Chapter 12: Chapter 12

I heard Bryan's warning but I didn't move. I held Logan, my body covering his back and my arms

wrapping around his neck.

“It's okay Logan, it's okay.” I whispered into his ears, my eyes shut against the onslaught of

emotions. “You took me away from there. I'm here with you now. That's all that matters.”

His hand came up, holding onto my arms and his shaking lessened

“There we go. Come back to us, Logan. I'm okay.” I cooed, nuzzling my face in the crook of his neck.

"Auri.” I heard him breathe out in between his deep breaths

I nodded, happy that the emotions I was just drowning in were allowing me to breathe again. Logan

sat up a little bit and leaned his head against mine. Bryan whistled and we both looked over at him.

“No one has been able to stop him from shifting when he gets that mad. At first, I didn't know if you

were brave or stupid but then it worked. Damn.” Bryan picked up his spatula and tossed the

pancake that he had left in the pan away.

“Thank you, Auri.” Logan kissed me on the lips. It was chaste but it still sent shivers through me.

I nodded and sat back down in my chair, still holding his hand. I marveled at the mate bond, how

much emotion transferred over. I would need to work on controlling my emotions, but also work on

not drowning in his.

Just when you thought you mastered everything.’ Kai chuckled.

'l did say last time that I felt like I had stalled in my training." I smiled.

Bryan waved the spatula around. “So let me get this straight. Your parents, shipped you off to a

silver factory to make money for them.”

I nodded.

"And then you were adopted by a man who happened to be a mafia boss.”

I nodded again.

“He started to pay for your work in which you went from busk boy to singer for the club he owns.”

I nodded.

"And your parents would pocket the money you made while leaving you with nothing.”

I looked down at the hand that was woven through my fingers. “Did I forget to mention that

Morgan is a vampire?”

This time, both their heads jerked to me, staring at me intensely. I just smiled awkwardly.

“No. You didn’t mention that your adoptive Papa was a vampire.”

"Wait!" Bryan leaned over the table. “You don't mean you sing for The Blood Oath club?!”

I nodded. “The Blood Oath is Morgan's. Though he said whenever I was ready, he would pass the

club over to me. But I'm not interested in running a club.”

Bryan put his hands on his head. “Alpha, that's the club I wanted you to go to! The one that I said

had the bomb singer that was starting.” His eyes lingered back to me. “I can't believe it's our Luna.”

I chuckled. “I'm not that good.”

“The reviews say otherwise. They say you can charm even the most stoic Fey.”

I blushed and kept my head down.

“So my Luna is talented in may ways.” Logan brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. “I have a very

long conversation to have with Alpha Leo. But I need to run into the office real quick.”

"You owe her for not having to get redressed in office attire.” Bryan waved the spatula at him before

throwing another pancake on the plate and sliding it over to me.

"He's right. I'm gonna bring home some clothes for you and a cell phone. I can't have you

unreachable. “ Logan got up and hugged me, kissing me on the head. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

I nodded, feeling the loss of his touch as he pulled away. “I'll be here.”

“Bryan, Hector won't be back from his mothers for a few days. You are in charge of keeping her safe

If anything happens, it's on you.”

Bryan held his hands up. “Yes Alpha!” He saluted and gave me a wink. "Have a wonderful day

sweetheart.”

I chuckled and Logan made a face at him. He kissed me again.

"Goodbye my love.”

"Bye. I'll take good care of him.” I winked back at Bryan

Logan laughed and left, closing the front door. I heard another loud roar of the engine and listened

as it disappeared. It hurt. It hurt being apart from him, knowing that he would be far away. My

breathing felt like I had been climbing a mountain and my heart was sinking further and further into

my chest.

“It sounds like he took the Bugatti again.” Bryan mumbled, piling another pancake onto a plate.

He turned off the stove and came around, sitting next to me and he pulled the plate of pancakes to

him.

"How rich are you guys?” The question left my mouth before I realized it and I blushed.

He laughed. “Well, we are the second largest pack in the whole of North America. Both Logan and I

own multiple companies, which we run and we are working on getting Hector, our Gamma, into the

fold as well.”

I nodded, taking a bite of the pancakes. They were not bad at all but I was excited to have him taste

mine now.

"When Logan was young and took over the pack, it had been decimated. The pack itself wasn't very

large but his father took great care in it. He passed down a company for Logan to run as well as the

pack. Alpha just built everything else, expanded and refused to allow his pack to suffer the same

fate.”

"Alpha Leo used to praise him for his commitment to his pack, but in the same breath didn't agree

with his methods of keeping the pack strong.”

