Page 141 of Poet & Protector

“Are you sure?” Logan asked when I was close.

“Um…yeah.” I cocked my head, more perplexed than ever. “What’s going on, Logan?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” he replied. “More specifically, I’d like to know what was going on that made you leave school so late.”

The hairs on my arms stood up. Despite my sudden apprehension, I kept my voice neutral. “Like I told you, I forgot something and had to go back for it. I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”

He laughed. It was a cold, brittle sound, like a hammer striking a block of ice and breaking off shards sharp enough to draw blood.

“Really?” he said. “You’re sticking with that? Interesting.”

My stomach dropped. “Logan⁠—”

“I may not be a Guardian, but I still have a sense of smell, Mason,” he said. “You reek of sex. I know you were with Neville. I smelled him all over you when we were in the car.”

I stared at him in disbelief. Alarmed, but also angry. I absolutely did not reek of sex.

Like Logan said, he wasn’t a Guardian. I was much more sensitive to odors than he could ever be, and I’d cleaned up in the bathroom. There was maybe a hint of my encounter with Nev that lingered on my skin, but it was only his wolf scent, which a Keeper wouldn’t be able to detect. And neither Nev nor I wore any kind of cologne. Even when Logan got close to kiss me on the cheek, he shouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

“There’s no way you can smell that,” I snapped without thinking, furious about his intrusion on something so intimate.

“You’re right. I can’t.” A scythe of a smile curved along his mouth. “But thank you for confirming my suspicions.”

My pulse skittered. Oh no.

“You were late,” he said quietly. “So I went looking for you, and when I saw you, I didn’t understand why you were walking down a hall away from the exit. Then Neville suddenly appeared from within a supply closet in that same hallway. Isn’t that strange? What would he have been doing in a supply closet? Care to enlighten me, Mason?”

I didn’t reply, not wanting to believe I’d so carelessly missed the trap he set for me. I knew who Logan was. I should have seen it coming.

“No?” He taunted. “I assume you were in the bathroom washing away the evidence of your tryst while I went back to my car to wait.”

Oh my god. I was in so much trouble. I’d dug my own grave, and I didn’t know if there was a way to climb out.

Logan pushed off the wall and stalked toward me. “Did Nev feel the need to mark his territory, knowing you’d be with me tonight?”

I didn’t answer. That was pretty much exactly what happened and I’d wanted it as much as Nev had. I never should have let myself indulge in the impulse.

Fumbling for an excuse, I came up with nothing. “It’s not…I wasn’t…”

“I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t lift his leg on you,” Logan said in a mocking voice. “Or perhaps he did. That’s not my kink, but it could be his.”

I took a step back. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Logan, ever, but especially not when he was suddenly talking about kinks. He watched my retreat and smiled. His eyes moved over me in a speculative perusal.

“Do I need to prove a point?” He spoke softly; it felt like he was carving the question into my skin. “Should I send you back to him wet and lathered after riding you raw all night?”

“Logan.” His name tumbled from my mouth, hushed and horrified.

In the next heartbeat I crouched in front of him, a wolf with fangs bared, snarling. I hadn’t meant to shift, but the threat he emanated was so palpable, all my defensive instincts came roaring to life. The malevolent hunger in his gaze was like a living thing.

Logan only smiled, tilting his head slightly as he regarded me. “I had hoped not to do it this way, Mason.”

He didn’t take his eyes off me as he lifted his hand, fingers sketching a pattern in the air.

I saw what was happening and shifted back instantly. “No!”

I was too late.

When I tried to shrink from the flaming symbol that appeared, Logan grabbed my arm.