Chapter Twenty Three.

I awoke feeling a little sore between my legs. I was aching in different parts of my body but it wasn't the sore, uncomfortable sort of aching it was the pleasant sort of ache that had a soft smile making its way onto my lips with a sigh.

"I hope that's a good sigh." A husky voice murmured from underneath me as I felt finger tips lightly trail up and down my bare back.

I couldn't stop my smile from widening at the sound of Logan's morning voice as it caused as sorts of feelings to ignite within me once again. My eyes fluttered open and I tilted my head so that my chin was resting on Logan's bare chest.

I allowed myself to take in the sight of the beautiful man in front of me.

Logan had seated himself up a little bit with his hands resting behind his head allowing me to see the muscles defining his arms. His dark hair stuck out in different directions and I knew that it was because of my fingers that had knotted themselves throughout his silky strands many times during the night. He was looking down at me with a soft smile on his face, his brown eyes brighter than I had ever seen them before.

It still seemed like a dream. It was as if Logan was just a figment of my imagination and I would soon wake up to find myself back to the reality of my life before and at the hands of my father, but Logan was real and no matter how hard I tried I would never have been able to imagine anyone like Logan. He was real and I was the lucky one that fate had paired with him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Logan asked softly as his hand trailed the path of my spine causing a shiver to run through my entire body from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

"Like what?" I asked a little embarrassed that I had been caught openly drinking in his every feature and committing it to memory.

"Like I'm not real or something," he laughed while using the arm that was wrapped around me to pull me closer to him.

I only hummed in response as I buried my face in his bare chest and pressed my lips against his soft skin in a small kiss. I could feel Logan shudder underneath and I grinned, my wolf and I enjoying the reaction from our mate.

Logan growled and I suddenly found myself lying underneath him with a small giggle sounding throughout the room. He looked down at me with a huge grin as his hand reached up and gently brushed hair out of my face just like he had last night. The memory caused a blush to rise in my cheeks. Last night had been perfect, better than I could have ever thought possible and it was all because of Logan, the man currently grinning above me.

"What are you thinking about?" Logan asked softly although I could hear the underlying teasing tone in his voice and I knew that he knew exactly what had been on my mind.

"Food." I smiled up at him and as if to prove my point my stomach growled.

Logan laughed loudly, and I couldn't help but admire the sound. It was deep and soothing; his shoulders shook with the action. Logan looked so carefree and relaxed as he pulled back and sat himself back on his knees, the sheets pooling at his waist.

"Let's get that monster inside of you fed," he grinned.

He moved himself so that he sat on the side of the bed, the sheets having slid off his waist. Logan was confident as he stood in all of his naked glory and walked across the bedroom to his drawers. A surprised squeak left me and my hands jumped up to cover my eyes from Logan's naked form. My wolf wasn't fully satisfied and she urged me forward to Logan who we both knew wouldn't mind spending the morning tangled in the sheets. I wouldn't have minded if my body wasn't still recovering from last night.

Logan laughed loudly once again as I felt something being thrown at me. I slowly removed my hands from my eyes to see that Logan now wore a pair of shorts that hung low on his hips much to my wolf's disappointment. I looked down to see that he had thrown a long sleeved shirt at me and red underwear that I was sure he had specifically chosen.

I tucked the sheets under my arms fully aware of Logan's eyes watching me closely from where he was casually leaning against the door frame. I knew that Logan had already seen me completely naked but I still felt self-conscious underneath his gaze. I was quick to slide my arms through the shirt and wrap it around myself, the sheets falling off of my top half. It was easy to slip on my underwear underneath the covers and it didn't take long for me to shimmy them up my legs and into place. The sleeves of the shirt were too long and so I rolled them up a little bit until my hand could be seen.

"I've seen it all before." Logan spoke suddenly sounding closer as I looked up to see that he was standing beside the bed with his hands held out.

I didn't hesitate to reach up and place my hands in his, allowing him to pull me gently off of the bed to stand in front of him. His hands gripped my hips and he was quick to place his lips on mine with a quick kiss that was enough to have my knees weaken and my body leaning into his.

"Let me," Logan mumbled when he had pulled away from me.

I allowed Logan to slowly start to do up the buttons of my shirt starting at the top. Logan's eyes locked with my own and he didn't look away. My body was alight with tingles as his hands went lower, taking his time to do up each button until he reached the last one, his hands now gripping my thighs. The shirt was massive and reached just above my knees, drowning me completely in Logan's scent that had my wolf purring and a suppressed moan catching in my throat.

