Chapter 29 Logan
Logan
I’m halfway out the bedroom when Harlan catches me. No warning—just the sudden press of his body against mine, one strong arm hooking around my waist. I startle, and my wallet slips from my hand, thudding to the floor.
But I don’t move.
He pulls me in tighter, until I can feel the rise of his chest against mine, the tension vibrating beneath his skin like a held breath. His beard scrapes a line along my jaw as he scent-marks me, slow and deliberate, like he’s daring me to pull away. I don’t. I can’t.
My whole chest caves in. I’ve missed this. Missed him.
His mouth brushes my ear. “I’m still angry,” he growls, voice low and wrecked. “But I’ve been too harsh.”
The breath I’ve been holding slips out shakily.
“I’m sorry,” he adds, barely above a whisper, before turning into my hair and laying the softest kiss there—too gentle for a man who commands rooms, too intimate for someone still mad.
It splinters me.
When he finally lets go, I step back before I shatter completely. My gaze drops, because if I look at him—if I see that rare crack in his armor—I might do something stupid.
Like beg him to kiss me again. Or worse… forgive me.
When I get into the car with Rose, she still looks as shell-shocked as I feel. Because on top of everything else, there’s the bomb she dropped about the fact that we’re scent-sensitive to each other.
She’s our mate.
But in the heat of her confessions, no one pushed.
She looked too raw after explaining the possible infertility and her scent issues.
I've never been sure if I want to be a father. After the disaster that was my own family. But what Harlan said is true, and it’s true for all of us now.
If she’s ours, she’s everything. Not a breeding vessel.
That truth echoes through my head as I pull away from her driveway. The guys are walking into town. It's only a few blocks.
I lift the center console and gently tug Rose into my side. She blinks in surprise, but doesn’t pull away. Instead, she curls into the crook of my arm, and the way her body molds to mine so easily settles something in me I didn’t realize was restless.
I’ve gone over the therapy techniques for touch deprivation since the doctor left. They haven’t changed since my own diagnosis and recovery.
“Sunny’s pack usually barbecues while we meet. It’s been a mild winter so far so they’re still doing it,” she says, voice light. “Sucks the other guys couldn’t come, but I’m glad you could.”
“They had some paperwork to deal with,” I murmur, distracted. “They’ll try to swing by later.”
“Hopefully before the other packs eat all the burgers.”
I grunt. The thought of another awkward meal with my brother doesn’t exactly whet my appetite.
Fingers brush my jaw. I glance down, surprised to find her studying me, brows drawn in soft concern.
“If you don’t want to stay for the barbecue, I can make an excuse,” she offers gently. God, I must be broadcasting every thought on my face. I school my expression, hoping it reads as neutral, not distant.
“And miss burgers, Jingles?” I add with a small grin. "Besides, I’m not leaving you alone. Not with reporters still sniffing around.” I take her hand and lift it to my lips, kissing the back. Her skin is warm and soft and grounding.
Her answering smile is shy, but real. And suddenly I want to see that smile all the damn time. I can’t believe I didn’t notice before how rare it is.
“Can I ask—?” she begins, then hesitates. My grip tightens slightly on the wheel. “What’s up between you and Cole?”
“Cole and I have a complicated relationship,” I say, slowly.
“Same mom. Different dads. From all I’ve heard, Cole’s father was…
good. Loving. Devoted. Mine wasn’t. My dad was a driven alpha with grand ideas and zero follow-through.
When Cole outpaced him in dominance early-on, my father couldn’t handle it.
He didn’t allow anyone in his home to be more dominant than him.
The day Cole left…” I swallow. “Everything changed. My mother cried for weeks. My dad raged. I just tried to survive it.”
“That must’ve been so hard on you,” Rose says, voice soft and sure.
Her empathy is immediate and disarming. One look at her face, and I know I couldn’t lie to her if I tried.
“My dad didn’t have anyone else to fixate on after that. He expected a lot from me, considering how little he ever achieved himself. I think, in his eyes, if he couldn’t succeed, then it was on me to do it for him.”
I wince. Saying it out loud feels weak, but her arm slips between my stomach and the wheel and gives me a squeeze that makes the shame lose its grip.
“After Cole left, my mom folded in on herself,” I go on. “Got sick. Died not long after. My dad raised me the rest of the way. Then he died after I went to college.”
Her eyes widen, the sadness in them sharp and immediate. “That’s how you became touch-deprived?”
I sigh “He wasn’t affectionate. After my mom got sick… I didn’t get touched at all. No hugs. No comfort. Nothing.”
“When did you finally get help?”
“Harlan.” My thumb smooths across the back of her hand. Her lashes flutter. I remember what it felt like when Harlan first touched me with intent. Like I’d been starving and didn’t know it.
