Logan walked out of the strategy room after his meeting with Casper. His heart was alive with happiness and he couldn't wait to see his mate again. He found himself smiling at the memory of her sleeping so carelessly on his bed. He realised that he wanted to always see her on his bed, right by him.His mind wandered to the killings again and his smile was deflated a little. He realised that whenever he thought of Aella, the killings also came to mind. It was as though they were closely related, and he couldn't help the nagging feeling that his mate and the killings were somehow connected.His mind suddenly went to his father and he decided to pay the old man a visit. He hadn't seen him since the time he had attempted to get some advice on what to do about the killings. So instead of turning left to his own wing, he went right, pausing at the door that led to his father's room.He opened the door and stepped into the gloominess of the room, waving away the dust that fluttered up to his
The sight that met Logan's eyes was appalling. His mouth hung open in shock as his eyes roamed the room. It was a total eyesore. It looked like a literal earthquake had happened in the room.The bed that Aella had been sleeping on had been scattered, its sheets, duvets, and pillows on the floor. His well-arranged bottles of hair spray, body spray, and lotion were all over the rug. The curtains had been pulled down and all the throw pillows on the couch had been going every cornerLogan looked around, his eyes taking in the messy sight. The breakfast that had been served to her had also been upturned on the rug. The room was nothing like what Logan had left before he went to the strategy room. And in the middle of it, all sat Aella on the couch, a book in her hand and a mischievous smile on her face."You!" He growled and moved forward in rage. She didn't move back in fright as he had expected but sat there and met his eyes squarely."What did you fucking do to my room?!" Logan yelled,
Aella watched as her mate practically ran from the room and was mildly surprised at his reaction. She stood from the couch and walked over to the bed, sinking into it while thinking about everything that had just happened. He had almost flared up at her, she could sense it, but he had held himself back instead of doing what she had thought he would do. That was something she hadn't expected.She had seen the way his knuckles whitened and the way his face went blank with rage. She had wanted to make him pay for locking her up and so she had tried to coax a reaction from him. it had worked up to a point but then she had seen him control his anger. It was almost impressive with the way he had done it; Other men would have either tried to take advantage of her or hit her into submission. What she did not know was that it took him a colossal amount of self-control to pull that off.She sighed as she thought of how angry she had almost made him. He had much more self-control than she though
Aella's dream that night was populated by nightmares. She tossed and turned on the bed as different confusing images invaded her dreams. The picture she had seen when cleaning up the room seemed to be the center of her nightmares, in particular the tattoo on Logan's mother's hand.It tugged at her memory like a forgotten heirloom, turning her sweet dreams into nightmares. She couldn't pinpoint why the tattoo was coming back over and over again to her, but it kept waking her up and ruining her sleepShe woke up suddenly to the cheerful chirping of birds and groaned tiredly. She turned and checked the time, realizing that it was still quite early in the morning. She hadn't had much sleep because of the nightmares and all she wanted was to go back to bed. But she knew the horn signaling the beginning of the day would soon be blown anyway, so it would be pointless to go back to sleep.She stretched fully, then stood up from bed, shuffling towards the bathroom. On her way, she glanced at t
Meanwhile, Logan was in his father's room. He had just gotten off the phone with Louve his cousin who had confirmed that she would be visiting the pack that same day. He stood up from the bed and stretched, then looked over at his father who was knocked out on the couch. He had thought he would find the man awake but it seemed that every time he came, the man was either drunk or fast asleep. The room was in much better repair than the last time he had visited. He had told a few maids to clean up the place before he came in. The bottles of beer that had once littered the floor were gone. The curtains had been drawn and the windows opened, and the bed had been freshly laid. Logan had had a restless sleep as his wolf had cried out for his mate, and his father had been snoring on the couch. He really could not wait to see his cousin as he believed that she could restore normalcy to his life. The dramatic events with the rogue attacks and his new mate were taking a toll on him, and he rea
After Kylie left, Aella looked up to soak her face with the sun's rays again and her eyes moved to the glass windows that overlooked the front lawn from upstairs. She caught Logan leaving the gym and watched through the windows as he walked down the stairs and towards the training ground, where about two dozen young male wolves were training. She followed him closely to the training ground and watched as he joined the young wolves in training.Her heart ached for him as she realised they hadn't talked in so many hours. She badly wanted to walk across the training ground and engage him in some conversation, anything, just to hear his voice again. But she tried to convince herself that staying away from him for a while was good for her sanity. Whenever he was around her, she either found a reason to be angry or felt a hot burning desire for him.The desire was stronger than the anger these days though. He invaded her every waking moment and she found herself staring at his body more tim
