Pack

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I woke up just as I'd fallen asleep, on my side, secured in Dean's arms. He held me tight, as if afraid I would disappear while he slept. I let him hold me, knowing that my time with Stephen was probably just as hard on him as it had been on me. I wanted to relax into this moment and drift back off into a peaceful sleep, but I knew my presence put all my werewolves in jeopardy. Stephen would come after me again. I hadn't seen the last of him and that knowledge left me unsettled. Every day became a countdown to the inevitable meeting. Could I survive becoming his mate, or worse, becoming another one of his test subjects? He would use my pack and anyone I cared about to get at me, I knew that. How would I protect them? Especially when they thought I needed the protection. Maybe I should leave. I could stay on the move, never in one place for too long. Would that really stop Stephen from coming after the people I loved? Probably not. Maybe we were stronger together.

At least Carly, Jake, and my parents were safe in their ignorance. I really could never go home. I had too much danger targeted at me now. I had no choice but to leave my human family behind, safer for them to think I died, and hopefully try to move on with their normal lives than know the truth. They didn't belong in mine anymore. I had to accept I'd never get to say good-bye.

I lay in bed mentally going through scenarios and situations of how to keep myself and my packs safe, until the sun started to shine in through the many windows. I managed to wiggle out from under Dean's grip and tip-toed around the room. I found a pair of Abigail's yoga pants and a t-shirt in the closet and slipped them on before heading downstairs to make breakfast for Logan, Dorian, and myself. I knew Dean preferred to hunt for food, so I didn't bother worrying about what he would eat. I wasn't sure which side of the werewolf spectrum Dorian preferred. He held himself with a bit more posh than my pack. I wasn't that concerned, if he didn't eat it, Logan or I would.

Sifting through Logan's cupboards, I decided on pancakes, since Logan had raved about them last time. Opening the fridge, I pulled out eggs to scramble, and a few pounds of bacon.

As I stood at the stove flipping pancakes, hands slid around my waist, tugging me backwards against a strong chest. Warm breath flittered across my skin as lips gently kissed and nuzzled under my ear.

"Mmm, pancakes," Logan's scratchy morning voice whispered in my ear.

"Didn't think you'd be getting them again so soon, did you?" I smiled, turning to face him, spatula in hand. "I'm sorry about last night." I looked down. "With Dean."

Silence.

I peaked up through my lashes to find him frowning. "What?"

"I'm not mad at you, doll. You didn't have to cook me breakfast to make up for it."

"I didn't. I was hungry."

"Well, just so we're clear. I might have marked you, but I'm willing to win you over fair and square. I don't care if you're curious about other werewolves. It's sort of the nature of the beast. A few alphas even have more than one mate. But I want to make it clear to you that once you choose me -" his lips twisted up into his lopsided smirk. "You will only ever sleep with me. So get your rebellious pup like tendencies out now, because once you're mine, you're all mine." His smirk turned into a toothy grin.

"That goes both ways, you know." I shook the spatula at him. "If I'm only yours, then you're only mine."

"Agreed." He nodded.

"What is the Mating Ritual? And why did the fact I couldn't shift save me from being forced to do it with Stephen? He has other mates. I met one."

"Since we've never had a female werewolf, the Mating Ritual has always been one sided. The werewolf bites his human, but obviously the human doesn't have the ability to bite them back. So the females wear the mate mark, instead of both mates each having one. But with you, both you and your mate will wear the mark. Every other werewolf that runs into your mate will know they belong to you."