“We met at a convention. I’d just sold my father’s pizza business and was trying to launch my restaurant. Harlan figured me out pretty fast and got me Dr. Rendon, looked into every therapy he could find. We’ve been together ever since.”
“Until recently,” she finishes quietly.
I nod, the ache blooming again.
“What happened with the omega clause?” Of course Rose figured that out too.
“My father was an asshole,” I say plainly. “He knew I had no interest in finding an omega—especially after what I saw growing up. But he believed a ‘real’ alpha had to have one. So he wrote it into the contract.”
She curls inward, just a little. I reach for her hand again.
“I’m not opposed,” I say quickly. “I just wasn’t seeking it. But yeah, the clause says I have to be bonded to an omega by the fifth anniversary of inheriting the business or it goes to the next beneficiary. In this case my cousin.”
“This coming year,” she says, piecing it together. Then her brows pull tight. “But Harlan can't blame you for that. He knew about that when you started doing business together, right?”
I go still.
She sees it instantly—gasps. “They didn’t know?”
I shake my head. “Not until a few months ago.”
She covers her mouth, still holding my hand. “Why?”
“I thought…” My voice drops. “I thought I could fix it before it became a problem.”
Her gaze sharpens. “Fix it how?”
“Bribes. Blackmail.” I grimace. “I figured if I told Harlan when we were just business partners, he’d back out. And when we got together, I thought I’d have time to handle it myself.”
She doesn’t recoil. If anything, she looks stunned. “Why didn’t it work?”
“My cousin. He’s the beneficiary if I fail. He found out. He’s blocked every workaround since.” I drag in a breath. “Eventually, I had to tell my pack. And Harlan… was devastated.”
Rose shifts in her seat. “You definitely should’ve told them. But that was a really shitty position for your father to put you in.” Her voice softens. “I’m sorry you had to make those choices. They weren’t perfect, but I get why you made them. Family can back you into corners like that.”
The words hit me square in the chest. She knows. She took that drug because she had no other option. Just like I kept that secret because I didn’t want to lose everything.
“I appreciate that,” I say. “But I still should’ve been honest.”
She squeezes my hand.
“But maybe,” she whispers, “if you’d figured it out, we never would’ve met.”
The thought stops me cold.
If I’d succeeded in getting the clause removed, Rose might’ve gone unnoticed. Or worse, ended up trapped with that other pack.
My alpha snarls quietly at the thought.
The car slows to a stop beside the picket fence of my brothers farm house.
“Listen,” she says, turning to face me. “We all screw up. Some more than others.” I huff out a laugh. “But the only way to fix it is to do better than we did yesterday.”
I rake a hand through my hair. She’s right. I’ve been brooding instead of building bridges.
“And as far as Cole goes…” She meets my eyes. “He’s a good alpha. He loves Sunny. Helps her friends. I don’t know your history, but maybe—if you’re both ready to be who you are now instead of who you were then—you could try again.”
I close my eyes against the sudden rush of feeling. Somehow, Rose always sees right to the heart of it.
“I’m not sure we can,” I admit.
She curls her legs beneath her, rising to her knees until we’re eye to eye. My arm slides around her waist, hand settling low on her back, fingertips brushing just above the swell of her ass. Her hands glide up my chest and around my neck, fingers tangling into the hair at my nape.
“Maybe not,” she says softly and my cock aches at the sound. "But isn't it worth a try?"
I pull her in tighter, guiding her until one leg swings around and she’s straddling me, seated fully in my lap.
Her fingers tighten in my hair. Then her mouth lands on mine.
It's hot and urgent. I open for her, letting her tongue sweep in and tangle with mine. She tastes like heat and hope and everything I didn’t know I missed.
Her hips grind against mine, dragging that hot, needy center over my now rock-hard cock.
The friction tears a growl from deep in my chest. She gasps when I grip her hips, pulling her down harder as I thrust up.
The pressure is maddening. I want more—I want her.
I want skin. I want every part of her against every part of me.
She moans into my mouth, and I curse every scrap of fabric between us.
A knock on the driver’s side window has us flying apart like guilty teenagers. Rose bangs her elbow on the dash. I nearly crush myself against the seat.
Staring back at us through the glass is an alpha with long brown hair and tattoos up both arms. Jess. One of my brother’s packmates.
“Whatcha doin’?” he sing-songs.
I roll my eyes and let my head thunk back against the headrest.
Rose giggles, traitor, and pops the door open before heading up to the house like nothing happened.
I sigh, cut the engine, and turn… only to jump with a half-yelled, “Jesus Christ!” because Jess is still standing there, that shit-eating grin glued to his face.
“Fuck, Jess!” I snap as I climb out of the car.
“That’s my job!” Hunt calls as he ambles up behind him.
“And mine!” Sunny adds cheerfully from the porch.
Rose is wheezing with laughter now as she climbs the steps.
Fantastic. This is going to be a long evening.