlock’s suspicions.

  “I think I can manage to find one myself.” Jeremy pushed past Logan and went to a table near the window.

  Rift was half-hidden behind a menu, his shoulders shaking as Logan approached. “People skills.”

  “The guy hates me.”

  “A cold shower in the morning has that effect on some people. Mainly those who don’t have hot shifter blood running through their veins.” Rift lowered his menu and glanced at Jeremy. “He looks kind of familiar.”

  “I’ve never met him before.” Logan looked up at the ceiling. Penny and Milo were in room eight dumping their stuff. Now they were going back out into the corridor and down the stairs.

  “Hmm. I have a good recall for faces,” Rift was continuing. “I’m sure I’ve seen him before.”

  “Okay, it’s getting busy.” Logan was not really listening to Rift anymore. “Let me or one of the servers know what you want, and I’ll charge it to your account.”

  “Sorry, what was that? You said it was on the house? Whatever I want?” Rift hissed so that only Logan could hear him.

  Logan ignored him and started taking orders and organizing the servers so that no one waited too long to give their order and receive their food. As he kept his senses tuned to his mate as she emptied her car, he also kept the diners happy. Even Jeremy seemed in a better mood by the time he’d eaten Ivan’s specialty steak.

  “How was the food?” Logan asked Rift as he removed his empty plate.

  “So good I nearly licked the pattern off the plates.” Rift leaned back in his seat. “Who knew a dragon shifter could possess such a skill. It’s like alchemy. He turns the ingredients of each meal into something amazing.”

  “Maybe you could keep that to yourself, too.” Logan balanced the dirty dishes on his arm as he backed away. “Ivan already thinks he’s the greatest chef in the world.”

  “He’s not wrong.” Rift frowned. “Not that I’ve been all over the world.”

  “Yeah, but his head is already so big it only just fits in the kitchen.” Logan left Rift sitting alone and took the dirty dishes through to the kitchen. He timed it just right, Penny and Milo were coming down the stairs. “How are things going?”

  “We are all done.” Her eyes slid sideways toward the dining room.

  “Do you want to eat?” Logan asked.

  Penny nodded. “I will work off all the meals and the room.”

  “Don’t worry about it, the meals are a perk of the staff who work at the hotel.” Logan headed into the kitchen with Penny following and then groaned when he sensed Rift approaching. “This is Rift,” Logan said without turning around.

  “Who? Oh.” Penny caught sight of the man stalking her. “Hi.”

  “You must be Penny. Ivan has told me so much about you. While Logan has told me nothing.” Rift inclined his head toward Penny and then his attention switched to Milo. “And you must be Milo.”

  “I am.” Milo seemed shy of Rift and closed the space between him and his mom. “Do you work here, too?”

  “No, but I used to live here.”

  “In the hotel?” Milo’s interest was piqued.

  “Yes. We all lived here when we were younger,” Rift said.

  “You and Logan are brothers?” Penny asked.

  “Yes. Well, sort of. Valerie, who owns the hotel, adopted us.” Rift’s comment got Penny’s interest.

  “She raised us as her own,” Ivan added.

  “I had no idea.” She glanced at Logan. “You were all adopted?”

  “Why do you think I squander my excellent culinary skills on a small hotel?” Ivan asked.

  “Oh, here we go,” Rift rolled his eyes at Penny who smothered a smile.

  “Yes, here we go. Do you know why the hotel is so popular?” Ivan asked.

  “They have heard about Logan’s excellent customer service. The guest is always an inconvenience,” Rift said drily.

  “They certainly don’t come and stay because of the house comedian,” Logan bit back.

  “They come back for the food.” Ivan shook his head and told Penny, “You can see how underappreciated I am.”

  “I can and your food is wonderful,” Penny told him.

  “And that is why we are in your kitchen.” Logan put his hand on Ivan’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Penny and Milo are hungry.”

  “Why don’t you come and join me in the restaurant?” Rift asked. “I was about to order dessert, but I could eat another meal with you.”

  “Another meal?” Ivan asked.

  “Yes, you should serve bigger portions,” Rift told him.

  “Come on, let’s leave Ivan to what he does best.” Logan ushered them all out of the kitchen. “Do you want to be flame-grilled?” he asked Rift.

