Chapter Five
Logan
Logan hadn’t slept.
He’d closed his eyes. Laid still. Even tried counting the seconds between the distant howls and the soft hum of the motel mini fridge. But rest never came. His body felt too wired, too aware, like his wolf was pacing just beneath his skin, ears perked, waiting for something that might never arrive.
By the time the sun began to slide across the horizon, he was already up and dressed, tugging on his boots in silence while the rest of the team slept.
He needed air.
The motel room was too small. The walls pressed in on him, thick with the scent of old carpet, damp, and bleach. He stepped outside and let the door ease shut behind him with a quiet click.
The morning air was clean, sharp, and damp with dew, and bit viciously at his skin.
Logan welcomed the chill. He started walking, leaving the motel lot behind and heading into the trees that lined the edge of town.
His steps were slow and deliberate, as they crunched faintly over pine needles and frost-hardened dirt.
He didn’t go far. Not back to where they’d met exactly, but close enough that his senses stretched, searching for a trace of her.
He didn’t find it. Of course not.
But that didn’t stop his instincts from reaching.
The forest around him stirred gently in the dawn light.
Birds began to chirp. A squirrel darted across a branch overhead, scattering flakes of frost. The earthy scent of pine and moss curled into his lungs, grounding him.
He inhaled deeply, trying to clear the knot of tension that had settled in his chest since the night before.
But it didn’t ease.
Willow. Find Willow again, his wolf whined.
“Soon,” he whispered. Wishing that if he said the word aloud, he could will her into existence like magic.
She didn’t come, of course, but he lingered on the image of her in his mind’s eye.
He hated the way she’d flinched when he moved.
The haunted look behind her eyes. The soft tremble in her voice when she said she had to go.
She’d been afraid. Not of him, maybe, but of what he represented. Power. Male authority. Attention.
He couldn’t blame her.
Whatever life she’d lived under Derek’s rule, it had taught her one thing: submission meant survival. And Logan… he didn’t fit into that equation. He was something wild. Unpredictable. A disruption she hadn’t asked for. But she hadn’t run immediately, either. That was the important thing.
She could’ve vanished the second she sensed him. Slipped into the woods like he’d thought she would. But she’d stayed long enough to speak. Long enough to look at him and whisper, Mate. To talk to him, however briefly.
His wolf stirred at the memory, restless and needy.
Mate?
His wolf pushed at his mind, insistent, wanting to be set free, but Logan clenched his fists and forced the shift down.
Not yet. If he shifted now, he knew without question that his wolf would go looking for her, and Logan didn’t think he would be strong enough to stop him from doing what they both wanted.
She needed space. She needed control. She needed to know that she could trust him not to take anything she wasn’t ready to give. Especially not her choices.
This wasn’t a woman he could chase. She had to come to him on her own terms. So, he stood still beneath the rising sun, the forest quiet around him, and waited until the ache in his chest dulled enough for him to turn back.
By the time Logan made it back to the motel, the sun was fully up and the smell of cheap coffee hit him the second he stepped into the room.
The team was already gathered, Max leaning against the dresser with his arms crossed, Carter perched on the edge of the bed thumbing through a local map, Seb flipping through a weathered notepad like it owed him answers.
Arlo sat at the tiny table with his laptop open, squinting at data through the glare on the screen.
Toby and Ezra stood near the window, keeping half an eye on the parking lot, their postures casual but alert.
It was their usual rhythm, efficient, focused, quiet tension humming beneath every motion. But Logan felt outside of it this morning. Like the forest had followed him in, still clinging to his skin, trying to draw him back into its depths.
Max glanced up first. “You had us worried. You shouldn’t go anywhere alone, Logan. I shouldn’t have to remind you how dangerous this pack is.”
Logan shrugged out of his coat and tossed it over the back of a chair. He heaved a sigh. “Sorry. Went for a walk to clear my head.”
Carter lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t shift?”
“No.”
Carter didn’t bother looking up from the map. “So? You go on another romantic nature walk, or were you just hoping to catch a whiff of her scent again?”
Seb smirked over his coffee. “He was probably. Wolves brood. It’s the law.”
Arlo raised a brow. “You sure you were just walking out there, or were you pining under a tree somewhere?”
