Page 56 of Logan’s Acadian Wolves

“So, wait, have you mated, have you bonded with Logan?” Nick practically shouted.

“No,” she shook her head and pulled her hair aside to show him. “Marked. As in he marked me. Apparently I have to wait until after I shift. So looking forward to shifting…not.”

“It’ll be okay, Wyn. The way your Alpha tore into me today, I have every confidence he’ll protect you. He’s an honorable wolf,” Jax assured her.

“You say that as if you like him. Just a while ago, you guys almost ripped each other’s heads off. It was a real love fest, Nick,” she noted with sarcasm.

“That’s what Alphas do. We jostle for territory, establish dominance. What you saw today, that was child’s play, nothing more.”

She rolled her eyes. Men. Wolves. “Well, Logan was good and pissed at me when I left. Some mate I am.”

“Yeah, I bet that went over well. Jesus, Jax. What were you thinking taking her away from him?”

“I’m a selfish prick, okay? What do you expect? I haven’t seen her for months. Besides, she’ll go back after lunch.”

“I’m the one who decided, Jax. He’s my mate.” She nearly choked on the word, tears threatened. The longer she was away, the worse she felt. A change of subject was in order. “Tell me about Emma. How’s Mika?”

“Mika’s good, really good,” Nick winked.

“No way!” Wynter exclaimed, slapping his arm.

“Way,” Jax replied. “Bad wolf, Nick.”

“No, Alpha, I’m a very good wolf. Why do you think she likes me so much?” Nick teased.

Wynter couldn’t believe her friend had hooked up with Jax’s beta. How could she have missed that one? She fought the urge to call Mika right then and there. God, how she missed her.

“As for little Emma, well, she’s hanging in there,” Nick commented. “Good days, bad days. I don’t know, Wyn. She’s about the same. But damn, I wish we knew what was wrong.”

“I’m close. Although I haven’t done anything since I escaped the lab. But we’ve got a laptop. They got it before the car exploded.” She tried not to react to Nick’s pained expression as she mentioned what had happened. “Jax can fill you in on what all happened…fun times. Anyway, that laptop could have my data on it. Or not. We’ll see. The vamps scrubbed it but Dimitri’s going to try to recover it. I would have asked this morning how he was making out with it but well, you know…with all the yelling and whatnot, that didn’t happen.”

“A cure?” Nick posed the question.

“No. ’Fraid not. But it’d give her quality of life. She could lead a normal life again with medication,” Wynter speculated. It wasn’t a panacea but it would be a far cry from spending her days bedridden.

“Logan told me he’s taking you out of the city. Said he’s setting up a lab at his house,” Jax mentioned.

Wynter stilled. Seemed her sneaky mate was always two steps ahead of her. No wonder the man was Alpha, she thought. “A lab, really, he said that?”

“Yes, he’s very committed to helping you, us. Of course, he doesn’t want whoever is doing this to proliferate a virus. But he mentioned Emma. He wants to help her…for you.” Jax smiled. “It didn’t make sense why he was going to such a great extent to help us when I first spoke to him. But that was before I knew you were his. And just like that, all the pieces came together.”

Wynter’s face flushed like a schoolgirl, thinking of Logan. She really could fall in love with him. No matter what had happened this morning, they’d work through it.

“Ah, love is a wonderful thing,” Nick declared with a broad smile.

As if caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Wynter looked down and shoved the wrap into her mouth.

“Wyn, in all seriousness, if you aren’t in agreement with this mating, you don’t have to stay here. I mean, I’d have to be an idiot not to feel the chemistry between you and Logan. But if you’re having second thoughts, you, as a wolf, aren’t required to mate with him. This isn’t the dark ages,” Jax explained.

“What?” Wynter looked up and found both of them staring at her.

“Do you love him, Princess?”

“Maybe,” Wynter blurted out before she had a chance to take it back. She decided to backpedal but as she considered how she felt, it was hard to deny her feelings. “I mean I think I could fall in love with him. He’s just so caring and loving and larger than life. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know how this happened.”

Nick and Jax both laughed.

“What?”