Logan was sitting in his study with Casper. He sighed and took his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. The activities of the recent days were beginning to take a toll on him. 

After he had gone to Aella and she had comforted him, Louve had come to wake him up and tell him that the warriors from her father's pack was around. Logan was surprised: he hadn't asked for the warriors to come up north already. But Louve had told him that it had all been her doing. She had noticed the state of unrest in the pack and what Elias was trying to do by turning the people against Logan, and so she had called her father to send his troops, just in case. The warriors had been given strict instructions to protect Logan and his mate no matter what.

Logan had gone down to see them and had been amazed at their sheer number. His uncle had sent way more than the 700 he had originally requested for, 900 to be precise. He had wondered aloud to Louve how they would house and feed the 900 men, and Louve had asked him to put his mind at rest. It turned out that she had made provisions even before telling him that the warriors were here. She told him that the underground bunker that they were building wasn't just for the women and children. She had instructed the workers to build a bunker that would house three thousand people.

Logan had stared in disbelief until Louve had taken him down to the underground bunker and he had seen with his own eyes.  The place was as big as an amphitheater, perhaps even bigger. He had stared in awe at Louve while she smirked knowingly.

"And yet they said women cannot handle things." She had muttered while folding her arms and gloating.

He had never been so happy to have given her a job in his life. She had surpassed his expectations, had gone above and beyond. And for the first time in his life, Logan had wondered what it would be like if fate had been more considerate and Louve had been the leader of the pack instead of him. She would not be this crappy a leader, that's for sure, he had thought.

Casper was staring at him from the other side of the desk. Logan could feel his stare burning into his skin like a branding. He looked up and met his beta's eyes from across the desk. 

"Everything will be fine. You do know that, don't you Logan?" Casper said, reaching out to touch his hand.

"That's what everyone keeps telling me, Casper. That everything will be fine. That i should not worry too much because everything has a way of working itself out." Logan could not help but feel a little bitterness towards everyone and the hand he had been dealt personally. People gave shitty advices while sitting back and expecting everything to be fine because they said so.

When Casper offered no reply to that, Logan sighed impatiently, stood up from the desk and started to pace the room. "I am on the verge of being usurped by that bearded oaf, Elias. More than half of the people are against me already, thanks to him. I cannot save a people who seem to think I'm part of the enemy."

Casper turned back on his seat to face the agitated Logan. "I think you could try convincing the people that the person they think is the enemy actually isn't. They need to know that you are actually trying to save them."

Logan came back to the desk and looked into his beta's eyes. "Well, I cannot exactly lie to the people that I am not the enemy they think I am. I know I am not a rogue wolf by heart, but by virtue of my mother's blood that runs through my veins and that blasted tattoo, they will forever see me as part of the enemy. Elias has already planted that seed of hatred in their hearts and it's germinating, trust me. I have gotten more stares of disdain in the few days since I arrived from the south than I have in all my ten years of being alpha."

Casper opened his mouth to reply to that, but a noise from the door interrupted him. They both looked towards the door and waited with bated breath. Then someone banged heavily on the door, rattling its hinges. The two men both moved to the door and opened it.

It was Elias standing there with a couple of Head Wolves and pack members at his back.

"What is this rude intrusion?" Casper asked, frowning. "This is the alpha's study. Why are—"

"Well, it's soon to be another alpha's study, Casper." Elias replied. His eyes were on Logan's, his ginger eyebrows raised in derision.

"What do you want this time, Elias?" Logan asked, his voice deadly and quiet like the calm before a storm. "You have taken enough, haven't you?"

"Oh, I haven't had my fill yet, alpha, trust me. We all," he looked around at his companions. "We are here to make some allegations against a Miss Aella. She is in suspicion of killing a number of our pack members, and we want her killed in retaliation."

"Yes, yes!" All the pack members echoed in response.

"No evidence was found against her, Elias. Until you get enough evidence, come back to me." Logan said and tried to close the door in their faces.

"Oh, but isn't the tattoo on her left shoulder enough evidence already?" Elias asked and Logan left the door open.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Logan asked, trying not to betray the emotions on his face.

"I'm talking about Aella being a part of the rogue wolf pack because of the tattoo on her shoulder. She should be held accountable for the crimes her fellow rogue brothers committed. A crime by any rogue wolf is as good a crime by her!"

"Exactly!" Someone responded from the small crowd.

Logan moved closer to the man, breathing heavily. "If you dare touch my mate..."

"Wow. She's your mate? How unsurprising. I should have guessed that the Goddess would pair you off with a rogue wolf just like you. It seems almost fitting, doesn't it?" Elias said mockingly.

"Watch your tongue, man. Or I'll rip it out with my claws, so help me God!" Logan threatened while Casper tried to hold him back. 

"A murderess and the son of a murderess. How compatib—"

Logan did not let the man finish his words before knocking the rest out of his mouth with a loud blow. Elias fell to the ground and then stood on his haunches, growling. His lips were pulled back in a snarl and his claws were already protruding.

He laughed: a high, doglike cackle that maid Logan's hair stand on end. Elias straightened up from his crouch and turned to the pack members and members of the Head Wolves. 

"You see?" He said, still smiling mischievously. "Do you see the rage in your alpha? How can a man lead you to victory when he cannot even lead his own emotions? How can a supposedly powerful alpha get so riled up because he is in threat of being usurped? He can't even put his own emotions in check. How do you think he would keep the rogue wolves in check?"