Louve led Aella to her room and stayed for a couple of minutes, after which Aella said she wanted to sleep. After wishing her a good sleep, Louve left the room.

She had no idea what to do next as she was still holding a grudge with her mate and her only friend was asleep. There was no one else she would rather talk to. After much deliberation, she decided to head to Logan's study and while away time with him for a while. It was evening and the bell for dinner would soon be rung anyway.

She got to his study and met the door tightly closed. She knocked, thinking that perhaps he was having a private moment. When she heard a muffled "Come in!" she opened the door and walked in, closing it quietly behind her.

She met Jesse the gamma seated in front of her cousin. He was having a discussion about the patrol team with the alpha and he stopped as she came in. Logan looked up briefly as she came in and raised his eyebrows, clearly asking why she was here without speaking.

Louve made a non-committal wave of her hand to Indicate that she was not in a hurry, and they continued their discussion.

From snippets of their conversation, she was able to garner that they had increased the patrol members by almost double, adding the male teenagers that they had been training for weeks now. Personally, she had doubts about adding mere teenagers at the front line. She thought it would be wiser to keep the stronger, more experienced warriors at the boundary and the teenagers inside the boundary. She wanted to tell Logan this, but she knew that her opinions would be taken for granted as usual.

Soon enough, Jesse finished his conversation with the alpha and took his leave. On his way to the door, he nodded and murmured a greeting to Aella and she reciprocated the greeting. She waited for him to shut the door, then turned to Logan.

"Hey," she said, coming closer to his desk. "How have you been? I haven't seen you all day since breakfast."

Logan sighed and rubbed his face with one palm. "Yeah, I have been having some patrol issues that needed to be cleared up. I just did that now with Jesse."

Louve saw her cousin look at her with a tired face, his eyes drooping with exhaustion. When she didn't reply to his words, he raised his eyebrows again. "Well? What were you itching to tell me?" 

"Oh, nothing. Just came to check up on you." She dismissed his words with a wave of her fingers and walked around the study slowly, admiring the pieces of art on the walls and on shelves. She knew this whole pack house like the back of her hand, including this study. Many a hot summer afternoon had been spent playing hide and seek with Logan in this study as a kid.

She heard her cousin pull his chair back with a groan and stood up. He took a few steps and came to stand beside her as she looked up at a framed portrait of his mother; her aunt. He looks so much like her, she thought. Same dimples, straight black hair and striking green eyes.

"She was beautiful, wasn't she?" Louve whispered.

"Yes, she was." Logan replied. Then she saw the wistful look on his face harden into something close to hatred and he turned away from the picture as though it disgusted him. She frowned and turned towards him, wondering why he was acting like that so suddenly. Then she remembered why.

"Is this about the whole tattoo business?" She asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." He grunted and went back to his desk, settling himself behind it. 

She followed him and occupied the seat that Jesse had vacated. "Logan, what's going on between you and Aella?"

"I don't want to talk about that either."

"But you can. You should." She said and reached for his hand across the table. He gently pulled away from her and sighed, closing his eyes. "I just spoke to Aella a few minutes ago." Louve continued. "She's worried and scared, and above all she's unhappy. Unhappy about the way you have been treating her, about the way your relationship is going."

Logan looked as though he wanted to say something harsh, then he took a deep breath and answered in a much calmer tone. "Not everything is meant to be shared, Louve. I think you need to understand that." 

"Well, it is better to tell someone that something is hurting you, than keep it to yourself and let it fester."

"Well, the quite rich, coming from someone who's also having problems with her mate." Logan snapped.

Her smile wavered. "What?"

"You heard me, Louve." He said, not relenting. *I think you should sort out your own problems with your own mate before trying to fix someone else's life."

Louve stood up and faced him. "That's hardly fair. Take that back, Logan."

"It hurts because it's true, Louve." Logan continued; his green eyes boring into her's. "It's the truth. You have to face it squarely."

"At least I'm not hiding anything from people who are supposed to be my friends. At least I am honest about my problems, not trying to run away from them the way you have been doing!" She replied, her voice quivering with tears.

"Oh, fuck it, Louve!" Logan yelled and stood up too. "Would it cost you anything to drop an issue when I tell you to drop it? Are you so ignorant of people's boundaries that you expect them to tell you every single thing about their personal lives because they're your friends?" 

They stood, staring into each other's eyes, two people that were so alike yet so different. Logan was breathing heavily with the force of his words and Louve was trying to hold her ground amidst tears.

"Now make yourself useful, Louve." Logan continued in a much calmer voice. "Instead of looking for gossip to sink your teeth into. Call your dad and arrange for a meeting. Tell him we need to take some warriors from his side for the battle that's coming."

For a few seconds, Louve stared with disbelief at her cousin. Then she smiled bitterly, shaking her head slowly. Soon the smile turned to a series of chuckles that were broken by the tears in her voice.

"Wow. Apparently, that's all I'm good for. That's the reason you kept me in your pack, isn't it Logan? As a backup plan in case you need help for your stupid battle. You were only keeping me around because of the strength of my father's army and what it could do for you in the long run."

Logan blanched as he realised what he had said. "Fuck, that's not what I meant, Louve..."

"Oh, but it is Logan. I was getting on your nerves so much but you didn't want to send me back without getting your precious warriors yet, right? And don't talk to me about my imprinting on Casper. We both know that's just a shitty excuse."

"Louve, I'm sorry. I didn't mean those words."

"There's nothing to apologise for." She said, cleaning the tears in her eyes with the back of her hands. "I'll get you your warriors." She murmured, then turned and left the room.