by Parker Skye
“Well, then go to school with us then. Get some experience doing something else. You know the alpha wouldn’t mind. He told us all to enroll if we wanted to. Don’t try to say you didn’t hear the same thing we did. He agreed that the more education we all have, the better support we can offer the pack later on,” Adam argued. Logan exhaled slowly and took another bite of his meal, keeping his eyes trained on his plate.
“I know. I’m honestly thinking about it. You guys don’t need to worry so much. I’d already decided tonight that I have to do something else. I just need to figure out what that something else is going to be.” Fur brushed against his ankles and Logan looked towards the floor to see Judas curling around his feet.
“Maybe you could be a lion tamer,” Adam said on a laugh. “You seem to have a knack for taming those of the feline persuasion.” Adam instantly stopped laughing as Judas shot him an evil glare and hissed. Adam apparently valued the integrity of his precious skin too much to continue poking Logan about his odd relationship with the cat. Logan hesitated only momentarily before scratching Judas between his shoulder blades. When Logan wasn’t instantly bleeding, Adam continued, “See. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Logan continued to scratch the cat’s spine and the beast began to purr. Logan could feel the rest of the pack watching their interaction in confusion.
“They just don’t understand you, do they, Judas?” Logan said to the cat. When several huffs of disbelief sounded, Logan shot his pack the middle finger, refusing to look up from the cat’s blissed-out face. His pack shuffled off to their rooms, grumbling about his ‘sick relationship’ with the cat all along the way.
Chapter 9
Logan gave his two weeks’ notice Monday morning, which his foreman was less than pleased about. He was so irritated in fact, he sent Logan packing, telling him not to bother hanging around since he was so easily replaced. The rejection stung, but Logan was secretly thrilled that he could go home and climb back into bed. He knew he’d given that job his all and no one outside of another shifter could have matched his production. His foreman was just a jerk which was another reason Logan was happy to see the jobsite fading away in his rearview mirror. Thirty minutes after leaving for work, Logan was back home walking into an empty house.
“Honey, I’m home!” Logan called out to no one. He was stripping off his clothes as he walked down the hall, intent on falling back into bed naked. It was a beautiful day outside and Logan wasn’t going to see any of it if he had his way. When Logan pushed the door to his room open, Judas looked up guiltily from his perch on Logan’s pillow. . That explained why his eyes were crusty every morning now when Logan first woke up.
“Just great. Move your ass, Judas. I’m tired,” Logan grumbled. Surprisingly, the cat sprang up and relocated to his usual spot in the middle of the bed without even a hint of complaint. Logan picked up his pillow and thumped it a few times to dislodge any stray hairs. Turning it over for good measure, Logan collapsed. He felt the thrum of Judas’ purr through the mattress and took more than a little comfort in the cat’s joy to see him again.
“I love you, too. Now go to sleep. I’m tired,” Logan mumbled his eyes still tightly closed. The purring stopped and Logan drifted off dreaming of their last hunt.
Logan eyes blearily opened while his brain tried to determine what finally stirred his consciousness enough to wake. He blinked repeatedly, shocked at how different the light in his room had become. He wasn’t kidding when he decided to sleep the day away, he realized. Logan was still in the same position he’d started in, curled around his pillow on his side. Judas’ purring started up again, this time vibrating through Logan’s muscular back in a much more forceful way. Logan quickly realized it wasn’t just the purring that was odd.
Logan was burning up. Damn, he never remembered the cat making him this hot before even when Judas was pressed right into the small of his back. Logan tried to roll away from the heat, but something was restraining him around the waist. Logan’s eyes flew wide when he realized he couldn’t move. He frantically flailed to free himself from his bindings and unknown limbs instantly wrapped tighter around him.
