Chapter 17: Chapter 17

***Logan's POV***

When I had pulled up to the packhouse at 10 am it was quiet. I knew I fucked up yesterday. The

moment I let the words slip out of my mouth. The moment I felt the utter despair through the mate

bond, I knew I fucked up. I had kicked my desk in half, threw my chair at the bookshelf before

ripping the door off its hinges. Bryan didn't try to stop me. He just watched as I grabbed my jacket

and left.

I knew he heard what I had said and he was pissed at me as well. But I already felt like enough of an

asshole, I didn't need him to tell me that. I took the Jeep and drove. I just drove and ended up in

one of the cities that bordered my territories. After drinking most of the night, I had actually passed

out in the back seat of the Jeep. Apparently, I had driven my drunk ass out into the forest where I

just laid down and fell asleep.

When I woke up, I had a hammering headache and was two hours away from the packhouse. I

couldn't believe I hadn't gone home. I wondered if it would have been better if I had just gone

home. But I figured coming home sober in the morning was better than coming home drunk at

night. Cato was mad at me. He would throw obscenities at me every so often. He was mad how I

treated our mate, our mate who he had just had a swelling pride after taking down three rogues

herself.

Opening the door, I realized that Michael was already here. He was an Elder from the council we

had for the pack. One of the ones that grated on my nerves more than the others. Michael nearly

had a heart attack when I changed the rule that female werewolves were allowed to train and do

patrols with the men. He also challenged my authority far too often. Listening, I could hear Michael

sitting in my office but I couldn't hear Auri or Bryan. I wondered if they had gone out for another

run.

I grabbed a mug of coffee when Bryan came bursting through the door. He looked disheveled and

panicked.

“Alpha!”

“Bryan, what's going on? Another rogue sighting?” My hair was standing up.

He shook his head. “Michael, he...” Bryan's eyes flickered behind me and I looked to see Michael,

walking towards us.

“I was taking out the trash for you.”

I heard Bryan growl and start to charge him. I put my hand on his chest, stopping him from

attacking. My brows furrowed, it took a lot for Bryan to just blindly attack.

“The only trash here is you, Michael. Logan should have kicked you out years ago! None of us

deserve her! The pack doesn't and especially you.” Bryan glared at me. “You are the least deserving

of our Luna.”

I took me a minute to realize what he was talking about and then my mind clicked of what Michael

had said. Pushing Bryan back, Cato growled through me as I grabbed Michael by the collar of his

shirt and pulled him up eye level to me. He was big, arguably one of the best fighters in my dad's

generation, but he was no Alpha.

“What did you do?”

Michael laughed. “Oh please, Alpha. You were actually thinking of taking that weak wolf as your

Luna? I know the mate bond is strong, but you had to have seen her. For goddess sake, she’s blind.

That kind of woman doesn't deserve to be in a pack, let alone as a Luna in one.”

I threw Michael back against the wall. As he hit, I heard the vase behind him shatter as he slid to the

floor, shocked

"What did you do?” I growled again as Cato filled the room with the Alpha aura.

Michael turned his head to the side, baring his neck. “I did what was necessary to protect the pack,

to protect you, Alpha. I kicked her out. Told her to run. Threatening to turn the pack against her and

the council. To force you to reject her.”

My clothes ripped apart as Cato burst through my control and my wolf stared directly at its prey.

Cato had already pushed me back as I watched him grab Michael in his mouth and drag him

through the kitchen. Bryan moved away as we stepped out the door. I tossed Michael out the door

and stalked him. He quickly turned into his wolf. Growling and snapping his teeth at me.

'She was weak Logan. Your father would have admonished you for marking her, for thinking you

could make her into a Luna.’ Michael's voice coming through the mind link.

Cato lunged at him, catching him on the hind leg. His wolf yelped.

'It is not your place Michael to decide what I do or don't do in this pack. I am Alpha with or without

you. I will still be Alpha with or without you. Whatever I decide is how everyone will accept it.’

My Alpha presence was making his wolf whimper as I stalked back over to him, my head held high

over. He laid down, whining.

“Whatever you seem to think Alpha, she still ran. She knew she was weak and that she would be

your weakness. You should have rejected her right off the bat. You should have never marked her.

