Sorry this is a little late. I was watching America's Got Talent and lost track of time! Good thing I'm not getting paid to do this, or I'd probably get fired. I mean, can you imagine showing up at school or work and saying "Sorry I'm late, sir, I spent the last hour on YouTube"?

Logan

I glance back at Saf one more time before I leave our room. Technically it's still kind of more her room than ours, since I haven't moved my stuff in yet, but obviously that will change after the announcement. Saf's cheeks are pink from laughing, and maybe a bit from our make out session too, and I feel a burst of happiness. She's so beautiful, and she's all mine.

"I'll be back soon," I tell her and quickly march off to Father's office. The sooner I hear what he has to say, the sooner we can get on with the announcement, and the sooner we can be alone again. Without Father interrupting this time.

His office door is closed, and I knock politely and wait until Father tells me to come in. It's something he really needs to learn to do, and I wonder if there is a way of telling him that without him turning into a pissed off wolf. I chuckle at the nickname, take a deep breath, and enter.

Father's sitting behind his desk with what looks like a glass of whiskey in one hand. He swirls the liquid around and around, and the sound of rattling ice cubes echoes through the silent office. When I approach the desk, Father finally looks up from the glass. His eyes are bloodshot and there are bags around them from lack of sleep. He kind of looks nervous, too, like he's dreading our talk.

"Look, Father," I groan, "we don't really need to have The Talk, do we?"

"What?" The frown lines on his forehead become a little more pronounced.

"Can we just get to the announcement?" I ask. I want to be with Saf, he clearly needs sleep—as far as I can tell, it's win-win. "I really don't need The Talk anyway. I know what I'm doing."

"What are you—?" Father starts to ask, then groans. "I didn't call you here to talk about sex, Logan."

"Oh, good." I smile in relief, but then worry takes its place. "Did something happen? Is it Jess?"

"No." Father gestures at the chair across from his desk. "Sit."

"Fine." I slump into it. "Now tell me what's going on. What happened?"

"I brought her into this house, Logan," Father says. "I should have kept a closer eye on her."

"On who?"

"There are a few things I need to tell you first. So you'll understand."

"Just tell me who you're talking about."

"Not yet. Listen." Father leans forward in his seat. "When I left on Wednesday, I headed straight to the Moonlit Pack and had a long talk with Alpha Jordan."

"Did he do it?" I ask, fidgeting in my seat.

"No." Father shakes his head. "He was so shocked, I nearly gave the old man a heart attack. Moonlit is not involved in the Rogue attack. Alpha Jordan certainly isn't. I'd stake my life on it."

"Then who is?" I demand. I have this urge to yell 'get to the point,' but I know better than to disrespect the Alpha.

"I'm getting to that." Father downs the rest of his whiskey and sets the glass down on the table with a clink. "I spent the night at Moonlit and went to talk to Saffron's Father in the morning. It was just past dawn, so when he didn't come to the door, I thought he was fast asleep—or passed out drunk. So I tried the doorknob and the door was unlocked so I went in. You know what I found?"

"He dead carcass?" I ask hopefully, and then instantly feel a wave of guilt. I may hate the man, but he's still Saf's Father, and she cried for him. On the other hand, better if he was already dead than if Father killed him.

"No. I didn't find a thing."

"Seriously?" I groan.

"No, Logan, I mean there was nothing in the house. The entire place was wiped clean. No furniture, no scents, not even a loose hair. If I hadn't been there before and seen it with my own eyes, I'd think no one had ever lived in that place."

"How's that possible?" I ask, leaning forward in my seat.

"That's a good question." Father frowns. "Cleanup crews are trained to wipe evidence of our kind hidden from humans. They can cover up our tracks from a forensics team, but they always leave clues a wolf can find."

"Maybe you missed something?"

"Any idea who could have done it?"

"Alpha Jordan lent me his trackers, and they found the same thing I did." Father shakes his head. "I cannot imagine the precision required to do the job that's been done of Saffron's home."

"Do you think someone killed her Father and cleaned up the evidence?"

Father shakes his head and pours himself a touch of whiskey. He regards it thoughtfully before continuing. "I questioned everyone at Moonlit, but they weren't much help. They didn't even know Saffron was here. Alpha Jordan never thought to inform them, so they'd assumed she and her dad packed up and moved. They all said the same thing, too: Saffron and her dad ignored everyone and kept to themselves."