Aella woke up suddenly and looked around. She was a little disoriented and groggy. She scratched her head as she couldn't remember much from last night, only that Logan had walked into the room.Fuck! She stood up abruptly and looked around. Logan had walked into the room, then he had done things to her body. Unholy things, she thought. She looked down at her body in fright. But her clothes were still on. If she remembered clearly, he had pulled off the shirt she was wearing before touching her. But she was still wearing the shirt.A sinking feeling came over her as she realised that everything she had experienced the night before had been a dream. Logan hadn't come into the room and finger fucked her. It had all been a figment of her imagination. Her body had craved for Logan's touch so much that it had imagined that he was right by her, pleasuring her.But it had felt so real! Her mind protested. She still felt a tingling sensation between her legs when she thought of Logan's finger
Aella stayed in the room, thinking about how Logan had managed to invade her train of thought. She determined within herself that she would not have anything to do with him again. She would reject him the moment she got the chance. What did she think? That Logan would look over several women in the pack and choose her? It was only the mating bond that made him so attracted to her. Beyond that, he didn't really see her as partner material.The tears threatened to slip from her eyes again but she tried to keep it in check. It would not do to show any form for emotion now. The first chance she got, she would reject him, then find her way out of this hell of a pack. She didn't think she could stand anybody here anymore. She was done.She walked to the couch by the window and sat there till her food was brought to her by the maid. She collected the tray and apologized for her outburst the other time. But the maid looked at her with a startled expression at her apology. The young girl was p
Everything was peaceful again.Logan stood at the border that separated his pack from bare land. He slowly looked around, taking in the scene of the battle that had happened so many months ago now. The sight was still as vivid as though it had happened just yesterday. He could still see the Rogue King and all his numbers standing mere meters from where he stood, the sounds of clashing metal and yelling men, so familiar and neverforgotten, the scent too, of blood and fear and adrenaline. Everything still looked and smelled and sounded the same, yet so much had changed since then.He sighed and looked up into the sky, raking his hand through his ponytail. It was almost springtime already; the whole forest reminded him of the change in season. The tree trunks dappled in the morning light and the shadow of the leaves on his face. Some of the trees were already bringing out leaves and flowers. The air smelled of over-ripe berries, fading blossoms, and a thousand or more flowers dazing hi
Logan screamed, and several things happened at once."Attack!" Casper yelled, and the whole of Logan's warriors roared and raced toward the Rogue King and his army. The rogue army equally chanted in a loud voice and beat their weapons against their shield, then ran at the oncoming warriors.Both armies met in the middle of the grassy land. The sound of their collision was terrible and harsh to the ears: the screeching of iron on iron as shields met, the barking and snarling of the frontline wolves as they tore at each other, the painful yells of dozens of Lycan warriors as they were stabbed or speared or torn apart to death.The bodies of Logan's gamma and the spy from the rogue pack were lost in the commotion. Logan barely had time to access the situation of the battle or go after the Rogue King. He had eyes only for his mate. He spotted her in the middle of the stampede, lying on the floor as her life seeped out of her body.He ran towards her after she slipped to the ground before
Logan dismounted from his stallion and walked forward to the edge of the border in preparation to meet the Rogue King. Every angle of his face was set in determination as he looked forward, the spring air caressing his regal face.Then suddenly, he spotted a speck of black coming forward from about a mile forward. The whole army behind him was so silent that the alpha could hear his beta breathing lightly beside him.Casper looked at his alpha. “Logan—” he said, then broke off, stiffening all over. A moment later Logan heard it too—a heavy, rhythmic pounding, and laid over that, a sound like several bonfires crackling. The speck grew and elongated little by little until it was a line of army, running towards Logan and his pack. It took the alpha several long moments to understand the noise.“The Rogue Army.” Casper whispered. Following his gaze, he saw them, coming closer and closer like a spreading shadow, the Rogue Wolf pack in all their numbers. There must have been hundreds of th
