Aella glanced at the door to see who had the guts to cut off her attempt at rejecting the alpha. She was about to utter a retort when she saw that it was Logan's mistress. She frowned and looked away when the other woman entered.

Logan's mistress obviously did not know when to appear and when to stay back. She obviously thought that she could walk into any room the way she pleased, just because she was the mistress of an alpha. Aella was so pissed off and angry that it was a surprise that steam wasn't pouring out of her ears.

"Hello." Louve greeted. She could feel the tension between Logan and Aella like a current. It was so strong that it felt like she could cut through it with a knife. Her eyes glanced at Logan's hand holding Aella's own and she looked at them suspiciously. She could guess the type of relationship between them but she kept her guess to herself.

 I'm sorry. I got the impression that you were having a personal fight with me, so I came here to apologize if I did anything that made you mad at me." She continued, looking at Aella.

"Oh, you did a lot of things!" Aella retorted and tried to storm out of the room again but Logan gripped her hand tightly.

"Aella." He said, "Why exactly are you angry?"

"Logan, I told you before. I don't have to explain myself to you." Aella grumbled.

"Maybe you could to me." Louve offered and was taken aback when Aella glared back with venom in her eyes. The woman had more than a few anger issues, Louve thought.

But she overlooked Aella's icy cold glare and continued. "I'll just introduce myself then. Hi, I'm Louve, Logan's cousin."

Aella stopped short and the cold glare melted off her face. She gaped in surprise and stared at the other woman. "You...You're–" She stammered.

"Logan's cousin," Louve repeated and glanced at Logan, obviously wondering why Aella's expression changed so drastically. "Is there a problem with that?"

Logan watched as his mate suddenly became calm. It was obvious that whatever was upsetting her so much had been cleared by Louve's statement.

Aella sat on the bed, ashamed at her behaviour towards the other woman who was Logan's cousin. She couldn't believe that her delusional mind had thought that she was Logan's mistress and not his cousin. She couldn't believe that they were even related.

She could not believe her mind had managed to cook up such falseness. She only gave herself heartache for nothing. How could she face them and explain her behaviour? How could she tell them that she had been angry for nothing?

She looked up and stared at Louve. Her mind began to pick so many similarities between the woman and her mate. How could her eyes have missed it? The same straight, long, pitch-black hair. The same sharp green eyes and prominent nose. The same goregous dimples that showed when they smiled. Even their height was similar. They both oozed this confidence that came with knowing that they were born into an influential family. They looked so much alike. Why did she not see it?

"Aella, are you okay?" Logan asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She answered. Then she suddenly burst into laughter at her stupidity. How could she have been so delusional? She literally shed tears over nothing.

"Okay, now you're scaring me," Logan said, looking at her with a nervous smile. "One minute you're almost bursting with anger, another minute you are laughing like a mad woman. What's really going on, Aella?"

"Oh wow, this sounds so stupid," Aella murmured to herself, still laughing. "I thought your cousin here was your mistress."

"You what?" Logan asked as Louve also started laughing with Aella. "What in God's green earth would put that thought in your head?"

Aella calmed down and dried the tears of laughter that were falling from her eyes. "The first time I saw you two together, you were wrapped in a hug. I got an entirely different message, I'm so sorry."

"Ohh!" Logan exclaimed and glanced at Louve with a smile. Then he looked back at Aella. "She's just my cousin, Aella. You've got nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry about the way I acted toward you, Louve." Aella apologized with an embarrassed smile. "I totally blew things out of proportion."

"Yes, you did," Louve answered, smiling at the other woman. "But I'm not holding anything against you. Sometimes it’s fun seeing Logan so flustered. I'm not sure you saw his face when you burst into the dining room and started causing a scene. Someone who could do that to him is worth keeping around."

Aella laughed. "Well, I'll hang around longer and show you how easily this man here gets flustered. It's second nature to him."

Soon the two women became lost in conversation and totally forgot Logan for some minutes. The alpha watched as they conversed, impressed at how easily Louve was able to penetrate into Aella's tough shell. Aella wasn't an easy woman to make friends with, as he had seen first-hand. He also stared at Aella and marveled at how quickly she opened up to Louve. It was like they had become instant best friends. Maybe another friendly female presence was what Aella needed. Maybe that was why she had been so cranky.

Aella on the other hand was enjoying Louve's company immensely. Logan's cousin was an easy person to start a conversation with, and slowly she started to loosen up. Soon they had put their disagreement behind them and were laughing and sharing anecdotes about Logan. Aella could not believe herself: she had always prided herself in keeping a tough girl demeanor but she didn't realize how deeply she needed a friend. The better part of her life had been spent in near solitude, so meeting another female who made her feel so comfortable was a huge relief.

"All right then." Logan said, cutting through their conversation. "I don't think I'm needed here anymore. I'll see myself out."

"Yeah, you should," Louve answered, smirking at him. "What I want to say now is for the ears of my new friend alone."

Logan smiled at that and walked towards the door. As he turned the doorknob, someone also opened the door and walked in.

It was no other person than Kylie.

"Hello," Kylie said, giving one of her fakest smiles. "Sorry to barge in."

"What do you want?" Aella asked menacingly. She would never get used to this woman.

"No need to get all defensive, Aella." Kylie replied while rolling her eyes. "I only came to join the merry party."

Aella rose up swiftly and moved towards the woman. She was so mad that her canines were out and her eyes were starting to change colour. "What are you doing here?" She growled in her face.

Kylie laughed, clearly not fazed by Aella's menacing expression. "Mm, last time I checked, it was the alpha's room and not yours. You should not be talking."

"I swear on the Goddess, I will rip your throat out with my bare claws if you do not see yourself out of this room now." Aella snarled.

Kylie turned to Logan. "Alpha, do you see how she's talking to me? She's not even a full member of this pack. Why would you let her talk to me like this? This is so not fair!"

Logan looked her straight in the eye, not blinking. "Kylie, I think you should go out and not embarrass yourself more than you've already done."

Kylie narrowed her eyes and stared at Aella. "This isn't over. We'll meet again, Aella." She snarled, then gave the remaining occupants of the room one last look, turning around and walking out of the room.