"Doesn't mean one of them didn't kill him."

"It doesn't, but the next morning, I went to Saffron's old school to question her friends. I could smell the fear on those girls the minute the principal brought them into the office." Father raises a hand when I start to interrupt. "Human girls, Logan, and practically everything they told me was a lie."

"Like what?" I frown.

"They said they never met Saffron's father. Lie." He ticks it off on his thumbs. "They said they'd never been to her house before. Lie." He taps his index finger. "They said they didn't know where she was. Lie." He taps his middle finger, bringing the count up to three. "There is no reason to lie about those things, or tell me that Saffron was always really shy and quiet. Also a lie." He taps his ring finger. "The only thing they didn't lie about was not knowing where her father was. I'm pretty sure they hadn't a clue."

"Well, maybe they had a reason for lying?" Not that I can really think of one. "What if Saffron and I drove down to talk to them?"

"It wouldn't help." Father shakes his head and downs the whiskey. "After I finished at the school, I questioned everyone in town. I went to bars, diners, the gas stations. No one seemed to know the man."

"Not even at the diner? Saf said she worked there."

"The owner retired on Monday. Transfered ownership to a niece he'd never even met, packed his bags, and left for Europe."

"That's weird." I frown.

"Very. I drove around for some time before I found a dive bar off the highway. Owner said a man who looks like Saffron's father comes in sometimes; hangs out with a bunch of lowlifes."

"Human or wolf?"

"No way of knowing, but he hasn't been back since the day Saffron came here."

"That's it?" I groan.

"No, that was when Alpha Jordan called me." Father leans forward in his seat, "those two human girls, Saffron's friends? They never went back to class after I questioned them. They left their backpacks in the bathroom—phones and everything—and disappeared."

"What?"

"Goddess if I knew." Father scowls. "The school's cameras show them walking out the back door, so they left of their own accord. Those girls knew something—something big—and I'm going to find out what."

"How?" I perk up.

"By questioning Saffron."

"If she knew anything else, she would have told us."

"Unless she's not who you think she is."

"What do you mean?" I growl at the accusation.

"I went back to talk to the kids. Now hold on," he adds when I start to interrupt, annoyed at the sudden change of subject, "you need to hear this."

"Fine, what?" I spit.

"Did you see how all the Rogues' throats were torn, yet they were still alive?"

"Yeah?"

"I sent the Wolfsbane Luna some pictures, and you know what her lead surgeon said? It requires medical knowledge, and an understanding of every vein and artery, not to mention a high level of precision. Years of surgical training and fighter training to be able to incapacitate multiple rogues with such accuracy."

"What are we dealing with here?" I ask nervously.

"Well, I thought one of the rogues had done it, maybe so they could get a head start before the others talked." Father shakes his head. "But Joshie and Nisha saw everything, and a Rogue wasn't responsible. Saffron was."

"What?" I cry.

"Your mate knew how to sever the correct artery in battle. She incapacitated three Rogues, fought better than Zara and Jess combined. To hear Nisha and Joshie talk..."

"What are you getting at?" I frown at Father's accusatory tone. He doesn't sound excited at Saf's level of skill, he sounds suspicious.

"That maybe your mate orchestrated the entire attack? That she knew those Rogues, and that's why she didn't kill them?"

"Seriously?" I growl. "She almost died in that fight, and she saved them all. Nicki, Nisha, Joshie, Zara. If it wasn't for her, they'd be dead. Or missing, like Jess."

"If it wasn't for her, there may not have been an attack." Father counters. "They had no reason to come after Jess, and the kids seemed to think they were after Zara and got them mixed up, but I don't buy it... I think they were after Saffron, and I highly doubt she's who she says she is."

1. Rate this chapter on a scale from ♥ (1) to ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (10)

2. Do you need a moment to process everything? What was the most shocking news from everything that POW just told Logan? 

3. What do you think will happen next?

4. I'm entering STAWP and Hunter's Luna in the Watty Awards. I probably won't win, but I'm giving it my best shot! Wish me luck?! ♥

5. Let's play a Wolf Pack game: Create your own wolf pack (celebrities and fictional characters are all fair game). Who would be in your pack?