Glenn, Stormy - Love Sexy [True Blood Mate 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (21 page)

“Anything?”

Logan frowned. “Of course.”

“What if Love wants to leave here?” Moon asked.

“Then we’ll leave.”

Logan tensed under Moon’s intense stare. He knew he wasn’t going to like what she said next.

“And if he wants to leave you?”

Logan stiffened when he heard Love whimper. He tightened his arms around his mate. The thought of Love leaving him nearly brought Logan to tears, but if Love ever wanted to leave, he knew he wouldn’t stand in the way.

“I love Love. I would do everything in my power to keep him with me, but if he truly wanted to leave me, I wouldn’t stand in his way. I just want Love to be happy.”

“And you believe you’re the best person to make Love happy?”

“I’m the only person that can make Love happy.”

Moon tilted her head slightly as she studied Logan. “And why should I believe you?”

“It’s doesn’t matter if you believe me,” Logan said. “It’s only important that Love believes me.”

Logan’s mouth dropped open and shock ripped through his body as Moon suddenly began clapping her hands together. A wide, welcoming grin crossed her lips.

“Very well said, Mr. Stone.” Love raised her hand to her mouth and blew a kiss to Love. “You’ve chosen well, my son.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

Logan blinked. “What just happened here?”

Love chuckled and turned his face up. “Mom was just making sure you were the right man for me.”

“I’m the only man for you,” Logan growled.

Love laughed and turned in his arms. His hand smoothed down the side of Logan’s face. “Not to worry, big guy,” Love crooned. “You
are
the only man for me. Mom was just checking that I was happy.”

“Are you?”

Love’s smile lit up his face and made Logan swallow hard at the tenderness he could see in his eyes. Logan vowed to himself to try and put that look on Love’s face every day of their lives. He wanted that tenderness aimed at him.

“I am.”

Logan drew in a shaky breath and smiled. “Then why don’t you introduce me to your mother so she doesn’t think I’m a complete beast.”

Love tossed his head back and laughed as he turned to face his mother. “If my mother was truly upset, she would have come here with an army.”

Logan growled when Love suddenly tensed.

“Wait, how did you come to be here?” Love asked. “I haven’t even had time to call you and tell you where I was. How did you know?”

A shadow of some emotion crossed Moon’s face as she waved her hand behind her. Logan looked up to see
Cáel standing in the doorway. A peculiar grin covered his lips as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Your father called me.”

Logan tightened his arms around Love when the man’s legs suddenly gave out beneath him. He could feel Love shaking and knew he was experiencing something profound.

“My father?” Love whispered.

Cáel waved from the doorway.

“You’re my father?” Love’s head snapped over to his mother. “He’s my father?”

Moon reached for Love’s hands, but he yanked them away, pressing back against Logan. “Love, honey, I know this is a surprise but—”

“A surprise?” Love snapped. “You call this a surprise? My father’s a wolf shifter, and you never told me.”

“I couldn’t, Love.” Mon wrung her hands together and glanced over her shoulder at
Cáel. When she looked back, her face was pale. “Love, I couldn’t tell you. It wasn’t safe, not for us or for Cáel.”

“Why not?”

Logan couldn’t even answer that question. He knew they needed to keep their shifter abilities a secret from most people, but he would have figured Moon would have told her son he was a half breed.

Even as he thought it the words made a shock of fear spike through Logan. He was just as scared as he was the first time he thought of the possibility, only this time, it was real. His mate was a half breed. Logan didn’t care much beyond what it might mean to Love.

“Love,” Logan whispered, hugging Love to his body, “you’re a half breed, half human, half wolf.”

“Don’t call me that!” Love snapped as he swung around in Logan’s arms.

“Oh, baby, I could care less if you were a penguin with purple polka dots,” Logan said as he grabbed Love’s face in his hands. “I’m just worried. Half breeds aren’t widely accepted in wolf clans, even less so than humans. I don’t want anyone to hurt you.”

“What do you mean half breeds aren’t accepted?”

“Some wolves believe we should stick to our own species. They disdain anything different. It wasn’t until Asher worked to change the laws that we were even allowed to mate with humans. Before then, a wolf that mated a human was hunted down and killed, the human mate, too.”

“What?” Love squeaked.

“When Asher discovered that Darren was his mate, he worked to change the laws. But even then, he wasn’t able to change the minds of all the clans. There are those that still refuse to accept Asher’s bond with Darren. They won’t even allow Darren into their territory.”

“But why?” Love whispered. “Darren’s a great guy. He has so much to give to the clans.”

“I agree, as does everyone in this clan and a few others. But closed minds cannot be changed overnight, Love. Luckily, the laws have been changed so that Darren is safe.”

“Does…” Love licked his lips. “Does that mean I won’t be safe?”

“The laws say that no one can prevent mates from being together. That doesn’t mean that people will accept you.” Logan stroked his hand over Love’s head then pulled him close. “And I won’t let anyone hurt you, Love, I promise.”

