Page 63 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“What stopped you?” Jill asked, accompanied by the soft clinking of her chain seconds before she was climbing onto his lap.

“I had nothing to offer her,” Logan admitted with a sigh as he dropped his hands away and placed them on her thighs. “I still have no idea why she chose me when every man in our village would have given anything to have her. I was just a boy, workingfor my father and barely earning enough coin to take care of myself.”

“But she didn’t care,” Jill guessed as Logan ran his hands over her thighs, losing himself in the soothing action as he savored the comforting feel of her soft cotton dress against his skin.

“No, she didn’t,” Logan murmured. “She ignored her aunt and uncle’s demands that she marry so that she could wait for me. I knew that it was only a matter of time before they were able to force her to marry, so I began taking on the jobs that my father didn’t have time for, hoping to earn enough money to marry her.”

“When I was old enough, Kale and I began leaving home every spring to find work only to return to her every winter, praying that she’d waited for me. For some reason, she always did. When I finally had enough coins saved, I began looking for the perfect plot of land to build a home for our family only to end up losing everything when I finally found it.”

“Tell me what happened,” Jill said, shifting to get more comfortable on his lap.

“Her aunt and uncle tried to force her to marry someone else, but she refused. She was determined to wait for me no matter how long it took. So, when they tried to force her to marry, she left the village and took a position as a maid in London when I was forced to go back up north searching for work. I took on extra jobs, saved every coin I could get my hands on and when I finally had enough, I couldn’t get to London fast enough to see her.”

“When she saw us, Christ, I don’t think I’d ever seen a more beautiful smile. She didn’t want to wait to get married, so after I got her settled at the tavern, I made my way to the church and banged on the door until the priest let me in, desperate to have the banns read as soon as possible.”

“Once, I had the priest’s word that he would announce our engagement during mass the next day, I returned to the tavern to find her gone. She’d left a message with the cook that she had a surprise for me and wanted me to meet her at a pub by the wharf.”

“What happened?” Jill asked as she placed her hands over his.

“Halfway there, we found Elizabeth with a knife pressed against her throat, begging me to save her,” Logan bit out as he stared down at their hands. “I had no idea at the time that they were shifters. I offered them all the coins in my pocket to let her go, but they ignored me and focused on Kale. I had no fucking clue what they wanted from him, but when they moved to surround us, Kale grabbed me and dragged me away.”

“She was still screaming my name when they stabbed her. I fought Kale every fucking step of the way, but he easily overpowered me and dragged me back to the tavern,” Logan said softly as he pulled his hands back so that he could entwine his fingers with hers. “That’s when Kale told me the truth.”

“He told me what they were and what they wanted and all I could think about was the terror in Elizabeth’s eyes as she’d begged me to save her. When he finally released me, I tried to run back to her, but he stopped me. He kept me there until I got on my hands and knees and fucking begged him to let me go,” Logan bit out, remembering everything that he’d learned that night, the things that Kale told him, and just how fucking much he’d hated him. He barely registered Kale’s murmured apology when he finally let him go.

“When I finally made it back to the alley, she was gone and in her place was a large puddle of blood. God, there was so much fucking blood. I looked everywhere for her, banged on the door of every shopkeeper nearby, praying that someone had saved her only to find out that they’d all ignored her screams for help.”

“For months after that, I was like a ghost, barely existing, as I allowed the anger from that night to swallow me whole until the only thing that mattered was making them pay for taking Elizabeth from me.”

“I took everything that Kale told me and used it to find out everything that I could. I didn’t want to just kill them. I wanted to make them pay. I knew that I would never be able to do it as a human. So, I took my time, debating my options until finally, I decided that my only option was to become a vampire,” Logan explained as he forced himself to ignore the way it felt when Jill’s heart broke for him.

“What did you do?” Jill asked, looking absolutely heartbroken for him.

“I found a vampire who was willing to change me in exchange for a favor. After I woke up, I started with the shopkeepers that ignored her screams. Once I was done tearing their throats out, I focused on the men who took Elizabeth from me, finding out everything that I could about them and brought them down one by one while I made myself stronger, ensuring that no one got in my way,” Logan said as he looked up and met beautiful silver eyes as he pulled his hands away so that he could reach up and run his fingertips along her jaw.

“Until you.”

CHAPTER 32

“Until me?” Jill found herself asking.

“Yes,” Logan murmured as he ran his fingertips along her jaw.

“Meaning?” Jill asked, barely resisting the urge to lean into his touch.

“You’re destroying me, Angel,” Logan said, his gaze softening as he watched her.

“Is that why you changed me?” Jill asked, needing to know if he did it as part of his plan or…

She needed to know.

“Does it matter?” Logan asked, running his fingertips down her chin before he slid his fingertips back along her jaw.

“I need to know where I fit into all of this,” Jill said, reaching up to cover his hand with hers.

“You don’t,” Logan said softly.

“But I did at one time,” Jill said, watching him reluctantly nod.

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