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 I'm not sure I trust you anymore."

"Logan..." She started but he pried her fingers from his hand and walked towards the door, opened it and walked out.

Immediately he stepped out, he heard her let out a single sob of despair through the door.  His inner wolf longed to go back into the room and tell her that he was sorry for his words, to take her in his arms and hold her tight, tell her it was okay, try to trust her. 

He had never heard her cry the way she was crying now. The closest he had heard was on the night of Louve and Casper's wedding, when he had told her about his parents and they had had their first sex shortly after. He never wanted to hear her cry like that, much less be the one behind her tears. He wanted to make up for what he had said. But the possibility of that was as far-fetched as ever.

With his resolve set like stone, he walked away from the closed door and her sobs. As he walked away, his wolf made a few shouts of protest but he shut it down. No use being sentimental about anything. It would only lead to more heartbreak than before.

He moved to his father's wing and had a quick nap. This time it wasn't long as it was almost daybreak. Immediately the first cock crowed, Logan got up from the couch on which he was sleeping and took a quick hot shower, then put on his clothes. This time he wore a sweat shirt and pants. He needed something comfortable for the next round of work he was about to do. 

His father was still sleeping by the time he was done. He wasn't sure the old man had woken up since the short fit he had had. That was just as well. It was better for him to sleep than be awake and go through that again.

With one last look at his father, Logan walked out of the bedroom and back to the library. He opened the door and the sight of the littered room hit him. He hadn't realised just how badly he had turned the library upside down in his search. He moved towards the desk and with one big swipe of his arm, pushed all the books on it to the floor. Then he removed the plastic wrapper that had been on it before, coughing at the dust that billowed up.

After that he moved towards the book shelves and stared at the books. We go again, he thought as he began to pick books up and put them in the crook of his arm. When he was done, he walked back to the desk and dumped the books on them, then sat on the chair and began to flip through them.

But even after frantically flipping through each page of every book, the result was still the same. He dropped the last book and put his head in his hands, groaning with frustration. 

When he thought that the fear and frustration he felt inside will eat him up, he felt someone trying to mind link. He reluctantly opened the mind link as he wasn't ready to talk to anyone. 

It turned out to be Casper on the other side. "Good morning, Alpha. How was your night?" The beta asked.

"Splendid. Fantastic." Logan replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Uhhh...okay." Casper replied. "I don't know if you're busy with something at the moment. I saw something at the border now as we were doing our routine morning patrol with the team. It's a trail of footprints."

Footprints?! Logan raised his head in anticipation. Perhaps this was the clue he was looking for.

"Say no more, Casper. I am on my way." He said and quickly closed the mind link without waiting for a reply from his beta. He frantically stood up from the desk and walked towards the door, almost tripping on the books in his haste. He opened the door and scurried to the nearby staircase, running down it in his eagerness. 

He ran across the large foyer and towards the front doors. He threw it open and raced out. The weather was bright this morning and every trace of snow was gone. The leaves of nearby trees waved gaily. The weather was bright and sunny, but Logan could not care less. He crossed the front lawn and walked past the training ground towards the woods and the border.

In his haste, he covered the distance in a matter of a few minutes. The whole patrol team was waiting patiently for him by the border, including Casper. Immediately he got to where they were, he saw the trail before Casper or any of the team could say anything.

It was a couple of wolf prints that ran along the length of the border. Logan looked ahead and could see that the prints stretched far. Somewhere in his mind, all the fear he had felt ever since he found out about the tattoos had dissipated, to be replaced by an eagerness that he couldn't explain. All he knew was that he would find peace only if this trial led to his answers.

By God, he would be so happy if it did.

"Why don't we check it out, Alpha? Instead of you looking like a five-year old girl on Christmas day." Casper said with a teasing voice.

"Oh, Casper. You don't know how happy this would make me if it led to the answers I've been looking for." Logan murmured happily and walked forward, his eyes on the trail. Casper sighed and followed his alpha.

They made sure to walk by the wolf prints and not by it so as not to upset the prints. The trail continued to lead them around the border until they got to the foot of the mountain that Aella had tried to cross on one of her attempts at escape. Logan stopped and frowned, wondering why the trail stopped there suddenly. 

They continued to walk until they got back to where they had started with none of the answers Logan had been looking for. "No, this can't be..." Logan murmured and started to walk again, thinking he had probably missed something in his haste.

"Alpha, maybe we should stop. This trail was just a false call..." Casper started but Logan paid him no attention. It wasn't until he walked around and back that the fear began to spring up again. Hopelessness blossomed in his chest and before he could control himself, he let out a great shout of frustration and hit a nearby tree, causing the wood to split into two.

He slipped to the floor and placed his head in his hands. He knew that his beta and all the patrol team were watching him but he didn't care. He heard Casper dismiss the patrol team as though he was talking from a distance. He couldn't hear much past the blanket of hopelessness that was over him.