  “You know he doesn’t mean it.” Rift winked at Milo. “Don’t worry, we’re always like this. I like to keep Ivan’s feet on th
e ground.”

  “What he really means is he likes to wind Ivan up. Just like he did when we were younger.” Logan escorted Rift to his table. “Please don’t antagonize him. The hotel is fully booked in a few days. If he throws a fit and quits, I’m in trouble. Which means the hotel is in trouble.”

  “Which means Valerie is in trouble.” Rift held up his hands in surrender. “I promise to behave myself.”

  “I wish I had a brother or sister,” Milo said as they sat down next to Rift. “It must be fun.”

  “I’m not sure I would call it fun,” Logan grumbled with one eye on Jeremy who was staring over at them with great interest.

  “We had fun growing up together. Once we got to know each other.” Rift became serious. “I don’t know what would have happened to us if Valerie hadn’t opened her door, and her heart, to us.”

  “She sounds like an incredible woman.” Penny’s eyes lingered on her son. As a mother, she would empathize with Valerie and her need to nurture the children she’d cared for.

  Valerie is an exceptional woman. An exceptional mother. I believe our mate has some of the same characteristics. The same big heart. His wolf was right. Logan could see certain aspects of the woman who had taken in a strange group of boys and given them a home. There was a strength they both shared, coated in kindness and love.

  “She is exceptional.” Rift locked eyes with Logan. “She’d do anything for us. And we’d do anything for her.” His mouth curled up at one corner. “At least that was the case. Now that Logan has you, his loyalty lies elsewhere.”

  Penny’s brow furrowed. “Surely there is room for the love of a mate and the love for other people in your life?” Her hand rested on the back of Milo’s neck. “What if a shifter has children?”

  Rift arched an eyebrow at Logan, putting him on the spot. “I have no idea what I’m talking about. So why don’t you tell us since you actually have a mate.”

  Logan’s jaw tensed, his heart wanted to rule his head and tell Penny she was everything to him. And more. But Rift was wrong, there was love enough to go around. “The...love...for a mate is different. It’s stronger and all-consuming. But there is certainly more than enough love for the others in our lives.” His attempt to be diplomatic was met by a questioning look from Rift and a concerned one from Penny. “And, since there will never be a time when I have to choose one over the other because my mate realizes there is room in my heart for more than her, it’s a question best left unanswered.”

  Rift pointed at him. “That is a non-answer.”

  “It’s also the only answer you’re going to get.” Logan glanced around the restaurant which was starting to empty after the lunchtime rush. “I’ll be back for your order in a few minutes. Don’t take too long, Ivan will want to close the kitchen.”

  When the conversation about choices between a mate and the other people in his life ended, Logan began clearing the empty tables, while trying to reconcile the mix of emotions swirling around inside him. Would this be his life from now on, or would he one day sort through them and find his equilibrium again? Finding his mate was both incredible and incredibly confusing in equal measure.

  Chapter Eleven – Penny

  “That was a delicious meal. Again.” Penny helped clear the table while Rift took Milo out into the hotel gardens to show him the pond and the goldfish that lived in the pond. The same goldfish from when he and Logan were children, which fascinated her son.

  “I’ll tell Ivan.”

  “Will you?” she asked.

  “Probably not.” Logan chuckled, he seemed in a better mood now that she had agreed to stay.

  “He’s right to be proud of the food he creates.” She glanced around the now empty restaurant. “In my world, he would be a top chef in an expensive restaurant. No wonder people come to the hotel for the food.”

  “He enjoys creating a good menu and then executing his plan to tantalize people’s tastebuds.” He piled the dirty plates on a table and then went to collect more.

  “Could he leave here? If he wanted to?” Penny had so many questions bursting inside of her head. As she’d listened to Rift talk over lunch, she’d begun to see the wonders of the world around them. A new world, an exciting world, but also a dangerous world. There were elements of Wishing Moon Bay and the surrounding area that were strange and unpredictable. Her need to keep Milo safe from those dangers had threatened to make her change her mind about living here. But she’d agreed to stay for a while, and she would stick to her promise. But after that, if Logan was her mate and she wanted to leave, would he come with her or would he let her go?

  “He could leave if he wanted to. Anyone can leave.” He came back with more dirty plates and added them to his stack, which was getting dangerously high. If he dropped them, there might be a shortage of plates for Ivan to place his precious food on. “But not many people do. Or, if they do, they don’t stay away for too long.”

