Chapter 38 #2
The confession expands between us like poisoned air. Cillian—our beta, our steady second-in-command—is an Omega. Everything I thought I knew about our pack structure, about the dynamics between us, crumbles in an instant.
“What?” I breathe, barely able to process what I’m hearing.
“I bonded with him by accident,” Logan continues, his voice growing more strained with each word. “After I killed Ander. I was in a rage-fueled rut, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. The bond formed before I realized what was happening.”
Poe’s face has gone completely still, that mask of indifference he wears when he’s processing something that cuts deep. But I can see the hurt beneath it, the betrayal that mirrors my own confusion.
“How long ago?” Poe asks, his voice deadly quiet.
“Over a year,” Logan admits, not meeting either of our eyes.
The silence stretches between us, heavy with implications. A year. An entire fucking year of secrets, of lies, of watching Logan interact with Cillian while knowing nothing about their true relationship.
“Why?” The word tears from my throat, raw with emotion I can’t contain. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Logan’s eyes flash with anger, defensive and cornered. “This is exactly why. Look at your reactions right now. You think you could have looked at him the same way, treated him with the same respect?”
“We’re pack,” I insist, though the words feel hollow now. “We don’t keep secrets from each other. That’s the whole fucking point.”
“Is it?” Logan challenges. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like the pack mentality is exactly what would have gotten Cillian killed. One slip, one moment of Alpha instinct overriding common sense, and his secret would be out. Game over.”
Poe stands slowly, his movements deliberate and controlled. “You made that decision for us. You decided we couldn’t be trusted.”
“I decided to protect him,” Logan snaps. “Just like I protected Maya by bonding her through Cillian instead of running the risk that we would lose her entirely. I tried to save them both, just like I’m doing now. If you two fucks would just fall in line and let me.”
The mention of Maya sends a fresh wave of panic through me. If Logan is here, bloodied and desperate, where is she?
“Where is Maya?” I demand, lurching to my feet. “And where’s Cillian?”
Logan glares back at me. “They’ve been taken. The Inquisitor has them both. Doing whatever the hell he wants while you two waste time.”
“You let them get taken?” Poe’s voice is deadly quiet, more dangerous than I’ve ever heard it.
“I didn’t let anything happen,” Logan snarls. “My father orchestrated this entire situation. The arrests were a distraction while Thane made his move to take them.”
I can’t think. Can’t process. All I can see is Maya’s face, the way she looked when I found her in that nest, trusting and vulnerable. The thought of her in danger makes something primal and violent rise in my chest.
“Where are they?” I growl, stepping toward the cell door.
Logan pulls out a small device I recognize as a tracking scanner. “Maya has an implant. Poe, I need access to your database to triangulate her location.”
Poe doesn’t move from his position by the wall. His eyes, flat and cold, fix on Logan with an intensity that makes the air crackle with tension.
“If Maya and Cillian weren’t in danger,” Poe says slowly, deliberately, “would you have come for us at all? Or would you have let us rot in here while you played politics with daddy?”
Logan’s mouth opens, then closes. The hesitation is answer enough.
“That’s what I thought,” Poe says, pushing off the wall with fluid grace. “You need us now, so suddenly we’re worth rescuing. Suddenly we’re pack again.”
“Poe—“
“No.” Poe’s voice cuts through Logan’s attempt at explanation like a blade. “We’re done with your lies. We’re done being your convenient tools.”
He moves toward the door, but stops directly in front of Logan, close enough that they’re almost touching. The height difference between them is minimal, but Poe’s presence fills the space like a storm front.
“We’ll help you get Maya and Cillian back,” Poe says, his voice carrying the weight of a formal declaration. “But when this is over—when they’re safe—we’re going to have a very long conversation about what it means to be pack. And whether you deserve to call yourself our Alpha.”
The challenge hangs in the air between them, unmistakable in its intent. Logan’s golden eyes narrow, recognizing the threat to his authority.
But he nods curtly. “Fine. We save them first. Everything else can wait.”
“Everything else can wait,” Poe agrees, but his tone makes it clear this conversation is far from over.
I step between them before the tension can escalate further. “All of this can be settled later. Right now, Maya and Cillian are in danger and we’re wasting time.”
Poe’s gaze shifts to me, something like approval flickering in his dark eyes. “Agreed. Let’s go get our Omegas back.”
The casual way he says “our Omegas” makes Logan’s jaw tighten, but he doesn’t object. Whatever reckoning is coming between them will have to wait. First, we have to save what’s left of our pack.
Even if I’m no longer sure what that pack will look like when this is all over.