Chapter 15
Logan let out a startled yelp as we slammed into the water. When we surfaced, I couldn't help but laugh at his shocked face. "Poor puppy scared to get wet?" I teased, splashing a little more water at him.
"Now you're going to get it," he threatened.
"Catch me if you can," I taunted as I jumped back onto the shore. When he began to swim to the edge I turned and sprinted full speed into the trees.
The sound of Logan cursing as he scrambled to get out of the water met my ears soon followed by the sound of his pounding footfalls. Grinning, I zigzagged in and out of trees. I almost fell over laughing when I heard him run headfirst into a tall pine.
The game continued like that for close to an hour before I felt like my legs were going to give out. "Ma Vie, how the hell are you so fast?" Logan thought to me.
"I don't know," I responded as I hid behind the wide trunk of a spruce tree, catching my breath.
"Gotcha," Logan's voice echoed in my mind as I was tackled to the ground. He pinned me under his weight before giving me a lopsided wolf grin, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
"Alright, get off," I huffed.
He plopped down, crushing me under his weight. "Better?" he asked, mischief glinting in his eyes.
"No," I groaned. "C'mon, Logan. You're killing me."
"Baby," he taunted. He laughed before lithely jumping off me. Grumbling under my breath, I heaved myself out and shook out my coat.
"What was that?" I asked, sinking down into a crouch and twitching my tail.
"Baby," he repeated as he copied my position. "B-A-B-Y."
"If I'm a baby then you're a pedophile," I said as I lunged for him. He easily dodged it and I rounded on him.
He rolled his eyes at me. "Real mature, ma vie."
"I try." I shrugged before I ran around him and jumped on his back, sending him sprawling across the ground. He rolled through a patch of sticker bushes. I laughed at him as he tried to dislodge the little pokers that had gotten caught in his fur.
"You'll pay for that one," he threatened, advancing on me.
"Now, Logan," I warned, but it was useless. He had already jumped on me and pinned my body down. He rolled around on top of me, trying to get as many of them stuck to me as possible. After letting him have his fun for a minute, I kicked him off me. That just started the playing all over again. We sauntered through the woods as if we were actual wild animals. After close to another hour of aimless running, we had come full circle and were back at the stream he had first brought me to.
"Stay here," he told me before disappearing into the surrounding woods. Sighing, I headed over to a boulder I hadn't noticed before. It was large and jutted out over the stream, almost like a cliff. Natural steps led up to what looked like a flat surface and I was just about to climb them when Logan reemerged carrying two baskets in his mouth. "Here," he said, tossing one at my feet.
Using my nose, I shoved the lid off to reveal two sets of clothes. I raised my eyebrows. He just shook his head and motioned back to the basket. Sighing, I took the white piece of cloth and underwear set that were obviously meant for me and trotted off into the confinement of the trees. When I was sure I was out of sight, I shifted back into human form. I wasted little time before slipping the bra and panties on, and then I warily picked up the white fabric. To my relief, it was a simple white sundress that no one other than Brooke could have picked out. Once I had pulled the dress on, I realized how comfortably the stretchy cotton fit. Biting my lip, I walked back out into the clearing. Logan was already there, only clothed in a pair of black basketball shorts. This seems way too much like a cheesy romance novel, I thought as a small smile slipped onto my face.
"Brooke's a genius," Logan said as I drew nearer, verifying my earlier idea that she had picked out the dress.
"I guess so," I murmured, dropping my eyes as a blush colored my cheeks.
Logan approached me and I didn't move. When he was merely an inch away from me, he placed a gentle finger under my chin and lifted my face until I was forced to meet his emerald gaze. "You don't have to hide from me, Torian," he said, his deep voice like silk as he slowly leaned in and touched his lips to mine. A sigh slipped past my lips as I wrapped my arms around his neck, perfectly content in my little fairytale moment.
