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Chapter 7

-Emory-

I have a bath going just how I like- hot as lava, aromatic oils, and bubbles on top - when I arrange my phone, a hand towel, and a book on my tub table, ready to call Cora and spill everything. Cora and I have been best friends for years and years now. We were roomies in college, both taking classes in the fine arts wing for most of our days. I was busily getting my interior design degree to fulfill my dreams and Cora was going for journalism to fulfill hers. She’s working at a tabloid right now, but that’s just a stepping stone for her. One day she’ll leverage herself into the New York Times and write hard-hitting masterpieces month after month. Cora is the type you always know will go far; she has always worked hard, has always been driven, and she has absolutely always known how to best leverage what she has available to her in order to achieve her ambition. I’ll admit, I rode her coattails a little bit when it came to networking in college, but she has always been there for me when I needed her and I can’t imagine telling anyone else about Mr. Anatomy before I tell her.

The phone seems like it rings a long time, but I think that’s just my anticipation of reliving how absolutely gorgeous Logan is to someone else. Finally, Cora picks up.

“Heeey, bestie, another night in?” She is always thinking I need to get out more. Honestly, I could do with getting out less, but she loves trying out new clubs on opening night and every girl should have backup in a new space like that.

“Yes, but that’s not why I called you. Do you have, like, 45 minutes for me to gush about the man I met today?” I hear the music behind her, but it isn’t club loud. She must be at a private party, networking again.

“A man?! Stop the presses, Emory! I have all night to talk about a new man! Tell me all about him! Is he pretty? Is he seeexy? Does he have a big cock you can ride? Only the best for my girlie!” She’s so ridiculous when she’s tipsy, but I have to admit I giggle- giggle! Like a school girl!- when she asks.

“Yes, a man. A man, Cora, not a sex god! I haven’t seen his cock because I just met him today but from what I can tell…. Girl, it’s huge. He’s all Italian stallion hot and the way he fills out his suit would stop traffic back home. We ran into each other in the stairwell at work today and he walked me home this evening and… Cora, you will not believe!”

“Wait a minute, you took the stairs? Was the elevator broken?” She asked, with an insulting amount of tone to it. I’ll admit that I haven’t done a lot of exercise since we started college, but there’s no reason to be rude about it. “Whatever, just tell me, already! What won’t I believe?” She could never handle suspense. I can’t, either, but only when it comes to books.

"He kissed me!" Technically, I kissed him, but he stepped up way more than I thought he would, so it's still correct. "Right in front of the building and God and everybody! Also, no. I took the stairs to be healthy, fuck you very much." There. I finally got it off my chest. It feels more real now that somebody else knows about it. "Cora, he's amazing so far. We really just clicked, like soul mates or something crazy. He's got this tight-knit extended family- he said they were like a wolf pack!" I chuckle, remembering it. "And he has a little brother that he really cares about, and he's passionate about his job and his community and he's just so damn gorgeous that I can hardly stand it." I fully realize that I'm gushing now, but I can't stop.

"Well, if he's all that, then what's wrong with him? Why is he single?" Critical Cora strikes again. Always poking holes in my romantasy plots.

I don't know, Cora. I just met him today! Let me see where this date goes before I start trying to find flaws in his character. Maybe he just focused on his work for a long time and is just now ready to settle down, or maybe he just got out of a long term relationship a little while ago and feels healed enough to finally date again. I'm sure it'll come up Saturday night. Can't you just be happy and excited for me right now? Please?"

"Oh, Emory, you know I'm so so excited for you. I just don't want to see you get hurt. You have such a romantic heart that you tend to just jump in. I feel like I need to protect you from that, sometimes." I suppose she's right, but I wanted this phone call to hype me up more instead of drag me down. I need to work up the courage to go confidently on Saturday or I'm just going to be a quivering mess of nerves the whole time. "Anyway, I need to get back to this contact. Congratulations, sweetie! Good luck on Saturday! Kisses!"

I feel a little unsettled, now that Cora and I aren't going over every detail of my interactions with Logan. I was hoping to get more advice from her than "be careful he's not a psycho." I was already doing that. Ok, I really wasn't, but I was aware of the possibility and the consequences. I'm a big girl, and I think Cora has known me so long that she forgets that sometimes.

