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ChapterTwenty-Six
Logan
“You want to spend forever with me?” Hearing her say it out loud was better than I imagined. I knew the moment I laid eyes on Cindy that she belonged to me. My wolf knew even before that, when I refused to walk away from the show. I’d told Margaret it was because I was a wolf of my word, which was true. I didn’t back away from things because they were hard. But my wolf knew I’d meet my mate here.
I couldn’t explain that to a human. Now I realized I didn’t have to.
“Yes.” She gave me another kiss. “When I saw you last night, knowing you couldn’t shift, and you showed up for me anyway... It’s been a long time since anyone’s had my back, and I forgot what that felt like.”
“Logan,” Marissa said. “Do you still want me to make the call?”
“What call?” Cindy asked.
“I’m gonna talk to the specialist. See if she can figure out why I can’t shift.”
Bibi gasped. “That’s wonderful. Like I said, Dr. Lowe’s on the cutting edge of shifter research. She’ll be able to get you answers no one else can.”
“Logan, I’m happy to be with you even if you never shift again. That doesn’t matter to me.”
“But I want to. Seeing everyone out there last night and worrying about being a damn liability...” I sighed. “I have to put my pride aside and do something about this. But having a she-wolf like you ready to commit to me no matter what—”
“Are you two gonna kiss all the time?” Carter wrinkled his nose, letting us know what he thought about that.
“Maybe.” His mom made the face right back at him and then kissed me.
“Logan, since we never had a chance to finish the interview last night, we can pick up where we left off.” Bibi brought order back to the room. “How do you feel about going from being a bachelor to having a family?”
“I’m thrilled.” I leaned the mop against the wall and pulled one of the chairs away from the table. “My family didn’t understand my career. My pack’s a lot like the pack here. They’re extremely proud of their traditions. I didn’t feel like I had a place there anymore. They weren’t interested in anything I suggested. They thought I was too human, too Hollywood. I still miss them. Miss the traditions, and the things you can only do with other wolves. Maybe they were right. I was too human. I’m looking forward to establishing some new traditions with these guys.”
“We might not be welcome in the pack anymore.” Cindy got up and peered out the window, like her wolf was sensing something.
“How do you feel about that?” Bibi asked.
“Sad. But I have a new pack now. You guys. Maybe it was too much to ask for these wolves to change because I did. But that means I found all of you.” Her gaze was still pinned out the window.
There’s nothing there, my wolf said. But when Hugo got up to look, too, I growled.
“Any word on more security guards?” There were a few that weren’t affiliated with the pack, but Hugo had made a point of giving his guys jobs.
“Yeah. We’re in touch with someone named Lars. Says he’s familiar with these mountains, but he has no pack affiliation.” Hugo had yet to move away from the window. “I’ll be interested to see what this guy has to say for himself. I thought we knew everyone in the area. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not too fond of surprises.”
“We’ll be doing thorough background checks to make sure we don’t have any more surprises. Because I don’t like them either. They get in the way of what we’re here to do.” Bibi swiped her tablet, and then looked up at me and grinned. “Logan, what will happen when you get your next role?”
“He’ll take it, and he’ll be amazing at it.” Cindy had settled. Whatever had her on edge had passed.
But Hugo was still on point.
“It most likely won’t be here. What if it’s another TV show? A long-term commitment. How will you handle that?”
We looked at each other.
“Cindy and the kids can come with me if they want. We’ll get a place to stay, and tutors for the kids. I’m at a place in my career that I can name my terms.”
“Are you though?” Bibi wouldn’t be easy on me just because things were going my way.
“Yeah. I name my terms, or I don’t do it,” I growled.
Cindy reached for my hand. “I won’t let you give up your career to be with me.”
“I won’t.” That sounded terrible. “You’re part of this journey now. I won’t do anything that makes you feel like you don’t have a mate by your side.”
She closed her eyes for a long blink and nodded.
“This is going to work, because the two of you won’t settle for anything less,” Bibi said. “Okay, so here’s how the rest of the day will go. We’re headed into Sunset Springs for the day. Wendy has agreed to meet us at the studios and watch the kids. We thought we’d found some great options yesterday, but I want to vet Annie and Jani a bit more, just to make sure we don’t have any more unfortunate coincidences like we did last night. Joe’s back from the wash, and he’s pissed. Hugo talked to him this morning and didn’t make any progress. But enough about that. We have stylists coming to meet us to outfit Cindy with a whole new wardrobe, and we’ll start talking about your mating ceremony. Think about what you want. Don’t hold anything back. We’ll be making an epic statement.”
“There’s something I want,” I said as I rose from the chair. “I want to take Cindy out on another date.”
“We have forever. We don’t have to do anything while all eyes are on us,” she countered.
“That’s more of a reason to do it now. And I believe the contract said three dates. We had one the day we went to the spa. Last night doesn’t count, even though I like the way it ended.” I took her hands in mine. “There’s one more. Your choice.”
Bibi brightened. “I can give you three options.”
“You don’t have to. I know exactly what I want to do. If it’s even a possibility,” Cindy said. “Do they still have concerts in Sunset Springs Park?”
“They do,” Bibi confirmed.
“That’s what I want. A picnic in the park during one of the shows,” she said. “Maybe we can bring the kids for the first part of it. They have a water park there, and these two would go nuts for that. I’ve never brought them because I was afraid I couldn’t handle them by myself, and Pedro always had some sort of wolf business that made him too busy to bring me anywhere.”
“I’ll never be too busy for you.”
“I’m so excited.” She bit her lip, but there was no holding back her grin. “It’s gonna be fun. You didn’t get the best introduction to the area, but I can’t wait to show you everything that makes us all love it so much.”
* * *