I opened up the mind link to the full pack. At first there was a lot of chatter but it all died down as

they felt my presence. I stared down at the wolf below me.

“Michael Rivers, I hereby strip you of right to be on the Elder Council. You have committed crimes

against your Alpha and your Luna, against your pack. Those crimes you will pay for with you life.’

“Alpha! No!"

Cato took the wolfs neck in his jaws and cracked down. The mindlink breaking, the whining ceasing

and my anger subsided. I shifted and walked back to the house. Bryan was leaning against the wall,

arms crossed over his chest.

“I would have liked to have done it." He mumbled.

"Where is she Bryan?”

He shook his head. “She's fast Alpha. Some of the boys caught her going east but when they tried

to stay with her, she just kicked into another speed and left them behind. But...” Bryan paused, still

staring at Michael's dead body. “She probably went home.”

“That pack is not..." I growled but he held up his hand.

“Not the pack. The Blood Oath, the club that her Papa runs. I get the feeling that's her safe space.”

I blinked at him. “Bryan, that's like six hours by car. She would never make it.”

He shrugged. “Just my opinion based on the conversations we’ve had. Whether or not she could do

it? I think you're underestimating her too much.” His eyes narrowed. “I think you're underestimating

her strength.”

Walking into the kitchen, I pulled out some cereal and poured it into a bow. Bryan followed, closing

the door behind him. His jaw was still locked, arms still crossed.

“No amount of cereal is going to cover the stench of alcohol coming off you.”

I growled. “We are leaving in a half hour. I want you to gather as much as you can on Morgan, on

her “Papa’.”

“I don't need to Alpha.”

I looked up at Bryan from my bowl

“Her “Papa’ is Morgan Russo, the head of the Italian Vampire Mafia. Head of the Supernatural

Mercenary Guild and one rich motherfucker.”

I choked down a little cereal. “I'm sorry, the Morgan Russo is the owner of a club? Why do I find that

hard to believe?”

Bryan finally dropped his hands, running a hand through his hair. “Look, Alpha. Morgan has his

hands in so many different enterprises that you could sneeze anywhere in the world, and it would

be within 20ft of something the man owns. He is not to be crossed and this is coming from

someone who thinks you could cross the Alpha King and get away with it. You don't cross Morgan

Russo.”

He paused, looking up at me with his deep brown eyes. “The reason he is still at The Blood Oath is

her, Logan. Auri is his baby girl and that club is hers. Without knowing it, she was the one I was

excited to see. She sings a few months out of the year at the club. So that whole place is there for

her. Keep that in mind.” He continued.

“If she told Morgan what you said last night or even what Michael said this morning. You better

hope when you walk up to that place they don't serve your head on a platter for the whole mafia.

You wouldn't stand a chance.”

"Are you underestimating me, Beta?” My voice growled.

"Alpha, I'm warning you. Don't fuck with him. Don't fuck with his daughter.”

"Auri is my mate.”

“She's his daughter first. Remember that.”

I threw the bowl into the sink, no longer hungry and stalked off to the stairs. I called down. “We

leave in 30 minutes. Maybe we can catch her scent on the way there.”

As I walked to my bedroom, I leaned back, smelling her in the room next to mine. I opened the door

slightly. There was a blanket that was ruffled and a little spot on top of the comforter where she

most likely had slept.

'She didn’t even want to sleep in our bed." Cato cried out.

I felt like my heart was being stabbed. But I had only stabbed the knife in my own heart. My own

words and actions towards her were the reason why she left. She probably would have stood up to

Michael if I hadn't broken her down. I was angry with myself but I wasn't going to let her slip out of

my fingers. Bryan was right. I still really didn't know much about Auri. When I heard that she had

gone after the rogues, I was that fourteen year old boy again. Watching my family getting torn

apart. Watching as they all died and could feel the mind links of all my dying pack members. The

feeling of being powerless and helpless to those you held dear came rushing back to me.

Turning on the shower, I tried washing off the smell of last night and the actions this morning. I

stewed in the information Bryan had just provided to me. I wondered how much Auri knew about

Morgan. But mostly I wondered if we would be able to catch her. If she would actually be there.

What would I do if she was? My hands twitched and I clenched my fists. It was gonna be a long ride.