Bryan looked down at his pancakes for a while before taking a bit. “One of the things he

immediately started was women were able to train and be just as active in protecting the pack as

the men were. That idea still is not as popular as it should be now-a-days.”

I nodded. That was one of the things that Alpha Leo had mentioned. Female werewolves had a

place in the pack, but it was not fighting or protecting the pack.

"He also will allow rogues to join the pack, but only if they can beat one of the training captains.

Rogues are already a liability, but if he can make use of them, he will.”

“Is it true he will kick families out of the pack? Because he doesn't want them if they can't fight?”

Bryan shook his head, but smiled. “Not quite. He will kick families out, don't get me wrong, but only

if one of those family members has betrayed the pack or betrayed Logan. His mentality is that if you

can't trust one, then what's stopping the rest of the family after banishing or killing the traitor, from

doing the same. Or holding the grudge against him. So he will kick the whole family out of the

pack.”

I nodded. It made sense. Though not everyone reflected the same ideals in one family. I thought of

my family. Having to reap the consequences for their idiocy would have made me angry. Especially

when I was nothing but loyal to my pack that I wasn't even connected to.

"So! What did you want to do today? Logan will be gone for a couple hours at the very least!”

Somehow, Bryan had already shoved in all his pancakes and now was rinsing his plate off in the sink.

I continued to eat.

“Auri.’ Kai whined.

"Would it be okay if I went for a run? Let Kai out for a while. She hasn't been out since I got back

four months ago.”

"What do you mean you haven't shifted in four months?” The plate clattered in the sink.

“I wasn't allowed to shift at home. The first time I shifted was...painful. My father saw that my wolf

looked just like my mom and it was...” I looked down, my eyes feeling heavy. “He refused to allow

me to shift ever again. Of course, I did when I wasn't home but for the four months I'm there I don't

shift.”

“Your poor wolf.” He mused, picking up the plate and continued to scrub it. “Well, I guess we have

to go. I can't deny my Luna with that kind of request.”

“Plus, I'd like to get to know the forest around the territory.” I smiled and finished the last bite of

pancakes.

Bryan took my plate and quickly rinsed it off, putting it in the dishwasher. He cleaned up the rest of

the kitchen and took me by the hand, pulling me through back door of the kitchen. My barefoot hit

grass and the warm day washed over me. I started to grab my shirt to take it off when Bryan cleared

his throat.

“Lets go ahead and just have you tear those off. I don't want Alpha coming at me for seeing his

mate naked. Not yet anyways.” He smiled.

"Alright then.”

I walked towards the forest and as I stepped, I let the shift happen. I knew my shifting was not what

you would call typical. Morgan and Max had helped me when they found out I had shifted for the

first time. It was funning watching two fairly old vampires pour over texts of "Your First Shift’ and

“Best Ways to Shift Without Pain, Part 2". But with their help, I had smoothed my transition into

shifting from human to wolf.

It was too smooth though. Instead of being a cracking and bursting of your wolf, I shifted more like

fluid. My wolf rippling to the surface as someone had dropped a rock in the water. It had been

shocking say the least when I watched someone else shift after I was so used to how I shifted. Being

taught by two vampires on how to shift had left a lasting effect. At first, I was self conscious about it

but now I just enjoyed the reaction of others.

"What the fuck?”

I wheezed, looking back at Bryan who was slack-jawed. There it was, the usual reaction. Though it

wasn't often, it made me laugh every time. He came over to me and put his hand on my fur.

“You really are the same color as your hair.” He thought out-loud as scratched my back, making me

close my eyes. “Just checking you aren't actually made of liquid or something.”

I waited as he took off his shirt and tossed it at the house before tearing through his pants. His

brownish red fur burst through and I could hear the sickening crack of his bones as his wolf padded

over time

“Alright Kia. Have fun." I smiled, letting her take the reigns.

She jumped into the forefront of my mind and I watched her as she circled and smelled Bryan

before taking off into the forest. The cool shade covered us and I just sat back, enjoying the peace

that came with running through the forest. Bryan struggled to keep up with us though. Kai kept

looking around to make sure she didn't get too far ahead of him.

A couple hours into our run, there was a howling off in the distance and the both of us stopped. I

watched as Bryan kept his head in the air, cocked to the side. It took me a minute to realize he was

mind linking with his fellow pack members. Then it hit me, the smell of something wild, moldy and

slightly decaying. I whipped my head in the direction the smell was coming from. Rogues. Rogues

had crossed the border.