Page 23 of Shadow of Fury

But as hard as his father was trying to appear as if everything was normal, he could see the effort it was taking him now that his facade had slipped. Maybe his shifter genes had helped heal the worst of the outward symptoms overnight but beneath the surface, he was still dying, and it was clear that he was scared.

This was not the same man he’d remembered and feared for so long. The father he knew had never been scared of anything, but he was afraid and his outburst proved it. More than that, his father had gone to great lengths to get him back here so that he could attempt to control the situation.

Byron Kemp was scared, and not just of losing control of his pack to these outsiders with their big ideas of community. The more Logan learned, the more he thought that his father had brought him back now in an attempt to control his legacy. He wanted to tell Logan how to run the pack once he was in charge, to guarantee that he maintained the status quo and in doing so, protect his legacy.

The man was more than just evil, he was downright delusional.

Logan sat back in the chair, suddenly not feeling quite so young or small, “You are scared because you know when you die, everyone will be able to see you for the monster that you are and you want me to stop that from happening, but I won’t.”

Byron growled, “You don’t get to talk to me like that, boy.”

“I’m not a boy anymore. I’m a grown man and I’ll talk to you however I want.”

“Is that so?” Byron narrowed his eyes, a mean sneer pulling at his lips that made Logan flinch backwards. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me all the monstrous things I’ve done, then? Go ahead. Tell your truth, son. I’d love to hear what you have to say.”

The all too familiar knot in Logan’s throat tightened and every word he wanted to scream from the rooftops was shoved back down, deep inside of him. He couldn’t speak the truth and his father knew that. He’d used his Alpha voice to make sure of it.

The sneer grew into a mean-spirited smile, “That’s what I thought.”

Logan grit his teeth as he shoved up out of his chair. His father might be able to keep him quiet, but he couldn’t keep him here. At least not without using his Alpha voice on him and Logan didn’t intend to give him the chance to try that trick of his again. He turned towards the door.

“You’re a sick bastard.”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby.” Byron snorted. “Come on, Logan. What’re you doing?”

“Leaving before I kill you myself.” He jerked the door open and stormed out of the office, into the lobby, shooting the words over his shoulder.

“Logan, I’m not done talking to you.”

“Too bad, because I’m done…” He pulled up short when he turned back to the outer door and saw the woman standing beside the desk there. He blinked but the vision remained. “Wren?”

“Logan?” Her face twisted with confusion he thought must match his own. “What’re you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” he snapped, even as he took her in from head to toe and his wolf growled with appreciation.

If he’d thought she was beautiful last night, in the dark of the alley, in her workout clothes, she was absolutely gorgeous now. Her dark hair was down and fell over her shoulders in a silky sheet of shiny black. She wore an emerald, green blouse with a black pencil skirt and black heels that added another three inches to her already impressive height, making her nearly eye-to-eye with him. It was a polished, professional look but on her, it was sexy as hell and his wolf was instantly at attention, just waiting to pounce.

“I work here.” She put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin defensively.

Logan blinked, certain he’d heard her wrong, “You… what?”

Horror ripped through him at the thought of Wren working here, for his father. Wren in his father’s presence every single day? Alone in the office with him? Looking the way she did? It wasn’t safe…

He blinked and she came back into focus. His concern for her had almost overshadowed his ability to think rationally but the longer he stared at her, standing there looking beautiful, sure, but also looking obstinate and ready to fight, he knew instinctively that it wasn’t a coincidence she was here.

She hated him. She had made that abundantly clear. She blamed him for Lark’s death. He didn’t hold that against her because he blamed himself too. But she didn’t know the truth, couldn’t know, and yet here she was, insinuating herself into his father’s office.

Did she blame him too? Because he was the Pack Alpha and Logan was his son and heir? Did she think his father had sent him away and covered up Lark’s death to protect him?

It all began to click into place for him and he didn’t like what it added up to.

He narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you working here?” he demanded. “What are you up to?”

“Up to?” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m doing my pack duty, serving the community and our Alpha.”