It was in those few seconds when I finally decided to stop fighting Logan. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, he made me feel safe and that was all I had really been searching for all the years I had been on my own. Slowly, he pulled away from me as a smile lit up his face. He rested his forehead against mine. "What happened to fighting me?" he breathed, reaching up to cup my face in his palm.
A small smile tilted my lips skyward as I leant into his touch. "It's become a very tiring process," I murmured as I softly pressed my lips to his again. The fire started as just a few smoldering embers, but as Logan encased my waist in his warm grip and tangled a hand in my hair those small embers ignited. Fire rushed through my veins, hot and fierce. My fingers knotted themselves into his soft hair and I pulled him even closer. I couldn't focus on anything else right then apart from the man before me. Logan's scent and his own passion mixing with mine were overwhelming my senses.
Until another velvet soft voice broke through my bliss, shattering it.
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"Am I interrupting something?" Xander called, his anger spiking as he saw how intimately Torian and Logan were kissing.
Torian broke away from Logan and rounded on him, a feral snarl escaping her. "What are you doing here?" she hissed, her crystalline eyes flaring.
Xander tsked and held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender. "I sensed you were out here," he told her, pointing to her neck that bore his mark. "I was hoping you'd be alone."
"Like it would have mattered," she scoffed.
"How's that, darling?" the vampire asked her, scanning her from head to toe. She looked magnificent. The white contrasted with her tan skin, giving her a natural glow that made him want to take her away from Logan that much more.
"I would've told you to get bent whether I was alone or not," she snapped, taking an aggressive step towards him.
Logan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, ma vie," he told her, attempting to soothe her even though he was trying to restrain his own anger.
"Yes, Torian," Xander mocked the other male. "Calm down."
"Shut up," she snarled.
To Xander's frustration, Logan moved Torian behind him. Unlike the first time the three had encountered each other, she allowed him too, which infuriated Xander. Why was she letting him control her? "Xander, leave," Logan ordered, his voice firm.
"I don't think I will," he replied. The vampire simply leaned against a tree and crossed his arms over his chest.
The Alpha male growled, the sound low and threatening. He went to move forward, but Torian's gentle touch made him stop. "He's not worth it," she murmured, but her voice still carried to Xander. Her statement caused him to tense up. Not worth it? Just as he opened his mouth to retort, she turned and met his silver gaze with her own blue one. "Leave," she said, her firm voice cutting him like a knife. "Don't you torment me enough while I'm asleep?" she asked, her voice wavering as her hand raised to her cheek. Her fingers brushed across the area that not even twenty-four hours ago had held an ugly gash. "You have to do it when I'm awake too?" she whispered, turning into Logan's arms, but not before Xander caught the shimmer of water in her eyes.
"Torian . . ." Xander started, his face contorting in pain. He had made her cry. That was the last thing he had ever wanted.
He stepped away from the tree, fully prepared to go to her side despite Logan's presence, but she turned to glare at him. "Save it," she spat, causing him to halt in his tracks. She took a step towards him and he could practically feel her anger growing. "Nothing you tell me is anything but a lie, Xander. If you don't leave now I will shift and make you leave," she threatened, her voice low and menacing.
"Have it your way," he snapped as he disappeared into the trees. Her words weren't lost to him, however, and his pain quickly switched to tightly controlled anger. She would rather try to attack him than allow him to apologize? So be it. He would show her torment. He just had to figure out what would be the best way to do it to get back at not only Torian, but Logan as well. As he reached the borders of Riverview, the perfect idea sprang to life. He turned around and sprinted full speed back to the cave.
Once there, he was ecstatic to find that Raven was already amongst the newborns, trying to control them. "No, damn you," she cursed, pulling one newborn off another. "You can't eat each other."
"You're all going to eat shifters," he announced, his voice echoing around the cave and gaining the attention of every vampire in the room.
"What are you talking about?" Raven asked, turning to him with a scowl on her face. "They can't take on Logan's pack yet."
