“It’s only been an hour, give me a chance.” Logan gave him the gentlest of nudges. “Why don’t we leave all the heavy stuff for another day, maybe when we can be sure of our privacy.”
Cole gave him a questioning glance, but Logan gave the tiniest shake of his head and his gaze darted over to the other side of the pond. There was no one there that Cole could see, but he decided to heed the subtle warning. “There is one thing I’m curious about.”
“Oh?” Logan looked cautious, as though still worrying about what Cole was going to ask.
“When you join a pack, you lose your last name, right?”
“You give up your familial name, if you have one, and take the name of the pack, yes.”
Cole stopped walking and waited for Logan to do the same before sitting on the bench they’d just passed. “What happens if someone in the pack already has your name. Surely you don’t have, say, five John McKillan’s running around in your pack? That’d be bloody confusing.”
“Yeah, it would.”Logan laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and Cole found himself staring.
“How do you avoid that scenario, then?”
“Well, if you’re joining a pack and someone already has the same name as you—spelt exactly the same—then you’ve got three choices.” He listed them off on his fingers. “One, you add a second name, so like John would become John Michael McKillan. Two, you just use initials. For example, you’d become C.M. McKillan. Or three, you pick a new name.”
“Hmm.” Cole didn’t want to be all that interested, but he couldn’t resist asking. “Is there anyone in your pack called Cole?”
Logan gave him an amused look but didn’t comment on his asking. He shrugged. “Not that I’ve met, but the McKillan pack is huge. I don’t know the names of everyone in it.”
That prompted another question. “So, did you choose Logan to be funny?”
“Funny?” Logan said, deadpan.
Cole rolled his eyes. “You know, because of the whole Wolverine thing.” He made claws with his hands and laughed. “I bet there’s loads of shifters called Logan.”
“I didn’t change my name. I was born Logan Williams.” Logan’s expression said he wasn’t joking, and Cole bit his lip to stop himself from smiling. “Oh.”
It was Logan’s turn to roll his eyes. “Go on, laugh it up. I spend my days surrounded by wolves; you think I haven’t heard all this before?” He sighed, a bit dramatically. “My mum was—isa huge Marvel fan. Has all the comics. And yes, Wolverine is one of her favourites. At the time, I don’t think she expected me to become a shifter. At least I hope not.” He grinned, taking Cole by surprise with how young and carefree it suddenly made him look.
Wow. He’s actually quite hot.
The thought popped unbidden into this head, and Cole turned away quickly in case he blushed.
No. No, no, no.
I do not think the shifter sent to coerce me into his pack is remotely attractive. Nope.
“So,” Cole said, changing the subject in an attempt to get his mind off Logan. “What happens if you want to change packs?”
Logan frowned which, now that Cole had acknowledged it, didn’t make him any less attractive. “What do you mean?”
“Well, say you wanted to move to the countryside or by the sea. Can you do that?” People rarely moved between packs in London. Cole had always assumed it was because they weren’t allowed.
Logan sighed. “I don’t think you fully understand what it means to be in a pack.”
“I’ve heard enough to get a good idea.”
“Have you?” Logan’s voice remained soft, barely more than a whisper. He tilted his head to one side, paused. Listening again maybe? Then his shoulders relaxed and he carried on. “Pack is family. People stay because they want to. I know there are rumours about the packs, especially the McKillan one. I won’t lie, there’s a semblance of truth to some of them. My team and the majority of the teams in my pack are loyal, fair, and they treat people with the respect they deserve.” He met Cole’s gaze, expression as intense as it had been before. “Michael McKillan is a tough alpha but fair. He has some views that I don’t necessarily agree with, and there are elements in the pack that I think are...troublesome.” His expression hardened for a moment, but then his smiled returned. “But isn’t that the same for all families?”
“The families I know don’t force you to join them.”
“You’re born into them. I don’t see much choice in that.”
Cole narrowed his eyes. “It’s not the same.”
“No, it’s not.” Logan blew out a breath and looked up at the sky for a moment. “But itisthe law. And we both have to follow it.”