Logan gave them a flat look but didn’t rise to the bait. He grabbed a cup of coffee that was lukewarm and tasted like crap, but it was exactly what he needed. The silence stretched, easy but edged with curiosity.
Then he set the mug down and said it. “She’s an omega. From Derek’s pack.”
He hadn’t told them much the night before, just that he’d met his mate and didn’t want to talk about it, but he knew they wouldn’t quit giving him shit unless he gave them more information.
There was a beat of quiet before Carter let out a low whistle. “Shit.”
“Damn,” Seb added, softer this time.
Arlo leaned back in his chair, tapping one finger against the table. “That could be a problem.”
“Or a gift,” Max said, voice level. “Depends how you view it.”
Toby folded his arms. “An omega? Are you sure?”
Logan nodded once. “She didn’t tell me. She didn’t have to. I could tell.”
“And Derek lets her live?” Ezra asked, frowning.
“Omegas are rare,” Max said. “And valuable, but they can be seen as the lowest rung on the ladder.”
“I think she’s been through some shit,” Logan said quietly. “But she’s still standing.”
The weight of that hung heavy in the room. No one made a joke now. No one moved.
“Then she’s strong,” Carter said finally.
Logan’s jaw flexed. “Stronger than she knows. Stronger probably than Derek ever give her credit for.”
Max uncrossed his arms. “If she’s survived this long in that pack, under him... you’re not wrong.”
There were quiet nods around the room. No one questioned Logan’s judgment. Not here. Not on something like this.
“So, what’s your plan?” Seb asked, cutting through the silence.
Logan looked each of them in the eye. He shrugged. “Whatever it takes. I just know that I need to protect her. This is mission just became even more personal for me.”
“Okay, let’s stay focused,” Max said, dragging a chair into the middle of the room and flipping open the battered folder that held their intel.
“We’ve confirmed multiple incidents tied to Derek’s territory.
There are two missing women from town who didn’t get back from their hike, unconfirmed whether they’re human or wolves.
And Carter overheard a waitress talking to her colleague about her friend who showed up covered in bruises then vanished a week later. ”
Arlo turned his laptop to face the group. “I cross-checked hospital records. At least six patients treated in the last two months for wounds that look more like animal attacks. All logged as dog bites.”
“Cover stories,” Seb muttered. “Standard pack clean-up bullshit.”
“And all in the same radius around Derek’s main compound,” Arlo added. “Or what we think is his compound.”
Carter leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The Bureau wouldn’t have authorized us to come in unless it crossed into human territory. This isn’t just pack business anymore. Derek’s crossing lines, and I dread to think what’s happened to the missing women.”
The weight of it pressed on them all. They were good at this, at cleaning up supernatural messes before they spilled into public panic.
But it was different this time. Logan felt it in every cell of his being.
Because now, his mate was in the mix too.
He’d already lost his parents to Derek. He would not lose his mate.
“Do you think your mate could help us with intel?” Seb asked.
Logan shook his head. “She’s not in a place to help with that.
She’s…fearful. Skittish. I wouldn’t put that on her.
I don’t want to push her.” His voice hardened protectively.
“I’m not even going to ask her. She’s been living with a target on her back for years.
I’m not going to be another hand shoving her around. ”
Max gave him a long look, steady, and unreadable.
Then he spoke, low and firm. “That’s understandable. The mission is important, but your mate should always come first.”
Logan nodded his agreement. Because it didn’t matter how high the stakes got, Willow would always come first.
The Bitterroot Diner sat on the edge of town like it had been dropped there decades ago and been forgotten since.
Logan remembered it fondly from trips there with his parents when he was a child, and later, in his teen years with the couple of friends he would hang out with there.
The paint was faded, the sign flickering dimly even in daylight, but the scent of bacon and brewed coffee wafting out the door promised warmth and familiarity.
Exactly the kind of place locals talked freely when they thought no one was listening.
Logan stepped inside with Max beside him, the bell above the door jingling as they entered.
Heads turned. Just briefly. A few patrons glanced up from their booths, truckers, old timers, two high school boys huddled over a plate of fries, but no one lingered.
No one challenged them. There were a lot of trails in the area, so hikers came and went.
People in town were used to seeing strangers.
