Chapter Twelve

She still hadn’t figured it out an hour later, when they were separated, cleaned and clothed and sitting in her father’s office, eyeing each other warily. Well, her gaze remained wary. Logan’s had gone all wicked and focused again as he stared intently at her neck, waiting for her to turn her head so he could admire his handiwork.

Silence stretched between them for several long moments. Logan looked too self-satisfied to speak, and Honor wasn’t quite sure what to say. Was there etiquette about how to handle this type of situation? Did Emily Post have a chapter on Post-Coital Small Talk for the Modern Werewolf? If she didn’t, she really should.

Honor shifted in her seat and tried to ignore the raw, liquid feeling between her legs. As hard as he’d just taken her, she ought to be screaming at him to never lay another hand on her as long as he lived, and here she was trying to keep him from noticing how damned horny she still felt. Was that in Emily Post?

“You can relax, you know. ” His drawling tone sounded sleepy and rough and sexy in the small cabin. Honor couldn’t suppress a shiver of reaction. “I’ll give you a couple of hours before I attack you again. I’m not entirely uncivilized. ”

She drew a deep breath. “See…about that ‘again’ thing…”

He raised an eyebrow and settled into a deeper slouch. “You surely don’t intend to tell me, your mate, that I can’t touch you again, do you? You couldn’t be quite that foolish, honey. Tell me. ”

She scowled. “You know, I really hate those casual endearments. Ones like ‘honey. ’ It always makes me wonder if you just can’t remember my name. ”

“Oh, I remember it. It just don’t think ‘Honor’ is something I can hear myself yelling out in a heated moment. It would be like yelling ‘Mother Teresa’ or something. ”

She rolled her eyes. “Now that’s just nasty. ”

“That’s what I thought. So you have two choices. You can have ‘honey, ’ or you can have ‘Nora. ’ Up to you. ”

“Those are my only choices? ”

He shrugged. “They are if ‘Honor’ is your only name. ”

She grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest.

Logan cupped his hand to his ear and cocked his head to the side. ‘Sorry, what was that? I couldn’t quite catch it. ”

“Honor Strength. ” She bit it out like a particularly vile curse and then glared, as if it was his fault. It was actually her father’s, but if she could have a few minutes to think, she’d find a way to make it his fault.

He blinked. “Right. Those are your only choices. ”

She opened her mouth to protest, then caught herself and shook her head. “And that is so not important right now. We have other things we need to discuss, don’t you think? ”

“Not if those discussions are anything like the one you were about to start where you tell me I can’t touch my own mate anymore. ”

She frowned. “It’s not ‘anymore’ as in never again. More like, ‘anymore’ as in not for a while until I have this mess in my pack cleaned up. Which I really think is perfectly reasonable, given the circumstances. ”

“What circumstances? ”

“The ones where it’s my body and I decide who gets to fuck it, and I could cut you off from paradise forever if you pissed me off a bit too much. ”

He didn’t move a muscle, but Honor got the abrupt impression of tightly coiled Lupine just itching for a fight. “I think that would be a very bad idea. Given the circumstances. ”

This time, she was the one quirking the eyebrow. “What circumstances? ”

“The ones where I am your mate, and at the howl in two days there will be an alpha mating declared. And in order to keep the blood of your pack from watering the plants around here into the next century, you might want to rethink the idea of making your mate jealous. ”

She cleared her throat. “See…about that ‘mate’ thing. ”

“Honor—”

“Hold on. ” She held up a hand to forestall the bellow she could hear building. “Let me finish a sentence, would you? I’m not saying no, and I’m not denying anything, okay? But right now, the important thing is not me or you, it’s this pack. And if I have to do a lot of unpleasant things to keep the peace around here, I won’t blink an eyelash. That includes putting a temporary hold on—” She broke off, paused, and waved her hand awkwardly between them. “On…this…then that’s what has to happen. I’m willing to do it. ”

“But I’m not willing to let you. ”

“Did I say something that would indicate this could possibly be your decision? ”

He ignored her pointed glare and leaned forward in his seat. “I think you’re forgetting some very important points, honey. Ones it seems to be my job to remind you of. First off, you seem to be forgetting that this howl is going to be the biggest thing standing between you and making this job as alpha permanent. And second, you need to brush up on your knowledge of Lupine traditions, or you would know that an unmated female alpha does not go over well with our kind. ”

Honor scowled. “What are you getting at, Logan? If you have something to say, just go ahead and say it. I’m a big girl. I can take it. ”

“I’m not sure if you can, and even if you could, I’ll be damned before I’d let it go on. ” He stood and crossed to perch on the edge of her desk, leaning forward until his intent, golden eyes filled her vision. “I’m talking about the Luna’s Mating Rite, honey. Did you really think you could get away without it? That someone wouldn’t bring it up and remind you and the pack about our traditions whether you like them or not? Admittedly, it’s not the prettiest of our legacies, but it exists, and I guarantee you it’s going to come up at this howl. ”

Not the prettiest of their legacies. Now that was an understatement to end all understatements. As proud as Honor might be of her heritage at the best of times, the Luna’s Mating Rite did not qualify as the best of times. It qualified as one of those times when it sucked to be a female Lupine in a culture where masculine traits like strength and speed and stubborn stupidity were valued above everything else.

