Chapter 2

Logan POV

He was running late to the Alpha and Beta gathering at the Shadow Moon’s pack. His Beta was already there and had text him and told him the party was in full swing. Alpha David went all out on this party. He was to announce when he planned on letting his son, Dylan, take over as Alpha since his 19th birthday had already passed. Dylan had been sitting in on meetings the past few years, as was tradition, learning about how to be an Alpha. He seemed to be a good kid and Logan believed he would make a good Alpha, especially if he was anything like his dad. Alpha David had served his pack very well.

Logan pulled up to the front gate and the guard let him pass. He pulled up to the four-story house, everything was lit up, there were garden lights in all the bushes, and lights lining the driveway. He got out of his car and made his way to the front door and rang the doorbell. A short, plump woman, who looks to be in her late forties, opened the door.

“Alpha Logan, it’s good to see you again. Please come in.” she said.

He made his way inside, looking for his beta. He was walking through the crowd and just spotted his beta when that smell hit him hard. It smelled like springtime rain and citrusy. He looked around to see where the smell was coming from, forgetting about looking for his beta, when he looked up to the balcony on the third floor. He seen someone peering through the spindles, he wondered why she was hiding up there. When she stood up and he got a full view of her, it took his breath away. She was absolutely beautiful, brown hair that went past her shoulders and ice blue eyes. Mate!

They just stood there staring at each other. He started making his way towards the stair case and he looked back up just in time to see her turn around and disappear behind the curtain. He thought she was coming down to meet him. He finally got to the stair case and made his way up to the second floor but he didn’t see her coming down the stairs, so he kept going up. He got to the third-floor landing and still didn’t see her. He smelled the air and followed her scent to the stairs that led to the fourth floor, he went up. Following her scent, he made his way to a door, he knocked but didn’t wait for an answer before he walked in.

She was standing in front of her bed, a look of panic on her face.

“Hi, I’m Logan, what’s your name?” he asked.

“Emma.” she said. “You really shouldn’t be up here.”

“Why not?” Logan asked.

“Nobody is allowed up here except for my parents, brother, and staff.” she replied.

“That still doesn’t answer why.” he said.

She looked like she was about to have a panic attack so he walked up to her and rubbed her arms trying to calm her down. He felt sparks as soon as he touched her.

“Emma sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked her.

“My father will be pissed if he found out that I went out on the balcony. I’m not supposed to be seen.” she said.

“Who is your father?” he asked.

“Alpha David.” she replied.

He shook his head and had a confused look on his face. He didn’t know Alpha David had a daughter, nobody did. Just a son.

“Why is it that nobody knows that Alpha David has a daughter?” he asked bewildered.

Emma sighed and sat down on her bed and motioned for Logan to sit too.

“Father doesn’t want anyone to know that he has a daughter. Dylan and I are twins, but I was born five minutes before him. By law, I am the Alpha heir, not Dylan, but he wants Dylan to take over, so he hid me away.” she explained.

“Why doesn’t he just say that Dylan was born first?” he asked.

“Because being twins, we will shift on the same night, and if anyone sees that my wolf is bigger than Dylan’s, they will know that I am the true Alpha.” she said.

“Wait, you haven’t even shifted yet?” asked Logan.

“No, and neither has Dylan. He wants Dylan to wait to have his shifting ceremony until next week.” she told him.

“I have always liked and respected your father, but this, I’m not ok with this. You shouldn’t be locked up in the attic and forgotten about. You should be proudly shown off to the world, and soon you will be.”

“No! I can’t! At least not until after Dylan takes over as Alpha, my father can’t say anything then. Dylan will let me go anywhere I want.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Emma nodded her head, “I know he will. He is always coming up to keep me company. Mother comes some, Father rarely comes, but Dylan always comes. He used to sneak me outside at night when our parents weren’t here.”

“He used to?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, he can’t anymore.” she said.

“What happened?”

“Well, growing up, I always watched my brothers and his friends swimming and I always wanted to go too, so when my parents would leave and the staff would go to bed, Dylan would come up and get me and sneak me downstairs and teach me to swim. One weekend, my parents were supposed to be gone all weekend, but they came home early Saturday night and caught us in the pool, our father flipped. He was so pissed. Mom didn’t really care and she told him that she didn’t see the problem with me coming outside when it was dark and that I should be allowed outside. But father said that it didn’t matter if it was dark or not, anyone could see and then everything would be ruined. After that, he had motion sensors installed on the stairs going down to the third floor. I haven’t been back outside since.”

“Wow. That’s just, wow.” Logan didn’t really know what to say. He just wanted to scoop her up and take her home. But he didn’t want to stress her out. If she wanted to wait until after Dylan took over, then he would wait. It shouldn’t be long anyway, and the announcement will happen soon.

“Ok, I won’t say anything and I will wait to take you home with me until after Dylan takes over as Alpha. I don’t want you to worry about anything or be stressed out about it, and if you want to wait until then, then I will wait. Do you have a phone?” He asks her.

She shook her head. “No, Father would never allow me to have one, says that I don’t need it. If anything happened and I needed to reach any of them, then the staff could call them.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone and hands it to her. “Here, this is my personal phone, the only people that have this number is my parents, sisters, and my Beta and Gamma. I will let them all know to not text or call this number to reach me anymore. I will go tomorrow and get a new phone and a new number. In the meantime, my business phone number is saved in the contacts. You can reach me on that number until I get a new one for my personal use.”