They slid into a corner booth near the window. Max ordered coffee from a tired-looking waitress with a stained apron and a smoker’s rasp. Logan didn’t recognize her. It wasn’t entirely surprising. He kept his gaze moving, watching the flow of customers, noting who arrived or left.
After the waitress left, they stayed quiet. They weren’t there for food or conversation. They were there to listen, and to see if they could hear anything useful.
The booth behind them held two middle-aged women, with chipped nails and permanent scowls etched into their faces. They sipped coffee as they gossiped. Logan listened in on their conversation.
“…third girl in a month, but if you ask me, she ran off with that boy she was seeing.”
“Yep, or Sheriff Rollins would have been more worried when we talked to him.”
“No families have raised a fuss, and everyone is saying they just vanished.”
“I doubt it,” her friend said. “They run off. Definitely.”
“You got that right.”
Max didn’t look up from his mug, but his voice was low. “You hearing this?”
“Yeah,” Logan murmured.
A moment later, the waitress returned with the coffee pot, and Max gave her a warm, disarming smile. “Busy place,” he said.
She snorted. “Busier since all the trouble started.”
Logan tilted his head. “Trouble?”
She hesitated. Just for a second. Then her expression shuttered a little, like she regretted opening the door to the conversation.
“People come in here to gossip,” she said glaring at the two women seated behind Logan. “A few young women have gone missing from around these parts. A couple who were passing through and a girl from town. You didn’t hear it from me, but…”
She looked over her shoulder, then leaned in slightly. Her voice dropped.
“Few weeks ago, a girl came in here. Bruised up bad. Didn’t say much, just sat at that booth there,” she pointed with her chin, “and nursed a cup of coffee like her life depended on it. Looked scared outta her mind. Thought maybe I’d see her again. But I didn’t.”
“Did she say her name?” Max asked.
The waitress shook her head. “Didn’t ask. Didn’t want to spook her.”
“Anyone come looking for her?”
“Nope.” She straightened. “Like I said. People talk. But no one does anything.”
Logan didn’t press. He just offered a tight nod. “Thanks for the coffee.”
The woman gave a short nod back and walked off to top up the coffee of a couple of patrons seated at another table.
Logan sat there for another minute, eyes on the window but not seeing it.
His wolf bristled just under his skin, restless and keyed up.
Every instinct he had told him the pack was hiding something dark, something much worse than they’d anticipated.
It seemed obvious that they had taken the women, but why?
What were they doing with them, or to them.
Were they even still alive? Logan frowned, his mind drifting, to the clearing, to a beautiful woman with wide eyes and a bruised soul.
See Willow? His wolf asked hopefully.
Logan checked his watch. Soon, he promised.
The sun was low by the time they returned to the motel. Long shadows stretched across the parking lot, pooling in the cracks of the worn pavement. The air held that heavy stillness of a town on the cusp of night. Quieter, but not peaceful. There was no peace here, not for anyone.
Inside the room he shared with Arlo, the team was still sifting through intel. They were all just as determined to get the job done quickly.
Logan took a quick shower then moved through the room silently, gathering what he needed. No one asked where he was going. They didn’t have to. Max met his eyes from where he sat near the window. He didn’t say anything, just gave Logan a brief nod.
Carter, lounging on the edge of the bed, smirked. “Try not to scare her off with your charming personality.”
Logan didn’t dignify that with more than a raised brow, but the corners of his mouth twitched in amusement. He hadn’t smiled since he’d arrived in town, but now that he knew he was about to see his mate again, he felt lighter, somehow.
Toby leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Check in at midnight.”
Logan grabbed his cellphone then slipped it into his back pocket. “I will,” he promised.
He stepped out into the growing dark, letting the motel door ease shut behind him with a soft click.
The air had cooled further, but not enough for Logan to feel the chill.
He took a steadying breath and began walking, away from the streetlights, away from the safety of the team, and back into the woods.
His wolf was just below the surface, ears pricked, muscles coiled. Not looking for a fight, but for something sacred. The pull in Logan’s chest had everything to do with the mate bond, with her.
He just hoped she would come.
When he reached the clearing where they’d first met, the world felt like it held its breath. The hush of the trees and the silver edge of the moonlight filtering through the branches wrapped around him like a blanket, warm and welcoming.
He stepped into the center of the space, heart pounding, not from fear, but from hope. And he waited.