by Parker Skye
“What do you mean? What did you guys talk about?” Logan asked. His noticed a small hole in the knee of his jeans and picked at the frayed fibers distractedly.
“Well, we explained how much being a wolf meant to you and how unlikely it was that you’d be willing to give up your idea of a true family to mate with him. I mean, that is accurate, isn’t it? You would never agree to take a tiger as a mate, right? Especially a male tiger,” Izzy continued. Each segment to his overall question felt like another nail in Logan’s coffin.
Logan took a deep breath ready to agree wholeheartedly but blew it out harshly before uttering a word. He started mindlessly rocking the recliner back and forth, continuing to pick at the hole in his jeans with two fingers. He could feel Izzy and Ryan’s questioning looks aimed first at him, then at each other.
“Well, I think you have some thinking to do then, Logan. If Jude really is your sufletul pereche, you can’t just pretend he’s not. It won’t work. I’m speaking from experience here, Logan. No matter how much you fight it, eventually fate wins,” Izzy said.
“You sound like you’re have regrets, Mate,” Ryan said faintly as if afraid of the answer. Logan looked up in time to see Izzy blush bright red again.
“Oh, Ryan, baby. Don’t ever think that. I fought against the bond for your sake, not because I didn’t want you. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be anything but a burden to you,” Izzy crooned, taking Ryan’s face in both hands and covering his mouth with kisses. Ryan’s wide smile was admission enough without his verbal confirmation.
“I know, babe. I just wanted to make you kiss me in public and vow your unending love for me again.” Izzy’s eyes narrowed scarily. Ryan jumped from the couch and ran, laughing down the hallway to their room. Still looking irritated, Izzy glanced back to Logan and added one final piece of advice.
“Listen to what I said, Logan. You’ve got some thinking to do, but you need to make a decision and stop hurting you both,” Izzy said. “Now, excuse me, but I’ve got some punishment to dole out for my own mate. You might want to pull out the earplugs tonight.”
Logan flinched as his mind ran wild imagining what Ryan had in store for him. Izzy might be the smallest of them all, but he was a firecracker. He wondered not for the first time if the little wolf had really been red-haired once upon a time.
The bed was strangely too big without Jude’s overwhelming presence. Logan tossed and turned all night, instantly alert at every creak and pop of the older ranch style as it settled in the humid evening air. At three-eleven in the morning according to his phone, Logan heard the front door creak open. He faintly picked up Jude’s scent as it wafted through the recycled air. Logan forced himself not to sigh in relief and steeled himself for another argument instead.
After several long moments of anxious waiting, it was obvious that Jude had no intention of coming to bed. Logan rolled over onto his other side, refusing to go looking for the other shifter. It was his bed, after all. He was glad the tiger had finally gotten the message, Logan lied to himself. The birds were chirping with approaching dawn before Logan’s crusty, burning eyes finally closed for real.
Chapter 14
Jude
As much as it almost killed him to stay apart from his mate, Jude couldn’t take anymore of Logan’s hateful looks that night. Even his tiger had had enough, running itself ragged before dragging down a deer and practically ripping it to shreds in its feral anger. Jude had felt sorry for the poor animal as he forced himself to consume more than he needed in retribution, almost making himself sick. He hadn’t even been hungry, having just consumed a large meal in his human form, but the need to kill something had been overwhelming and he’d finally given in. He knew the remainder of the deer’s carcass would feed several woodland scavengers for days, so the animal’s life wasn’t wasted. Regardless, Jude still regretted his actions. Killing for survival or even for sport was one thing, but killing in anger was too close to losing himself to the darkness that always lurked just a few steps away for most tigers.
He’d finally forced himself to return to human form. By the time he’d dragged himself back to Logan’s home, he was both physically and mentally exhausted. Jude briefly glanced down at his naked form, regretting his uncontrolled shift after the painful after-dinner conversation heaped on him by Logan’s pack. He only regretted shifting so frantically because he’d shredded another outfit he’d borrowed from Logan’s closet. Logan had already had enough of his things ruined by Jude already.
