Chapter 14

I could tell it was morning even before I'd opened my eyes; the bright sunlight noticeable even through my closed eyelids. Based on the loud chirping of the birds that came from outside; I deduced that it was probably already eight, as ever since I'd been living in Logan's territory, those birds had acted as a natural alarm clock for me every morning when they made noise outside my window.

Logan's memory aside; I'd had a peaceful sleep the night before. I kept my eyes closed as I buried my head into the warm wall beside me; prepared to continue sleeping. As I was dozing off, somebody pushed me so hard I fell off of the bed. I landed on the floor in a heap; my legs tangled in the sheets that had fallen with me. Before I could get up, someone grabbed me around the neck.

Their hold wasn't tight enough to cause me any distress but firm enough to keep me from moving. When I opened my eyes; Logan was squinting in the bright sunlight above me. "What the hell are you doing here?!" He demanded; his eyes turning dark. I then realised that the warm wall from earlier had probably been him and that my snuggling into the side of his body had probably been what woke him up.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I pulled at his hand that began to tighten, cutting off my oxygen supply. "Logan, loosen up. I can't breathe!" I gasped out. I pulled at his hold as he continued to tighten his grasp; making me panic. Just as I was starting to see black dots in my vision; his hold loosened enough for me to get a proper breath of air.

"Start explaining before I do that again." He said menacingly. "You have thirty seconds."

At first I thought he was joking but his expression told me otherwise. "I'll explain when you let me go." I said; happy that my voice was firm. All that was running through my head then was that I had to get as far away from him as possible in case he saw his mark on my neck; or even worse, mine on his. He would go ballistic; and a pissed off, powerful Alpha was not safe to be around; whether he was my mate or not.

He squeezed my neck again. "Now, Chelsea. I'm not kidding, I will choke you."

I narrowed my eyes at him; sparing a second to glance down at my mark on his neck. "Choke me if you want to, but you won't get an explanation. I'm not kidding either, Logan. Let me go." I replied; enjoying the feeling of his name on my tongue. He glared at me with his dark eyes for a second before he released me. I scurried away from him as fast as I could; making sure to push my hair against my neck to hide his mark, before I did.

He stood up and crossed his arms; the muscles under his skin tightening. That sight instantly made me long to feel his body pressed against mine; like it had been last night. I buried those thought away as soon as they came; reminding myself that our bond was stronger now; which meant that he would be able to read my emotions much better than he used to. "Do you remember anything from last night?" I asked; trying to judge how much damage control the situation required.

He frowned as he closed his eyes; grabbing his temple as he tried to remember with the killer hangover he probably had as a result of all he had drunk the night before. "I remember going out with Ethan." He finally said; his tone the usual way it sounded around me; cold. "I can't remember anything past the shots."

"Well, you came home drunk and you couldn't remember anything. Ethan and I had to bring you up here because you were way too drunk to even stand up by yourself." I grabbed the hair that covered my neck as my eyes drifted to the ground as I told him the next part. "Ethan had to leave to take care of some pack business, so I took care of you for the rest of the night; and that's it." I said; avoiding eye contact as I lied to his face.

When I looked up, he was frowning at me. "You're lying." He snapped. He stalked over to me and grabbed me by the arm so I couldn't go anywhere. "Tell me the truth." He ordered.

"That is the truth!"

"No it's not. You didn't have to sleep in my bed to take care of me! Tell me the rest of it."

"I just didn't want to sleep on the floor." I said; ripping my arm from his grasp before crossing both of them.

"Is that why I found you with your arms around me this morning? Did you get so desperate that you were willing to go psycho, stalker, bitch and crawl into my bed in the middle of the night while I was drunk?" He asked; his voice full of disgust. "Can't you see past whatever deluded fantasy you have of us ever being together and see that I will never want that?! I don't know how to fucking get through to you, but at least try to get this through that thick skull of yours; I don't want a mate! And I sure as hell do not want you; you obsessive bitch!" He yelled; his eyes now completely black.

I felt my eyes turn black as well as I advanced on him. I had been preparing for that kind of reaction but despite my best efforts; his words still hurt me. My wolf was pacing inside me; wanting to come out and bite some sense into our mate. "Are being fucking serious right now?! You know what Logan, I don't give a fuck whether you want me or not; because you're my mate and I want you no matter how much of an ass you always are! I wasn't being a psycho, stalker, bitch, you ass! Are you seriously conceited enough to think I'd crawl into bed next to you by choice?!" I knew that was a lie but I ignored that fact as I continued my rant.

