Logan was disturbed.

There was no other word to exaim the uneasiness he felt inside of him. He realised suddenly that he didn't want to be around Aella, at least for the meantime. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was fishy about her. He guessed that the feeling had been there ever since she had appeared at the thresholds of his pack's border, but it had been repressed by the love and fondness he had begun to feel for her.

But now that he had seen that tattoo on the rogue's neck, then seen it on her shoulder and his mother's hand, he knew that there was really more to her than meets the eye. And he had posed that question back in his study to see her reaction. Her reaction had confirmed all his fears. At that moment she had looked like her worst nightmare had come to life. 

He was so confused and full of anxiety. At this point he didn't know what to believe anymore. Did that mean that his mother was a rogue wolf before she got married to his father? And how was Aella tied to all of these? Was she a rogue wolf too?

He walked back to his father's wing, hoping for some peace and quiet. He needed some place quiet to clear his head, and placed like that kept reducing as the days went by. The woods where he once used to take strolls was choked by warriors patrolling the area. Anywhere else inside the pack house was out of the question, and the garden reminded him too much of Aella.

He walked into the former alpha's room and sat down on the couch, his mind full of conflicting thoughts. He started to remember the many shady things that Aella had done in the past, how she had tried to escape from the safety of a pack into the danger of the wild. The only reason she could have done that was if she was running from something or running towards something. She had a home already, his pack was only a stopover.

Logan sighed as he remembered how she had always referred to herself as a wild wolf, how difficult it had been at first for her to understand the pros of wolves staying in a coordinated pack. She had seemed so unruly and wild when she had first arrived at his pack. She had walked around barefoot for the first few weeks of her stay, had worn no bras and always let her hair down. Only a rogue wolf could exhibit such unruly behaviours.

He knew that she would have left his pack since but she had been held back because they imprinted. That accursed mating bond! He thought. The circumstances surrounding her appearance at his border was equally suspicious. A very rare white wolf who claims to not remember how she had gotten herself half buried in the snow, who had tried severally to escape, who had refused to tell her own mate about her past. 

He was so lost in thought that a small noise from the direction of his father's bed jolted him. He looked at the direction of the noise and saw that his father was awake and trying to sit up. Logan was shocked at first. He had never seen his father this active. The most he could do was turn around on the bed when his nightmares came, or manage to walk to the mini fridge to get a bottle of liquor, usually with the help of a maid.

Logan watched with surprise as the old man sat up successfully. He was only forced to stand up from the couch and move towards his father when the old alpha started to shout for Jessica again.

"Jessica!" His father shouted "My love, Jessica!"

Logan moved to sit on the bed beside his father and patted the man's thigh. "It's just me, father. Your son Logan."

"Oh." The man said, disappointment evident in his voice. Logan was staring at his father in amazement. When had his father gotten this active?

The man picked up the picture frame that Logan had been holding, the one with his mother's hand displaying an engagement ring. He looked at the picture with fondness "You look so much like your mother, you know. Same pitch black hair, same dimples. She would have loved to see you the way you are now. But she's dead."

Logan only nodded and watched his father closely. He still couldn't believe that the man was speaking so normally. 

His father's face went blank after that last statement. Then he raised his head and looked around. "Jessica! Jessica! Is she around here somewhere? I need her to see how grown you are now."

"Dad, dad." Logan called, trying to calm his father down. "My mother is dead, remember?"

"Oh." The old man said again and went back to stroking the picture lovingly, humming softly under his breath. Logan waited patiently by his father, hoping that he didn't slip back into his inactive state.

The years had not been good to the former alpha. The full, shoulder-length hair that Logan had always known since she was a young boy was nothing but sparse lank strands of hair on his head now. The striking green eyes were watery and pale. His handsome face had collapsed and become pallid and drawn. The fingers that stroked the picture frame was wrinkled and shaking. Logan's father looked like a sick man at best. 

After waiting for a few more minutes and his father still remained silent, Logan sighed and stood up from his bed side, walking back to the door. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he heard his father's voice again.

"And how is Louve?" His father called. Logan turned back to face his father, inwardly grateful that the old man had spoken again. 

"Louve is fine, dad. Very fine. She's got a mate now too."

"Ah, that's very nice." The former alpha noted, then murmured under his breath. "Little girl of yesterday, vibrant little thing, has a mate now." Logan knew that his father still wasn't fully stable. This new, talking active old man made him very happy, but he feared that the man would go back to ignoring the entire world soon.

"You should go back to bed, dad." He said. "You look worn out"

"Bah! I'm as fit as when I was your age." He said, clutching the picture frame in his two hands. "And what about you? Do you have a mate now?"

Logan swallowed hard and looked away before answering. "Yes. Yes I do."

"Oh!" Was all the former alpha said, then he slipped into a momentary silence before talking again. 

"When I was your age and the alpha of this pack, I had a lot of aides and consorts, people claiming to be my friend. I trusted them, all of them, not knowing that they were after my life. Some of my most trusted aides had connived to kill me and make another the alpha in my stead. Good thing I found out before they could kill me, eh? I had every single one of them banished." The old man paused and blinked rapidly.

"Be careful of whom you trust, son." He continued. "Your enemies might be lurking in the most intimate corners of your heart. Don't you ever let your guard down." Then he gave Logan one weak smile. But before Logan could return the smile, his father's expression melted into dismay and suddenly his eyes bulged from his head and he began to wave his hands frantically.

Logan jumped up abruptly and started fanning the alpha, trying to calm the man down. But he was restless; it was as though he was having a fit.

"He's coming! He's coming!" The old man kept repeating, eyes bulged and limbs flailing.

"Who's coming? Dad!" Logan yelled but the man had gone completely nuts. He kept shouting those words till finally, calm came over him and he fell back to the bed, ruling to one side and falling into a troubled sleep.