Jude fell onto the couch, pulling the small patchwork quilt on top of himself in an attempt to hide his nakedness. Jude honestly didn’t care who saw him naked, as long as it wasn’t Logan. He knew that would only make his mate more uncomfortable. Jude tucked the quilt tight around his hips and forced himself to sleep.
Jude jumped like he’d heard a gunshot when the front door clicked shut the next morning. He flailed around haphazardly as he searched for the threat, but quickly settled when he realized it was just Logan’s pack leaving for the day. Jude’s nose signaled the presence of Izzy’s breakfast gift. The plate of homemade biscuits and bacon had been left on the coffee table covered in foil. He must have truly been exhausted to help slept through Izzy’s time in the kitchen.
Jude’s mouth watered as he bit into the flaky bit of heaven. Jude once again almost wished it had been Izzy he’d been fated to, after all. Not only was he apparently the nicest of them all, the little wolf could really cook.
It was beneath a tiger to lick a plate clean, so Jude licked one fingertip to pick up the remaining crumbs instead. He was sucking the last delicious morsels from his middle finger when Logan finally shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing his hand through his disheveled black locks. Logan’s yawn was so wide, his jaw popped loudly, causing Jude to flinch in sympathy. Instead of speaking, Jude adjusted the quilt around his hips, making sure nothing of importance was on display and settled back to watch his mate putter around the kitchen.
Obviously, Logan was going to pretend Jude wasn’t there this morning. Jude was torn between being thankful at the lack of interaction and pissed at being ignored. Before he could decide his true feelings on the matter, Logan was approaching with two steaming mugs of coffee in hand. He held out the extra and Jude stared at the offering in shock. Several seconds passed before Logan sighed.
“Okay. I guess I should have asked if you wanted any before I made another cup,” Logan said and started to set the extra mug down on the coffee table. Jude was quick to reach for it and take a large sip before Logan’s olive branch could get away. Jude’s tongue burned from the too-hot beverage, but he’d never let Logan know it was anything less than perfect. Jude watched as Logan suspiciously sipped his own coffee and took a seat in the recliner.
“Sleep okay?” Logan asked. Jude was pleased at the hint of sarcasm in his mate’s tone. He hoped it meant Jude wasn’t the only one who’d suffered from their night apart.
“Not really. You?” Jude asked. He could already tell his mate had slept terribly, if at all. The bags under Logan’s eyes were big enough to hold a week’s worth of clothes. Instead of answering, Logan snorted and took another sip of coffee.
“The pack and I are going home tomorrow for the weekend. Izzy’s due for a checkup,” Logan said. Jude’s head was almost spinning from the abrupt change of topic. Jude waited, expecting Logan had more to say on the matter. Instead, Logan sat silently and fiddled with a hole in his jeans.
“Is that your way of telling me you’ll be gone or was it an invitation to go with you?” Jude finally asked. Logan looked up and met Jude’s gaze directly. He stayed silent for several moments and then sighed loudly.
“Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t know what to do here, Jude.” Logan admitted.
Logan stood and rinsed his empty mug in the kitchen sink. Jude wanted to follow, but wasn’t willing to risk ending the conversation on another sour note. He knew if he was close to his mate and still naked, instincts would kick in again and Logan’s def
ensiveness would only be more justified.
“I think you should go with us,” Logan said, still leaning over the sink, his back to the living room. “I’d at least like to get my alpha’s opinion on the situation. He’ll want to meet you, at least.” Jude forced himself not to pump his fist in the air in victory, but his excitement must have still been evident on his face. Logan turned and scowled in his direction.
“This means nothing yet, Jude, so knock off the fucking gloating. Geez, who did I piss off in a past life?!” Logan grumbled as he walked away. Logan’s bedroom door slammed closed and Jude finally let his huge smile slip free.