“Geez, Logan. Chill out, will you? I’m trying to sleep here,” a deep baritone spoke sleepily from just behind Logan’s ear. If that was meant to calm him, it failed. Logan started to fully freak the fuck out. As he continued to try to fight his way free, a heavy purr sounded from his captor’s chest. Logan flinched when a faintly raspy tongue painted its way up the side of Logan’s neck.
“Okay, if you won’t go back to sleep, I guess we can fuck instead. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever to taste you,” the voice said. Logan froze as the alarming words sank in. Logan gave up any hope of maintaining his pride and started calling out to his pack for help. When no one came, the other man chuckled in his ear.
“They’re all gone, Logan. It’s just you and me. Finally, I get you all to myself,” the man said and the purring intensified. The sound was strangely familiar and Logan froze, trying to place it. He shook his head slightly, refusing to believe the crazy direction his brain was taking him. Logan forced himself to stop fighting, realizing he was simply wearing himself out and getting nowhere closer to fully understanding his situation.
“Who are you? And what are you doing in my bed?” Logan questioned, dreading the other man’s answer.
“Aw, I’m hurt, Logan. You don’t recognize me?” the man said. The purring intensified as if the man was trying to jog Logan’s memory. Logan’s wolf nudged his human consciousness with annoyingly fond acceptance.
“Judas?” Logan asked faintly. The hand on Logan’s waist squeezed his hip gently right before it shifted to a giant orange and black striped paw. Each stubby digit was tipped with lethally sharp black claws. Logan felt his abdomen tense as it tried to pull itself away from this new threat.
Finally free to move, Logan rolled onto his back and gasped in surprise. Gone was the ugly housecat. In its place was a stunningly beautiful tiger that easily outweighed even Logan’s larger-than-normal wolf. Logan wouldn’t have recognized Judas at all, except the tiger had the same mismatched eyes -- one green and one blue. The tiger blinked and leaned forward to butt his head up against Logan’s shoulder, just as Logan remembered the cat doing so many times before. But this is not a cat.
Logan pushed the giant head away and leapt from the bed. Logan stood just inside the bedroom door, trying to work his brain around this unbelievable revelation. The tiger simply stayed sprawled out across the middle of the bed as if he owned it. It blinked its mismatched eyes in Logan’s direction and yawned. When the tiger’s sharp teeth sparkled in the dim light, Logan felt a shiver of unease.
Logan wondered why his wolf hadn’t come forth at the first sign of danger. There was a fucking tiger in his bed, for Pete’s sake. Logan couldn’t think of anything more dangerous at the moment, yet his wolf sat just under the surface practically vibrating with pleasure. Logan looked at the door and briefly thought about running. Before he could move another inch, the tiger spoke again.
“Logan, don’t go. It’s okay. My tiger isn’t going to hurt you.” Logan looked back to find the naked man back in his bed. Logan admitted he was still discomfited by the tiger’s human form. Miles of golden skin were on display and Logan felt something peculiar swirl in the pit of his stomach. The tiger’s familiar yet foreign eyes stared back at him and Logan’s heart started to pound.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Mate. I just wanted to let you see my tiger’s form so you would know that I am worthy,” the other man offered in a voice thick with obvious desire. Logan stared, eyes as wide as saucers as he absorbed the other shifter’s crazy words.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Judas? You can’t be my mate. You’re not even my species,” Logan said as he slowly backed toward the door shaking his head. Logan felt his upper lip curving in a sneer of disgust. Judas sighed and ran his huge hands through his thick strawberry blond waves as he sat up. Logan could
feel the other man's gaze as it painted him up and down like a caress.
“Wolves can be so rigid sometimes. I am your mate, Logan, whether you choose to accept it yet or not. And my name is Jude, not Judas. Jude Hawking. That prick Kai thought the play on my name was funny, so he butchered it for his own pleasure. Frankly, I’m sick of it. I’d appreciate it if you could call me by my proper name,” Jude said.