“It’s archaic. ” She felt compelled to protest, but her voice sounded weak even to her own ears. “No one in their right mind could think we should still be carrying on with a tradition of condoned rape in this day and age. ”

“The Silverback Clan ran a mate hunt just last year, ” he reminded her. “The alpha and seventeen other males chose mates that day, by running them down in Central Park and fucking them where they caught them. It didn’t seem archaic when the males carried their mates out of the woods over their shoulders. It just seemed real. ”

She sputtered. “That’s crazy! This is the modern world. Our females are allowed equal rites to the males in the pack. They get to vote on issues where the opinion of the pack is weighed. We educate them alongside the males. They live in a world outside their homes, have lives and careers of their own. They’re treated as equal members of our culture. And yet you say that when a female alpha calls a howl to assume her rightful place at the head of the pack, that pack will refuse to grant her their obedience unless she has a mate to protect them in case she turns out to be too weak? That’s just frickin’ asinine! ”

“It’s the truth. ”

She pushed out of her chair to pace the length of the small room. She hated to be still when she needed to think. She had to pace and prowl and roam around. Lupines always thought best on their feet. “I don’t agree. I think that things are changing all around us, and it’s time this pack kept pace with the world we live in. It’s my main platform as alpha—’Progress and Preservation. ’ I thought giving it a title made it a little snappier. But anyway, we need to change. We can’t keep clinging to the old ways like this, especially when the old ways are so entirely repulsive. I won’t let it happen. ”

She stopped and turned to glare at him, fists clenched on her hips, chin lifted high in the air. “I’m the Alpha here, and I lead the pack. When I make a decision, it stands. If I say there will be no Mating Rite, there will be no Mating Rite. ”

“No, if you say there will be no mating rite, there will be a riot. I’ve talked to some of your pack today, honey. I know what they expect to see at this howl, and they expect to see you take a mate. If you try and deny them what is their right according to Pack Law, you can expect them to rebel. And since I’m here to evaluate how well you manage your pack, I can tell you right now, that would not do much to bolster your claim of being the right alpha for the job. ”

“You mean to tell me that if I refuse to go along with this, you’ll report to the Silverback that he should come down here and appoint a new alpha for my pack? ” She leapt toward him, stopping to glare up at him with her face only inches from his. “Is that what you’re telling me? ”

Logan shook his head very slowly. “No. I’m telling you that if your pack rebels because they don’t get what they want from you, then I will appoint a new alpha for this pack. ” She opened her mouth to blast him, but he held up a hand and stopped her. “You know who I am, Honor, and you know why I’m here. I’m not making threats. All I’m doing is telling you that I will do my job, but you can prevent my having to do so by doing yours. ”

She drew in a deep breath, shaking with frustration and fear. “It’s disgusting. No female should have to go through that just because of her sex. Male alphas aren’t forced to take mates when they assume their titles. Why should I have to because I don’t keep my brain swinging between my legs for an easy target? ”

His mouth quirked. “A very good question. But not one you can answer today. The time to make changes is when your power is secure, not when there’s any room for your enemies to take advantage of your actions. ”

“Wait and change from within, is that what you’re telling me? ”

“Pretty much. ”

She blew out a tense breath. “Fine. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t get me out of my current problem, now does it? I’ve still got a howl happening in another forty-eight hours, and according to you, my pack is still going to demand a Luna Mating Rite. ”

“So what are you going to do about it? ”

“Got any brilliant suggestions? ” She folded her arms over her chest and glowered at him. “As someone who might have a teensy vested interest in my taking another mate—unless I’m very much mistaken about the mark I now carry on the back of my neck—I thought you might want to offer a word or two of wisdom. ”

His eyes narrowed, and he crossed the small space between them to tug her into his arms. She softened reluctantly against him, and didn’t even bother to protest when he tugged her head back until he could look her in the eyes. “You are not mistaken at all. What you are is mine. ”

“Right. ” She pressed against him and slipped her hands into the back pockets of his jeans, unable to resist the temptation. The bond between them made her restless any time that she couldn’t have her hands on him. “So, if I already have a mate—”

“You do. ”

“—does said mate have any brilliant ideas about how to get out of the Luna Mating Rite? I mean, it’s not just the having to choose a mate that’s bad. It’s the whole having to mate with him in front of the pack that’s a wee bit repulsive as well. And if I’m remembering the bits of Pack Law that you haven’t mentioned, I think there was something in there about other males in the pack being able to challenge the mating in lieu of challenging the female alpha. ”

He made a gravelly, rumbling sound low in his throat and leaned down to nibble at her neck just below her ear. “That is not going to happen. I’ll work it out. ”

Honor shivered and arched her head to the side to give him freer access. “Work fast. Because I prefer that this thing between us stay a wee bit more private. I’m an old-fashioned girl, and I was raised to believe that it’s wrong to show off. ”