Several hours later, Jude had decided he didn’t mind naked daytime television watching as much as he thought he would. He’d managed to find some cop show that seemed to be running nonstop all morning. The way human’s preyed upon one another sometimes made Jude’s skin crawl, but it was also strangely fascinating. He found it especially intriguing how often a person’s mate seemed to be the culprit when murder was involved. Jude wondered if the murder rate would go down in the human population if there was such a thing as true mates for them, as well.
“No, probably not. Look at how well Logan and I get along,” Jude murmured to himself and couldn’t stop from laughing at the sour thought. Logan picked that perfect moment to enter the room.
“What the fuck are you laughing at? Isn’t that Forensic Files?” Logan asked, obviously disgusted at Jude’s apparent sense of humor.
“No, wait!” Jude said, jumping up to catch his mate before he could storm off again. “Honestly, I wasn’t laughing at the show. I’m not some sicko.”
Before he knew it, Jude had Logan pinned against the front door. He closed his eyes and cursed himself for physically restraining his mate again without thinking. The obvious breeze reminded Jude he was still stark naked, too, which he was sure didn’t help matters at all. When he forced his eyes open again, the look on Logan’s face was more assessing than furious. Jude hoped that meant they were at least starting to get on the same page.
“Um, Jude,” Logan asked, his eyes locked on Jude’s lower anatomy.
“Yes, Logan?”
“Could you back off maybe?” Surprisingly, Logan wasn’t yelling. Instead, his tone of voice suggested he was trying to keep the situation from exploding exponentially.
“Well shit,” Jude thought to himself as he felt his cock waking up. It had apparently taken notice of its mate standing nearby with one less layer of clothes between them. Jude instinctively inhaled a calming breath and tried to step back. Unfortunately, the scent of Logan assaulted his fragile control as his tiger sat up and roared. Jude looked into Logan’s icy blue eyes and saw unexpected turmoil there. Jude knew, however, he would never allow himself to move forward until he was certain of his mate’s acceptance.
“I am not just an animal. I can control myself,” Jude said as he stepped back, widening the distance between them.
“And for that, I’m thankful,” Logan replied. “Now go put some clothes on before something happens we’ll both regret.” Jude dropped his head and turned, heading off to Logan’s room to dress. “And get some shoes, too. We need to go shopping for clothes that actually fit if you’re going to meet my alpha.”
Jude hid his answering smile even as his tiger paced and cursed him for letting his mate escape again. His more primal half just didn’t understand the delicacy of this most important hunt.
Chapter 15
Logan
The trip to Florida seemed to take exponentially longer than Logan remembered. He’d stupidly let Ryan drive so the other wolf could be closer to his mate. Ben had been swayed by Izzy’s newly developed carsickness and relinquished his usual claim on ‘shotgun’. Ben didn’t seem put out by this in the least, though as he and Adam snagged the middle row. This left the last (and most cramped) row for Logan and Jude to share. Logan tried to stretch out the nagging cramp developing in his right thigh once again and groaned aloud.
“How the fuck did the two tallest guys end up getting the last row?” Logan growled to no one in particular. He smacked the back of his brother’s head hard at Ben’s answering chuckle.
“Just take Jude up on his offer,” Adam said, immediately breaking down into body-shaking laughter. Jude snorted at Logan’s responding growl.
“You know they are just trying to provoke you, right?” Jude asked. Logan scowled in response and started to climb the back of the middle seat. Ben and Adam both reared up to push him back, continuing to laugh at Logan’s efforts to claim their space in the vehicle.
“Would you children knock it off?!” Ryan yelled. “I’m trying not to kill us here.” Izzy was staring back from the passenger seat watching their antics. There was more than a hint of panic in the little wolf’s pale expression and Logan froze.
