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ChapterThirty-One
Logan
It was fitting that my mating ceremony was taking place on a stage, in front of the cameras, because that was how my whole life had played out. At least now, I could say I was doing it on my terms.
My bachelor party was small. I’d extended an invitation to my family, but they thought I was doing this for a publicity stunt. So I was happy to be starting a new pack. Hugo and Bjorn were standing up for me, and I was glad that I could call these guys friends. We had lots of plans to work together on my documentary project. Some of it would be on hold until the end of The Mating Game season, but I was excited to get busy with preproduction.
Busy with my new life with my mate.
Another guy came in, his long hair pulled back in a man bun. He adjusted his bowtie. Definitely a shifter. From the way he moved, I’d guess some sort of feline.
“Who the hell are you?” Bibi and Marissa wouldn’t throw a monkey wrench into things at this stage of the game. Cindy wore my mark. The she-wolf belonged to me.
“Oh. I’m Gabe Wylde. Wendy’s date.” He held out his hand to me, but I didn’t shake it right away.
“Wendy’s the next contestant on the show,” Bjorn said. “If you guys are serious, you better tell us now. Because we’ve put a lot of work into finding her mate.”
Gabe held his hands up. “Not messing anything up for her. We’ve been friends forever, and she asked me to come tonight, because she’s sick of answering questions about when she’s going to get married. I’ve been her plus one on and off for years.” He gave me a cocky grin.
Bjorn raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Why is this the first I’ve heard of you?”
The cat’s face fell. “I’ve been away. I’ve been on the ski circuit for years, but I’m getting older. My body can’t keep up like it used to. So it’s time to come home. I’m part of the Woodland Park pride. Wendy asked me to come over here and even out the ceremony parties. Just here to stand up for you, man. Not to cause trouble.”
I’d give anyone who showed up for me a chance. It was more than I could say for a lot of people.
There was a knock on the door, and Marissa walked in. “Look at all these handsome men.” There was no missing the way her gaze lingered on Bjorn. “We’re ready to get started if you are.”
“I’m ready.”
She nodded before leaving.
“She looks fucking incredible,” Bjorn said under his breath.
I led my guys down the hallway, ready to see my mate. To promise my life to her.
Marissa stood at the bottom of the staircase that led to the stage. She held up one hand, listening to the direction in her headset. She waved us on and then followed us up the stairs.
The stage was different tonight, set up with chairs for our attendants. I scanned the crowd quickly, hoping that my family had a change of heart and showed up on the most important day of my life.
I didn’t see them, but there were a lot of wolves here rooting for us. Green Mountain pack wolves who had their doubts about us at first, but even they couldn’t deny Cindy’s happiness anymore.
Bibi appeared with Wendy and Michelle, the pack alpha’s mate.
“Michelle agreed to walk with Hugo, and I’d be honored to walk you down the aisle,” Bibi said. She was dazzling in a black sequined dress and a little pillbox hat.
“The honor is mine. Thank you for everything.” I offered her my arm.
The crowd oohed as we made our way to the front of the stage. Bibi kissed me on the cheek, and then took her place as our officiant.
Cindy appeared at the back of the stage. Good goddess, was she gorgeous. She wore an off-white lace dress that tied behind her neck—designed to show off her brand-new mark. I made damn sure to put it on the shoulder that Pedro hadn’t marked so no one could ever dispute this she-wolf belonged to me. Her hair had been twisted up and fell in a waterfall of curls.
The plan had been for the pack alpha to walk her down the aisle, but my mate didn’t follow any rules. Caleb and Carter stood on either side of her, in tiny tuxes, pointing at me when they saw me waiting for their mother.
My new family.
One of the production assistants handed Charlotte to her, who was dolled up in a white dress of her own. Cindy started walking, hands full with Charlotte and a bouquet of flowers. The boys followed her, sort of. They stopped at the chairs of wolves they knew. Cindy stopped with them, accepting hugs and kisses and well wishes.
It was fucking perfect.
She was glowing when they finally reached us. Wendy took Charlotte from her, and motioned for the boys to stand with Hugo.
“I hope you don’t mind I brought them,” she said.
“They should be here. We’re a package deal now.” I kissed her.
“The kiss happens at the end,” Bibi teased. “I’m so excited for our very first mating ceremony. Cindy and Logan have chosen to write their own vows, so all I’m going to say is thank you for trusting in my crazy vision to do things a little differently. I hope your story can inspire wolves who feel like they don’t fit into their packs to strike out on a path that suits them. It’s been an honor to be a part of this journey with you. You’re both beautiful people that have been a pleasure to work with. I’m so happy you’ll get to be a family. Now, before our couple gets to the good stuff, I have to ask—total formality—if anyone has any objections to this pairing.”
Silence.
“Okay, so maybe I was worried that wasn’t so much of a formality,” Bibi chuckled nervously.
