Logan ensured that the captured man was taken to the cages meant for dogs and locked up in there. That was where very hardened wolves were kept. Logan knew that the wolf would begin to spill his darkest inner secrets within a few hours of being in those cages. After ensuring that the man was securely caged, he walked into the pack house and towards his room.A big smile formed on his handsome face immediately he walked in and met Aella waiting for him while sitting on his bed. She was wearing nothing but a sheer black singlet and shorts, with her hair let down. She looked so young and full of life; his woman."Hey Logan," she called, getting up and walking closer to him.Logan replied her by dragging her closer with her waist. He locked eyes with her before slamming his lips on her own. Aella responded to the kiss immediately as if she has been waiting for that. They kept kissing for a while until he break the kiss."Oh wow." She murmured, smiling at him. "I love this gentle side of y
Logan left the prisoner among the dogs in the cage and walked back towards the pack house with his aides. His mind was in turmoil. He was confused about the next step to take, as he hadn't envisaged a trespasser.When they got into the foyer of the packhouse, Jesse his gamma spoke up."So what are we going to do next, Alpha?" He asked.Logan frowned in thought. "This is definitely an unexpected turn of events. I think we should gather the head wolves and have a meeting on the next step to take, because I am personally very confused on what to do."They then walked towards the strategy room. Once they entered, Logan sat down on one of the chairs and fetched a guard. The guard came into the room and bowed reverently to the three leaders."Yes, send messages to all the head wolves of this pack. We need to have an impromptu meeting concerning the hostage that was taken." Logan commanded."Yes, my Alpha." The guard said and bowed again before going out of the room. The Beta and Gamma took
The sight of Kylie's dead body was terrible to behold. Logan immediately closed his eyes as a sharp pang of pain went through his body. Not Kylie, no! He thought.Like the other pack members that had been killed, Kylie was in half-human, half-wolf form. Her torso and limbs were in wolf form, but her head and neck were human, though covered in sparse fur. Her thick blonde hair was framed around her face like a halo, and her grey eyes stared lifelessly at the sky. Her torso had been slashed repeatedly. Logan could count four slashes, deep as knife wounds. Her intestines peeked from the wounds like fat red tentacles.Casper and Jesse soon joined them. Casper cursed silently as he saw the dead body. "Damn." He said. "When had this happened?"Indeed, when had this happened, Logan thought to himself. He had been on this training ground barely six hours ago. It must have happened when he was busy interrogating the rogue wolf. Her skin already looked pallid and rigor mortis had begun to set i
Aella entered the room that she and Logan now shared and looked around. The alpha wasn't here either. She had seen him walk into the pack house after the burial and had thought that he was coming into their room. But the room was devoid of him.She went into the bathroom to have a bath, then put on a black see-through slip that Louve had given her. Logan would be tearing at that slip once you show up to bed with it, she'd said. Aella wanted to test it now, to see if Logan would look at her with desire in his eyes. She washed her hair with scented soap and let it down so it billowed around her shoulders the way he liked it, then laid on the bed to wait for her mate.An hour passed with Aella patiently waiting for him but he didn't show up. She wondered where he was at the moment. Then she remembered that he was the alpha and every pain or grief that his pack member was feeling, he would feel too. Perhaps he needed a few hours to himself, to get over the collective pain that he was mos
Logan was disturbed.There was no other word to exaim the uneasiness he felt inside of him. He realised suddenly that he didn't want to be around Aella, at least for the meantime. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was fishy about her. He guessed that the feeling had been there ever since she had appeared at the thresholds of his pack's border, but it had been repressed by the love and fondness he had begun to feel for her.But now that he had seen that tattoo on the rogue's neck, then seen it on her shoulder and his mother's hand, he knew that there was really more to her than meets the eye. And he had posed that question back in his study to see her reaction. Her reaction had confirmed all his fears. At that moment she had looked like her worst nightmare had come to life.He was so confused and full of anxiety. At this point he didn't know what to believe anymore. Did that mean that his mother was a rogue wolf before she got married to his father? And how was Aella tied to
Logan checked the sleeping figure of his father to make sure that the old man wasn't dead. That fit had been scary; Logan had begun to think that the man was going to pass on, hence his acting sane for a few minutes.But why did his father's word tie so perfectly with everything that has been going on in his life? His father had been holed up in this room for so many years. There was no way he could know about things that had been going on around the pack.Itwas as though his father's words were godsent, as though the Goddess was trying to sound him a personal warning and she did it from somewhere he wasn't expecting so that he would listen.He sighed and walked back to the couch he was sitting on before. His mind wandered to the tattoo links between his mate, his late mother and the captive. He closed his eyes, wondering how one person could have this kind of rotten luck like him.A crushing feeling of hopelessness engulfed him and he felt goosebumps race up his arms. He had never fe
The alpha groaned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He picked up another book from the pile on his table and flipped through the pages distractedly. At this point he couldn't force his brain to stay focused. His body needed sleep, but his spirit was in need of answers.The whole pack house was deathly quiet as everyone has gone to bed except him. His sharp wolf ears could pick out the crickets that chirped in the grasses outside, the soft breeze that rustled the trees behind the window of the Alpha's Library.He swiveled around in the chair to face the window behind him and looked out at the starry night sky. He could see the pitch black of the woods from this height and beyond the woods was a wide stretch of land. He knew what was beyond those lands, knew that it was only a matter of time before the thing caught up to him and wiped out his entire pack.His spirit wasn't at peace; it hadn't been at peace since the capture of the rogue wolf and Kylie's murder. He knew it would not be at pe
After Logan packed a few clothes from the closet in a small duffel bag, he came out to face Aella again. She was looking at him as though she wanted to say something but couldn't. Her eyes were full of regret and pain but he couldn't stand that look. He couldn't trust her anymore.He looked at her expectantly, his eyebrows raised. "Well? If you have something to say, then say it.""Look, Logan. I want you to know that it's all for your good. If I tell you about my past, if...""What exactly is going to happen if you tell me anything? Are people after your life? Is something going to happen to me if you tell me about your past? Just tell me, Aella!" He yelled."No, I'm so sorry!" Aella replied and he gave her one last look of disbelief, then turned to walk away. She quickly reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Please, Logan...""I think it would be best for the both of us if we stay away from each other for now, Aella." Logan said in a deadly quiet voice. "I still love you but
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.