Logan knew this stretch of interstate 75 was terrible from personal experience. He highly doubted Ryan was faking his concern over being unnecessarily distracted. Logan instantly took his seat again. Ben and Adam sheepishly turned back around like children reprimanded by a school bus driver. As if nothing had happened, the pair went back to cuddling, watching something together on Adam’s phone. Logan watched the easy way they found comfort together and felt an unwelcome pang of envy.
Logan’s eyes found Jude as if they had a mind of their own. Jude sat, chin casually propped on one hand as he looked out the window. Logan considered again Jude’s offer of a lap for Logan to prop his feet on. As his thigh tried to cramp again, Logan gave in and swung his feet into position. Jude’s head comically shot up at the sudden weight across his thighs. His mismatched eyes met Logan’s and Logan shrugged. Now that his legs were stretched fully sideways on the bench, he could finally get comfortable. Logan curled his arm under his head across the back of the bench seat and pretended to go to sleep. He might be willing to put his feet in Jude’s lap, but he wasn’t going to tolerate Jude staring at him with googly eyes for the remainder of the trip. He still had his pride to maintain, after all.
When they stopped for gas, Ryan actually asked Logan to take the wheel for the remainder of their trip. The interstate traffic had been harrowing enough that Ryan felt his brain was too frazzled to continue the trip safely. Ryan shoved himself into the middle row so he could at least stay within reach of his mate. Adam and Ben were practically sharing a seat anyway, so they didn’t complain at having to cuddle a little more.
Jude, however, was obviously not happy. Logan could tell he was forcing a blank expression on his face, but Logan was gaining an ability to read the other shifter too well. Jude was close to furious at being relegated to the last row alone. Logan knew it wasn’t the fact that he had no one to share the seat, but that Logan was as far away from him as he could possibly get that bothered Jude the most. Logan continued to glance back at the other shifter in the rear view mirror periodically to see how long it would be before Jude finally broke and said something.
Instead, Logan watched the play of emotions on the other man’s face as he seemed to be arguing with himself. He wished he could read lips as Jude actually appeared to be holding debate with himself silently. A particularly bad stretch of traffic had Logan distracted for several minutes. The next time he looked back, Jude had leaned his head against the back window and gone to sleep. Logan briefly wondered which of his halves had won the argument and steeled himself for a possible continuation of the debate when they were next alone. If Logan had anything to say in the matter, that discussion wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. He’d soon be back on home turf and he knew all the best places to hide, if needed.
Izzy’s sigh of relief as they pulled through the first set of gates had more than one of member of their group agreeing wholeheartedly.
“Amen to that,” Ryan said, squeezing his mate’s shoulder in comfort. “This trip has truly sucked. Wonder why the traffic was so bad this time.”
“The snowbirds are moving south for the winter,” Logan guessed. He put the SUV into park near the second gate and
they all slowly pulled themselves free of the vehicle. Logan raised his arms overhead in a stretch. His spine popped audibly and he felt his back muscles loosen in response. Jude was just extricating himself from the back when the rest of the group passed them on their way to the checkpoint. Logan let the rest of his small pack go on ahead, not wanting to drag them into any more drama where Jude was concerned if he could avoid it.
“You okay?” Logan asked. Jude nodded as he finally pulled his tall body free and stretched, as well. Jude’s shirt rose with the motion, exposing a strip of golden skin studded with coarse reddish blond hairs. Logan’s eyes focused on the strip of skin briefly and quickly dragged them away, cursing himself for the lapse. Logan knew anything that even hinted of interest on his part would only hurt the tiger more in the end. He shook off the momentary confusion he felt from his wolf and shouldered his duffle bag, heading for the gate.
“You coming?” Logan asked over his shoulder. Jude shouldered his own bag, which was stuffed full of the clothes Logan had supplied and followed. The rest of their group had already made it through the gates and headed off on their own errands when Logan finally arrived, Jude in tow. Logan’s pack mate, Kieran, leaned on both elbows looking down from the top of the wall, a huge grin on his freckled pale face. His red hair stood up in disarray just as Logan remembered.
