Logan wished he could say yes to everyone who asked to take their family and friends along—especially Cole—but it wasn’t up to him. And the secret group of people who helped them escape wouldn’t stay secret for long if whole families kept dying or disappearing. “I don’t think so. I’m sorry.”
“Can’t you at least ask whoever it is you need to ask? What would that hurt?”
Fine, he could talk to Jacob about it. He needed to see him anyway.
“I’ll ask, okay. But I make no promises.”
Cole beamed at him, and a part of Logan really hoped Jacob said yes. The thought of Cole’s face when Logan had to eventually tell him no twisted something inside of him.
“No promises,” he repeated softly. “And you can’t mention this to your parents. Okay?”
“I know. I won’t.”
Logan stood and looked down at him. “And Cole, once you decide to do this, there’s no going back. Once we put things in motion, you’ll be leaving London whether you want to or not. Do you understand that? There’s no changing your mind once you agree.”
“Yeah, I understand, Logan.”
With nothing more to be done until he spoke to Jacob, Logan should go, let Cole return home to check on his parents. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to keep him there a bit longer so they could talk about something other than his fucking pack affiliation.
Fuck it.
“Do you fancy a pint?”
“What?”
“A pint.” He mimed raising a glass. “Beer, cider... Coke?”
Cole stared at him. “I thought you had to go talk to people?”
“They’ll wait.” Logan checked the time on his phone. 12.15pm. Jacob would more than likely be at lunch by the time he got back, not anywhere private that Logan could talk to him. “Part of my job is to get to know you better. You may or may not end up joining my pack, but I’d still like to do that part of it.”
For a long moment, Logan thought he’d refuse. Maybe he’d really scared him earlier, or maybe Cole had had enough of shifters for one day.
“You don’t have to if—”
“Let me just—”
Cole laughed, his smile reaching his eyes, and Logan noticed for the first time how they looked more green than blue in the sunlight. “Let me just text my parents. I don’t want them to worry.”
“You sure?” Logan didn’t want him to take it back, but he didn’t want Cole to feel obligated.
“Yeah.” Cole typed out a quick message on his phone, then slipped it in his pocket. “There’s a few things I’d like to know about you too if I’m going to put my life in your hands.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cole followed Logan out of the park, then directed him to the pub he usually went to with Nick.
When he’d been sitting at his kitchen table surrounded by three fucking armed shifters, the last thing he’d thought he’d be doing later was going to the pub with another. But that seemed an age ago now as they walked down the street in the sunshine.
Logan was different from the others.
A lot of the time Cole forgot that he was a shifter, part of the pack that wanted Cole to join them. To become one of them. He shuddered. That thought would always be horrifying. He’d seen flashes of Logan’s wild side, enough to remind him that no matter how nice Logan appeared on the surface, he was dangerous and could probably kill Cole with his bare hands, despite all Cole’s training.
He’d never been on the receiving end of shifter strength, not when they were going all out. There’d been some in his martial arts classes, but they’d never used their full strength against him. And it must differ between shifters, right? Some had to be stronger than others.
He tried to subtly inspect Logan as they walked, tried to gauge the strength hiding under the snug-fitting T-shirt and jeans. Logan had strong-looking forearms, toned with a dusting of dark hair. As always, Cole’s gaze caught on the tattoo and his stomach dropped. As beautiful as it was, Cole couldn’t see it as anything other than a brand of ownership, like the drawing Nick had shown him. He rubbed his bare forearms, almost without realising.
“You okay?” Logan asked, startling Cole into looking up sharply. Logan smiled, and Cole struggled to return it.
