Page 44 of Underworld
Chapter 11
Logan’s hand rested at the small of my back as we walked, his thumb stroking in an intimate way.
I guessed now that his role as Alpha was over, he could be more himself around me.
My Virtue.
My mate.
Except, I wasn’t sure what to do with the uni-hare in my arms, as Logan had called it. It peered up at me, wide, dark eyes rapt on my face.
When I looked up again, the forest seemed to be getting denser, not less. “Are we not going back to your office?” I asked, my voice falling. I had hoped to get him alone.
“No,” he said, not offering more information than that. “You’ll see.” He glanced down at the bunny who now curled into my chest, sharp horn safely pointed away from me, as it closed its eyes. It seemed perfectly content for me to carry it around.
Logan chuckled. “Those little guys don’t usually bond to the students,” he said, his gaze flashing to me. “Although, you’re not exactly a regular supernatural. Perhaps it senses something familiar in you that it likes.”
“Bond?” I asked, concerned. I had enough bonds to deal with.
He chuckled again. “It’s not like that. Creatures from his realm are more like familiars you’d see with witches. They bond to their masters and vow to protect them.” He tilted his head. “Perhaps you should think of a name for him.”
I hummed in agreement. “I’ll think on it.” I didn’t exactly have time for a pet right now, although I looked forward to Olivia and Yuri’s reaction when I brought him home.
It nuzzled against me, adorable as it yawned. I scratched its furry head around its horn and it leaned into me, seeming to like it. “Why did you have the shifters chase such a cute little thing like this? He was helpless.”
“Helpless?” Logan asked, eyebrow raising. He indicated the black smudge on the tip of its horn. “I suspect you encountered a Demonspawn and it helped you, did it not?”
Neither of those things seemed to surprise him.
I tilted my head in agreement. “I suppose.” If it hadn’t been for the uni-hare, I could have been thrown at Lucifer’s feet right about now.
Logan smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist, bringing me closer.
The uni-hare jolted, opened its small mouth and hissed.
Tiny fangs on display, it glared at Logan.
Logan smiled and put some space between us. “I think he wants to say something to you,” he said, and the bunny relaxed into my grip.
The uni-hare’s eyes came back to me and our gazes locked. An alien sort of awareness brushed against my mind, causing me to gasp. Logan must have sensed it, too, because he went still in that preternatural way he had before saying, “It’s as I thought. He’s reaching out to you, Lily.”
“Um, hello,” I murmured, not sure what else to say. I scratched at the space behind one floppy ear. Most animals like their ears scratched, didn’t they?
The uni-hare’s eyes closed in bliss and that awareness it shared with me became a brush of warmth and pure, innocent joy.
It filled my heart with an emotion that almost overwhelmed me. Logan slid his arm around my waist and nuzzled me, and the uni-hare permitted it this time.
“He’s yours. You’ll have a friend in this little one for as long as you live.”
Wow, that’s quite the commitment.
Dipping my head, I rubbed my cheek against the uni-hare’s soft fur, deciding I didn’t mind. “I’ll take good care of you. I promise.”
“That’s why he’s yours,” he said, his voice soft and gentle. “Shifters value loyalty.”
I sensed a dual-meaning in Logan’s words. When I met his glittering gaze, I knew that he, too, would always be mine. My heart ached with an onslaught of love as our Virtue connection mended. I rested a hand against his cheek. “You’ve always been my wolf, Logan,” I said, then kissed him. “And so you’ll always be.”
He turned toward my touch, kissing my palm, then reached up and caught my wrist.
