Shift

Chapter Six

I shot up and glanced around my room. It was empty. I patted the bed bedside me. It was still warm from Logan. Checking the floor, Scout's blanket and pillow lay discarded in a frenzied pile half toward my bedroom door. I scrambled up and to the window.

At least fifty wolves stood in a loose circle in our field. On the perimeter, I could make out Dean, the triplets, Jonathan, Colt and Cal and standing in the middle of the circle was a huge bronze wolf.

Logan.

He had his teeth around the neck of a black wolf. Before I could take in another breath, he twisted his head and yanked.

The black wolf dropped dead.

Logan stood over his kill, lips pulled back over his teeth, growling. Two large wolves stood behind him and joined in, followed by Jonathan, then Dean and finally all the wolves started howling. A menacing, melancholy sound full of threat and death. A handful of wolves ran off and I assumed they were with the dead wolf.

I stared at the body of the black wolf. Dead. Because of me. Because these men—wolves—wanted what they couldn't have.

It made my stomach sour. Turning from the window, I climbed back into bed, snuggling deep into a ball. Was this the rest of my life? Fighting and death? Squeezing my eyes tight, I hoped not.

***

I woke to the sun blazing in through the window, a heavy arm curled tightly around my back and my head resting on a hard, but surprisingly comfy chest. I inhaled Logan's intense scent and smiled.

"Morning, doll," he whispered, his voice raspy and deep.

"What do I smell like to you?" I asked.

"What?" He kissed the top of my head.

"What do I smell like?" I smiled.

Leaning in, Logan took a deep inhale. He pulled me up and continued inhaling along the side of my head and down my jaw and throat. I shivered.

"Mmm." He took little nip. "You smell like winter. And spring. Like the day. And the night."

"What?" I laughed. "And what do those things smell like?"

His nose slid up the side of my neck, causing goosebumps to break out across my skin. "You smell like the first snowfall." His tongue licked up my jaw. "And wildflowers covered in rain." His hands gripped my waist, pulling me tight against him. "Like warm grass. Like moonlight clinging to leaves." He inhaled a deep breath, his nose grazing behind my ear. "Like fire and ice. Like the earth. Like the wind. You smell like wolf, but sweeter. You smell like life." He shifted his head, so our eyes locked. "But most of all, you smell like home to me." I swallowed the lump in my throat at the intensity in his eyes.

"Home?" I could barely get the words out. My mouth was so dry. I was sweating and freezing at the same time and the ache. The ever-present ache was screaming at me to make him mine.

Leaning forward he slid his nose along the side of mine, nodding. "From the first moment in that dingy strip club basement that I caught your scent, I knew."

"Knew what?" I whispered.

"That you were meant for me."

I pulled back to look at him. "I'm pretty sure every male werewolf thinks that."

He shrugged. "Maybe. But my whole life, even knowing it was impossible because you could never possibly exist, I still wished for you. I wanted what my parents had. I want to love someone that much too. I've never cared about being alpha. Or ruling a state. Or even the crown. All I've ever wanted is you. But I became an alpha. I got a state. And if Dorian has his way, I'll have a crown. But from the second you sprang to life and attacked those guys in that bar. I finally felt" —he inhaled a deep breath— "whole."