Within seconds, Isla went limp in Logan’s arms.
Her breathing softened.
One hand curved protectively over her belly while the other remained tangled in the front of his shirt.
Logan stared at her in disbelief.
She had fallen asleep.
After spending half the night squirming against him, filling the room with her scent, and coming apart beneath his hand, she had simply closed her eyes and abandoned him with an erection painful enough to test even an Alpha’s control.
“Unbelievable.”
Any other woman would have understood what was expected next.
Isla apparently understood nothing.
He reached for her shoulder, intending to wake her.
Then his gaze fell on the bruises around her wrists.
Shadows still darkened the skin beneath her eyes.
She needed rest.
With a curse, Logan pulled the blanket over her instead.
The movement disturbed her.
She made a quiet sound and tightened her grip on his shirt.
Something shifted uncomfortably in his chest.
He told himself it was irritation.
Then the mind-link opened.
‘Alpha?’
Linda’s voice reminded him of something he had completely forgotten.
The full moon.
High-ranking wolves became restless beneath it.
Their aggression sharpened, their sexual appetites along with it.
Linda had shared these nights with him for nearly two years.
She understood their arrangement—pleasure without attachment or promises.
Tonight had been theirs.
Yet Logan hadn’t remembered once.
Until now.
‘Come to my room,’ he ordered.
‘Yes, Alpha.’
He eased Isla’s fingers from his shirt and slipped out of bed.
Her face tightened when he moved away, but she didn’t wake.
A knock sounded several minutes later.
Logan pulled on his trousers before opening the door.
Linda stood outside in a silk coat.
Red lace showed beneath it, framing every generous curve he had enjoyed countless times.
Her gaze moved past him to the woman sleeping in his bed.
Surprise flickered across her face.
“Who is she?”
“My wife.”
Linda’s eyebrows rose.
“I heard rumors, but I didn’t believe them.”
“You weren’t called here to discuss my marriage.”
She lowered her head.
“Of course not, Alpha.”
Logan let her enter but stopped her before she reached the bed.
“Here.”
Linda understood immediately.
She loosened her coat and let it fall.
The red lace beneath it left little to the imagination.
Under any other circumstances, the sight would have been enough. This story is hosted at g.com.
Tonight, Logan found himself looking over her shoulder.
At Isla.
Still asleep.
Still curled around the place where he had been.
Linda sank to her knees and opened his trousers.
Her hand closed around him, practiced and confident.
His body responded.
But not enough.
Linda glanced up at him before running her tongue slowly over his length.
Logan closed his eyes as her mouth took him deeper.
She knew precisely what he liked.
Knew when to use her hand, when to tighten her lips, and how much pressure usually shattered his control.
Tonight, every movement felt distant.
Wrong.
He remembered a different mouth opening on a breathless moan.
A different woman looking up at him with frightened determination as she whispered, I want you to touch me.
His erection hardened fully.
Linda hummed in satisfaction, mistaking his response for hers.
Logan’s gaze returned to the bed.
Isla shifted in her sleep.
Her nightdress had ridden up one pale thigh, and her lips were still swollen from biting back her cries.
His wolf surged.
Linda rose, letting her mouth leave him with a soft sound.
She slipped off her bra and pressed closer, trying to guide his hand to her breast.
Her perfume surrounded him.
Sweet.
Heavy.
Artificial.
Nothing like cedar and smoke mingling with the warm scent of Isla’s skin.
Revulsion cut through his arousal.
Draken slammed against him with a possessive snarl.
Logan shoved Linda back.
She stumbled but caught herself against a chair.
“Alpha?”
“Enough.”
Confusion crossed her face.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” His gaze betrayed him by returning to Isla.
“You’re simply not what I want tonight.”
Linda followed his stare.
Understanding slowly replaced her confusion.
“You forgot I was coming,” she said.
Logan’s expression hardened.
“Careful.”
“You’ve never forgotten a full-moon night before.” Linda pulled her coat around herself.
“And you’ve never allowed a woman to sleep in your bed.”
“She is carrying my heir.”
“Then why are you looking at her instead of me?”
His Alpha power struck the room before he consciously released it.
Linda lowered her gaze, but she didn’t take back the question.
“Leave,” he ordered.
“Should I come next month?”
“No.”
“This arrangement is over.”
Anger and humiliation flashed across her face, but Linda knew better than to argue.
She fastened her coat and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked at Isla once more.
“She must be more than an heir-bearer if she can make you forget everything else.”
The door shut behind her.
Logan stood motionless.
Then he turned toward the bed.
Isla hadn’t even woken.
She had disrupted his habits, invaded his home, claimed his bed, and driven away a woman who had satisfied him for years—all without opening her eyes.
He hated the influence she was beginning to have over him.
‘You forgot Linda,’ Draken observed.‘There were more important matters.’
‘You mean Isla?’Logan denied,‘It’s only about the pup.
They were in danger.’
Draken gave a low laugh.
‘And now?’
Logan ignored him and entered the bathroom.
Cold water did nothing to ease the pressure inside him.
He braced both hands against the marble wall and tried to force Isla from his thoughts.
Instead, he saw her baring her throat for him.
He heard her begging him not to stop.
Remembered her trembling beneath his hand and crying out his name.
His control broke.
Logan wrapped a hand around himself.
He moved hard and fast, chasing relief while every fantasy carried Isla’s face.
He imagined her thighs around his waist, her nails digging into his back, her body opening beneath his.
Release struck him with brutal force.
He bowed his head, breathing heavily as the water washed away the evidence.
‘If she means nothing,’ Draken said, ‘why couldn’t you let another female satisfy you?’
“It’s the full moon.”
‘Linda has satisfied us through dozens of full moons.’
“She’s carrying my blood.
It’s instinct.”
‘Is that why you let her sleep in our bed?’
“She needed my scent.”
‘And why did you imagine putting another pup inside her?’
Logan slammed his fist into the tiled wall.
Cracks spread beneath his knuckles.
“She is an Omega,” he growled.
“She will never be my Luna.”
Draken’s amusement sharpened.
‘No one said anything about making her Luna.
Interesting that you did.’
“Desire does not make her my equal.”
‘No,’ Draken agreed.
‘But carrying the heir no stronger female could carry makes her something your precious hierarchy cannot explain.’
Logan shut off the water.
“She carries my heir.
Nothing more.”
He returned to the bedroom.
Isla had rolled into the space he had left behind, her face buried in his pillow.
Even asleep, she appeared to be searching for his scent.
The moment he lay down, she turned toward him.
Her arm slipped around his waist.
Her cheek settled over his heart.
“Logan,” she murmured.
He should have moved her.
An Omega did not belong in an Alpha’s arms.
Instead, Logan pulled her closer.