45

LOGAN

Charles ended the call and we both sat in silence, waiting for the night to fade away and for the day to dawn crisp and clear.

The room was stark dark now but we could still see clearly, thanks to our werewolf ability.

I was just going over random stuff on my phone. But then I stumbled on a series of related posts. Got me aroused. Dimitri's photos had caused quite a stir online. He'd just had his Alpha Ceremony, and the other Alpha-Kings and Alpha-heirs took it to social media to eulogize him.

Although social media was a great mixture of humans and werewolves, we still celebrated our stuff there. We just have to make it a bit cryptic, and less eye-catchy. Plus, we had secret codes we used to communicate. As a human, you could go over the post a million times but you'd never get the message.

Dimitri's post was just him, dressed in a suit, but he had the cape draped over his shoulder, and there was a full moon symbol on the cape. The full moon symbol signified the Alpha Position.

To just any human, he was a handsome man in a suit, with a cape that had a beautiful artwork of the full moon customized on it. But to us, we knew just what it meant.

It was a bit of a shock to me. I never knew the ceremony was today. Alejandro said it was gonna be held next week. Why was it held today? Did Alejandro lie to us about the date or did Dimitri lie to him about it? Nothing was sure.

There were over a million comments. Reluctantly, I swiped through them, taking note of the Alpha-heirs and the young Alphas. Someday, I'll have a full moon cape over my neck as I assume the throne as the Alpha of my pack. Some of these Alphas in Dimitri's comment section would be my allies, whilst some others would be my foes. Our carefree days will be gone, and we'll be forced to make a hard, impossible decision. We'd go to war, slit each other's throats, and claim each other's packs. It would be a power tussle, and we'll forget the days when we treated each other with the utmost kindness.

Just like seasons, people change, especially when in power. Nothing is certain, time unfolds everything.

I was just swiping rapidly and even skipping some comments when I spotted Alejandro's comment. I paused and clicked on it.

*Amor, Paz, respeto, * (Spanish for Love, Peace, Respect) with a crying emoji.

And right there, I realized just why Alejandro thought of drinking his head off tonight. He found out a little too late that the ceremony was today. The dude was in his feels, it's just been three years since I got to know both him and Dimitri, but the both of them go way back to their toddler days. Their fathers were friends, so it was easy to get their children to keep the bond.

But Dimitri's Father passed away last year and Young Dimitri has to take over. Surely, things would never be the same for both of them. Dimitri would be swamped with his duties, and would barely have time for Alejandro. This could be the end of their years of friendship. Alejandro seems to be having the same thought and is already mourning the end of his bond with Dimitri.

I clicked on Alejandro's comment and saw Dimitri's comment lying beneath it.

*Por Siempre Hermano, * (Spanish for 'Forever, bro). Even though Dimitri was Russian, he'd still replied to Alejandro in his language.

Hate to say this, but forever seems to be just a myth. I've watched Father drift away from Alpha-friends he swore forever with. I've watched Father conquer and claim packs of men he once ate and dined with.

Back in my teenage days, I took pride in the fact that Father was ruthless and would do whatever it takes for his pack, including killing a beloved friend.

He wasn't wicked, and neither did he start the fights. But he always sees it to the end and wipes off the last trace of his adversary off the surface of the earth.

It inflated my ego to see him always go to war and conquer the Fathers of my agemates. But thinking about it now, it's pathetic. I don't wanna be an Alpha who prides himself on how many people he's killed. I wanna be that Alpha who goes all out to protect my loved ones, even if I had to lay down my own life. And the top thing on my bucket list was the fact that I wanted to be that Alpha that would bring about the legendary peace treaty between the packs.

If I could establish a peace treaty between packs and packs, humans and werewolves, purebloods and rogues, then we wouldn't have to kill each other for survival. Aside from being Daisy's mate again, my other biggest dream was to establish this 'inconceivable' peace treaty.

”Logan,” Charles mused, he was sprawled on the couch now, with his eyes shut.

”What is it?“ I asked, my tone low. I tossed my phone to the table and took the same position he was in. Couch was one thing Charles and I loved the most. You could offer us a king-size bed but we'll always choose the couch over it.

”Who were you chasing after at the club?” He asked me. Through my peripheral sight, I saw him glance at me.

”I thought I saw Daisy,“ I admitted, and I know it sounds foolish, but she did look a whole lot like Daisy.

A brief silence.

“It couldn't have been her,” Charles finally said. It was hard to agree with him on that. All the nerves inside of me wanted it to be her.

”It could have been,” I countered, refusing to be conceived otherwise.

There's a chance it could have been her. This was human territory, but half the inhabitants were my kind. Daisy could have decided to return here. Rumors have it that she was on a hiatus. So yeah, what if the reason behind her hiatus was that she returned here and wanted a low-key existence?

It could be just my wishful thinking, but there's a teeny bit of chance that it was gonna happen. Could be just a 0.00001% chance, but I'm dearly holding on to it.

”And the girl you spilled a drink on?” He interrogated further.

