I raced down the stairs, my heart pounding in my chest. The sound of my mom’s screams echoed through the house, sending a chill down my spine. As I reached the bottom, I saw her, standing in the living room, sobbing uncontrollably.
She was hunched over something, her hands trembling, soaked in blood.
“No…” | whispered, fear gripping me as I moved closer.
There, lying on the floor, was Logan’s father.
His body was twisted at an unnatural angle, and a pool of dark red blood surrounded him. His chest had been torn open, the wound vicious, as if something had ripped through him with savage force.
I dropped to my knees beside him, barely able to breathe. “Mom, what happened?” My voice was shaky, and I felt my hands shaking too as I touched his cold arm.
She looked up at me, her face streaked with tears, barely able to speak. “I-I don’t know… I just came in, and… and he was…”
Her words trailed off as she collapsed back, sobbing.
Logan. I needed to find Logan.
I shot up and ran back up the stairs, bursting into his room. “Logan!” I shouted, my voice trembling with fear.
He wasn’t there.
Panic surged through me. I turned and sprinted back down the hall, searching every room frantically. “Logan!” | yelled again.
He had to be somewhere. He had to know what happened.
I returned to the living room where my mom was still crying, trying to process what had just happened. Kneeling beside his father’s body again, I felt a wave of nausea wash over me. This wasn’t just a murder. This was a message.
The phrase from the book echoed in my mind: “Someone you trust will betray you.”
I finally found Logan outside, deep in the woods behind the house. He was crouched low, covered in blood. His hands were trembling, stained with the same dark red that soaked his father’s body.
“Logan…” I whispered, my heart hammering against my chest. He didn’t respond, didn’t even look up. His back was to me, and something about his posture felt wrong-unnatural.
“Logan!” I called again, louder this time, my voice shaking with fear and confusion. Slowly, he turned to face me, and my breath caught in my throat.
His eyes were different-darker, almost feral. There was no trace of the Logan I knew, no warmth, no humor. Only cold, detached malice.
“Logan, what happened?” I asked, stepping forward despite the terror clawing at my insides. “What did you do?”
He stood up slowly, his movements too smooth, too deliberate. The blood on his face and hands gleamed under the moonlight, making him look more like a predator than the boy I cared about.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, his voice low and rough, almost like a growl.
“Logan, please,” I pleaded, inching closer despite every instinct telling me to run. “Talk to me. What happened to your father?”
Logan’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of the boy I knew behind those dark, haunted eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it came.
“He got in the way,” Logan said, his voice eerily calm, as if he wasn’t talking about the man who had raised him. “He was weak. Too weak to lead. Too weak to survive.”
“Logan, that was your father!” I shouted, my voice breaking with disbelief. “How can you say that? He raised you, he-”
Logan barely blinked. “He was weak,” he repeated, his voice cold and emotionless. “He couldn’t protect the pack, couldn’t protect himself.”
I stared at him, my mind racing. “He loved you, Logan. He was your father!”
Logan shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “Love doesn’t make you strong. It makes you blind. He couldn’t see what was coming.”
I took a step closer, my chest tightening. “What are you saying? What have you become?”
His dark eyes locked onto mine, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw a flash of guilt, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “I’m what I need to be,” he said. “Strong. Powerful. Alpha.”
“Alpha? Logan, this isn’t you!” I cried, trying to reach him. “This isn’t who you are!”
“This is who I am meant to be,” Logan said, his voice steady but devoid of any warmth. “This is what I was born for.”
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. “No, Logan. This isn’t you. You don’t have to be like this.”
“You don’t understand,” he said, his tone sharp. “I’ve been fighting it for too long, trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be. But this-this is the truth. I’m the alpha now. I have to be stronger than anyone else, or they’ll destroy us.”
“That’s not true,” I whispered, stepping closer. “You don’t have to become a monster to lead. Your father-”
Logan’s eyes darkened further, his face twisting in anger as I took another step toward him. “Shut up,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. “If I hear another word from you, you’ll be next.”
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. There was no mistaking the threat in his voice, the deadly intent behind his words. The Logan I knew-the boy who had always been protective, who had always cared-was gone.
For a moment, neither of us moved. The silence between us stretched, heavy with fear and tension. Then, slowly, I took a step back, my heart shattering as I realized I could not reach him anymore.
Logan’s gaze held mine, cold and unyielding, before he turned away, disappearing into the darkness of the woods.
I stood frozen, my mind racing with questions. I took a shaky breath and asked, “Logan, what happened to you? This isn’t you. What made you change like this?” I was lost in my thought desperate for answers. “Please, just tell me what’s going on. Why are you doing this?” Logan is the one that betrayed me?