Emma took the phone from Logan and flipped it over in her hand, not knowing what in the world to do with it. She looks at him confused and he laughs.

“Here, you turn on the screen like this.” And he shows her how to turn it on, he goes step by step, showing her how to use the phone. “Ah, I don’t have a charger on me. I will have my Beta go out to my car and grab you one really quick.”

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to his Beta and a few seconds later his phone chimed with a reply. He looked up at Emma and was about to tell her that it would be a few minutes when he seen the look on her face. She had gone pale and her expression was pure panic. He grabbed her arms and pulled her close.

“Sweetheart, what is wrong?” he asked her.

“He can’t come up here! There are guards posted on each floor to make sure I don’t try to sneak down!” she exclaimed.

Now he looked confused. “I came up, but there weren’t any guards. But I will text him and tell him to watch for guards as he comes up and if there are any, not to try to come up.”

“I can go down to the third floor, but only to use the bathroom. If there is a guard there, I will have him leave to go get me something to drink or something.” Emma said. “Wait right here.”

She walked out the door. He was angry with how scared and panicked she was. A few minutes later she came back through the door, looking confused again.

“The guards are gone on both the third and the second floor. But have him meet you on the second floor please. And hurry before they come back.”

His phone chimed. He looked at the message, it was from his Beta saying he was on his way up. He typed quickly to tell him to meet him on the second floor.

“I will be right back.” he said and kissed her on her cheek softly.

He ran down the steps and grabbed the charger.

“What’s going on?” His Beta asked.

“I don’t have time to explain right now Nathan. I’ll tell you everything later. Just get back downstairs and let me know if you see anyone coming up the stairs, I don’t care who it is.” and he turned around and ran back up the stairs without waiting for Nathan to say anything else. He opened the door and walked back in Emma’s room.

“Here is the charger, you plug it up right here.” and showed her the port on the phone to plug the charger into. She took the charger from him. 

“I don’t want to leave you. It’s going to be torture to be away from you.” Logan said.

“I don’t want to be away from you either, but it will be better this way. Once Dylan takes over, I won’t be confined to the house anymore. Then I can tell my father I found mate. He will be happy for me then.” she said.

“I will do whatever it takes to make you happy, and if being without you for a little while before we can be together is what it takes, then that is what I will do. You have a phone now, so we can at least talk to each other until then. Just make sure you keep it charged. It shows you in the top corner how much battery you have. If it reaches zero, it will turn off.”

“Ok, you really should go back down to the party now before anyone realizes that you are gone, if they haven’t already.”

Logan pulls her close, “Can I at least kiss you before I leave?”

She nods her head. He wraps his arms around her waist and brings her body to his. He leans down and softly brushes his lips to hers. She opens her mouth to meet his and he deepens the kiss. Emma moans as she feels a hunger inside of her that she has never felt before. She moves her hands up his chest and feels his hard muscles under his shirt. Her instincts are trying to take over as she wants to rip his shirt off and push him onto her bed and climb on top of him. But she fights against her urges, and pulls away, breaking the kiss.

Logan brushes her cheek with the back of his hand and smiles at her. “I will talk to you soon. If you need me for anything at all, I don’t care what time of day or night it is, call me or text me.”

“I will.” Emma says as she smiles at him. “Now go.” and she pushes him towards the door. He looks at her one last time before he shuts the door, his heart is racing. He finally found his mate, but he couldn’t have her yet. He takes in her beautiful face like he is trying to commit it to memory, he didn’t know when he would be able to see her again, but he knew he had to go. He shuts the door and heads back down to the party. The guards were still missing on each of the floors. Nathan is waiting for him at the bottom of the steps.

“So, what was all of that about?” Nathan asked.

“I will explain after we leave, I don’t want anyone to overhear. Just keep this to yourself until later.”

Nathan just nods his heads not pushing it any farther.

Logan’s phone chimes. He looks at his screen, it is a message from Emma.

I miss you already.

I miss you too sweetheart. Don’t worry, we will be together soon my Rapunzel.

Who is Rapunzel?

You don’t know who Rapunzel is?

No.

She is a princess that is kept locked up in a tower. I will have to get you the book.

Ok. How is the party?

Boring. It would be much better with you by my side.

As soon as Dylan is Alpha.

Until then...

Logan snapped a picture of himself and sent it to her. She replied with a picture of herself.

You are absolutely beautiful. He said.

You are making me blush.

Logan smiled. Good. He text her.

Try to enjoy the party. We can talk more later.

Can I call you when I get home?

Yes.

I will talk to you then.

Ok.

At that moment Alpha David appeared on the stairs, clinking his glass to get everyone’s attention. Dillon walked up to join him. Logan put his phone back in his pocket and waited for the announcement.

“Thank you all for being here tonight. I am proud to announce that my son, Dylan, will be taking my place as Alpha. We will start with his shifting ceremony next week. After that we will slowly transition him to take over within the next few months. I feel he will be fully prepared and ready to take over on his 20th birthday. He still has more to learn but I am confident he will be ready by then. Alphas, if you will, be here next Friday, when the full moon is at its peak, we will begin his shifting ceremony. Thank you.” Alpha David wrapped up his speech and Logan groaned. 

He didn’t think he could wait months to have his Luna home. He would need to figure out something else. He needed to talk to Dylan, but it couldn’t be tonight, not with so many people around. He didn’t know if Dylan would be able to help, but he had to try.