Aella nodded as Logan made that statement. They both stared at each other with grim determination etched on their faces. They were trying to show more bravery than they felt, because deep down, fear was taking over.

They separated from each other and Aella walked to the closet. She opened it and went inside, picking a few clothes and other things she thought she might need. She picked two of her dresses, a few toiletries and underwear, and one of Logan's shirts as a sort of reminder. Before stuffing it in the duffel bag, she put the shirt to her nose and sniffed appreciatively, closing her eyes in rapture. She would miss his cedarwood scent and what it did to her senses.

She opened her eyes and looked at the shirt. It was the black button shirt that she had worn on that memorable afternoon when she had turned Logan's room upside down to annoy him. She remembered how he had stared at her bare legs, how his eyes had burned into her, stripping her naked with its intensity, and shuddered. Something in her lower belly throbbed and she could feel herself getting turned on just by the memory.

But before that single memory could do more damage, she silently berated herself for dwelling on it and threw the shirt into the duffel bag, zipping it up. She slung the hand of the bag over her shoulder and walked back to the room.

Logan seemed to have left after she had entered the closet. She looked around the empty room and walked over to the room door, dropping the bag by the door.

Aella turned slowly and faced the mirror that was behind her squarely. Her face was a white dot hanging below the dense black cloud of her hair. Worry and dread was etched in every angle of her face. She was filled with trepidation at what would happen tonight, yet a little bit of excitement too.

They were calling on to her and she could feel it.

She closed her eyes and turned away from the mirror, gripping the shoulder with the tattoo almost convulsively. Her mind went to Logan and she groaned inwardly. When she had looked into his eyes just a few moments ago, she had seen how hard he was trying to trust her, how many questions lay in those twin pools of green. It almost felt like he was betraying a vital part of him by bringing himself to trust her. She knew that if she had given him any chance, he would have asked her those questions that lay in his eyes. But she wasn't sure she was ready to answer those questions just yet.

The door behind her swung open suddenly and Aella screamed and jumped in fright. It was only Logan, who smiled when she screamed so loudly.

"Jeez, Aella. Calm down, it's only me." He said amidst laughter.

"I'm sorry." Aella said, panting slightly and trying to calm her racing heart. "I was in deep thought and the way you entered suddenly was frightening.

She felt Logan's eyes on her as he considered her words. Then he closed the door behind him and walked over to the window. He pulled back one side of the curtain and peered out. The sky outside was already turning dark and Aella knew it would be almost time for dinner.

"I have asked a maid to bring our dinner up to the room." He said, letting go of the curtain. "We'll eat and wait for midnight, then I'll take you there. Okay?"

"Okay." Aella nodded and walked to the bed to sit down. She watched as her mate began to pace the length of the room, all the while muttering to himself. At intervals he would walk to the curtain and draw it back to peer outside. She was about to open her mouth and tell him off when there came a knock at the door.

Logan immediately moved towards the door before she could even think of standing up. His movement was swift and almost shadow-like: Aella noticed that he tended to move faster when he was agitated or on edge. She guessed it was due to the fact that his reflexes were more sharpened as he was an alpha.

He collected the tray of food from the maid at the door and brought it back to her, then placed it on the coffee table. They both ate in silence while several thoughts went through Aella's mind. When she was done eating, Logan said:

"It's only 8pm. There's still about four hours before we get moving. You should catch some shut eye."

Aella nodded in assent and moved towards the bed, collapsing it. She barely had time to think more thoughts before sleep overcame her.

Soon enough, she felt someone tapping her feet lightly. She opened her eyes and saw that Logan was waiting at the foot of the bed with her bag slung over his shoulder. She stood up and joined him, rubbing her eyes sleepily. It felt like she had slept for just five minutes.

"Is it midnight yet?" She asked groggily and he nodded.

"It's almost." He said. "We need to get moving now, before anybody notices we're gone."

They walked out of the room and walked downstairs to the glass foyer doors. Logan fiddled with some keys before throwing the door open. A gust of cold midnight air hit her and she shivered.

They stepped out and walked swiftly along the packhouse lawn. When they got to the edge of the forest, Logan led her sideways along the length of the forest, instead of walking through the woods and towards the border. They continued to walk for a distance around the perimeter of the forest before Logan finally led her through the forest.

For a while they kept walking side by side in silence, then Aella began to skip. She could not ignore the feeling of happiness that usually came to her anytime she was out in the wild. Logan watched in amusement as her skips turned to running and soon, she was tearing through the forest, her giggles echoing through the woods. Logan couldn't help but feel her excitement. He joined in and soon the both of them were running and whooping through the forest.

Suddenly she stopped and faced him, all serious now. Logan stopped too, wondering what was wrong. "Do you want to see something?" She asked him.

"What do you want to show me, Aella?" He asked, amusement still on his face. She was so full of surprises, this woman, he thought.

Slowly she began to morph in his sight, so that between one step and the other, she shifted from a woman to her wolf self. The amusement on his face melted to amazement as he watched her transformation. Black hair turning to white, small limbs stretching to strong wolf ones. And soon before him stood a great big White Wolf with amber eyes, the same height as he was.

"Wow." He whispered and reached out to caress the fur on her face. "Wanna see mine?" He asked her and she nodded her wolf head.

He moved the duffel bag from his shoulder to around his neck and began to morph too. Shadows shifted around him as his frame changed to an equally large wolf with fur as black as his hair, with glowing green eyes.

The both of them stood side by side as they looked at each other for a moment, both different in their colours and yet so alike. Wanna run? Aella asked through their mind link, then took off without waiting for a response from him.

He went after her and the two of them continued running through the forest, their big footsteps shaking the forest floor. Logan continued to lead her through the woods until they came out to a clearing, in the middle of which stood a wood cabin.

Logan morphed back into his human form and Aella did the same. They both stood naked before each other, smiling like little children. Then their smiles turned to full-blown laughter. Logan grabbed her hand and led her to the front door of the cabin.

"This cabin belonged to my dad. He used to bring my mother and me here when I was younger to spend weekends away from the pack. Fitting for us, isn't it?" He said, then pushed open the door. It creaked noisily as he led her inside.

It was pitch black inside the cabin. Logan felt around for a light switch. He put it on and the whole cabin was filled with bright yellow light. Aella waited for her eyes to become adjusted to the light, then looked around.

The inside of the cabin was simple and quite tasteless. There were two chairs with faded plaid material around a cold fireplace. A bed stood in the corner with a patchwork quilt on it.  There was a shelf with several arrays of random things on it, and mounted on the wall directly opposite them was the head of a dead moose.

"Welcome to my second home," Logan said.