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ChapterTwenty-Three
Cindy
The fur hid my shaking. It wasn’t fear. Hell no. It was pure anger and adrenaline. These wolves...I’d considered them family for most of my life. It didn’t mean I liked or trusted them. But I’d tolerated them, and I thought they’d have my back.
But they’d chosen Pedro, even though he’d abandoned them as much as he’d abandoned me.
Logan’s hand fell to my fur. His grip was strong and firm. Didn’t matter that he was in his human form. This wolf showed tonight he wasn’t afraid of a fight, even if the odds were stacked against him.
It dawned on me what these wolves had hoped to accomplish tonight. They didn’t want me. They wanted to draw Logan out and prove he couldn’t hold his own in a fight. I was so fucking relieved that their plan had backfired spectacularly.
“Get out of here before we beat you all into the ground.”My voice rumbled with a confidence I hadn’t had in far too long. I stepped forward, daring the wolves to try to retaliate. “If you go now, you’ll still have a place on Green Mountain—”
“No. They lost that privilege,” Hugo said. “Traitors have no place in our pack.”
“You have one more chance to prove you care about the future of this pack. And we’ll be watching you.”
With Joe in the ditch, Ray had become the de facto leader. He huffed.
“You better think long and hard about what you’re doing. Broadcasting your life for the whole world to see. There are two sides to this story.”But he wasn’t interested in hearing mine because he turned around, and one by one, the wolves followed him.
“I wish I could say that was unexpected.”Bibi shook her head.
This wasn’t the first time I’d fought alongside her. But this was the first time the wolves had dared her to do real damage. Pushed her limits. I hated that I put her in this position. All she was trying to do was make my life better and I dragged her into violence.
“I didn’t see any Montana wolves. But last they graced us with their presence, they’d picked up a lot of nomads. Rogues that no one else would take on. So they could be hiding in plain sight.”
“No, this is between me and my pack.” I sighed. “I just want them to be happy that I’m happy.”
Logan rumbled, and I’d swear he was a wolf. But he wasn’t. He was his gorgeous human self. He wore a white button-down shirt that had been torn—which made me wonder if he thought he was going to shift—and dress pants. He was so out of place deep in the forest.
Yet he was still here.
“We show them what different looks like.” Each word vibrated. So sexy. He smelled earthy, more than usual. “I’m not leaving your side.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not staying in that house by yourself. Hugo’s wolves turned on him. It’s gonna take him some time to get a crew that he can trust. Train them—”
“You’re not here to do my job,”Hugo rumbled.
“It’s not a job. She’s my mate. I’m gonna make sure she’s safe, no matter what.”
I closed my eyes for a long blink, surprised to still be here, on the side of Green Mountain, when I opened them again. Logan was coming home with me.
The old me, the one who agreed with the wolves who challenged us tonight, wanted to say it was too soon. The kids wouldn’t understand. The pack would go fucking bananas.
But the new me was more than ready for a wolf who was willing to stand by my side no matter what.
“I’d like that.”
Bibi gasped. “I wish we were all human right now because we should be filming this. We have so much catching up to do once we shift.”
“We can shoot once we get back to Cindy’s house,” Logan said.
“The van is just over there.” Marissa pointed into the darkness.
Bjorn growled. “You brought the van out here? What were you thinking? I told you to stay with the humans and make sure that no one got into the studios.”
Logan told her what he’d said, since she wouldn’t be able to understand our animal forms.
“I was going to, but when Logan insisted on coming here, I couldn’t send him off alone.” She gave the bear a wobbly smile. “Not like I was gonna dive into a wolf fight, but he doesn’t know the pack politics.”
“Don’t be so hard on her,”Bibi said. “We were all crazy for jumping into this. All we knew was that you hadn’t answered Sarah’s text.”
It seemed like another lifetime that I’d left the kids with Sarah. “What did she say?”
“That Charlotte wanted you,” Marissa said after it was translated for her. “She was worried that she couldn’t get in touch with you.”
“Shit.”I tore myself away from the safety of Logan’s touch. “I’ve got to get home. My babies need me.”
There was no telling how long I’d been gone. I’d been too in the thick of things to think of Sarah’s role in this beyond she’d told her father where she was going. If anything happened to my kids...there would be hell to pay.
And I was pissed at myself. All I had to do was tell Bibi to bring Logan here when they were done with the interview. Of course, that just occurred to me now. I could’ve been laying in his arms—safe and at home.
But what had transpired tonight would’ve happened eventually.
“Cindy,”Bibi called after me. “We can bring you there in the van.”
“My car is just ahead.”Which meant I’d have to shift to drive it, and moon knew where my clothes were. I headed back in that general direction, on the lookout for enemy wolves that might have hung around, waiting for this moment.
“I’ll drive Cindy’s car. Logan can drive the van,” Marissa suggested. “We’ve got some clothes in the van. We prepped for shifts.”
“I hope no one sees me in that plain stuff,”Bibi grumbled. “I might stay wolf until I get home.”
“We’re gonna have to pack some sequins for Beebs.”Bjorn laughed and headed over to Marissa. “I’ll go in the car with her.”
I wasn’t sure if my car could handle the weight of a bear, but we were about to find out.
“I’ll be fine,” she insisted when Logan told her what she said.