"You really want the truth right? So listen up and get this through your thick skull!" I felt a little satisfaction at being able to use his own words against him. "After you came home drunk, you spent most of the time undressing me with your eyes; I think you even drooled a few times. After Ethan dropped your ass on the bed; I had to tuck you in!" He just stood there as I continued to speak; his eyes slightly wider than they usually were. "Yeah, I'm the one who had to get you out of your pants because somebody was too drunk to get his belt off himself!" I fought to keep the blood from rushing to my cheeks at that part; the memory of what he had asked me afterwards making it harder to do so.

"After that, you forced me to sleep beside you and in the middle of the night you woke me up for no good reason!" I know that was another lie; but if I told him what had really happened, he might piece together the fact that I had marked him. "Might I add that you would've assaulted me if I hadn't stopped you?" Yet another lie because I was definitely more than willing the other night; of course he would never get to know that.

"So stop yelling at me for coming onto you if I'm the one who has to be worried about my safety every time you have one too many beers!" I finished; the confused expression he now wore adorable enough to deflate some of my anger; the key word here being 'some', because I was still fuming. I ignored my wolf when she growled at me for being so soft.

I stomped out before he could utter a single word and rushed as quickly as I could to my room; all the while praying that he wouldn't see the mark. At least until I could run to a safe place with a lot of witnesses if something were to happen to me. It only took me a second to figure out what I was going to do next; go and see the only person I thought would be able to help me at that moment.

Once I got into my room; I took a quick shower, barely sparing any time to brush my teeth and run a brush through my hair before I got dressed. I grabbed the white cashmere sweater Jake had gotten me for last Christmas; which had luckily survived Logan's temper tantrum the other night, specifically because the turtle neck collar would hide Logan's mark, and slipped on a dark pair of skinny jeans before pushing my feet into a pair of black, high-top Converse. I tightened my laces before slipping my body; feet first, out my window as quietly and quickly as I could.

***

I had been walking around in the forest for about half an hour before I finally ran into a shifter; a brown wolf with dark streaks of fur. The wolf trotted behind a tree and shifted back into his human form; a blonde guy about my age, with kind brown eyes. He gave me a slight bow; which looked a little odd as he was only dressed in a pair of denim shorts, before he flashed me a small smile. "May I help you, Luna?" He asked; his tone friendly.

I cocked a brow. "How did you know I was Logan's mate?"

He gave me a confused look as he gestured to my neck. "The mark, Luna. Anybody would be able to tell from a mile away." He explained; his expression making me feel extremely stupid for not having remembered that my mate had marked me the night before.

For a second I wondered why Logan didn't notice it this morning; especially because we had been so close, but it didn't take me long to decide that it was probably due to the head splitting headache his hangover most definitely provided.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry; my thoughts are just a little muddled at the moment, I forgot about it." I said with a bashful smile. He looked curious upon hearing my explanation. I held a hand up as I shook my head. "It's complicated."

"I wouldn't dream of questioning you, Luna." He said; his tone respectful despite how dumb I sounded at the moment.

"It's Chelsea, actually. What's your name?"

"I prefer calling you Luna." He said; his words similar to Jen's from a few days ago. "And my name is Henry, Luna."

"Okay, Henry. Could you help me find something? I want to find Ethan's house, can you show me where I need to go?"

He nodded. "I can escort you, Luna. I'm already on my way there." I gave him a questioning look. "I'm currently on patrol duty." He explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry I disturbed you."

He shook his head. "It's fine Luna, no need for apologies." He said before gesturing for me to follow him.

***

Where I had met Henry wasn't very far from Ethan's house, so it didn't take long to get there. Once we arrived; Henry immediately rushed back into the forest to leave. I stopped him before he could disappear. "Um, Henry; if Logan asks, don't tell him I'm here, okay?"

"I can't promise you that Luna, you know that." He said. "But I'll try my best to keep it from him." He continued. "May I know why?" When I grimaced; he flashed me an understanding look and nodded.

"Thanks Henry." He bowed once before he left.

I walked onto the porch and rang the doorbell; tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for somebody to open the door. I looked around as I waited; afraid that Logan would appear at any second and drag me into the bushes to kill me for marking him. I rang the doorbell a few more times; my paranoia worsening. Somebody touched my shoulder from behind and I almost shot into the air; the person pressing a hand to my mouth to muffle the shrill scream that escaped my lips.