Page 67 of Logan’s Acadian Wolves

“When we mate, does that mean we are married?” It popped out of her mouth before she could take it back or at least ask in a more diplomatic way.

“You’re funny,” Logan laughed. He’d been worried about sharing his feelings and asking her to stay with him, and now she was asking if they were married, a very human thought.

“Hilarious, I’m sure. Seriously, if we mate does that mean we are…you are my…you know?” She playfully tapped her hand to his chest.

“No, sweetheart. Getting married, it’s a human thing. But mating,” he traced a finger down her cheek and across her lips, “it’s deeper…visceral.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s private, a ritual between you and me. Afterwards, we’d announce it to the pack. And only mated wolves can get pregnant, have pups,” he explained. “Now marriages, well, they come and go. I know it’s a commitment, but it’s a human tradition. Is that something you wanted, Wynter?”

She quieted at his question. Did she want to get married? After everything that had happened to her in her short life, she really never considered it. Sure, as a little girl she dressed up and played bride, but once she was an adult, it never seemed that she’d find someone she loved enough to commit to fully, let alone marry…until now.

“Well, I’m not sure of that,” she hedged. “I suppose I’ve never really loved anyone enough to consider it. When I tell you that there has been no one in my life like you, it’s true.”

“Hmm.” Logan couldn’t help but kiss her again. His ego did love to hear that.

“So I guess I’ll take a rain check on that question, Alpha,” she grinned.

“Tomorrow’s a big day.” Logan wanted to talk to her about her shift but it wasn’t until now that he’d felt she trusted him enough to broach the topic. “Full moon.”

“Do you really think I’m going to shift? I know I’m changing but without the blood work, how can I be sure?” Wynter tried to feign courage but it wasn’t working. She was scared to death about what would happen to her tomorrow night.

“Yeah, I do think you’re going to shift. I don’t know what they did to you sweetheart, but I meant it, I can sense your wolf.” Logan brushed her hair out of her eyes. “It’s part of the reason we needed to have that little lesson tonight. I needed to know where you stood. Would you be able to embrace your senses? Would you trust me without argument? Submit? Could you learn how your actions impact the pack? It’s important to know going into this.”

“All wolves submit to you?”

“Yeah, it’s how it has to be. We need order. With order, there’s peace. With peace, the pack is happy, healthy. Everyone can focus on livin’ their life and not fightin’.”

“Sexually? Like you did to me tonight? Will you take others? Because if you do, I don’t think I can…” Her words trailed off.

“Look at me,” he told her. Logan waited until their eyes met. “There is no one else for me but you…ever. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Relief flooded over her.

“Now that doesn’t mean other she-wolves won’t try to undermine you or test you. Don’t get me wrong, as a human, you’re tough. You survived two long months in that hellhole. That says a lot about a person’s will to survive. But even among the females, they fight for rank…to be alpha.”

Wynter didn’t even want to think about that. The thought of fighting just so she could establish herself within an animal ranking system disgusted her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Logan could tell by the pale look on Wynter’s face that he’d said too much. He should have known better than to think she could even conceive of such things happening to her. Logan was certain that his little she-wolf was indeed alpha. But that was something she’d have to learn on her own.

“It’s okay, I need to know,” she replied. Not really okay, but what the hell am I supposed to do about it? “Tell me about tomorrow. The shift.”

“You know all those senses we played with?”

“Uh huh.”

“You’ll feel them heightened as if everything is turned on to overdrive. At first, it’s hard to control, but you’ll learn quickly how to dial it up or down, depending on the situation. You’ve already been learning to control it whether you’ve been conscious of it or not. A human wouldn’t have scented D tonight. You did that, because you allowed your wolf to do it. She’s there.”

“It was incredible,” she recalled. “I still have no idea how I knew it was him.”

“You’ve spent time with him, right?”

“Yeah, but still, humans don’t do that kind of stuff.”

“And there you go. You’re wolf. She knows him.”

“He’s been kind to me,” Wynter admitted. “It’s strange. That first day, we kind of got off on the wrong foot, but then something changed. It sounds stupid to say this, but it’s like he knows what to say to help me when things aren’t going so well.”