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ChapterTwenty-Two
Logan
“Bjorn told you to stay here and make sure the humans were safe.”
Marissa rolled her eyes. “He’s big and growly, but he’s not the boss of me.”
“He might know something you don’t.”
She narrowed her gaze, not liking that at all. But I said what I said. He was a bear, and he had the same shifter sense that had every animal ripping off their clothes and shifting on their way out the door. “Just because I’m human doesn’t mean I’m totally useless. You all think Cindy needs help.”
“You can help by making sure nothing happens to the offices. It’s no small responsibility. If someone has drawn us all away so they can break in and steal the footage, the show is over. Your job is gone.”
She steeled herself. “Fine. I’ll stay. But what are you going to do? You can’t shift, Logan. I know you want to be there for Cindy, but what if you get caught in a fight?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” I scanned the room. All that was in here was camera equipment and lights. “I need the keys to the van.”
“Logan. You should stay here.” She scraped her teeth over her bottom lip. “What if they do come? None of us have ever been in a wolf fight before. You have. Even if you can’t shift—”
She jumped back when I growled at her.
“Okay. I get it. She’s your mate. Nothing will keep you away.” She left the room and returned with a key fob. “Just vouch you’ll have my back if Bibi gets pissed at me for letting you go.”
“Bibi knows nothing will stop me from claiming my mate.”
Marissa had a strong argument, but she was in the middle of downtown Sunset Springs. And she was far from helpless.
“Make sure you have everyone together. Stay in the surveillance room and watch those screens like your life depends on it. Have someone keep an eye on the online feeds. Someone might be in there shooting off their mouth, but whatever you do, don’t confirm or deny anything. If you need me for anything, call me.”
“I won’t have to. I’ll give those instructions to my assistant. I’m coming with you.” She shrugged into her jacket. “Don’t try to argue with me, wolf. I can’t sit here watching TV while the people I spend twenty-four-seven with might be in danger.”
I admired her single-mindedness. “You could make things harder for us.”
She shook her head. “I have a feeling you’ll be glad I came.”
Before I had a chance to argue, she snatched the keys away from me and headed toward the door. It was probably best that she did come. My animal was in a weird place—still close to the surface and a million miles away at the same time. And there was no telling what would happen if we found Cindy in danger.
“Let’s take the van. I have a feeling we’ll have a bunch of snarly animals in the back on the way home. It would be a tight squeeze in my Honda.”
Reporters were still gathered outside.
“Can you tell us who left as a wolf? Oh,” they said when they saw me. “Logan, did you try to shift, or did you stay human on purpose?”
“No comment. And if you don’t get out of the way, you’re gonna have tire tracks on your camera lens.”
“Marissa, we’ll be in touch for the inside info later tonight,” one of them said.
She marched over to the van and hoisted herself into the driver’s seat. A few expert flicks to adjust the controls, and we were on our way.
“Are you the one who leaked my story to the press?” I growled.
“No, but I did alert them that you’d be having dinner out there.” She shrugged, but she didn’t take her eyes off the road. It wasn’t late, and humans crowded the sidewalks, spilling out in front of lively restaurants and clubs on Main Street. They would’ve noticed two wolves and a bear running through. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“Does Bibi know that?” This was a fucking annoyance I didn’t want to deal with when my mate was in danger and this tiny human who literally held the keys to getting me to her could very well make it worse.
“She told me to control the paparazzi. My parents are pioneers in this world, and I know how they think. They live and die by the story, and since no one wants to die, they get the story no matter what. So you have to give them a little or they’ll take whatever they get. You’ve been in the industry forever. Why don’t you know this?”
“It was never my job to do my own press.”
“Well, if you had good rep, they’d spill the beans from time to time. Give the reporters the easy story. Keep them in your pocket, so to speak. And let me tell you, it’s much better to give them the low-hanging fruit like the two of you having a sweet little dinner date at the chalet than having them show up in the middle of a wolf war. How was I supposed to know you’d hand them the shifter story of the century?”
She’d called me out. I should’ve been more careful than pouring my heart out on a crowded patio.
She let out a sigh. “Where are we going? I assume we’re headed to Green Mountain.”
“Yeah.” I was wolf enough to pick up on Cindy’s sweet scent. My animal rumbled inside me, thinking of the vanilla and warm spice scent she emitted. I wondered what she’d look like as a wolf. What color her fur would be. How her body would move...
Which had me thinking about the human version of her body, very naked after her shift. Emitting her scent and raw animal energy. I shifted in my seat, willing my cock to calm the fuck down. Now was not the time.
“We have to talk about what we’ll do if we find them and things are going wrong.” Marissa had reached the too nervous to stop talking phase. “Do we round up our allies and get them in the van? Do we try to help? If that’s our plan, what do we do?”
“We’ll know when we get there.” The human had better instincts than she let on, and I wasn’t falling for the damsel in distress narrative that Bjorn had bought hook, line, and sinker.
She kept talking as we drove away from town and onto the dirt road that led to Green Mountain, but I wasn’t listening anymore. I willed my wolf to go to work, to do what he was born to do. Many people would be disappointed to learn it wasn’t turning tricks on camera.
I was here to protect my mate.