"Thank you," I whispered breathlessly.

A wicked grin made its way onto his face before I was lifted off my feet and into his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist and hooked together behind him so that I wouldn't fall. My hand rested on Logan's chest as I looked at him with a small smile on my face.

"About last night," Logan murmured causing a blush to coat my cheeks, "it was the best night of my life."

I couldn't help but smile brightly at him. I hadn't really wanted to think about last night as I knew that it would bring all of my insecurities to the front of my mind. It filled me with a sense of pride to hear that last night was not only the best night of my life but also Logan's as well. I had been worried that it wasn't what Logan has expected due to my inexperience.

"Last night and the night that I found you," he continued with a grin.

"Me too," I told him as I leaned forward to press my lips against his in a quick kiss.

Logan smiled just as brightly as I had a few moments ago and began to walk out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. He set me down on the counter and began to make his way around the kitchen, pulling ingredients out of the cupboards and fridge to make breakfast.

My stomach growled in anticipation. Logan has made a point of constantly cooking all of my meals ever since I got here. I now understood with the knowledge of werewolves that it was Logan's way of showing me, and now my wolf that he could provide for us and one day our young. My stomach fluttered at the thought of carrying Logan's children and I remembered that Logan and I hadn't used any protection that I could remember.

"Oh my god," I whispered, a shaking hand pressed to my lips.

"What?" Logan was quick to rush to my side as he took my face in his hands.

"We didn't use protection," I whispered. My eyes were wide with panic and my heart felt as though it was about to leap out of my chest the way it hammered against my rib cage. My palms felt hot and sweaty as did the rest of my body.

"Oh," Logan said with a small smile.

I couldn't help but stare at him in horror, the small smile still on his face. Logan let go of my face and turned around so that he could rummage his way through one of the cupboards to look for something specific.

"Logan?" I called out, my voice nothing but a small whisper.

It wasn't that I didn't want kids it just wouldn't be the right time to even think about children. My father was still out there, a constant threat that was hanging over our heads and even if no one spoke about him he was constantly in everyone's mind. Plus I was too young to have kids. I was only seventeen and I hadn't even finished my last year of school but I doubted I would now as I had missed too much and school hasn't even crossed my mind.

"Don't worry," he smiled reassuringly at me.

He had turned back around and now held a box of tablets in his hand with a glass of water in the other that I hadn't seen him get. Logan seated himself in between my legs and handed me the box that I took and looked over the cover. I blushed deeply as I realised that it was the morning after pill with my mums familiar hand writing scribbled across the front.

"When did she give you this?!" I asked horrified. Although I was relieved to know that my mum and Logan had both thought this through.

I took out a set and popped the pill out of its tinfoil confines and onto the palm of my hand. I placed the small pill in my mouth and took the glass of water that Logan now held out to me. I had always had difficulty in taking tablets and with the water and pill in my mouth I threw my head back and swallowed with a grimace.

"She gave it to me a few weeks ago saying to be safe," he chuckled. "If it helps my mum got us this."

Logan had walked away from me while he was talking and returned to the cupboard to grab another two boxes that he turned to show me. I couldn't help but blush as I saw the packet of condoms and another box of pills similar to the one that Logan had just given it me.

"They've planned this," I muttered feeling embarrassed that mine and Logan's sex life had been hot topic of our mum's conversations.

"Don't worry sweetheart," Logan kissed the top of my head, "I have my own as well."

My face dropped in shock and Logan's booming laughter filled the house as he turned and began to continue cooking breakfast. My wolf was enjoying the view of Logan's bare back and the way that his muscles rippled with every movement. I was enjoying this side of Logan a lot; he was carefree and teasing but also attentive and loving. He wasn't the bad Alpha that he normally was. It was the side of Logan that I knew I was the only person who was lucky enough to see.

"Boo!"

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of someone shouting loudly behind me. I jumped in fright and off the counter to Logan who had already been reaching out to grab me gently and put me behind his back while he growling loudly at the intruders.

The loud laughter of his two brothers had me frowning as I looked around Logan to see that Jason and Oliver were hunched over laughing loudly. Jason was bracing himself on his bent knees while Oliver was clutching his stomach. They were both quick to recover when the saw the angry look on Logan's face as he glared at his two younger siblings.

