My Dark Mate [2021: Editing]

Chapter 12

Ethan began to lead him upstairs. “It’s alright; you can talk about it tomorrow.” I followed behind them as Ethan half carried Logan to his room.

***

He dropped him on his bed and came up beside me. “Think you can handle him for the night? I have some stuff I need to take care of.” He said; pulling out his phone.

I looked over at my mate’s motionless body. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” I said; hesitantly.

Ethan smirked at me. “Come on, Luna. If you can’t take care of him, how are you supposed to take care of the whole pack?” He said with a joking tone; nudging me.

I flashed him a small smile; his optimism of my post as Luna and efforts at lightening the mood, immediately making me fond of him. “Fine; but only if you tell me what you’re ‘stuff’ is.” I said; grabbing his arm so he couldn’t dodge the question.

“We think that a few rogues have breached the territory a few miles south of here. I’m headed over there now; to find out for sure.”

“Why didn’t you inform Logan?” He gave me an are-you-being-serious-right-now look. I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Right, I don’t understand.” I mumbled; truly irritated.

“Exactly, now; if you’ll excuse me, I must me going.” Ethan said as he pried my fingers from his arm. I nodded and released him. He gave me a small bow before leaving.

I cautiously moved to the side of Logan’s bed; the memory of what happened in his room the last time, flowing into my mind. He seemed to be semi-conscious; mumbling incoherent words with his eyes half open. I bent down so my eyes could meet his. “Logan, can you hear me?” I mumbled; afraid of what might happen if I tried to reach out and touch him.

His eyes opened slightly. “Of course I can hear you.” He replied; his lips turning up in an adorable smile that tugged at my heart.

I instinctively smiled back. “Do you need anything?” I whispered.

“Could you get me a glass of water?” He asked softly; a pleading look on his face. I nodded in response; worried that if I did anything else, it would snap him out of his drunken stupor.

I quickly retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. When I got back to his room; he was missing. I warily walked into the room, my wolf on alert. “Logan?”

He stumbled out of his closet in only his jeans. “Yeah, baby?” He muttered; his words so slurred I almost didn’t understand.

I let out the breath I’d been holding as I relaxed. I held up the bottle. “I got your water. I hope you don’t mind, but it’s cold-” when what he’d said finally hit me; it had my eyebrows shooting up. “Did you just call me ‘baby’?”

He gave me a confused look. “Yeah, you are my mate right? Or was Ethan lying? He can be such a d*ck sometimes.” He said; grabbing the bottle and glass from me as I continued to gap at him. "But I still love the guy." He mumbled, chuckling. He took a long sip of water and put both the bottle and glass on his bedside table.

He unsteadily moved over to his bed. “What happened to your shirt?” I asked; trailing behind him. My eyes travelled over his muscular abdomen; lust pooling inside me. I ripped my gaze away from his body to meet his grey eyes; the look he gave me enough to tell me that he’d noticed my staring.

“I’m getting ready for bed.” He said; smirking. “You mind?” He asked as his fingers clumsily tried to remove his belt. My cheeks reddened at what I was about to do next but he needed to sleep his condition off and the boy was never going to get his pants off himself in said condition.

I moved in front of him. “I’ll help with that.” I muttered; keeping my gaze away from his face as blood rushed to my cheeks. When his belt was off, I took a step back; keeping my eyes on the floor, praying to God that he wouldn’t remember this in the morning.

“You want to help with my button and zip too?” He asked; his tone amused. He grabbed my chin and pulled my head up. I tried to jerk my head out of his grasp but he was too strong. He wrapped his arms around my waist and crushed my body to his. His eyes moved down to my neck and narrowed. “Where’s your mark?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have one.” I whispered.

“I can fix that.” He said; burying his head in the crook of my neck.

“Logan, don’t.” I said; pushing myself away from him. My mind was flooded with hundreds of possibilities of what he would do if he woke up tomorrow and realised that he had marked me; all of them not very positive. There was no way my battered heart could take any more of that kind of torture; even the thought of it had me gasping for air. I rushed to the door but before I could escape, he grabbed me again.

He threw me over his shoulder and carried me back to the bed. I kicked and hit him as hard as I could but it was no use; I wasn’t strong enough to overpower him. He threw me onto the mattress and pinned me down; effectively putting an end to my squirming. “Don’t ever run away from me!” He snapped; his eyes darkening. I pushed my arms against the hand that he’d used to hold them over my head; the position reminding me so much of the first time I’d been in his room. “Hold still, this won’t hurt for long.” He said before his face moved down to my neck again.

I couldn’t do anything as he sunk his teeth into my throat; marking me. I flinched at the pain of the bite but soon happiness from my wolf flowed through me, effectively blocking it. His grey eyes moved up to meet mine as he licked away a small amount of blood from his lips; my blood. I didn’t know what to do as he leaned closer and released my arms.

I didn’t understand what he wanted until his neck touched my lips; sending a shock through me. I leaned back as far as I could. “You don’t want this, Logan. When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll know that.” I whispered. The moment the words left my lips he cupped my face.

“I know what I want, and I want you.” His words made my heart flutter in my chest; nothing anyone has ever said had made me as happy as I was then. “You’re my mate; I’ll never want anyone else, just you.” His pleading expression along with his words had me throwing any caution to the wind. At that moment, I decided to just enjoy the time I had with this side of my mate; the sweet side, for however long it lasted; even if it was just for a few more hours.

I kissed his neck once; knowing that I might never be able to do that again and bit him. His happiness from being marked by his mate flowed into me; my wolf ecstatic that her mate was so happy. I pulled back and licked the blood from my lips; flashing him a small grin. He smiled back; that smile probably the only genuine smile he’d ever give me, and pulled me close.

***

About an hour later, he’d passed out; leaving me alone with my myriad thoughts. Hundreds of questions rushed through my brain at once, the main one being; what it was that Ethan was hiding from me. What was it that made my mate this way; so cold, and distant... What was it that scarred him so badly that it had led him to feel nothing but disdain for his mate; for me? That question replayed continuously; over and over again in my head. But that was all it would ever be; an unanswered question until of course my mate explains it to me himself. And what are the chances of that happening?

I sighed and gave up on sorting it out. I decided to study Logan instead; noting the way his dark lashes rested on his perfect cheek, the way his lips parted slightly as he breathed in and out and especially the way he looked completely serene as he slept. I did my best to burn that image of him into my brain, knowing that I might never get to see it again, that by tomorrow it would just be a distant dream. My eyes dropped down to my mark on his neck and my mind wandered to what would happen the next day.

He'd break my heart again but it wouldn't matter because at that moment, I decided that no matter what he did, no matter how much it would hurt me to continue living with the pain of being hated by my mate; I would bear it because even if he didn't love me, I loved him; flaws and all. That night had been the best night of my life and right then, I pushed all other thoughts from my head. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest; extremely contended as I fell asleep; my arms wrapped tightly around my mate; as if by doing that, I could keep him from being ripped away from me.