Chapter 26 Logan
Logan
“Are you guys ready to book studio time?” I asked Hendrix while doing a personal check-in call with their band, since Hunter was up to his eyeballs in work.
“Definitely for a few of the songs, we’re still working on—”
“Pack meeting!” I heard Meadow yell in the background.
“Sorry, one second,” said Hendrix. His voice got quieter, but I could still understand them. “Pack meeting about what?”
“She’s pregnant! We have to figure out how to support her.”
“Wait, what? Who’s pregnant? What’s happening?”
“Clover!” Meadow yelled.
Ice water poured down my spine. Clover was pregnant? By who?
Hendrix came back at full volume. “Can I call you back?”
“Sure.” I stared into the distance as the call ended. Clover hadn’t said a thing about having a heat while she was away. Who the hell would’ve gotten her pregnant?
Fuck.
Did that mean she was off the market for good?
But…she wouldn’t have been getting off on calls with me if she had someone in Seattle, would she?
We hadn’t talked as much as I’d wanted since she was always limited on time, but we’d been getting to know each other.
Those calls had been a lifeline. I hadn’t felt right since she left, but I had to respect her boundaries.
I hated not knowing.
I guess it stood to reason she probably had more partners than me and my pack. It hadn’t been hard to see that she was lonely up in Seattle, so I couldn’t really blame her, even if I had offered a dozen times to erase the distance between us.
This was all fucked.
How was I supposed to figure out what the hell was happening?
Asking her directly might work, but I was also fairly certain I wasn’t supposed to know yet. Maybe I could get away with fishing around for some information…
Logan:
Call tonight?
Clover:
Probably not
I’m not feeling up to it
Logan:
What’s wrong?
I watched the typing dots appear and disappear a half dozen times before she finally sent something through.
Clover:
Just under the weather
Liar. Was she afraid to tell me?
Logan:
Anything I can do?
Want me to order you some soup?
The typing dots did their disappearing act again.
Clover:
Need some sleep
I haven’t been getting enough
I blew out a frustrated breath. Forcing her to tell me wasn’t likely to result in anything good for either of us.
Unless she had known for a while and kept it quiet, my pack or I couldn’t be the father.
Our first time together had been a haze of hormonal lust. It was probably wishful thinking she’d had a heat flare. None of the others had mentioned one.
This was going to drive me nuts. Who the fuck had gotten their hands on her?
Logan:
Please tell me
Let me help
I deleted both messages before I could send them. Instead, I switched tactics.
Logan:
Arlo, is she OK?
My wait for a reply was probably less than a minute, but it felt like a fucking year.
Arlo:
Meadow says she’s mostly fine
Logan:
I know she’s pregnant
I heard Meadow yelling in the background when I was on the phone with Hendrix
Help me out, man
Arlo:
Meadow will smother me in my sleep if I help you with this
Can’t risk it
You have to wait for Clover to come to you
Logan:
Please
I debated driving straight over so Arlo would have to say no to me in person.
“What the hell is your face doing?” Parker asked as he stepped into the office.
I schooled my expression, but it was already too late. He had scented blood in the water.
“What is it?” he demanded.
If I tried to keep quiet, he would browbeat it out of me eventually and make us both miserable in his quest. “Clover’s pregnant.”
“What? When? Who?”
“My questions exactly. She hasn’t told me yet, I just overheard.”
“Well, ask her.”
“I tried to prod, but she didn’t say anything about it.”
“Prod better. You know what? I’ll do it myself.”
“Like hell you will.” I grabbed his phone out of his hands. “You’re not going to bully her about this.”
“Getting relevant information is not bullying. I have to know how I’m protecting our pack.”
“Protecting us from what?”
Parker tutted. “For all the shit you went through, you’re remarkably terrible about sensing ill intentions.
This is an omega who slept with every single member of our pack and is now pregnant.
How do we know she didn’t do that for this specific purpose?
She could live like a queen off the child support alone. ”
Fury boiled in my gut. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Be reasonable, Logan.”
“I am,” I growled. “We don’t even know if one of us is the father. It’s been over four months since she slept with Avery, and we haven’t even seen her for three months. Maybe she didn’t say anything because the baby isn’t ours.”
“We need to find out how far along she is and get a paternity test if it falls within the applicable timeline.”
Sometimes Parker really made me want to wring his neck. Not often, but this was definitely one of those moments. “I’ll find out, but you need to back off in the meantime.”
It took a few long seconds of a staring contest before Parker eventually sighed. “Fine. You have a week. If you can’t get the information from her by then, we’re doing it my way.”
Goddamn. If Clover wasn’t going to talk, and Arlo wasn’t going to help, how was I supposed to save her from Freight Train Parker?
Logan:
Can you encourage her to reach out?
Arlo:
I already mentioned it to Meadow
She hasn’t been to a clinic yet, so just chill out for a bit
Logan:
Would you be chill if you were in my position?
Arlo:
Absolutely the fuck not, but luckily, I’m not in your position
I dialed his number and was greeted with a sigh. “Let me talk to Meadow.”
“Me?” I heard her squeak in the background.
“Meadow, I know you can hear me. Just give me two minutes.”
“Hi,” she said hesitantly. “You’re on speaker.”
“Great, not awkward at all. I don’t know how much she’s told you about us…”
“She said she slept with your whole pack,” Meadow replied.
“I know the odds are low with how long it’s been, but is it ours?”
Meadow’s silence spoke volumes, but unfortunately, I didn’t have a translator.
“I promise I’ll have an actual conversation with Clover about this,” I continued, “but Parker saw me freaking out, and I don’t want him to do something stupid and stress her out.
If it’s ours, then something has to change.
If it’s not, honestly I don’t even fucking care.
I thought she had a kid when I first met her, and I was ready to make that work. I could make this work too.”
“Logan,” Meadow said softly. “Obviously I can’t give you a 100 percent answer, because I don’t know, but she told me she hasn’t been with anyone since she left LA.
I’m taking her to a clinic in a few days.
I can’t make her talk to you or any of your pack, but trust me, I don’t want her to go through this alone if she doesn’t have to. ”
“Hardly alone when she has you.”
“You know what I mean. I had her too when I was pregnant with Forest, but I still felt better when I had my pack. Give her some time, okay? She just found out today.”
“How…”
“Stress does funny things to the body. She’s been going through a lot lately, and she’s way taller than I am, so she’s not really showing yet.”
“Wait. If you’re taking her, does that mean she’s back in LA?”
“She is,” said Beckett. “You can’t come by, though. Let her settle in and have some space.”
I didn’t want to give her space. I wanted to go straight there and drag her into a nest. Clover was a craving I couldn’t shake, and didn’t want to. If she was carrying our pack baby, we should be there for her.
“Would going to the appointment be out of the question?”
“Yes,” Meadow said firmly. “She’ll already be upset I told you this much.”
I puffed out a breath, knowing Meadow was right, even though I didn’t like it.
“All right. If it’s confirmed to be ours, the pack will support her.
If it’s not ours, could you at least make it clear I’ll be there?
I don’t know about the others—I would hope their response is the same—but I haven’t talked to them yet. ”
“I will,” Meadow promised. “I know the wait will suck, but you just have to suffer in this case.”
That seemed to be all I did when it came to Clover, but lucky for her, I didn’t mind a little torture when it came from her hand.