"Hey guys," I smiled stepping out from behind Logan.

"Hey Esme." The two said at the same time as they looked over at my appearance and their eyes seemed to bulge out of their heads.

"Don't look at her," Logan growled and stepped in front of me once again.

I looked down and realised that I was only wearing Logan's shirt and stepped further behind him so that he could shield me. I placed my hands on his shoulder blades feeling his muscles relax under my touch. I was a little bit embarrassed that Jason and Oliver had seen me in so little. I peeked around Logan to see that both of the boys were sniffing the air with huge grins of their faces.

"Congratulations!" Oliver spoke first as he looked between me and Logan.

"Congratulations Alpha, Luna." Jason teased the both of us. He hopped up onto one of the stools on the counter and looked at the two of us as if he wanted to know details.

"Why did they sniff the air?" I asked Logan through our mate bond.

"Now that we have mated our scents are mixed together," Logan's voice was filled with pride.

I realised that now everyone would know that Logan and I had mated but I wasn't as embarrassed as I thought I would be. I was now a werewolf and it was obviously as regular occurrence in the werewolf community and so it wasn't as shocking for everyone as it was for me. I was slowly but surely adapting to the werewolf community.

*

Logan had offered to cook breakfast for Oliver and Jason and they had both happily agreed to stay explaining that the food in the pack house had all been eaten. It turns out that Logan and I had rolled out of bed around noon and when neither of us had appeared in the pack house or answered through the pack link they volunteered themselves to come and check on us.

The boys had their plates piled high with food while I had the usual size portion that Logan always gave me. I happily dug into the meal and moaned when the bacon and eggs attacked my taste buds and began to satisfy my hunger.

"You really worked up an appetite, huh?" Jason teased and I blushed furiously as I realised what he was insisting.

"Leave my mate alone," Logan growled from my side and squeezed my bare thigh reassuringly making a small smile appear on my lips as I looked up at him.

Jason and Oliver left mine and Logan's mating out of the conversation after that from what I could hear. I found myself lost in my own thoughts like I had been doing a lot lately.

I was trying to move on from the life that my mum and I had before we ended up in Logan's territory but I couldn't. My father was close, probably lurking on the edges of the borders looking for a place that was weak so that he could easily slip through unnoticed with his pack and attack. A fight was inevitable and I knew that he would do anything in his power to get me and my mum back and that included going to the extreme. He had already proven that when he killed two pack members.

If my father were to attack I'd have no means of protecting myself and that scared me. I couldn't rely on Logan to be able to fight for the both of us as no doubt he would be distracted. I could shift into my wolf but I didn't know how much help that would be as I had no idea how to fight in human form let alone as my wolf.

"I need to train," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

The conversation around the table came to stop as Logan cleared his throat, "train?"

"Yeah," I muttered, "I need to know how to fight."

"You're not going to be fighting," Logan told me, his voice left no room for an argument.

"What if my dad gets to me, I'm not saying he will but what if something bad happens and he does get to me, I won't be able to protect myself." I tried to reason with Logan. I turned in my chair so that I was now facing him, my eyes pleading as I grabbed his hand in mine and squeezed it gently.

"I can protect you," Logan growled, "We can all protect you."

"I know you can, I'm not doubting you," I reassured Logan as I ran my thumb over his knuckles in an attempt to sooth him, "I want to be able to defend myself and the pack if something bad happens."

"You're not going to be anywhere near the fight." He said again. He turned his hand over so that he was now grabbing mine.

"Logan," I spoke softly, "my dad will stop at nothing until he gets me or my mum, probably the both of us. I know you want to protect me but we need to think about the pack. My dad will kill anyone in his way and more pack members that stand between him and me will die. I don't want people dying for me or at least, I want to prevent as many people from dying as possible. I need to be there with you to save the pack, our pack."

I held my breath as I watched Logan process everything he said. I could see that he was angry and that he was trying to control his wolf, his tight grip on my hand told me so. I hoped that Logan could understand where I was coming from. The thought of people dying because of me filled me with guilt and brought me on the verge of tears. I wanted to save as many lives as possible and the only way I could do that was if I was on the battlefield at Logan's side.

"Logan, she's right." Oliver spoke hesitantly.

Logan growled from deep within his chest, his eyes were now closed and his fists tightly clenched, "I just want you to be safe."

"I will be, the safest place for me is at your side." I smiled softly at him even though his eyes were still closed.

"Fine."