-Logan-

I stand in front of a line of pups, arms crossed, trying so hard to keep a straight face I should be nominated for an Oscar. The pups are fidgeting now, uncomfortable in the silence. I let it linger just a few seconds longer, let them sweat it out, before I finally ask what I need to know.

“What is this I hear about a fight? What is the meaning of this? Who started it?” I put a little growl on the very end, but Landon rolling his eyes behind the kids makes me think I’m laying it on a little too thick. The pups all start talking at the same time.

“It was Mason!”

“It was Bobbie!”

“It was Luke!” I clear my throat menacingly and wait a second for the arguing to die down, but just before I jump back in a little voice pipes up at the end.

“It was me, Alpha. I started it. Iss all my fault.” Little Lexie always tries to take the blame. It would work better if she ever misbehaved and wasn’t literally half the size of the other kids in this lineup, but I won’t be the one to tell her that. Instead, I squat down to her level so I can look her right in the eyes and get the real story.

“Well, Lexie, if you started the fight then you’re the most qualified to tell me why it happened. I need the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Do you have any lies in your mouth today?” I act like I’m going to look down her throat to check for lies, causing her to giggle instead of cry like it’s clear she wants to.

“Alpha, Mason was making fun of Bobbie, and she was getting real sad, so I told him that my momma said that sometimes boys can be mean when they like a girl but that’s not an excuse and they need to communtigate instead so girls don’ have to put up with nonsense. But Mason said he didn’ like Bobbie and didn’t have any nonsense and Luke laughed and said of course he did because girls are gross and Mason likes gross things. I shouldn’t have said it, Alpha. I maked everybody mad.” Just as I suspected. Sherri - Lexie’s mother - has a habit of talking to Lexie like she’s a pint-sized adult. It’s helpful in that she’s more emotionally mature than pack mates her age but in situations like this she ends up trying to explain ideas that she only half understands herself. It’s adorable most of the time.

“Hmm. Do you disagree, Mason? Luke? Is that how it happened?” I look them both in the eye, willing them to rise to expectations.

“... I don’t have nonsense. I’m smart.” Mason explains sulkily. Luke just nods, looking at the ground.

“Oh, Mason. That’s not what nonsense means. It just means being silly. You can be smart and still talk nonsense. Now. I want all four of you to hug it out right here where I can see you. Then I want you to run home and tell your parents that Alpha said you need an extra long bath tonight. Do you hear me?” I don’t release them from my gaze until I get a reluctant nod from all of them. As soon as I stand up, ruffle the dirty hair of the closest two, and give them my back to dismiss them, I crack the grin I’ve been fighting the whole time. I only smile more when they all groan like I can’t hear them just because I’m not looking at them. I’m glad Lexie was on the periphery of the situation; it’s so much easier to clear up these little messes when there’s a truth teller on the scene.

“Extra long baths, huh? Wait until it gets out that Alpha Logan supports cruel and unusual punishment.” Landon laughs, probably glad I could handle that one instead of him. He’s much more comfortable knocking heads together, but you just can’t do that when they’re small, of course. That’s why I make sure to keep close to the pack and my phone on even while I’m working. I love maintaining the balance of both sets of responsibilities. I laugh with him and just as I go to slap him on the shoulder, he takes a deep breath. “And don’t think I don’t smell that, Logan. You’re lucky the kids were too distracted with their own misery to notice the arousal clinging to your clothes. I wouldn’t want to be you after their parents realize you had to explain to them what that was. Is she… she’s your mate? She’s what you were caught up in? Why didn’t you say anything? You need to go claim her!”

“It’s a… little more complicated than that. She’s human. I have to start slow.” I rub the back of my neck, embarrassed to admit that I didn’t want to shower her off of my skin until I knew I would smell her again soon. Landon smirks at me.

“Trust me, brother. I’ve met plenty of humans that will go as fast as you like. You just gotta finesse it. I understand that may be hard for you, though.” His smirk only grows as I punch him in the arm. I have plenty of finesse. Until today, I was pulling more than he was and he knows it. But now I have Emory, and that part of my life is behind me forever. Good riddance. I’m nervous but also really excited to start the new part of my life, the “in love” part, and I already know it will take some finesse. Good thing I have plenty of that.

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