His Runaway Mate (Unexpected Mates #4) - Brea Alepou

Indigo moved tentatively closer to his mate, and Logan stood there unmoving after being discovered in the clinic. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but his mate turned to him with a distant look in his eyes. It was far different from a few moments ago, when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

“That was too damn close,” Logan said through gritted teeth.

Indigo had been so close, the moment their lips nearly touched. And the frantic caresses weren’t nearly enough. He craved his mate something fierce, and it was driving him and his panther insane.

“Log—”

“No, just forget anything ever happened.”

The words were like a knife through his chest. Indigo kept himself from rubbing the area as if it was an actual physical blow.

“I can’t possibly forget,” Indigo pleaded in a whisper.

Logan’s eyes softened for the briefest of seconds, and Indigo thought just maybe he’d slipped in. But as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. Logan’s eyes firmed with a resolve that Indigo wanted to break.

“You’ve forgotten me in the past five years. I’m sure two minutes of bad judgment will be a breeze for you.” Logan turned before Indigo could utter another word and walked out of the clinic.

Indigo stood there dumbfounded by Logan’s words. Forget him? The past five years had been pure agony. Logan occupied his every thought when his mind wasn’t on Gabriella. It was to the point Indigo had felt guilt that he hadn’t been more focused on his dead wife.

“Daddy,” Gabriella shouted, none the wiser to the turmoil fighting inside of Indigo. She came into the room and looked around with her big blue eyes. “Where is Loggy?”

Indigo loved that Gabriella had an attachment to Logan, but it wasn’t enough to tie the man to him for life. His panther growled for him to follow their mate and make him understand, but Indigo didn’t. Logan just needed more convincing by his actions. Eventually, he would break the man’s walls down.

Indigo bent down and picked up Gabriella. His beautiful daughter was the spitting image of her late mother, with brown curls and freckles. She had his cobalt-blue eyes though. Gabriella stared at Indigo before putting her small hands on his cheeks and squishing his face.

“Squishy face.” She started giggling and her laughter was infectious.

She had a gift, this ability to make Indigo smile, even when he didn’t feel like it. Gabriella squished his face a few more times for good measure, all while laughing at him.

“How about lunch, princess?” he asked.

She finally let his face free to tap a small finger on her delicate chin. “Peanut butter and jelly with yogurt?”

“And carrots,” Indigo added.

Her face twisted up in disgust. “Princesses don’t need that.”

Indigo shook his head. Gabriella would do anything to avoid eating vegetables. He put her back down and held her small hand in his as they made their way to the kitchen. Everyone had dispersed from the living room. After finding out that Morgan and Kenny were expecting a baby boy, the smiles around the room were full of pure joy. Indigo knew firsthand the joys of having a baby, a bundle of joy that meant everything. He glanced down at Gabriella, remembering the day she was born like it was yesterday.

He pushed those memories back as they were just as sad as they were happy. Indigo’s gaze roamed over the kitchen. He held a breath in anticipation, hoping to see the one man that made his heart skip a beat and palms sweat. But as he looked around the kitchen, there was no Logan.

“If you’re looking for our local coffee addict, he left,” Clyde said. He was on a tablet scrolling through something as he sat at the kitchen table.

Disappointment settled like rotten milk in the pit of Indigo’s stomach. He closed his eyes, centering himself. Reminding himself sometimes things take time and after everything that had happened in their past it was expected that Logan would be weary of accepting their mating. Indigo rolled his shoulders before he went about making Gabriella her lunch. She made her way over to Clyde and promptly took over his tablet and played whatever game he had on it. Indigo drowned out the noise as he thought about how he could possibly convince the man of his dreams to agree to forever.

“You’re ruining a perfectly good peanut butter sandwich,” Kash said.

Indigo nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t heard or noticed Kash come into the kitchen. Kash laughed. “Little jumpy, aren’t