"No," Xander mused, leaning against the wall. "But they can practice on the younger ones."
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"Logan!" I exclaimed. "You didn't."
He shook his head while laughter racked his frame. "No, I actually didn't," he admitted, continuing to pull out multiple tupperware containers. "The girls planned the whole thing."
"So this morning, that whole asking for permission to take me away was just for my benefit?" I asked, my lower lip jutting out.
"Pretty much," he said as an impish smile curled the corners of his lips.
"Well congratulations, I was clueless."
"Good. Then mission accomplished," he said. He smiled triumphantly and snagged me around the waist, pulling me closer to him. He sat down and motioned for me to do the same. When I did, he screwed up his face. Apparently, my being on the opposite side from him was unacceptable because he grabbed my waist again and pulled me into his lap.
"Better?" I asked.
"Much," he replied.
Rolling my eyes at him, I reached for the container holding strawberries. After popping the lid off, I reached to get one. Unfortunately, they were snatched away from me before I could. "Hey!" I protested, reaching for them again where Logan held them above my head,
"This is supposed to be romantic, Torian," he admonished.
"Really?" I muttered, running my eyes over the picnic he had laid out that was pretty much picture perfect. "I hadn't noticed."
"Torian."
"You're not feeding me!" I said, exasperated.
He sighed before handing me the container. "Fine. But if the girls ask, I tried."
"Deal," I told him, popping a berry into my mouth.
We talked while we ate, and before we knew it all the food was gone. Logan stretched out on the blanket, which he had positioned on top of the big boulder overlooking the stream. His eyes met mine and he didn't even have to ask me to lay down next to him. My head rested on his shoulder as he idly ran his fingers through my hair.
"This is nice," he murmured.
Closing my eyes, I nodded. Twilight was just beginning to fall and the clearing was coming to life with creatures of the night. As I opened my eyes again, I saw the fireflies that were starting to dance across the stream. Their lights illuminating the place like millions of twinkling stars. Crickets chirped all around us, and far in the distance a true wolf howled its song to the full moon. For those moments of near silence, it was as if Logan and I were the only two people in the world.
"This is amazing," I breathed, turning to gaze into his eyes. "Thank you for bringing me here."
"You're welcome, ma vie," he said, squeezing my shoulder. All of a sudden, a thought popped into my head that I just couldn't resist. Getting up, I discarded the cotton sundress at my feet before making my way to the very edge of the boulder. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Logan had propped himself up on one elbow. He was watching me with a burning curiosity in his eyes. "What're you doing?" he asked, a small smile adorning his face.
"Swimming," I replied before cannonballing into the stream.
When I came up for air I heard Logan curse and then he was flying through the air, landing with a splash only mere feet away from me. He surfaced and swam over to me, entangling his arms around my waist once he was close enough. "Good idea," he told me, mischief dancing in those emerald eyes of his.
"I thought so," I said with a grin as I splashed him in the face. Wriggling out of his arms, I swam a good distance away while he just sat there frozen. "Oops," I whispered, giggling at the dazed look on his face.
And then the war was on.
I was at a huge disadvantage, so after about twenty minutes of getting bombarded with water, I swam behind the waterfall when he wasn't paying attention. For a while I was able to listen to Logan calling for me while I laughed hysterically. The best part was that he couldn't hear my uncontrolled giggles due to the roaring of the falls. Eventually he gave up, so I swam out and splashed him in the back. The fight resumed.
We had to have been swimming around in that stream for hours. By the time Logan finally caught me and declared himself winner every muscle in my body ached and was begging me to stop moving. I begrudgingly allowed Logan to carry me bridal style back up to the top of the boulder where he laid us down side by side. Letting out a small sigh, I snuggled deep into the warmth of this chest. He wrapped me in the security of his warm embrace and that night I fell asleep to the sounds of nature in my mate's arms.
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-KC