Emma’s POV
Every photo that was missing from our living room was in the attic. All the picture frames were neatly placed in a box, while all the pictures were put in an album.
“What the hell?” I mumbled as I took the album off the shelf. “Why did he put them here?”
I started looking through the album, making sure that every picture was there.
Why did he do it? When did he even have time to do it?
‘Eliza?’ I called my wolf.
Maybe she knew something. Maybe she could talk to Asher and ask him what the hell was going on with Andrew.
She wasn’t responding, though. I couldn’t even feel her.
‘Eliza?’ I tried again, hoping that she would answer me.
She didn’t, though. She was completely silent. I sighed and closed my eyes. She was so hurt by everything that happened that she retreated and refused to talk to me.
‘I am sorry, Eliza,’ I said softly. ‘I will try to make it better. I promise.’
I heard a loud howl coming from the forest. It sounded like a wolf was injured. The howl was so familiar and it terrified me. My breath got caught in my throat and my entire body froze.
Was it Asher?!
I forced my legs to move. I ran to the window, trying to look outside, but it was so dark that all I saw was my terrified face. I tried to open the window so I could get out and help him, but it was locked.
What the…
“Asher?!” I screamed as I slammed my hand against the window.
Why the hell did Andrew lock every fucking window in the house?!
‘Eliza?!’ I screamed as I turned around to leave and go outside to look for him. ‘I know that you are angry, but you need to listen to me! Asher is hurt! You need to talk to him! He needs to tell you where he is so I can go help him!’
I dropped the album I was holding and some of the pictures fell out, scattering under my feet. I didn’t care about it. I needed to find Asher. I needed to help him.
But before I could even move away from the window, the attic door opened and Logan walked inside.
“Logan!” I exclaimed, rushing toward him. “Asher is howling outside! He is hurt! We need to go help him!”
Logan grabbed my shoulders and shook his head.
“That’s not Asher, Emma,” he said calmly. “Andrew is at the packhouse. He is okay.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. A wave of confusion washed over me. The howl was so familiar and I felt like I knew that wolf. No, I was sure that I knew that wolf. I was sure it was Asher.
But if Andrew was in the packhouse, why did the howling sound so familiar then? Who was out there?
Well, it didn’t really matter. Someone was hurt and I needed to go help them.
“Well, it doesn’t matter!” I exclaimed. “A wolf is hurt! We need to go help him!”
Logan squeezed my shoulders tighter, keeping me in place.
“Patrol will take care of it,” he said coldly. “You and I need to talk.”
My eyes widened. Was he serious?! That was his pack member out there!
“Are you kidding me?!” I screamed at him. “That is someone from our pack! Your pack, Logan! They need help! We can’t just leave them!”
What the hell was going on with Logan and my brother today? This wasn’t them. Logan would never turn his back on anyone who needed help, especially not his pack members.
“I handled it, Emma,” he said, tightening his jaw. “A patrol member is looking into it.”
I scoffed and shook my head.
“I want to go help,” I said as I tried to get away from him.
He only grabbed me tighter. I started thrashing in his arms.
“Let go!” I yelled at him, but it only made him hold me even tighter.
“Stop it, Emma!” he exclaimed. “Someone is taking care of it. You can’t leave.”
I stopped thrashing and narrowed my eyes at him. I was angry and confused. This wasn’t Logan. This was someone else. Logan I knew would never do this.
What the hell was going on? Was I dreaming?
“You and I need to talk,” Logan said sternly. “I need to reject you and you need to accept it.”
I felt my body tense up. My heart started racing impossibly fast. He was really going to do it, wasn’t he?
“Why, Logan?” I asked, my voice breaking. “Why?”
He sighed and loosened his hold on me. He kept holding me, though. He probably thought that I would try to run again. He wasn’t wrong, though. I really, really wanted to run.
“You are not made to be a Luna, Emma,” he said. “You are not strong enough. You are too young. You are not a mate I would choose for myself.”
Every word that came out of his mouth felt like I was being sliced in half. Nothing ever hurt as much as hearing him say those words did.
“I am sorry, Emma, but that is the truth,” he said. “You won’t be my mate. You won’t be my Luna.”
I couldn’t even look at him anymore. I bent my head and tried to stop my heart from breaking and shattering into a million pieces.
Logan kept talking, but I stopped listening. I didn’t want to listen to him anymore.
I was trying to remember how to breathe when my eyes fell on a picture I had never seen before. It was lying under my feet and it must have fallen out of the album.
It was a picture of Logan, me, and two little children. We were older in the picture. We were happy in the picture. The kids looked so much like us. We looked like a family.
I shut my eyes tightly. I must have imagined it. My mind had just been playing games with me, hadn’t it?
I opened my eyes slowly, expecting to see nothing but dirty, old floorboards. My breath got caught in my throat when I saw that the picture was still there.
It meant something! I had to mean something!
“Logan…,” I called him quietly, but he interrupted me.
“I, Logan Carter, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reject you, Emma Parker of the Crescent Moon Pack,” he said and my whole world came crashing down.
I looked up at him in horror. Pain exploded in my body and I fell to my knees.
I couldn’t help but scream in pain.
My vision got blurry and my lungs were burning with the lack of air. I couldn’t feel my body and I wasn’t even sure if my heart was beating anymore.
“No…,” I mumbled quietly as my head hit the floor.
