CHAPTER 3

I hurried down the stairs and out of the building. I knew mom would give me an earful if she caught up with me and I didn’t want to deal with all that at the time. I decided I’d walk to my apartment instead of waiting for her.

I’d only made it a few blocks when she pulled up beside me and not wanting to cause a scene, I got into her car.

“What were you thinking? What is wrong with you?” she asked. Straight to it, I thought.

‘Why did you bring me here today?”

She was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were turning white. “All I want is the best for you. Why can’t you see that? I thought if I brought you here today and you saw how happy these people were you’d realize what you were missing out on. You can’t possibly want to live like this forever Logan. It’s no way to live.”

Over and over again with this same thing. I was just about sick of it. “I told you how he used to bully me when we were kids, right? I’d tell da and you and you’d tell me he was just playing with me and I should stand up for myself if he went too far.” I asked in an unnervingly calm voice.

“You were children. What else was I supposed to do?”

I sneered at her response. “And now, I’ve chosen my path and you fight me every step of the way. You didn’t have my back then, you don’t have my back now.”

She slammed the brakes and turned to look at me. “Logan, that's not true and you know it.”

“I know having my mom in my corner would be nice. ‘Who needs enemies’ right?”

By now tears were streaming down her face but I couldn’t care less. She’d always hounded me about the same thing regardless of how many times I expressed my opinions. It’s almost like she felt I was going through a phase and her constant badgering would snap me out of it.

I got out of the car and just started walking. I didn’t turn around when she called me. I needed my space.

I walked and walked till I got to what served as the border for our territory. It was just a vast field with the woods on the other side. There were occasional rogue sightings but they knew to avoid pack territories in general. I knew I was safe for the most part. Besides, I could hold my own. My father had taught me a thing or two growing up.

I laid down in the grass and looked up at the sky, thinking about nothing and everything. By then it was getting dark and the sky was saturated by the pale orange tint of the sunset.

This was a nice change of pace from my nightly parties. I was surprised Mike hadn’t called me yet. That’s when I realized I had left my phone in my mom's car. I was oddly calm considering what that could mean. I imagined her frantically trying to guess my passcode so she could get her hands on some juicy secrets she could use in her next sermon.

I was considering how relaxing this place was and how I was going to make it my new haunt when I heard a blood-curdling scream. It made me freeze as I tried to find what direction it came from.

I heard laughter coming from the woods and then I heard struggling. I ran over not sure what to expect but I knew whatever it was, It wasn’t going to be pleasant. I got to the edge of the woods and hesitated. I’d never been this far out before. Leaving the pack territory wasn’t something we did under two conditions only; it was absolutely necessary or you got kicked out and no one had ever got kicked out, not to my knowledge at least.

Mustering my courage, I did what no other pack member had willingly done. Crossing into the woods felt odd like I’d crossed into another world. I was still reeling from that novel experience when I heard someone, a male voice, yell.

I raced towards the sound when I saw movement up ahead. In a clearing in the woods, I saw three figures, one was on their knees, and on closer look, it looked like a man clutching at his neck which was oozing blood.

My eyes were drawn to the remaining two figures. One was a smaller frame that seemed to be battling the larger one. I didn’t know what was happening, or who the good or the bad guy was.

The smaller person however appeared to be holding their own. I realized it was a safe bet to assume this person was the one in danger even though it didn’t look that way.

Just as I decided to help, the big guy stumbled backward and fell with a loud thud.

This small fellow had managed to disperse these two huge guys all on their own. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Then I started to process my situation.

I was outside pack territory, basically in no man's land where I just witnessed two massive guys get dropped. I was on edge. My wolf was buzzing at the thought of the impending danger. We hadn’t been in an actual fight up till that point even though we’d been in countless training sessions.

Thrashing around inside me, demanding to be let loose but I maintained control. I didn’t want to cause undue trouble with this considerably competent fellow.

I started to backtrack and as if the universe wanted to seal my fate, I stepped on a twig and it snapped. The noise drew the stranger's attention to me and they turned around.

My breath caught in my throat at that instant and I was frozen. Never before had I seen such a sight to behold. The wind blew through the clearing making her kohl-black, curly hair flow gently with the breeze. Her chestnut skin-which was clear apart from a couple drops of blood-seemed incandescent against the dark backdrop of the surrounding trees. Her deceptively frail, svelte figure hidden beneath all the grime and dirt made my mind wander to places it probably shouldn’t have at that moment.

And then it happened; her dazzling brown eyes caught mine and they seemed to stare directly into my soul. It felt like she knew all my secrets, my fears, my aspirations; all my memories. I can almost see the images flowing through my mind into hers. The feeling of connection is overwhelming, so much so that I want to avert my gaze but my body wouldn’t let me. I was paralyzed. Involuntarily transfixed in my stance, forced to share my entire being with this stranger.

Thankfully there was a few seconds of respite that I used to catch my breath and then it happened again. This time, however, she was the one who was sharing herself with me. In an instant, I knew this stranger.

I knew how she was born to a lowly couple, I knew how she lost all she knew and was forced to strike out on her own, I knew how she’d been forced to grow up so early, how strong and competent that made her become.

I knew Elise Weston

My head was a raging tempest of information and emotions. I felt as though my brain would explode at any moment. But through it all, I saw her. She was all I could see, all I could think about.

Five minutes before, I didn’t know who she was but now I would kill and die for her.

All the while I was transfixed, I didn’t know how much time had passed. For all I knew, it could have been five seconds or five hours.

I started to blackout. My vision got dark and I felt my strength drain from me. Slowly, as if I were being guided, my body fell to the forest floor

And then there was nothing.