Page 65 of Shadow of Fury
Wren’s face was twisted with pain, “He attacked her?”
Logan took a deep breath, knowing this conversation was only about to become more difficult for the both of them. Wren watched him intently, but she didn’t press. She waited until he was ready and let him put the words together in his head before he started to speak again.
“The thing is, he could be charming when he wanted to be. They had that much in common. He paid attention to her, made her feel important. I don’t know much, only what she told me, but he’d apparently convinced her that he cared about her, that he would leave my mom to be with her, that they could rule the pack together. It was a lie of course but Lark was only seventeen and he was a grown man, the Pack Alpha. She was naive and he took advantage of that.”
“Are you saying…” Wren looked horrified, “She was with him willingly?”
“It doesn’t make it right. She was still underage and he abused his position of power but, she wanted him too. She told me that night.”
“She told you that she was having an affair… with your father, on the night she died?”
Logan winced, “It sounds bad when you say it like that, but yes.”
Wren reached for his hand, “I know you didn’t kill her, Logan. I know you now and I know how wrong that assumption was. I just need to know what happened when she told you.”
He breathed out and realized he’d been holding his breath. She’d said before that she realized she had been wrong about him but he couldn't help but worry that she still harbored doubts. Her reassurance meant more to him than she would ever know.
“We got into an argument that night.” he admitted. “I was nineteen. She was only seventeen but we’d been together for long enough… I set up a romantic night for us. Mom and Dad were at some town event. Vivian was having a sleepover with a friend. It was going to be just the two of us and I figured she might finally want to.. Well…”
“Have sex?” Wren tilted her head.
He cleared his throat, “Yeah.”
“You two hadn’t had sex?”
He shook his head and her brows furrowed.
“But she told me stories, about things she’d done, sneaking around, nearly getting caught. You were her boyfriend so I assumed…” Wren looked sick. “It wasn’t you. It was him.”
Logan closed his eyes, the realization still somehow managing to hurt even after all this time, even knowing she hadn’t been his fated mate. She had been his first love. She would always have a place in his heart because of that, even if he had grown to resent her too.
“When I tried to coax her into more than kissing she got all upset and we argued, like I said. Eventually she told me she was in love with someone else. I was devastated. As far as I knew, she was going to turn eighteen and the mate bond would kick in and we’d be together forever. She broke my heart but when I pressed her on who he was she eventually came clean. I realized just how sick the whole thing was when she told me she had only stayed with me so long because it gave her easier access to be around my father.”
Wren had her hand on her mouth again so he rushed on.
“I told her she was delusional if she thought he was going to leave my mom, his fated mate, his Queen, for some teenage girl. I thought I could get through to her, even if I couldn’t win her back, but then she told me she was pregnant.”
“Oh god, no.” Wren swayed slightly and he grabbed her in case she was going to faint. A tear trickled down her cheek. “She was pregnant when she died?”
He nodded.
“What happened then?” she insisted, still crying.
“I walked away. I was so angry, so hurt. I couldn’t stand to look at her. I loved her and she’d been sleeping with my father, and was going to have my father’s baby. A baby that would be my half sibling.” He shook his head, “I grabbed a bottle of vodka out of the fridge on my way out and I just started walking and drinking, trying to make sense of the fact the life I’d planned for myself had just blown up in my face.”
“She didn’t go after you?”
“No. And that was the last time I saw her alive. Standing on the side of the pool, hands on her hips and chin up as if I was the one who had ruined everything.” He scowled. “That was Lark. She could give you the best or the worst day of your life and you never knew which it would be with her.”
“Yeah, I remember that feeling too. Like, if she was in a good mood then her light would shine so bright it would warm you too, but when she had a bad day, she could eviscerate you with nothing but a look and a couple well placed insults designed to cut you down to size.” Wren must have seen him raise his eyebrow because she squeezed his hand, “She was my older sister and I loved her but I wasn’t blind to her faults, not then and not now.”
He squeezed her hand in return, “You sure you want me to keep going? I could stop there.”
“No, I need to know.”
Logan hated that answer but he nodded.
“I remember when I was walking down the driveway that my father was coming up to it in his truck. He stopped, asked me what the hell I was doing. He got all pissy that I’d taken his vodka and I said something stupid, something like, that was nothing compared to what he’d taken from me. He stopped yelling then and I kept walking even when he peeled out towards the house.” he groaned, “Maybe if I’d kept my mouth shut or if I’d gone back right then and there, maybe she’d still be alive.”