Chapter Forty-six — Logan
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
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LOGAN
“Do we have to go home?” Trinity asked. “I’m not sure I’m ready to leave.”
Theo had Rin plastered against his side as we walked to the car. And our Omega looked about as happy as she could be. I hadn’t noticed how tense she really was until we all came down here and I saw something drop off her shoulders.
Weight that shouldn’t be there.
“We could just stay here.”
“Wish we could, wildfire, but it’s Bastian’s turn now. His fight.”
She nodded. “Right.”
“We’ll come back,” I said, stepping closer to her. “But I want you to feel like this while we’re at home.”
Her gaze slid away, which I now knew meant she was avoiding her true thoughts on a subject. Once we were home, there would be no more delaying. We needed to know the truth, as much as she could tell us.
Trinity froze. “Do you hear that?”
She sprinted toward the SUV, nearly tripping in her eagerness to get down on the ground and look under the car.
“Trinity,” Aiden called. “Don’t—”
“Oh my god, it’s a kitten!”
The five of us stopped, looking at the pair of disembodied legs that was currently our Omega. And the softness of her voice. “Oh my goodness, how did you get stuck in here?”
“Rin?”
“Help me.” I bent down next to the car to find a little ball of fur shoved in my face. I took the kitten from her hands and stood, glancing it over. Small, gray, a little dirty, with wide orange eyes that stared at me with awe but not fear.
Trinity scooted out from under the car and reached. She sat on the curb and tucked the kitten into her chest. “It’s okay,” she said when it meowed. “I know it’s warm in there, but you could have gotten hurt.”
Brooks made a sound and spoke quietly. “Yeah, I’m glad we didn’t find out once we got home.”
The little cat was already crawling all over Trinity. Pushing itself up under her chin and cuddling her. My Omega’s smile was so bright and easy…
Fuck, it stole my breath.
“What should we call you, huh?” She set the kitten back into her lap, and I watched it curl up and close its eyes. Like it finally felt safe enough to relax. Not unlike the Omega it sat on. Because that’s how she was with us.
Behind me, the guys loaded our luggage into the back of the SUV. The sound didn’t bother the sleeping cat one bit. Bastian tapped me on the shoulder. Other than Rin, we were ready to go.
I’d never seen her look like this. She was so still I might worry if I couldn’t see the cat. Her entire focus was on the little ball of fur cradled in her lap.
I cleared my throat. “I glanced when you handed it to me. Pretty sure it’s a girl.”
“Can we keep her?” Her tone was so soft I almost missed it. So full of both hope and dread, it made my chest ache. Had she asked for a pet before and been denied? Not to mention she said we. I wasn’t sure she even knew she said it. The simple acceptance that this was real.
I glanced at the guys. Brooks was already smiling. Bastian nodded once. Theo shrugged with a smile. I felt the same. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make Trinity happy, and the kitten was adorable.
Aiden glared at the four of us, arms crossed. He didn’t like cats? Fine. He didn’t have to have the cat in his room.
I looked down at Rin pointedly before looking back at him. He followed my gaze and sighed, shoulders dropping. Finally, he nodded once.
“Yeah,” I said, “we can keep her.”
“Really?” Rin’s eyes were filled with tears when she lifted her face.
Brooks went and sat next to her, keeping his moves smooth so he didn’t wake the animal. “Yeah, baby.”
“Thank you. I always wanted a cat.”
“Why didn’t you get one?” I asked.
Trinity shrugged. “Val and Paige are allergic. And they didn’t think I’d remember to take care of a pet when Dad was traveling.”
“I’ll order some stuff,” Theo said, pulling out his phone. “See if there’s a pet store that does short-term deliveries.”
“Did you pick a name?”
Trinity ran a single finger over the kitten’s head, smiling as it curled more and exposed its belly. “I know it was a car, but she looks like she fell in a fire pit down on the beach. And she has orange eyes. What about Cinder?”
Bastian nodded. “That’s perfect.”
I climbed into the last row of the SUV and Trinity came with me. “I can’t believe you let me keep her.”
“I love animals. Surprised we haven’t adopted one before this, actually. Guess we never thought we had time.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I turned her face to mine. “But just so we’re clear, we’re not the keepers of every decision. You’re an equal member of this pack, even though we have a dynamic. We’re not letting you keep her. This is a decision we made together.”
Her brow furrowed for a moment while she processed my words.
We weren’t gods sitting on thrones handing out favors she needed to be grateful for.
Our power exchange worked because it brought us all joy and pleasure.
That didn’t mean Trinity didn’t have her own mind or didn’t get to make decisions, and I didn’t want her to fall into the habit.
“Yeah,” she finally said. “Yeah.”
“All good?” Aiden called from the driver’s seat.
I gave a thumbs up. Trinity curled into my side with Cinder in her lap, and before we were even halfway home, both kitten and Omega were fast asleep.