Stolen 24 Hours

Stolen 24 Hours
Annie

I smiled up at Logan as Giselda walked out of the room. “What do you want to do?”

“There’s not much we can do. We’ll have to stick close to Giselda, so it’ll look like we’re with her,” he told me.

I sighed as I nodded. “Okay. Wait! We could go out into the woods! We could ask Giselda to lie for us, and say that we are going into the woods to be with the vines.”

He shook his head. “I understand why you want to do that, but we shouldn’t lie to your brother. He’ll understand.”
I sighed as I shook my head. “No, he won’t. He doesn’t want to see us together,” I told him grumpily.

He glanced at the door. “We won’t know if we don’t try.” He held his hand out to me. “What do you say?”

I took his hand, linking our fingers together. “If you think he’ll still let me stay for 24 hours.”

He squeezed my fingers. “Even if he doesn’t, I still don’t want to lie to him. That’s not how I want to start a relationship with your family.”

“Okay.”

He led me out of the room, and once we were in front of Osprey, who was glaring at us through narrowed eyes.

“Is Giselda finished already?” he asked.

“Ummm–”

“Yes,” Logan said slowly. “She must have thought it would be harder.”

“Okay, well, the plane should be ready to go, and–” he sighed deeply– “I’m going to sleep, Annie. We’ll leave tomorrow.” He settled back against the cushions of the couch. “After you say goodbye to your sleuth. Enjoy your night.”

I blinked in surprise. “You’re letting me stay?”

He nodded. “For a little while longer. I know you think I’m heartless, but I’m not. If I expect you to respect the terms of our agreement, then I need to start respecting you as more than just my little sister. One of these days, you’re going to be Havana’s Alpha Sow and the leader of the council. I will be beneath you in the grand scheme of things, but I know that you will never treat me as such. If you are to learn how to be an alpha from me, I should strive to be an alpha that is worth learning from, and that means that I need to have compassion for those around me.”

I threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, ‘Sprey!”

“No problem, Annie. Enjoy your night.” He narrowed his eyes at Logan. “But not too much.”

“Osprey!” I squealed while Logan nodded.

“I promise that I won’t.”

I pushed on Logan’s shoulder. “Don’t agree to that! It’s none of his business if we decide to mate!”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I pulled back a little, lecturing Marsha, while Osprey scowled at me. Before I could say anything, Logan draped his arm over my shoulders and led me out of the house.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To sleep in the trees.” He guided me about half a mile into the woods before stopping at a large tree. “This one. Come on. Let’s go.”

He lifted me into the tree before swinging himself up, and encouraging me to follow him as he moved higher. When we got to the very top of the tree, he helped me up onto the last branch before wrapping his arms around both me and the trunk.

“Look around you, Annie,” he murmured into my ear. “Everything you see is ours.”

“It is? But isn’t that Crosstimbers?” I asked, gesturing toward the enemy sleuth.

“Yes, but Dirk has asked us to take over when he passes. We will be the alphas of both. At first, Giselda was going to take over Crosstimbers, but she doesn’t want to anymore. She said that she would be happy to be the overseer, but she said that she would be more comfortable if she still answered to us.”

I relaxed back against him as I smiled softly. “I can’t wait.”

He put his chin on my shoulder. “Are you sure? I know you never wanted to be an alpha.”

I ran my fingers over his arm. “I never wanted to be powerful. I wanted to be just Annie. I wanted to be loved for me. I didn’t want to have expectations placed on me.” I paused for a moment as my fingers linked with his. “But none of those things matter, because you loved me before I became powerful. Our sleuth doesn’t look at me with fear or judgment in their eyes. I don’t have to always be Alpha Sow Annaria here. I get to be just Annie. Besides, you give me everything without trying. Who wouldn’t take extra responsibilities if it meant they got to be with you?”

He nuzzled into my neck. “Trust me, I fully understand that sentiment. When I met you, I didn’t want to just be Alpha Logan. I wanted to be just Logan.”

I turned around to face him, wrapping my arms around his waist as I leaned against his chest. “Just Logan is pretty great.”

He chuckled softly as he kissed my forehead. “Thanks, Alpha Sow Annaria.”

I groaned as I tilted my head back to look up at him. “I’m always going to be just Annie to you.”

His lips lifted in a small smile. “As you wish, just Annie.”

I moved my hands up his chest to grip his neck and pull his head down a little so I could lightly press my lips against his. “Thank you, just Logan.”



The next afternoon, after we made it back to the sleuth house, I glanced between Giselda and Osprey, who had obviously spoken about the whole 24-hour thing. I could see the annoyance on her face, and the frustration on his, but Gerry’s held amusement, which told me that Giselda had handled our big brother with an ease that neither of us would ever accomplish. I cleared my throat nervously.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yes, Annie! Don’t worry about it! How was your night?” Giselda gushed, causing me to blush a little.

“Did you two mate?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at Logan, who threw his hands up.

“No! I told you that I was not going to mate with Annie until she was of age! Fuck! Can you trust me a little?” Logan growled.

“Not when it comes to Annie,” the three of them growled in sync.

I put my hand on Logan’s arm. “He’s been nothing but a gentleman to me.”

“He better be!” Gerry growled.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, so much for trusting me, too! Anyway, Logan, when is the sleuth coming to say goodbye?”

“They should be here in an hour.”
I sighed as I took his hand. “Alright. I guess I should shower and stuff,” I grumbled. “Do you want to join me?!”

“ANNARIA!” Gerry and Osprey roared at the same time, making me giggle while Logan sputtered.

“I was just kidding! Not that either of you can say anything! I’ve heard both of your mates ask you to shower with them!” I mumbled as I walked past them.

“Yeah, well, we’re all grown!”

I spun back around to glare at them. “I’m an alpha too, brothers,” I hissed. “We all age faster! You’re only acting this way because I’m a girl! You had sex with Scarlett when she was 14! 14, Osprey! And if Gerry had found Giselda earlier, no one would have blinked an eye at them if they had mated before she was 18! But unlike the two of you, my mate is respectful, and there aren’t any secrets between us! So before you judge us so harshly, check your own relationships!”

As I was storming out of the room, Giselda burst out laughing. “Face it, you two! Your little sister is growing up. One of these days, she’s going to be barefoot and pregnant, and there won’t be a damn thing you can do about it.”

I giggled a little as I climbed the stairs. At least I had her on my side. She’d keep my brothers in line. After I finished showering, I went back downstairs, where the entire sleuth and pack had gathered. I leaned against Logan’s side as they all clapped and cheered for me for a moment before I was pulled away from a growling Logan and into the throng of people. An hour or so later, Osprey approached me.

“Annie, it’s time to go,” he murmued softly.

I sighed deeply as I nodded, looking up at Logan, who hadn’t left my side for even a moment. “Okay, Osprey. Can I have five more minutes? Just five?”

He nodded. “And then we really must go.”

“Okay.” I turned to Logan with tears in my eyes. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you, too, sweetheart.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “I love you.”

“I love you, too! Will you walk me to the plane?”

He hesitated before shaking his head. “I don’t think I should.”

“Why not?” I sniffled. “Don’t you want to spend more time with me?”

“Because, my beautiful little Annie, if I walk you to the plane, I won’t be letting you get on it,” he admitted softly. “I love you too much.”
“O-okay. Will you text me at least?”
He nodded. “Every hour. I promise.”