Jude climbed out of bed and dug through Logan’s dresser, pulling out a pair of Logan’s basketball shorts and shimmying into them. Logan stood just inside the doorway staring as the other man moved around the room, making the bed. Apparently satisfied, Jude slid past and nosed up the side of Logan’s neck, inhaling deeply.
“You better put on some clothes before I lose control and claim you, Mate. I know you aren’t ready for that yet,” Jude said. Logan felt the flame of a full-on blush flood his face as he looked down, just now realizing he was still stark naked after his nap. Jude smirked and stepped back, apparently comfortable in giving Logan some much needed space.
“I’ll see you in the kitchen,” Jude said as he walked away. Logan exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and told his heart to stop trying to race away. With legs like Jell-O, Logan sat down on the end of the bed and wondered what the hell had just happened.
Logan was fully dressed when he finally talked himself into leaving the pretend safety of his bedroom. Jude looked up from his place at the kitchen table and Logan froze, uncomfortable again with the way Jude watched him like he was getting ready to pounce. Finally, Jude broke eye contact and got up to make Logan a cup of coffee.
“You take it black, right?” Jude asked, holding the steaming mug at arm’s length. Logan nodded and took the offering. He sat all the way at the other end of the table, but Jude ignored Logan’s bid for separation, instead moving his own mug and claiming the seat directly across. Logan held his mug between two hands like some sort of protective barrier between them. Jude chuckled and Logan was forced to drop his feeble attempt.
“What’s the matter, Logan? Cat got your tongue?” Jude finally asked sardonically. Logan felt his usual temper rising to the surface as he pushed forcibly back from the table, one of the chair’s legs squealing across the laminate floor.
“What the fuck is going on, Jude? I mean, is this some sick joke to you? Pretending to be a cat this whole time? Fucking watching me? Sleeping with me?” Logan was pacing the kitchen, running his hands repeatedly through his thick black hair and pulling on the strands. “And then popping out all naked and shit and claiming I’m your mate?! How more fucked up can you get?” Logan found his back pushed up against the thrumming refrigerator as Jude stared down into his wide icy-blue eyes.
“I would never joke about finding my mate, Logan. You should know that being a shifter yourself. Yes, I’ll admit it’s unexpected, but you are my mate and you will come to accept it no matter how hard you are fighting it now,” Jude’s deep baritone growled. Jude’s hands pressed against the wall, caging Logan’s head.
“I’m sorry for how we met originally, but I had no choice in my original appearance. I don’t know why that warlock chose to do this to me, but I was under Kai’s spell. I probably would have stayed that way forever if you hadn’t admitted you loved me. So don’t deny our connection too hard. It was your love after all that freed me from that hateful form,” Jude explained.
“I said I loved a cat. An ugly, mangy, terrible cat. Not this. Not you,” Logan whispered. He saw the flash of pain in Jude’s mismatched eyes just before the other man closed them and stepped back, releasing his hold on Logan’s hips.
“I get that. I really do. I understand this is a shock and I’m willing to give you time to find your way back to me, Logan. What kind of mate would I be if I forced something on you that you weren’t ready for, after all?” Jude said as he widened the distance between them. Logan stayed where he was, his back still pressed to the refrigerator, and watched as Jude headed for the front door. He had the strange urge to tell the man he couldn’t go outside as he had told the cat a million times before.
“I’ll be back later. I’m going to go out for a bit and burn off some energy. I can’t stay here right now. It wouldn’t be safe for you,” Jude said meaningfully and opened the door. Before he stepped out, he turned back and faced Logan again.
“Please be here when I get back. I don’t know what my tiger would do if he thinks his mate ran away from him. I promise I won’t do anything you’re not ready for, but please don’t run, Logan,” Jude said plaintively.
“What if I’m never ready?” Logan asked before he’d even planned to speak. Pain flashed again through Jude’s expressive eyes and he exhaled dejectedly.
“Then I’ll be the perfect mate and watch you from afar, protecting you with my life,” Jude said and shut the door behind him.