”She's the girl from the elevator, the one that bears my mate's scent,”

Recalling my encounter with her at the club, I was very much convinced that it was Daisy's scent hovering around her. Not some scent-alike perfume or whatever Charles tagged it to be. Back when I bumped into her at the elevator, I had to sniff her up close to pick up the scent.

But in the club, I wasn't even trying. There I was, standing and minding my business. But the scent came to me. Hard and profound. Flynn was going loose in my mind and it took all the ounce of self-control in me to keep him from breaking out and pouncing on her.

No way could I be wrong about the same thing twice. If only there was an explanation for it, if only I knew what would make a human, possess so strongly, the scent of a werewolf.

But I didn't tell Charles about the scent again, what was the point? He'll just brush it aside.

“She seems to dislike you a lot,“ Charles said, and yawned, “My advice? Stay away from her, or she might try to gouge your eyes out the next time.”

With that, he shut his eyes and slept off.

I stayed awake the whole night letting my mind wander. Midnight thoughts were the worst, and my mind was caged in my overwhelming thoughts.

At dawn, Drake came down the stairs and joined us on the couch. We were one man short, Jake wasn't here.

When we returned last night, he wasn't here. The last time we spoke was when I told him off on his pizza request. Told him to go get it himself. And he sent me a poop emoji. And that was it. I don't know if he went to get it or not.

If we were in the pack, we would have already mind-linked him. But here, all we had was our phones, and he wasn't picking up.

“Where do you think he spent the night?“ Drake asked no one in particular. We were all worried, but Drake was exceptionally worried. Of course, he'll be. He was his closest buddy.

“I can't think of a place,“ Charles replied, rubbing his temples, “He doesn't have any friends,“

Yeah, Jake was a complete loner. Anyone who knew him back in high school wouldn't recognize him now. The exuberant, boisterous and loud Jake back in high school vanished completely a year after we graduated. But we had now was a lowkey jerk, an introverted critic, a loner, and a moody fellow.

”He can't be at Alejandro's. I don't know, I'm worried,“ I sighed, inclining into the couch. I was thinking of a million ways to go about searching for Jake if he doesn't show up in the next hour.

But to calm our nerves, we heard the door open and familiar footsteps graced us.

“Dude!“ Drake was the first to react, standing to his feet, ”Where did you go all night?“

“Yeah, we've been so worried, man,“ Charles inquired, and when his gaze took him in, he added, “Did something happen?“

“Nothing, I'm fine,“ Jake replied, already turning to head upstairs.

“Not so fast, man,“ I said, making him stop. Giving him enough scrutiny, I could come to just one conclusion – the guy got laid last night. The mad creases on his shirt, his ruffled hair, his swollen lips from the kisses, he was losing an earring, and he had a pink lipstick pout on his shirt. This was a fucking walk of shame. And the dude was fucking clueless, moving around like that like he wanted the whole world to know what he's been up to all night.

“What is it?” He seemed nervous, it almost cracked me up.

“What's that on your shirt?” I taunted, raising my eyebrows in fake curiosity. It was an open question and would be a good ground for diss.

“Is that…no fucking way! You got laid!” Charles gasped with a whistle, “Who is she?“

”I got no idea what you talking about,” He mumbled.

”Yes, you do. And it's nothing to be ashamed of, we all fuck pussies on a regular. We just surprised that you chose to get back on the game,“ Drake smirked, going over to him and patting his shoulder.

“It's no game,“ Jake defended, shrugging Drake's hand off him, ”And you guys should just stay the fuck out of my business,”

”Sure, man,“ Drake raised his hands in the air, backing away from him in laughter.

“The next time you choose to spend the night fucking a pussy, give your homies a call. In the meantime, go make breakfast,” I said to him.

We take turns preparing the meals we have. Since Daisy left and Father refused to send us any Omega who would do the cooking and cleaning, we had to learn to do it ourselves. Over the years, the best meals we've had are the ones we ate outside. It's pure garbage what we prepare here, but we still make do. Not like we got a choice.

”Can't it wait till I go take a shower?” Jake asked,

“No, it can't. We're starving. So go ahead, and try not to get it burnt, please?“ I said, and he could only grumble, but he headed to the kitchen.

In a few minutes, he served us omelets, American-style, and we had it with our coffee. It was one of the most awful omelets I've ever had to eat, but Drake's omelets don't hold a candle to it. Drake was an awful cook, the worst amongst the four of us. Charles was the better cook among us, and I never did past noodles and omelets. I could get better, but I just don't think I was caught out for cooking and shit like it.

Jake cleared the table after breakfast and we were supposed to be off to our rooms, getting ready to head to school.

“Uh, Hold on guys,“ Charles said, and we all turned around, ”I got a message from Father,”

By Father, he meant Beta Xariel.

”What is it?” I demanded. If it was a message from Beta Xariel, then it was coming from Father, and I couldn't wait to hear it.

”The Alpha King demands we choose a major. Starting today, we major in business administration,”

What?