Logan smiled wide, stepped forward, and shook first his mum’s, then his dad’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
Cole rolled his eyes when his mum blushed.Jeez, it’s not like you’ve never seen a hot shifter before.
“Shall we get started?” he muttered, suddenly wanting to get the whole thing over with. As polite as Logan was being, having him in their home felt all kinds of wrong.
This was their safe place.
Logan didn’t belong there, and despite his mother smiling and inviting Logan to sit down, she seemed anything but relaxed.
Logan must’ve been able to sense it. Shifters had weird abilities where emotions were concerned.
Cole scowled at the back of his head.Can you feel that?
When Cole’s dad cleared his throat, Cole startled to see they were all apparently waiting for him to sit down. Quickly taking the spare seat next to Logan, he clasped his hands on the table. “So, what happens today?” His tone was a little more abrupt than he’d been going for, but Logan didn’t so much as flinch.
“I’d like this to be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you might have. If I don’t know or am not in a position to answer, then I’ll take your question to my superiors and get back to you.”
“Superiors?” Cole asked, curiosity peeked. “I thought there was the alpha, then the betas, then everyone else was just pack.”
“Technically that’s true.” Logan focused all his attention on Cole. “And it worked that way to an extent before—” He caught himself, cheeks pinking slightly. “These days the reality isn’t quite that simplistic. Michael has two betas. If everyone else in the pack reported directly to them, then it’d be chaos.”
Cole lost a few seconds studying the stubble shadowing Logan’s chin. “So it’s like the betas have their own betas?” he asked, finally tearing his eyes away.
“Something like that.” He glanced around the kitchen, then frowned. “Have you got a piece of paper and a pen?”
Cole got up and fetched him both.
Logan wrote Michael’s name at the top of the page, then Simon and Baker beneath it. “These two are Michael’s direct reports. Usually everything goes through them.” He drew several lines fanning out from each name. “I’m not quite sure of the numbers, but each group of twenty or so shifters has what we call a mentor. Mine is Jacob.” He wrote Jacob’s name at the end of one of the lines. “He’s my first point of contact for anything pack related. Or anything at all, really. And if Jacob can’t answer my questions or needs advice, he’ll escalate it up to one of the betas.” The way Logan smiled when he talked about Jacob led Cole to believe he liked him a lot. He found it hard to believe everyone felt that way about their mentors. The rumours had to have some basis in truth.
Cole stared at the paper, stomach sinking. “Who’d be mine?” he tapped one of the lines. “If I join your pack, who would be my mentor?”
The slight pause before Logan answered told Cole everything he needed to know. He saw it in his eyes too, the question catching him off guard before he could school his reaction.
“The team that would like you to join them report to Paul.”
“And what’s he like?” Cole asked, putting Logan on the spot. The weight of his parents’ stares sat heavily on his shoulders, but Cole couldn’t look at them, too intent on studying Logan’s reaction. Waiting for the lie.
Logan glanced around the table before his gaze settled on Cole. He sighed, heavy and resigned. “I’m not going to sugar-coat it. Paul can be a right wanker at times.”
Cole’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Not at the fact his mentor was an arsehole—he’d expected that—but that Logan had admitted it.
His mum gasped, hand going to her mouth.
Fuck, Cole had almost forgotten they were hearing this too.
“Has he no redeeming qualities?” his mum asked, sounding desperate. “I mean they must have had a good reason to give him a position of responsibility. Mustn’t they?”
A good question, but Cole had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.
All eyes focused on Logan.
“Paul is very good at his job. His team work extremely well together and get results.”
“But?” his dad asked. His voice had an edge to it that Cole hadn’t heard before. “Because we all know there’s one coming. So cut to the chase.”
“His way of mentoring is vastly different to Jacob’s. I’m not in his team, so I don’t have first-hand experience, but I know a few guys who are. He’s... hard on them. His tolerance for mistakes is extremely low, and he’s a dick to anyone not a member of his team.”
Mouth suddenly dry, Cole stood, chair scraping over the floor in his haste to get a drink. He stood facing the sink, glass in hand. “And that’s who you want to put me with?” Taking another long drink, he closed his eyes for a moment then set the glass down and turned back to face everyone. “I thought the idea of our last meeting was to get to know me better so you could, and I quote, ‘get me to join your pack willingly’?”
