Claiming My Wolf
Chapter 19

~~Logan’s PoV~~

One year ago

“Evacuate!” I quickly ordered.

This was our backup plan and we had done it in drills, but never for real before. My heart was racing with actual fear now. How did the people on the other side of the door know we were in here? What did they want? We didn’t have anything valuable in here with us, just women and children and a couple of older men with injuries that prevented them from fighting.

And me.

I ran to the rear of the room and opened the hidden door that led to the escape tunnel. Kara and my mom did their best to keep everyone calm as I helped them into the tunnel. We could see the edge of whatever tool the people at the door were using to cut through it now, but I did my best to keep my attention on the people instead.

“Logan.” It was the fear in Kara’s voice that made me look up. The hole in the door was almost complete. In a matter of seconds they would push their way in and if the tunnel door was still open, they would see it and know where everyone had gone.

If I closed the door now, those that were already through would be safe but there were still a few people who weren’t in yet.

I had to make a split second decision, and as I helped the pack cook into the tunnel, I made my choice.

I closed the door behind her, leaving three people still trapped in the room.

My mom, Kara and me.

My mom shifted into her wolf and I grabbed the only weapon I had access to, the hunting knife that my dad gave me that we’d mounted on the wall in here just in case. Holding it out in front of me, I shoved Kara behind me.

The men pushed through the hole in the door just a few seconds later. There were at least ten of them, half in their human form and the others as wolves.

We never had a chance.

My mom attacked while I stayed where I was, trying to protect Kara, but there were just too many of them. In less than a minute they had us all surrounded. One of them yanked the knife from my hand and held it up to my sister’s throat as I struggled uselessly against the two men who were holding me.

“Shift,” the man commanded my mother. “Or she dies.”

With no other choice, my mom shifted back. Her leg was cut and bleeding and there were scratches across her face too.

“What do you want?” she asked the man, her voice shaking with rage or fear. Maybe both.

“I want to know who else was there the night it happened,” the man said. “The night she appeared to you.”

What the f**k did that mean? I had no clue but my mom’s eyes went wide. “N-no one else was there,” she stuttered, and even I could tell she was lying. “It was just me. Please, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about that night, just let my children go.”

“This is your daughter?” The man looked down at Kara and my mom’s face went completely white.

“No,” she tried to lie, but it was too late. She’d already given it away.

“Kill them both.”

Rage and shock raced through me and I let out a roar that made everyone stop and look at me in surprise. I didn’t know where the strength came from but I was able to slip free of the men who were holding me and I went for the one with the knife. I got it from his hands and slit his throat before he could even raise a hand in self-defense.

But there were too many of them. As I turned around to face the others, someone hit me over the head with something hard, and the whole world went black.

When I woke up, it was to the sound of my father’s cries of anguish. He was at the door, fallen to his knees, and my mother and sister were both dead.

~~Present~~

“I could have got them into the tunnel,” I answered my father flatly as we stood in the garden. “It was my decision and they died because of me.”

He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the face. “Logan, they died because those men killed them. They came here looking for them. They wouldn’t have stopped until they found them.”

“Why?”

That was the one question that had haunted me the most since that day. Why had they targeted my mom and Kara? What had they ever done to anyone to deserve that?

Why didn’t they kill me too?

My dad just shook his head. “I don’t know, but I will find out one day. And when I do, you and I will take them all down together.”

The men who attacked us that day had gotten away. I was the only one who had seen their faces and lived to tell anyone about it.

“You saved the lives of everyone else in that room,” he went on. “You did exactly what you were supposed to do. I know your mother and sister would be proud of you.”

I hadn’t let myself cry over this in so long, but as he said those words, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The tears came fast and hard, and my dad pulled me into a tight hug, letting me get it all out.

When I finally pulled away from him, I could see his face was wet too. My big, brave Alpha father. The only other time I had seen him cry was the day it happened.

“Micah’s going to protect Sadie,” he said firmly, reminding me of why we were out here in the first place. “But only because he’s got his wolf. You’re going to help me figure out who’s after her, okay? And after you turn 18, if we still don’t have answers, you can take over if you want to.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak yet.

He started to walk away, but I called out after him with one last question. “Do you think this has anything to do with what happened to Mom and Kara?”

I didn’t even know where the question came from, but as I thought about it now, I could see there were similarities. The sudden attack, the targeting of one person that they seemed to know exactly where to find.

My dad’s face was tight. “I don’t know,” he said. “But you’re going to help me find out.”

And as I open the school doors this morning to step inside, that’s exactly what I intend to do.