Aella entered the room that she and Logan now shared and looked around. The alpha wasn't here either. She had seen him walk into the pack house after the burial and had thought that he was coming into their room. But the room was devoid of him.

She went into the bathroom to have a bath, then put on a black see-through slip that Louve had given her. Logan would be tearing at that slip once you show up to bed with it, she'd said. Aella wanted to test it now, to see if Logan would look at her with desire in his eyes. She washed her hair with scented soap and let it down so it billowed around her shoulders the way he liked it, then laid on the bed to wait for her mate.

An hour passed with Aella patiently waiting for him but he didn't show up. She  wondered where he was at the moment. Then she remembered that he was the alpha and every pain or grief that his pack member was feeling, he would feel too. Perhaps he needed a few hours to himself, to get over the collective pain that he was most probably feeling.

And so Aella decided to give him. a few more hours. She sat up on the bed, patiently waiting for her mate. She waited for so long that she began to doze off in tiredness.

She woke up abruptly and looked around in a daze. She sat up and checked the bedside clock, which told her that the time was two am in the morning. Five hours from the time she had decided to wait up for it.

A sudden fear gripped Aella's heart that perhaps something had happened. Perhaps the rogue wolf that had killed Kylie also had a taste for alphas. She decided to mind link him, to see if he would answer her.

She opened their mate mind link and called out to him, her heart full of anxiety and worry. Logan, are you there? If you are, please let me know. She felt through the mind link that he was still awake, because she could hear his soft breathing. But he didn't answer her.

She gave him a few minutes, then tried again. Logan, I hope you're fine. Please let me know where you are. Should I come see you? But he didn't reply to that either. He was fully awake, but he was ignoring her.

Logan, tell me where the fuck you are, please! I'm worried out of my mind! She yelled through the mind link but the result was the same. He ignored her voice like she had been talking to the wind.

Did I do something wrong, she thought to herself. Perhaps he was mad at her for something, she thought. Perhaps their first sex had been terrible and he didn't want to sleep in the same room with her because he would be forced to have sex with her again. Her mind was in emotional turmoil and she couldn't form a coherent reason for his silent treatment.

In the end, she whispered goodnight to him through the mind link and without waiting for a response, closed the mind link and went to bed.

The next morning, Aella woke up with a sour taste in her mouth. Her heart was constricting with emotional pain, and it took her a few long seconds before she realised that it was Logan's silence from last night that was making her so sad. A part of her wanted to lie in bed all day and not go out, but she dragged herself from bed and shuffled towards the bathroom. She peeled the black sllp from her body angrily, thinking how it was such a wasted effort on her side.

After a quick shower, she put on a flowery a-length dress that Louve had also given her and walked out of the room towards the dining room for breakfast.

When she walked in, she saw Louve and Casper already seated and having breakfast. Louve was laughing as Casper told her a joke, her hand in his and her teeth flashing white as ivory. Aella stared at her, wondering how the two could keep their relationship so free of all the drama that was present in hers and Logan's. They made mating look so easy.

"Hey, come join us!" Louve called out and she snapped out of her reverie, plastering a smile on her face and walking forward.

"Good morning Louve, good morning Casper." She said, taking a seat opposite Louve.

"Good morning, Aella." Casper greeted. "Un, where's the alpha?" He asked as he noticed that she was alone.

"I... don't know." Aella replied and hastily picked up the bowl of mashed potatoes and served herself, not meeting their eyes.

Louve noticed this and quickly looked at her own mate. They shared a brief look of concern, then Casper said aloud for Aella's benefit. "Maybe he's in the woods. He usually goes to a little creek in there to cool off when he's feeling stressed."

"Yeah, I guess." Aella muttered with a bored voice without looking up from her food.

Then footsteps approached the dining room. The three of them looked expectantly and Logan walked in. He was talking to a guard that was by his side.

"...And tell the beta to gather the young wolves for their next training. Also send word to—" He stopped in shock as he walked into the room and saw everyone sitting and looking at him. His eyes traveled from his cousin to his beta and rested on his mate.

Aella could see how his eyes hardened as he stared at her, even from that distance. She felt something shrivel up inside her as she saw the look he gave her. It was as though they had returned to those times when they used to fight a lot, when he had said very hurtful things to her. She'd thought that they had passed that stage.

Logan turned to one of the maids that was standing close to him. "Please package my breakfast and bring it up to my study. I'd rather eat there than here." He said loudly, to be sure that she had heard. Then he turned to walk out of the room.

Aella wiped angry tears from her eyes and stood up from the table, walking towards him and following him as he walked out of the room. "Hey!" She called out but he didn't turn to look at her.

He walked to his study and walked in. She followed him inside and closed the door securely behind her, then turned to face him.

"Logan," she said in a shaky voice. "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" She reached out to touch his face but he pulled away from her.

"Nothing's wrong, Aella. I just want to be alone for now." He murmured, then walked to his desk and sat behind it.

"Why do you want to be alone? I know you are feeling down because of Kylie's death, but so are all of us in the pack. You shouldn't let it get to you, baby. And you know you can share any pain with me too. I'm here now, let me comfort you."

"I don't need any comforting now, Aella. Thanks." He said in a formal voice and turned to some newspapers on his desk. He wasn't meeting her eyes, neither was he talking to her the way he used to. 

Aella sighed and shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. But I'll always be here if you need me, Logan." She said and turned to leave the room. But before she could turn to leave, he called her back.

"Aella, is there anything you should tell me that you haven't told me?" He asked.

She turned back to him and frowned "Something like what?"

"You know, something in your past that I need to know." He said. "A secret, perhaps."

Immediately he said that, her face became closed and she shrugged again, this time with more stubbornness. "There's nothing to know." She murmured.

Logan noticed her hesitation. He stood up from his desk and walked towards her. "I knew it. I know you've always been secretive. There is something you're hiding from me. I've always known." He said to her, his green eyes like pools of frozen glass. Then without another word, he turned and left the room.