Aella came down from the staircase and walked to the newlyweds. Louve hugged her with tears in her eyes admists whoops and cheers from the crowd. Logan watched the two of them hug, amazed at his mate's beauty.

Soon the foyer was cleared of the chairs and makeshift altar and the whole room was converted into a dance hall. The lights were dimmed and a soft waltz blared from the nearby speakers. Couples took to the dance floor and began moving to the rhythm waltz, and soon the whole room was filled with slowly swaying bodies.

Logan on the other hand, sat by the makeshift bar and calmly took sips of whiskey from his cup. His eyes were on Aella all through the night as she was so beautiful that he didn't want to let her out of his sight. She was on the other side of the room, sitting by another makeshift bar and watching the dancing people. Her sleek blue gown caught the bright swirling light and her thick black hair shone with a thousand different colours. He watched her happy face, praying that the smile would forever be there.

Soon enough, the music changed from waltz to a steady country beat and people looked for other partners to dance with. Louve and Casper disbanded and the beta came to sit by his alpha, gesturing for the bar man to bring him a drink.

"Penny for your thoughts, Alpha. You look distracted." Casper said.

"No pennies this time, Casper." Logan murmured without taking his eyes off Aella. "There's nothing on my mind."

"Are you sure?" Casper's eyes drifted to the focus of his attention and smiled knowingly. "Are you absolutely sure there is nothing on your mind, alpha?"

"Yes. And even if there is, I'm not sure there really is anything I can do about it. This particular thought refuses to go, no matter how hard I try."

"You know what I think, Logan? I think you should go to the subject of your thoughts and ask her for a dance. I know you're dying to dance with her, but she won't magically know that if you keep staring daggers in her direction."

Logan reluctantly peeled his eyes off his mate to stare at Casper. "Don't start." He pleaded.

"Go and ask her for a dance already!" Casper insisted. "You look like you're torturing yourself."

"No." He said. As he said that, he saw a man approach Aella. The man was tall and dark with cornrows and a charming smile. He suddenly sat upright as the man took Aella's hand in his and kissed it, leading her to the dance floor.

Casper noticed how more attentive the alpha became and smiled. "Oh, now you're interested when another man is interested, huh?"

"Fuck off, Casper." Logan said admist laughter from his beta. He watched with trepidation as Aella bounced around to the upbeat music in the man's arms, feeling stabs of pain in his heart as though they were physical. She looked like she was having so much fun, when he was being tortured by the happy smile on her face. And the fact that a man who wasn't him was making her so happy annoyed him as hell.

Was she so uninterested in the mating bond that was between them that she had to start flirting with other men in his own pack? He was the alpha around here, goddamit! 

Oh, will you stop torturing yourself like this and go and ask her to dance? His wolf pushed him.

He dropped his glass of whiskey and stood up, walking towards Hella and the male wolf. He grabbed Aella's arm mid-dance and turned her around to face him.

"Come on, let's dance." He grunted and tried to drag her away but she stood her ground.

"I am not going anywhere. Why did you interrupt my dance?" She asked him, staring into his eyes coldly.

"Do I have to answer that question?" He asked, then leaned down and whispered into her ear. "You're my mate, Aella. You're supposed to dance with me, not this dude. Now come on."

"Stop being rude, Logan. Do you absolutely have to be around me all the time?" She raised her voice and tried to pry his hands away from her body but he was resolute. They were already causing a small scene in the middle of the dance floor. Other couples we're stopping their dance to stare at them. Logan noticed this and tried to drag her but she didn't move.

"We're causing a scene." He growled. "Move, Aella."

"No!" She refused and looked at her dance partner who was standing there helplessly. "Say something!" She yelled at him but he only shrugged noncommittally.

"I didn't know you were...um, involved with the alpha. I wouldn't have asked you to dance if I knew." Then the man turned to Logan and gave a small bow. "I'm sorry, Alpha."

"Good." Logan said, then dragged her with so much force that she was forced to move. "Logan, ow! You're hurting me!" She protested but he continued to drag her till they got to the door of his room. There he opened the door and took her inside, closing the door behind him.

"What the fuck was that?!" She yelled at him immediately he turned to her with tears in her eyes. "Why do you have to go around and make me miserable anytime you see me having fun? For once since I joined this pack, I was trying to be happy but you went and ruined it as usual."

"Yes, blame it all on me, like I'm the one who had to go and dance with another wolf like mymate wasn't sitting there, looking at me the entire time." He growled back at her.

"If you were looking at me the entire time, you would have seen that I wanted to dance with you too." She countered.

"Do you know how slowly you were torturing me with your happiness? Do you know how hard I thought that I should be the one putting that smile on your face? It killed me to see you so happy with another man. I want to be the one to make you smile like that." He confessed.

She looked at him and slowly shook her head. "If you felt like that, why have you been acting so cruel to me all these weeks? Seriously, what would it cost you to show that we're mates, to stop hiding me like I'm a disease, to show me that you actually love me?"

"Because..." he yelled, then lowered his voice. "Because I'm scared." He ran his hands through his ponytail with frustration. 

"Scared of what?" She whispered. "Being happy?"

"Scared of falling so deeply in love that losing you will feel like death." He whispered back. "I don't want to lose you the way my father lost his own mate, Aella."

"Is that why you have been so unkind since I got here? Why do you think you'll lose me? That's your father's story, not ours." She said, tears falling from her eyes.

"You don't understand, Aella." He shook his head bitterly. "My father met my mother in a very similar way to how we met. She was also a rogue wolf that was found close to the pack. She stayed with this pack and my father imprinted on her. She stayed and had me, but was killed in a rogue attack when I was fifteen. That was ten years ago and my father had never been the same ever since. The pain of losing her was so great, so acute that it rendered him physically invalid. He could not lead his pack again and the mantle of leadership fell on my shoulders."

Do you know how hard it was, leading people who were way older and more experienced than me at fifteen years? For a long time, i bore hatred for my parents. Their love caused so much pain for me in her death. I never wanted to love like that, so I shut my heart out to any hint of love. I swore never to imprint on anybody, that I would let my father's lineage die with me." He finished.

By this time Aella was shedding tears openly. Logan put his face in his hands and realized that there was moisture in them. He was also shedding tears. Aella reached out and took his face in her hands gently, letting his tears fall into them.

"You don't have to be scared." She whispered "I'm here to stay."

He closed his eyes slowly. "Don't... don't go, Aella. Please."

"I won't." She breathed. By now their heads were so close together that they seemed to be sharing breaths. Logan opened his eyes and stared into hers, and before she could say anything more, he drew her closer and took her mouth with his in a kiss.