Page 38 of Reject Him

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It takes Logan and Wayne an hour to reach their destination. It would have been faster if it was just Logan or they had shifted, but they hadn’t. Logan needed the extra time to think. Eme is upset with him, and he doesn’t want to find out how upset she would be with him for keeping the full secret from her.

Eme and her father are farther behind. Both had to get dressed for the hike as neither was wearing the appropriate clothes to do so.

Logan and Wayne are deep in the woods alongside the mountain. Each pine branch is covered in a fresh blanket of snow that shimmers under the sun. It’d be picturesque if it wasn’t for the footprints and paw prints marring the snow on the ground.

Logan, having been led by Wayne, puts his hands on his hips and breathes in the crisp air when they stop in front of the tracks. His coat rustles as he does so. “I can smell the trail, and it stops right here.” Though there may be paw prints, some of the prints are from his pack when they came to investigate the new scent. It had taken Logan a mere second to recognize the scent as not one of his own.

“It’s further in than the last time we picked up the scent.”

Logan nods. “I can see that. The question is –” He stops mid-sentence because he hears someone approaching.

A naked woman comes through the trees, having just shifted from her wolf form. Her hair is pulled neatly back into a ponytail, and her cheeks are rosy from the bitter, albeit slight, breeze. “Becca?”

“Hi, Logan,” she says, grinning brightly, then rubs at her arms.

“What are you doing here?” He looks at Wayne as if he has the answers. Wayne studies his boots, sucks on a tooth, and then he looks back at his alpha. Logan is immediately suspicious.

“I’m patrolling this area,” she says in a way that suggests that Logan should already know this.

“Patrolling?” He looks at Wayne again.

Wayne throws his hands in the air. “Draven let her try out as an enforcer.”

“An enforcer . . .” Becca is anything but an enforcer. She’d chip a nail and have a meltdown. There’s only one way Draven agreed to this: Becca had sweet-talked him, played at his strings, probably using the excuse of being lonely or bored. With Becca flirting, it wouldn’t have taken much to convince him.

At this moment, there’s nothing Logan can do about this new revelation, so he lets it slide . . . for now.

“Alright then,” Logan draws out. “Did you see anything last night?”

She shakes her head, the picture of pouting innocence. “Not a thing. Everything was normal when I ran by here, and when Draven came to run the area, he smelled the scent and called us all in.”

“So, whoever it was truly does know our schedule.” Logan blows through loose lips and a cloud of mist rises from his mouth. This is exactly what he needs. He tries to not let it anger him because the last thing he needs is to have Eme come and panic at his shift in mood.

“It’s a shame,” Becca says, though he gets the feeling that she doesn’t really care. Becca shouldn’t be here. She has no place among the enforcers.

Logan tries not to sigh. He’ll have to have a talk with Draven when this is over. She’s a liability, and though he doesn’t care much for her, he can’t have her getting hurt, or worse, getting someone else hurt.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Becca nearly hisses.

Logan raises an eyebrow at her rude tone. “My soon-to-be mate will be arriving shortly.”

Becca sniffs and looks away. “I’m surprised she’s not by your side. I would be if-”

“You aren’t.” There’s no way he’s going to allow someone to bad-mouth Eme behind her back. Eme deserves more than that. Eme deserves to defend herself. He won’t put up with the petty drama Becca is trying to bring. “And you need to get over it, Becca. I chose her, and you need to let it lie. Emeline will be my mate, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Seriously,” Wayne murmurs under his breath. He pins Becca with a glare until Becca huffs, throws up her hands, and mutters under her breath as she walks away.

Wayne watches her go. “She’ll never live it down, will she?”

“I wish she would. She makes Eme uncomfortable.”

Wayne turns a sly grin to Logan. “She is right though. Eme shouldn’t leave your side, at least, not until she adjusts as a new alpha. Besides, you’re supposed to be mated. Spending time together should be a given, but no. You wanted the time to brood about being caught in a lie.”

Logan tries to hide his smile. Wayne has always had the ability to see right through him. It’s the price of being friends for so long. “She told me she has feelings for me.”

“About damn time. And it’s all thanks to my advice.”