Caleb pointed at the end of the aisle. “Dad’s here.”
“He’s a wolf,” Carter added.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Cindy groaned and pushed her bouquet into Bibi’s chest.
The brownish-gray wolf stalked down the aisle. How the hell did he get past the new security crew?
“You asked if there were objections,”Pedro said. “I objected to this from the start. I lay claim to this she-wolf.”
I stepped toward him. “Her name is Cindy, and you have no claim to her. She wears my mark now.”
“She belongs to me. She belongs with a real wolf.”
“Pedro, you’re making an ass out of yourself, just like you did the last time you tried to pull this stunt.” Cindy had her hands on her hips. Carter ran between his parents, and Cindy caught him before he could get close to his father.
“See? The boys want me.”
“You can still be their father. If you can act civilized and accept the consequences of your actions.” Cindy guarded her boys. “Otherwise, I can’t let you be a part of your lives.”
“You’ll never keep me away from my kids,” he growled.
“Pedro. Don’t do this.” Hugo moved toward his former friend. “You made a lot of bad decisions that led to this moment. At some point, you’ve got to accept that you lost the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“No. Not until I actually lose.”The wolf stalked over to me. “I challenge you to a fight. If you live, you can keep her. If you don’t, I guess it won’t bother you so much that she belongs to me.”
“I accept that challenge.”
“Logan!” Cindy grasped my arm. “Don’t stoop to his level. You don’t have to do this. You’re my mate.”
“I’m not stooping to anyone’s level. This is gonna follow me around until I can shift. Wolves will question if I’m enough. We can’t have security guards babysitting us for the rest of our lives. I’m accepting the challenge to prove to everyone I’m just as much of a wolf as this asshole.”
Cindy groaned. “I know there’s no stopping a wolf once we get an idea in our head. But you’ve already proved it. The pack is better because of you. This guy just destroys everything he comes in contact with.”
“He marks his territory,” Caleb added.
“Don’t you dare.” Cindy groaned. “Are we done with this? Are you really going to make Logan fight you before you go away?”
“Yeah. Because he can’t do it.”Pedro snickered. “Cameras are rolling, buddy. Just how you like it. I bet all that stuff in your movies was fake, too.”
“That was all me.” I growled, shrugging out of my jacket. The wolves around me gasped. No one thought I was crazy enough to accept this challenge. To be honest, I had no idea how I’d win this. If I was a wolf, and this was a fair fight, no problem. I’d wipe the stage with him.
But I was human, and it wasn’t fair. But I didn’t have the luxury of walking away from this challenge. My temperature spiked, which was a hopeful sign, but if I had any chance of winning this fight, I’d have to rely on my human instincts. There were a whole bunch of shifters getting real pissed off behind me, but I couldn’t let them handle this for me.
This was my fight, and there was no option other than victory.
“Get the kids out of here,” I rumbled. No matter how this went down, they didn’t need to see it.
“Boys, come on.” Cindy took their arms and brought them over to Wendy and Marissa.
“You might want to clear out of these rows. If you’re not fighting with me, you’re fighting against me,”Pedro warned his former pack.
They were my pack now, and they proved it by moving away from their chairs.
I pulled my bow tie away and started working on my cufflinks. I was sweating, not sure I could take any more heat.
“You think I’m gonna wait for your wardrobe change?”Pedro lunged for me, hitting me right in the stomach. He knocked me down on my ass, sending the two of us skidding across the stage.
“No!” Cindy cried.
I reached for his neck. My hand was big enough that I should’ve been able to cut off his air supply. I could go for his limbs. I had advantages in this fight as a human. I’d fought a lot of wolves—mostly stunt guys who liked going full throttle at me. The luxury of those fights was that I always knew I would come out of them unscathed.
Pedro bit my arm, and the bone made a sickening crack. My wrist was nothing but rubble, and blood ran down my arm, staining my tuxedo shirt. I punched him in the snout with my left hand, but this wolf was built like a fucking tank. He laughed it off, biting my shoulder. His plan was to take me out limb by limb.
“You can surrender at any time. The sooner you do, the sooner I have my mate in my bed.”
“No,” I grunted. My entire right side was on fucking fire with pain and the heat of my fucking defective wolf. It took everything I had to push him off me.
“Pedro! Stop!” Cindy screamed, going down on her knees and succumbing to her wolf. Fuck, that pissed me off. My beautiful mate had her day ruined by this asshole.
Hugo, Bibi, Bjorn, and Gabe the new guy shifted, too. They formed a circle around me, baring teeth and claws at Pedro.
I crawled toward Pedro, dragging my right arm. “Let me have him. I want him.”
“Make this easy, boys,”Pedro said before slipping past Cindy and grabbing my leg. His teeth sank through my skin. I only had seconds before he’d snap the bone.
Seconds were all I needed.
