Claiming My Wolf

8 - Strange Happenings

~~Logan's PoV~~

The sun streams in through my bedroom window, warming my face as I start to wake up, and for a moment I smile. I must have been having some kind of pleasant dream, though I can't remember what it was now. I just know that I felt strong and happy and useful.

But as my eyes open, reality comes rushing back in. Maybe that was the person I used to be, but it's not anymore. Ever since I let down the people who were relying on me the most, nothing in my life seems right.

Just as that familiar feeling of dread starts to settle in, another face flashes in front of my eyes, and immediately my spirits rise a little bit.

It's Sadie's face, but I don't know why it should appear to me at all. Why do I keep thinking about her?

At first, I thought it was just because her parents had died and I could relate to what she was going through. But then after my argument with Micah yesterday, when I got home and did my training in the gym, my thoughts kept going back to her again, thinking about what a big shock it's going to be for her to find out she's a werewolf. I'm worried about her and how she'll react. Maybe I should talk to Ava or Aaron and find out what's going on with that, when she's going to be told and how. She's been through enough already. If there's anything I can do to soften the blow, I want to help.

Then I almost laugh at myself. When's the last time I really talked to anybody or tried to help them? For the last year, I've been living in a bubble, part of the world but separate from it too, and now suddenly I find I'm wanting to step outside the shell I made for myself and pay attention to someone else.

What is it about this girl that's got to me?

Whatever it is, there's no time to figure it out now. After throwing some clothes on, I head downstairs to the Alpha's private dining room. The packhouse has a big dining room that's used by everyone who lives and works in the house, but I haven't eaten in there for the last year and neither has my dad. He's in our small dining room now when I go in and he nods his head to me in greeting.

“Busy day, Logan?”

He always asks me that, though he knows as well as I do that I'll be going to school and then coming home to train in private just like I have every day for the last year. If there's no school, then I just stay home and train. It never changes.

He never says anything to me about it either. He's coping in his own way, so he leaves me to deal with it in mine.

We never mention the two empty seats at the small dining table.

“The usual,” I answer him, grabbing some toast and eggs that the staff have already left for us in the middle of the table. “You?”

Normally he'll give me the same short answer, but today he pauses. “We got another report last night from the Northaven Pack. The same sort of thing that happened in Moon Valley last week happened there too.”

I look up at him in surprise. He told me about Moon Valley a couple of days ago and we both thought it must have been a random event. But if it was happening elsewhere too, maybe there's more to it.

“What could be causing it?” I ask, feeling confused. I've never heard of anything like this happening at all, let alone twice in one week, in two different packs.

“I don't know,” my dad admits. “But something strange is going on. I'm going to talk to the Northaven Alpha today and see what else I can find out. Do you want to join me?”

He's been trying to involve me more in pack business as my 18th birthday approaches, and normally I'd jump at a chance to get out of school, but today I picture Sadie looking at my empty desk in math class, wondering where I am, and I hesitate.

I'm being stupid, I know. She probably won't even notice if I'm not there, but I feel like I want to be there to help her in case she needs it.

I want to protect her, even though I haven't felt capable of protecting anyone for a long time. It scares me a little, but not necessarily in a bad way.

“I've got a test I shouldn't miss,” I lie to my dad now, not wanting to try to explain to him the real reason I'd rather go to school. “But I'll come see you after and find out what he said.”

My dad nods in agreement. “Okay. Have a good day then, Logan.”

“You too, Dad.”

I shove the last bit of toast in my mouth as I get up and walk out the door.