“There’s something more you need to know before you make that promise,” Moon said.

Logan felt Love tense in his arms but refused to let the man go. He held him tighter, bracing for whatever Moon had to tell them. “What?”

“Love is a speaker.”

“A what?”

“Love has the ability to speak to people in their minds, only he can talk to more than one person at the same time.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Love snapped as he swung around.

Logan started laughing. He couldn’t help it, not even when Love turned to glare up at him. “I’m sorry, baby, but it makes perfect sense. Don’t you remember what happened when you screamed at me mentally?”

Love’s eyebrows were pulled together in a deep frown. “How could I forget? I thought Asher was going to kill me.”

“Love, you were able to speak to all of us at the same time, and we didn’t know how you did it. If what your mother says is true, it’s a natural ability for you.” Logan chuckled. “We’ll just have to teach you how to control it. There are some thoughts that shouldn’t be shared with anyone except me.”

Love’s face flushed bright red. He groaned and quickly buried his face in Logan’s chest. “Just kill me now.”

Logan chuckled. “Nope, I kind of like you with all these quirks.”

“Promise?”
Love whispered into Logan’s mind.

“I promise, Love,”
Logan whispered right back.
“We’ll figure out how to teach you to control this ability.”

“I hope so,”
Love whispered mentally again, then turned to face his mother.

“I know so,”
Logan replied.

“It still doesn’t explain why I never knew about my father,” Love said out loud. “Or why my mother never told me about him.”

“I think that might be my fault, Love,”
Cáel said as he stepped forward. “Your mother and I only had that one weekend together. Once I left, we never saw each other again.”

“Love, I’m not
Cáel’s mate,” Moon said. “We both knew that back then. I don’t fault him for leaving. I never did.”

“Fine, you’re not mates,” Love snapped. “I get that. What I don’t get is why you never told me who he was. You wouldn’t even tell me his name. Every time I asked, you became upset, so I finally stopped asking.”

“Oh, Love, I couldn’t,” Moon said.

“You keep saying that!” Love stamped his foot. “But you won’t tell me why.”

“Because I know you, Love. You would have started looking for your father the first chance you got, and as Logan has explained to you, until recently, not even humans were accepted in the shifter world. I wasn’t going to let you put your life in danger.”

Logan slowly started to understand what Moon was trying to tell her son. She hadn’t kept
Cáel’s identity from Love because she was angry or because she didn’t want Love to know who his father was. She was doing it to keep Love safe.

Logan smiled at Moon and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thank you.”

Moon’s face flushed, and she dipped her head. “I love him, too, Logan.”

“I know, and once Love understands what you did, he will thank you, too.”

“How can you say that?” Love shouted as he spun around to glare at Logan. He waved his hand back toward Cáel. “She kept my father from me.”

“She kept your ass alive,” Logan said. “Remember what I said, Love. Humans and half breeds were not accepted until Asher changed the laws. Until then, not even same sex matings were accepted. What do you think would have happened if you had tracked Cáel down?”

Love frowned then shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“They would have hunted us down and killed us, Love.” Logan pointed his finger at Love. “Not just you, but me, too, because I was your mate. Your mother was doing what she had to do to keep you alive, to keep us both alive.”

“Love, if you had come to find me even a few years ago,”
Cáel said,
“not only would Logan have been prevented from mating with you, but both of you would have been put to death. And most likely, so would I for fathering a half breed. I wouldn’t put it past some clans to track your mother down and kill her as well because of what she knows.”

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Moon said, “but I did it to save you.”

Logan watched Love’s chest heave as he breathed in then out. He looked like he was trying to take everything in and process it. Logan just hoped that Love understood and forgave his mother. He also had a relationship to build with his father.

Finally, Love looked up. “Are you really my father?”

Cáel smiled and nodded. “So your mother says.”

Moon blushed and elbowed Cáel. “Butthead.”

Cáel laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Logan was shocked when Moon leaned into Cáel’s body and Cáel kissed the top of her head. They looked like old friends. He couldn’t help but wonder why fate had decreed they were not mates. It didn’t seem fair.

“Are you sure you two aren’t mates?” Logan asked.

“While I enjoyed the time we had together,” Moon said, looking less joyous than she had a moment ago, “our destinies do not lie in the same direction. Cáel’s mates will find him when the time is right.”

“Mates?” Cáel sputtered. “Have you lost your mind, woman?”

Moon laughed, and Logan suddenly saw what caught Cáel’s interest all those years ago. She may have been a few years older than Logan, but she was still a beautiful woman that glowed with life.

“Honey,” Moon said as she cupped her hand around the side of Cáel’s face, “you don’t get a choice. Fate decides what is best for us, and they have decided you get two mates.”

Logan pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at the astonishment on Cáel’s face. He reached over and grabbed Love, pulling the man into his arms. He didn’t like being away from his mate any further than he had to.

“Are you doing okay, baby?”
Logan asked through their bond as he nuzzled the side of Love’s neck.