Trusted Bond

and he took a deep breath through his nose. He was
    holding it together but just barely.
    ―You deserve to be a father, Logan Church.‖
    He made a noise in the back of his throat and then grabbed her. He
    hugged her so tight she squeaked and then started laughing just like I had.
    ―Love you,‖ he told her.
    ―And I love you back,‖ she said fiercely, her face in his shoulder, her
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    Mary Calmes

    feet off the ground as he squeezed her. ―And when you‘re ready, I have
    the perfect woman to carry the child for you.‖
    He put her down, easing her out to arm‘s length as he listened.
    ―Markel and I discussed it, and we‘ll rent an apartment for the nine
    months so that we can live with her and help her, and then once the baby‘s
    born, we‘ll move back up to the house with you and Jin. I mean the house
    is huge, Logan, and once you have your child, or children, as the case may
    be, and once I have mine, we all need to be together. The house was made
    to house many families; you were planning on that, weren‘t you? Always
    having us with you?‖
    He looked up at me and then around at everyone. Often he said he
    wanted it to be just us alone, but we had huge rooms upstairs if we really
    wanted to be alone. There was a bedroom and a living room and a den. He
    didn‘t need a big empty house as well. He needed a house full of people
    who all drove each other nuts but who loved each other like crazy.
    ―You‘re gonna do that?‖ he asked, looking back at his sister.
    ―Of course.‖ She made a face. ―But it was Markel‘s idea that we
    should move out and then in. He didn‘t think that the surrogate should be
    ensconced in your home with you and Jin.‖
    All eyes were at once on lean, dark, tall Markel Kovac, and I finally
    really looked at him. I was surprised at what I saw.
    Markel had big, dark blue eyes, wavy black hair that fell in two
    layers to his shoulders, and flawless olive skin. When I had first met him,
    back when Domin had challenged Logan, he had reminded me of a
    beautiful piece of anime, like he shouldn‘t be real. When the tribes had
    merged, I had forgotten him, convinced that he had no concern for me at
    all. But now, suddenly, I realized that I could not have been more wrong.
    ―Logan, your surrogate shouldn‘t live with you,‖ Markel told his
    semel before tipping his head toward me. ―And Jin shouldn‘t have to deal
    with her at all except to thank her when it‘s over and write her a check.
    Delphine and I will watch over your unborn child for you. We want to, let
    us.‖
    Logan was having a hell of a morning. First he had gone to see the
    priest and had ended up fighting with his father, and second he‘d had to
    deliver what he thought was horrible news to his mate.
    ―You did this,‖ he said, moving fast, looming over me, hands on my
    arms as he stared down into my eyes. ―Why?‖
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    191

    ―I asked Delphine to be my yareah because I want to have children
    with you,‖ I told him. ―I don‘t know that we‘re there yet, but I wanted you
    to know that I was ready when you were.‖
    His eyes were filling, and seeing that touched me greatly.
    ―I didn‘t anticipate Markel and Delphine, though,‖ I said, looking
    over at them. ―That‘s quite a sacrifice.‖
    ―It‘s not!‖ Markel was loud for a second before Delphine slipped her
    hand into his. I watched him take a breath, calming, just her touch
    allowing him to regain his lost composure. He shivered for a second, and I
    looked at him like I had never done. There was vulnerability in him that I
    had missed up until that very second. ―It would be my privilege to care for
    the life of your child,‖ he said softly.
    ―You don‘t have to do that to secure your place in the tribe,‖ Logan
    told him. ―You have a place, Markel. You‘re part of my family.‖
    I watched him absorb Logan‘s words, and I saw the shudder that ran
    through him. In that moment, I realized that the things I had missed in my
    own home were monumental. I had nearly missed Koren and Domin; I had
    missed when Delphine fell in love with Markel, and even more, I had
    missed when he fell in love with her and her family and his new life. The
    man had been a sheseru himself. And only at that second did I get why
    Domin would ever have chosen him. It was his heart that I had never even
    looked at before. Who knew that Domin Thorne, who had been a terrible
    semel, was such an excellent judge of men?
    ―Did you hear me?‖