  “And for a dragon shifter like Ivan, it must be tougher. I mean if you lived out there then you could shift and run where wild wolves run. But a dragon shifter does not have the same luxury.” She nodded and grabbed the empty wine glasses from another table. “Have you ever lived outside of the town?”

  “I live on the side of the mountain,” he reminded her.

  “You know that’s not what I mean.” Was Logan avoiding her question, was he embarrassed at never having left Wishing Moon Bay?

  “I lived out there before Valerie adopted me.” The plates clattered as he picked them up and carried them toward the kitchen.

  Penny darted ahead and opened the door for him. Standing back so that he didn’t trip over her feet, she waited patiently for him to continue. But as he entered the kitchen, he did not elaborate. Perhaps he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Ivan. There was a rivalry between the two men, that much was clear, and Logan might not want to show his vulnerable side in front of the dragon shifter.

  “We were busier than I expected.” Ivan put his pans away and dried his hands. “If we keep filling the restaurant, we might have to extend.”

  “That’s a decision for Valerie to make.” Logan set the stack of plates on the counter and Penny opened the dishwasher and began loading it up.

  “Where does she make the most money?” Penny asked.

  “The rooms,” Logan said.

  “The restaurant.” Ivan poured three cups of coffee and leaned back against the counter as he drank his. “If we ate into some more of the space on the ground floor or converted one of the bedrooms upstairs that look over the gardens, we would earn more money. Plus there would be fewer complaining guests.”

  “And less work for Valerie,” Logan mused.

  “Yes, at least with the restaurant, you close up and don’t have to worry about anyone needing something in the middle of the night. How many times does Valerie get woken up at night because someone has lost their key or because something is not working?”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been woken up,” Logan shut the dishwasher and pressed the buttons to start the wash cycle.

  “That’s because your face says do not disturb.” Ivan’s eyes twinkled as they met Penny’s.

  “Is this how you’ve always talked to each other?” she asked.

  “Isn’t this how all brothers talk to each other?” Ivan asked.

  “I don’t know, I only have a sister and we do not talk to each other like that.” A twinge of guilt about her earlier phone call with Helena left her uneasy. She had made plans to stay with her sister and perhaps she should have stuck to them.

  “We have a healthy relationship that revolves around us each trying to be better than the others,” Ivan stated.

  “A healthy relationship?” Logan asked. “And you guys are always trying to prove who is the best. I have no part in that.”

  Ivan sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “You’re right. You just want us to all get along.”

  “Which hardly ever happens,” Logan told her.

  “But you
obviously love each other. I like that.” She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. “Oh, wow, even your coffee is good.”

  “What can I say?” Ivan held his cup up.

  “So the two of you work at the hotel?” she asked. “But the others don’t?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Penny looked from one to the other. “I’m only willing to stay if I work.”

  Ivan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “The question is, what are you good at?”

  “Ivan,” Logan warned defensively.

  “No, it’s okay. Ivan is right, there’s no point in you asking me to do something I am not good at.” She covered her face with her hand. “I have no idea what I am good at.”

  “You’re a good mom,” Logan said supportively.

  “And some of our guests behave so immaturely they might need a babysitter,” Ivan added.

  “Okay, I can make beds, I can change sheets, I can clear the tables and I can do laundry as long as you show me how to work the washer. I can clean.” She shrugged. “Surely a hotel is just like keeping a house, only the guests pay instead of freeloading.”

  Ivan laughed out loud. “Oh, I like you, Penny.” He stood up straight, drained his coffee cup, and placed it in the sink. “I’m going to go for a run and get some fresh air before dinner. You two have fun, get to know each other, and figure out the shifts.”

  “See you later, Ivan,” Logan called after him.

  “See you later.” Penny drank the rest of the coffee and set the cup down. “Do you want to show me around while Rift is keeping Milo occupied?”

  “Sure.” Logan headed back toward the reception area. “This is where guests book in. Sophie works here on most days. Hey, Sophie.”

  “Hi, Logan.” Sophie smiled brightly and then went back to looking at her computer screen.

  “Sophie, this is Penny. I didn’t introduce you properly last night.” Logan moved closer to the desk.