The Wolf's Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna (20 page)

“Yes, sir,” Logan said.  When
the door shut, he showered and took extra care to make sure that he did a good
job shaving.  Jenna didn’t mind his scruffy cheeks when they made love in the
mornings, but he wanted to look his best.  He had no doubt that she would look
amazing.

He wasn’t sure how they’d
found clothes big enough for him, but the trousers and shirt fit perfectly. 
The shirt had a high collar and French cuffs, and he looked for cuff links on
the bed but didn’t see any.  He called for Brokk, who opened the door and
walked in, carrying a wooden box.

“You look good, lad,” Brokk
said, putting the box on the bed and opening the lid.  He pulled out cuff links
and fixed them, and then reached for the silver fabric.

“When our kind — by which I
mean
lockinfae
— bond in matrimony to our mates, we show our pride for
our heritage by wearing a metallic object.  This looks like fabric, but it’s
made up of thousands of tiny links of different metals and has been passed down
in my family for generations.  I wore it to join to Rhoswen and I’m giving it
to you, to wear to join to Jenna.  And someday, when you have children, whether
they are wolf or fae, you’ll give this to them to wear, also.”

He draped the sash over
Logan’s right shoulder and caught the ends at his left hip, where he fixed them
together with an intricately braided metal brooch.

“It’s time, Logan,” Brokk
said, as Logan looked at himself in a full-length mirror on the back of the
door.  The male staring back at him looked different than he was used to seeing
in his reflection, and it wasn’t just because he was wearing fancy clothes. 
His life had been changed the night that Jenna had cast the spell for him and
he rescued her from death.  The man staring back at him didn’t look like the
world-weary male that had left his home pack and started his life over in Allen
last summer.  He looked happy.  Complete.  And the reason for the amazing
feelings was the sweet fairy that had captured his heart.

Chapter 11

After Logan left with Raynir,
to do whatever men do before they join together with their mates, Jenna and
Kari left to go to Madame’s to get pampered.  Jenna had been to Madame’s once
several years earlier, when Kari had surprised her with a visit for her
twenty-first birthday.  Kari’s driver stopped the carriage in front of the
small building and stepped down, helping Kari and Jenna onto the cobblestone
sidewalk.

“We’ll be three hours, Laun,
and then we’ll be going to lunch at Fedwig’s.”

“I’ll be waiting, Miss.”  He
bowed slightly and climbed up into the carriage and left.

Kari hooked her arm through
Jenna’s.  “Let’s go get pampered, Jen.”

Several hours later, after
Jenna’s skin had been scrubbed, massaged, oiled, buffed, and left glowing, she
was sitting next to Kari while their nails were done.

Kari cast a surreptitious
glance at Jenna.  “So, how are things in the Mortal Realm with your wolf?  He’s
devastatingly gorgeous.  You’re so lucky.”

“Raynir is handsome,” Jenna
said. 
But not as handsome as Logan
.

“Of course.” Kari rolled her
eyes.  “But he’s not a wolf, and he didn’t rescue me from near-death.  That’s
so romantic.”

Jenna grimaced.  Nearly dying
from iron poisoning was hardly romantic, but she didn’t shatter her friend’s
perception.  She told Kari about the pack and the town, and how much she was
enjoying herself now that she was settling in.

As the beauticians began to
work on their hair, Kari sighed wistfully.

“What’s that big sigh for?”
Jenna asked, reaching her newly manicured hand over to squeeze her friend’s.

“I’m just gonna miss you,
Jen.”

Tears stung Jenna’s eyes. 
“Oh, you’re going to make me cry.”  She sniffled and smiled.  “You can come
visit me in the Mortal Realm anytime, and I’m just a portal-call away.”

“It’s not the same,” Kari
said, and then smiled.  “But I am happy for you.”

By the time they’d had a
light meal and were getting dressed at Kari’s home, it was nearly time for the
ceremony.  Her mother and Kari’s mother had joined them for the meal, and the
two older women shared the stories of their joining ceremonies.

Two carriages appeared
outside of Kari’s home when it was time to go to the ceremony.  Jenna and
Kari’s mothers got into the front carriage, which was led by two navy blue
stallions, and Kari and Jenna got into the second carriage, which was led by
two bright pink mares.  As the drivers led the horses down the street, Kari said,
“I almost forgot.”  She held out the necklace that she had given Jenna on her
birthday.

Jenna clasped it in her hand
and ran her finger along the pendant.  “I thought it was lost.”

Kari kissed Jenna on the
cheek after putting the necklace on.  “It’s made of strong material and will be
around forever, like our friendship.  No distance or amount of time will sever
our bond because you’re my friend and you always will be.”

“You, too,” Jenna said,
trying not to cry and ruin her makeup.  The carriage pulled down a side street
towards a clearing in the trees where the ceremony was going to take place. 
Jenna and Kari’s mothers had decorated the clearing, Kari’s mother using her
powers over nature to grow beautiful vining flowers that wove through the trees
and over the clearing to create a canopy of delicate blossoms in varying shades
of pink and purple.  Glittering sashes made from tiny links of different-colored
metals flowed from the end chairs on each row, creating an aisle that stretched
from one end of the clearing to the other, where Logan stood with one of the
fae-court judges, who would officiate their ceremony.

“Are you ready, darling?” her
dad asked as he held his hand out to her when she stepped from the carriage.

“I am.”

She watched her mom, Kari’s
mom, and Kari get led by ushers down the aisle to their seats in the front row.

Stringed instruments began to
play a lilting melody, signaling that it was time for her to meet Logan and
join with him according to fae law.  She hooked her hand around her father’s
left arm and smiled at him.  “He’s a good man, Jenna.  He’ll make a fine
husband for you.”

