Aella's dreams were as riotous as her life. She dreamt first of the woman in the picture frame: Logan's mother. The woman stood before her in the pack's garden, among the white tulips and with a beautiful smile on her face. "Keep my son safe." She whispered.

Then Logan's mother morphed into Aella's parents in wolf form, standing.a distance from her in a deep dark forest. "Run, Little One." They called out "He will soon be here." But before she could do anything, a great black wolf came from behind and attacked her parents, tearing them into shreds.

Her screams of terror were shut down by Kylie, whose hands were clamped down on her mouth. The woman's eyes shine amber with rage. "You can never be loved by the alpha." She growled. She thrashed around and screamed inaudibly as Kylie held down her mouth–

And woke up in a pool of her own sweat, her mouth panting and her heart racing away. Aella groaned as a splitting headache attacked her head and she grabbed her head convulsively.

"Fuck, fuck!" She swore as the headache became even worse. It was as if her head was threatening to split into two equal halves. She rubbed at her temple and tried to calm her head but it wasn't working.

She hadn't been able to see the person who had hit her properly before she passed out, but the person had definitely done his job right, as she felt like her head would never be the same again. She tried to lay back down but that felt even worse, so she resorted to rubbing at her temple and trying to calm the raging demons inside there.

She heard a hasty creak to her right and opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry but a few determined blinks cleared her sight. She saw the alpha sitting on an armchair. Immediately she opened her eyes, he looked up and quickly stood up, coming to sit by her on the bed.

"Aella! Aella, are you okay?" He asked her worriedly. She could see the worry and stress in his vivid green eyes. She had never seen him look at her like this before. She tried to answer him but she couldn't gather the energy to do that, so she grabbed his hand and hung to it like a lifeline. 

"Hold on, I'll fetch the pack doctor." He said and walked out of the room. Aella looked around and saw that she was back in the pack's clinic. In fact, she was on the same bed that she had been put in the first time she came here.

Soon Logan came back with Dr Frank Callister, the pack's doctor. The man gently steered the alpha away from Aella's bedside, then came closer to her. He placed his stethoscope on her chest and listened to her heartbeat for a few seconds, then checked her temperature with the back of her hand.

"You still have quite a bit of a temperature." He murmured "How do you feel now, Miss Aella?"

"I feel..." She tried to say but she was too weak. The doctor picked up a glass of water from the bedside table and placed it in her mouth. She took a few grateful sips, then tried again. "It's only a slight headache but I feel better. Thanks, doc."

The doctor frowned "Are you sure?"

Aella glared at the doctor "Do you have a problem with that?" She asked. She wasn't feeling too well but she did not want to be kept in the clinic for too long, hence her lie.

"I'm sorry, miss. I was only worried." The doctor said and inclined his head in an apology. 

"Um, you can go now, doc. I'll be with her from here." Logan quickly interjected before things could get any more awkward. The doctor nodded and left the room.

The alpha looked back at Aella and she could see the hurt and relief that was evident in his eyes. He looked like a scared lost boy, as though his most loved possession had been taken away from him, then returned again. Aella squirmed uncomfortably under his stare as she wasn't used to it.

Her hand went to the back of her head where she had been hit and she almost thought her hand would be stained with blood but it wasn't. The wound had healed completely and her skull felt brand new. Fast healing was some of the perks of being a werewolf; a gifted one at that.

"You were lying to the doctor about your pain, weren't you?" Logan asked.

"I don't see how that is any of your concern, but yes." She grumbled, rubbing her head.

Logan noticed the colour of her tone and studied her closely. She didn't seem to have changed one bit since before she was hit on the head.

"You don't have to keep up with this tough girl attitude though, Aella. You know I am always here for you right? And you also know how and what I feel for you." The alpha continued.

"I'm not giving any tough girl attitude, Logan." She replied "And I'm not being deliberately rude or obnoxious. It's just..." She paused, looking at the alpha. "I don't want to be here anymore. I think you have established that I'm not a rogue spying on your pack, so there is absolutely nothing I'm still doing here. I want to go, Logan. I want to leave this pack forever."

She saw how her words had hurt him, how his expression changed from loving to scared. Her own words had hurt her too. She desperately wanted to stay but she also knew that it would cause more harm than good. 

His green eyes widened in fear as she spoke and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to think of an excuse–any excuse–to get her to stay. It felt awkward seeing this side of the alpha and it was obvious that he didn't want her to go.

"Why do you want to go?" He asked finally after a long silence. 

"Because I'm not safe in this pack!" She answered, grabbing his hand and looking into his eyes. "Look, I've been attacked once already. You couldn't even catch my attacker. The people that are coming for me are very near, I can feel them already. This attack was just a warning from them. Do you know what will happen if they come in all their numbers? Your entire pack would be wiped out. Innocent people would be killed! I cannot keep endangering the lives of your people by staying here. I can't, Logan."

"Who are they?" He asked with a quiet voice.

She frowned and looked away. "I cannot tell you."

"Then I cannot let you go." He roughly removed his hand from hers and stood up.

"Logan listen to me!" She yelled. "Do you want your people to be wiped out because of me? Do you want to be an alpha with no followers?"

"Nothing will happen to my people and nothing will happen to you either." He countered. "You are safer than you could ever be with me. I am your fucking mate!"

"Well, what if you're not?" She answered. "What if I reject you as my mate and leave the pack forever?"

"You will not, Aella." He cut her off. "You will do no such thing."

"Watch me..." Aella started but was cut short by the door of the room opening. Louve and Casper walked inside hand in hand.

"I'm sorry if we're interrupting anything." She said and smiled.

"You're not. I was just leaving." Logan said and tried to walk out of the room but Louve held him back.

"No, stay. We have news for you." She ordered him, then turned to Aella. "How are you doing, dear? I hope you're feeling better now."

"I feel pristine," Aella muttered, her arms folded.

Louve noticed the tension between them. It was obvious that something was wrong but she kept it to herself.

"What's the news, Louve?" Logan asked impatiently "I have things to do."

"Okay." Louve giggled and raised her hand which was clasped in Casper's. On the ring finger shone a beautiful gold band. Logan already knew what it was before she even talked. "We're getting married!"