Logan had been waiting for a long time.He was standing in the part of the woods that faced the border, with a hundred and fifty well-armed warriors. The whole forest was silent and tense, almost as though all the animals were joining in the wait for the arrival of the Rogue King.He had sent Casper ahead with a couple of other warriors to scan the land ahead and send word when they noticed the arrival of the Rogue King. He had told his beta to wave a red flag when coming to indicate that battle was near. So far it had been four hours since he sent Casper out, and he was feeling as harried and on edge as a father expecting his newborn child.He was seated on a white stallion, bred specially for the use of alphas in the pack. His hair was packed up in a man bun and he was dressed in black fighting gear. He had smeared black paint across both of his cheeks, as well as all the other warriors that stood behind him. He raised a hand and pulled at the tight material on his neck uncomfortabl
Aella's dreams made no senseFirst, she was in the foyer of the pack house in Logan's pack, walking down the makeshift aisle that was meant for Louve. She looked sideways at the crowd of well-wishers and instead of the faces of Logan's pack members, she saw grins and sneers from the members of the Rogue Pack. She looked down and instead of a white dress, she was putting on a black one: lacy and tattered, like a Bride of Death. Someone was leading her by the arm, and when she looked up, she saw that it was her dad.Impossible, she had time to think before they got to the makeshift altar, where the Wolf Priest was waiting for the both of them. She heard low chants from the members of the Rogue Pack behind her but she paid little heed. All her attention was focused on her groom who was standing with his back to her, looking very much like Logan. Maybe this dream isn't so bad after all, she thought. But when the groom turned to her, she was staring not at Logan but at the face of the Rogu
Logan and his gamma walked back to the pack house in relative silence. Several thoughts kept running through the alpha's mind. At least now, Aella's name would be cleared, albeit not completely. She would still be seen as a rogue wolf that was sent to spy on them, and the only reason Jesse was assigned the position of a spy in the pack was that Aella had failed at it by getting herself mated to him.Jesse was the last person he had expected to be the spy though. He stole a sideways look at the man as he dragged him forward by the collar. He was one of those silent, sidelines people, those you'd never know they were there until they spoke. Logan had seen a lot of himself in the man and had admired his knack for staying level-headed even in very tough situations. That was the very reason why he had made Jesse his Gamma.Logan's mind flashed back to when they had been younger. While Casper had been his best friend, Jesse had been that boy that sort of tagged along anytime they went on th
Staring at Logan was the familiar face of Jesse, his Gamma."What the hell are you doing here? And hooded too?" Logan asked. There was a nagging, almost uncomfortable feeling about this situation, but he tried to push it off. Jesse's deep blue, almost black eyes that stared up into his were wide and full of everything suspicious. His eyes kept looking behind Logan's back as though he was expecting someone else to show up."Can you get off me, alpha?" Jesse said, squirming uncomfortably. Logan stood up with a grunt and even stretched out a hand to the man, who took it and stood up from the forest floor, dusting his clothes.Everything about this screamed suspicion, but Logan paid no heed to it. He wanted to trust his gamma beyond any reasonable doubt, but the man kept giving him every reason to doubt him. The hands that dusted his clothes were shaky; only someone who felt guilty about something would fidget so much. And the clothes—Logan hadn't noticed them before—he had a black turtle
The flashlight in Logan's hand illuminated several meters of the cave stone, upon which hundreds of intricate drawings had been scrawled. Logan quickly closed his mouth as it had been hanging open in shock, and moved further inside the cave.The sight that met his eyes was unbelievable. He truly had never seen them before. It wasn't really the fact that they were unique that intrigued Logan so much, but the fact that this cavehad stood right in the middle of his pack's borders and he hadn't noticed it, not once.Granted, the cave was hidden in the side of the mountain, but not once had a wolf from his pack ever stumbled upon the cave entrance. It was baffling and confusing to Logan.Wow. This was so not what I was expecting, his inner wolf said in amazement.He raised the flashlight high and looked around. The wall to his immediate right had more inscriptions than drawings. Logan moved closer to the smooth cave wall, trying to decipher the writings. The writings had been made with a p
After their short meeting, the three of them walked out of the study. Logan's spirit was much lifted after talking to his two best friends. His mind was still full of worry about Aella and how she was doing, but he was also happy that he seemed to be making progress on one thing at least.He remembered something that his father had once told him, that the fastest way to forget about something painful was to drown that pain in work. He had been extremely sad about Aella's kidnapping and had worried for her safety, but at least he had been able to do some work with his beta and cousin and make headway in the process. It had drowned his worries about his mate for a few precious minutes.But now thoughts of Aella had returned and had started haunting him again. He felt as though he would lose it if he didn't find a way to clear his head.Logan escorted Casper and Louve to the door of the dining room, where they were to have dinner. Louve turned to her cousin. "Come and eat dinner with us.