Chapter 10
Jude
Jude ran until he felt his heart was going to burst. Finally reaching his limit, he dropped down on a park bench, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He watched several humans as they jogged past, many eyeing him with obvious concern. He smirked at the thought that any of them would think he was weak enough to need their help. A particularly stunning red-headed female made her way toward him, jogging in place as she stood near.
“Are you okay? Should I call someone for you?” the redhead asked, breasts bouncing up and down as she continued to move. Jude almost laughed aloud at how little reaction he felt to her prancing display. He knew before he’d met Logan he would have been all over that obvious invitation. He sighed, accepting it would never be that way again.
“No, but thanks. Really, I’m fine. Just overdid it a little,” Jude replied, forcing himself to smile with teeth. He always found that made the humans just uncomfortable enough to keep their distance, as if their subconscious picked up on the danger he truly represented. True to form, the redhead smiled half-heartedly and jogged away. He would have watched her tight ass until it was out of sight, but really, what was the point anymore? He had a mate now. A mate who rejected him, but still a mate.
Jude sat back on the bench, letting his head drop back between his shoulder blades and closed his eyes. The humid air did little to soothe his frayed nerves as he thought back over his failed interaction with Logan this morning. He ran through several scenarios trying to find a way to make Logan accept their mating, but came to the same conclusion every time. Unless Logan felt he was in the lead, it would never happen. Jude had watched his mate long enough to know that Logan’s alpha instincts were too strong. Unfortunately, so were Jude’s and unless one of them was willing to give, this relationship was never going to work.
It was a frustrated Jude that finally left the park when dusk started falling. He jogged toward the house he had come to think of as home, hoping his mate would be waiting for him as requested. Jude tried the knob and growled when he found it locked. He was tempted to break the door down, but he calmed himself before he let foolish pride get the better of him. Jude took a deep breath and knocked. He stepped down a level to keep himself from losing patience and storming inside. Finally, after what felt like eons, a familiar scent approached and the door cracked open slightly.
“Hello, Izzy. Can you let me in please?” Jude calmly requested. He crossed his arms over his chest and forced himself to portray the epitome of calm. Jude could feel Izzy’s eyes as they roamed up and down his human form, cataloguing every feature from his reddish-blond hair, square jaw, and mismatched eyes down to his wide shoulders and size fourteen feet. He’d been lucky Logan shared the same foot genetics. Jogging barefoot would surely have attracted more unwanted attention.
“Are you really Judas?” Izzy faintly asked through the crack in the door. “You don’t look like a cat.”
“That’s because I’m a tiger. And it’s Jude, not Judas. Now let me in, Izzy, before I lose my patience. I don’t want to hurt you, but I need to see Logan.” Izzy stepped back instantly, letting the door swing wide.
He obviously accepted Jude’s tenuous grip on his control.
“Thank you, Izzy. I’m sorry if I frightened you,” Jude said as he stepped inside. He forced himself to modulate his deep baritone, even though his nerves were frayed. He knew his voice could be threatening enough without speaking at elevated volumes. Izzy shut the front door and shoved his hands in his pocket. The little shifter rocked back and forth on his bare feet, failing to hide his own nervous energy.
“It’s okay. Ryan gets like that sometimes if we’re separated too long. I get it,” Izzy admitted, flushing as he did so. “Logan’s in his room, I think. He didn’t want any dinner tonight. Maybe you can convince him to eat something? I don’t think he’s eaten all day.”
“I’ll try. He’s had a hard day, I think,” Jude admitted. Izzy patted his hand on Jude’s shoulder in an apparent attempt at comfort. Jude honestly appreciated the sweet gesture from the little wolf.
“I suspect he’s not the only one. Good luck in there,” Izzy said. Jude nodded in agreement and headed for the room he considered his as much as Logan’s. Before Jude made it two feet into the hall, Logan’s brother was racing to block his way.