She already knew that was
true.  Even if she hadn’t cast the truemate spell so they would find each
other, he was perfect for her in every way.  Strong where she was weak.  Hard
where she was soft.  And full of love.

Logan stood next to Judge
Aldaar, looking handsome in his trousers and shirt, with her father’s joining
sash pinned across his chest.  His eyes were bright and the corner of his lips
turned up in that secret smile she loved so much.  She walked slowly down the
aisle with her father, as friends and neighbors stood up when she passed and
lifted their hands in silent well-wishes for the joining.

Her father stopped them
before the judge.  Judge Aldaar lifted his voice and said, “Who gives this
she-fae to this he-wolf?”

“Her mother and I do,” her
father said, his voice trembling at the end with emotion.  Jenna pressed her
lips together, afraid she was going to break down and weep, but managed to keep
it together as her father kissed her cheek and took her hand from his own arm
and gave her to Logan.

They faced each other and
clasped their hands together.  Judge Aldaar wove a rope made of honeysuckle,
ivy, and fresh-cut grapevines around their hands.

“We gather today to witness
the joining of Logan and Jenna.  The rope signifies the strength of their bond,
that it may never be torn asunder, that their joining will be sweet and long,
and that they will remain forever together in this life and into eternity.

“Logan, do you join yourself
to Jenna as her truemate?  Do you swear to honor her heart and soul as if they
were your own?  Do you swear to love, honor, and keep her safe from harm from
this day forward and through all eternity?”

Logan’s eyes never left hers
as he spoke.  “I swear.”

“Jenna, do you join yourself
to Logan as his truemate?  Do you swear to honor his heart and soul as if they
were your own?  Do you swear to love and honor him from this day forward and
through all eternity?”

A tear trickled down her
cheek.  “I swear.”

The judge placed his hands on
top of their joined ones and spoke a short spell of blessing, and then said,
“As you have sworn this day, let no one destroy.  You may kiss your beloved,
Logan.”

Logan’s hands flexed against
hers and he bent forward, pressing his lips to hers with a happy growl.  The
crowd cheered and clapped as they parted from their kiss.  Judge Aldaar unwound
the rope from their hands and gave it to Logan, who followed his instructions
and wrapped it around Jenna’s waist like a belt.

“You look beautiful,
sweetheart,” he murmured in her ear.

They walked down the aisle
with their hands joined and into the building where the reception was going to
take place.  Once inside, he stole her away to a far corner and kissed her
soundly.

“I missed you,” he said in a
low voice that sent shivers down her spine.

“I missed you, too.”  She
hugged her arms around him.

“How long do we have to
stay?”

“A few hours.  It’s our party
after all.”

“If we must, but the sooner I
can get you naked, the better.”

She laughed while he kissed
her again and then led her to the head table.  Guests filled the tables in the
large room.  Jenna and Logan sat at the center of a long table.  On her side of
the table sat her parents and Kari and her parents.  On Logan’s side sat Raynir
and his parents, and Judge Aldaar.

Before the meal was served,
Jenna’s father stood up and toasted the new couple, welcoming Logan to the
family.  She and Logan kissed while the crowd cheered.

The meal was served, and then
the band switched from pleasant background music to dance music.

“I don’t really dance,
sweetheart,” Logan protested as she tugged on his hand.

“It’s tradition,” she
grinned.  “Besides, we can’t leave until we’ve danced a few dances, so suck it
up.”

He made a face and she
thought he would protest, but instead he let out a sigh and followed her to the
center of the dance floor where Kari and Raynir were already dancing.  Twirling
metal chandeliers bounced candlelight around the room.  Logan pulled her in
close and laid his mouth against her ear.

“You’re all mine,
sweetheart?”

She nodded, her hands
grasping the waist of his trousers as they moved together to the pounding
music.  He may not have cared much for dancing, but he could move with the best
of them.  In spite of the many layers of the gown, she could feel his body
pressing against hers, rubbing in all the right spots.

He held her close with his
big hand splayed across her back.  His other hand lay against her neck.  He tapped
his fingers lightly against her pulse to the time of the music.  She stared up
at him, lost in the depths of his eyes and drowning in heady lust.

“We can go now,” she panted,
her heart racing at the thought of getting him alone and naked.

“I’m having a good time,” he
mused, twirling her in a circle lazily.

Her mouth fell open and she
stopped moving.  “Are you serious?”

He chuckled.  “Of course
not!  It’s about damn time.”

Thank goodness
.

They said goodbye to friends
and family and took the carriage with the navy blue horses back to her home.

Logan lifted her from the
carriage and carried her up the steps to her parents’ home.  “Are you parents
going to be a while?”

“We’ve got all night. 
They’re going to stay with my father’s sister for the night.  We’ll see them at
breakfast before we start moving my things to your home.”

The growl that emanated from
his chest tickled her side where she rested against him as he strode through
the house and straight up to her bedroom.

Setting her on the bed, he
cupped her face with both hands and said, “I love you, mate of mine.”

“I love you, too, Logan.”

* * * * *

“This is the last box,”
Jenna’s father said as he stepped through the portal in the garden behind her
new home with Logan and handed it off to her mate.

“Now I can finally have my own
sewing room,” her mother said.

“Sewing room?” her father
asked in surprise.  “I thought we were going to turn it into a library?”

She laughed as her parents
argued playfully about what her former bedroom was going to become.  She didn’t
care what they did with it.  She had no intention of living there again,
because she’d found her home with her mate.

She invited her parents to
stay for lunch, and after the meal was finished and her mother had helped her
with the dishes, they offered to stay and help her unpack.