Chapter 123

Ella

A thick wall of silence enveloped the room as Logan’s words floated through the air. His voice was stern and slightly raised, as though they had been working at some sort of argument for a while now.

“I’ll keep her safe because I care about her more than anything, and that’s all that matters, Mr. Morgan.”

My eyes widened, my heart pacing a marathon inside my chest. The resonance of his voice—a mixture of sincerity and frustration—latched onto me, sending my head spinning.

“What’s happening?” I whispered to my mother, who was standing there, blocking the way.

She shook her head. “Just men being men, honey,” she whispered back. “Just go back to Daisy’s room. They’ll get over it soon.”

But I wasn’t about to be pushed away now like a child witnessing a parental fight. Especially not when my wolf was pulling me closer to him, urging my legs to steer into the room.

“He does care for you,” my wolf murmured, a note of triumph in her tone. “I told you so, Ella. But you never listen.”

Following my wolf’s urges, I pushed past Moana and into the living room. That was when I saw it: my father and Logan with nothing but a chess table between them.

Their game had come down to just a few pieces left on the board. My father was still sitting, but Logan was standing, towering over him. There was something in his stature that made me wonder just what I had missed.

The emotional whirlpool inside me surged violently, nearly overpowering my self-restraint. But I held on, damming up the feelings that threatened to spill over. “This is just an act,” I said to my wolf, “He was just being questioned, and it got heated. That’s all.”

“And what if it’s not?” Ema growled. “What if he means it, Ella? Would that be so bad?”

I started to respond, but quickly found that I couldn’t. No words would come, and I began to wonder: what if Ema was right, even just a little bit?

Just then, the tension cracked like an egg, shattered by the hearty chuckle of my father. “Look at that,” he exclaimed, staring down at the chessboard. “You’ve put me in checkmate and I didn’t even notice. Ha! That’s a first!”

His mirth filled the room, loosening the atmosphere. A beaming smile spread across his face as he stood up and shook Logan’s hand—firmly, decisively, as if sealing a pact.

And then, just like that, he walked away. The room thawed, the icy atmosphere replaced by the hum of resumed conversations, the clinking of glasses, the sound of soft music and beautiful, beautiful normalcy.

Except nothing felt normal to me anymore.

My father approached me, weaving through the crowd like a man on a mission. “Ella,” he began, his voice low and intimate as if he were letting me in on a secret. “I have a confession: I wasn’t entirely sold on this relationship at first. But seeing you two together...hearing him speak just now—”

He paused, and for a second, I saw a glimmer of vulnerability flash across his stern visage.”I’m happy, Ella. You’ve found yourself a very nice man, and I give your engagement my blessing.”

A tear—a singular, rebellious tear—welled up in my eye, catching the light. Was this happiness? Relief? Or a strange, unexpected blend of both? I didn’t know, and for the first time, I didn’t want to. Because maybe figuring it out would lead to acceptance, something which I wasn’t ready for.

“Erm—Thanks, dad,” I managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper. “Glad to know it took a game of chess to make that decision.”

My father smirked. “It’s always more than just a game of chess, Ella.”

With a final, contemplative look, he nodded and walked away, leaving me there feeling as if the wind had just been knocked out of me.

And there he was—Logan—his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that rivaled anything that I had ever seen before. There was shock written all over his face, his gaze never wavering. All of a sudden, I felt as though I was adrift in a sea of emotions that I didn’t fully understand. Maybe I didn’t want to understand.

Logan’s shoulders seemed to relax, and he began making his way over to me, a soft smile on his face that made my heart flutter in ways that I didn’t want to admit.

“Ella, how—”

No, not now. Not here.

“Follow me,” I snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the hallway.

The chatter of the party dimmed as the door closed behind us, as if we had just slipped into an entirely different world of our own.

“What just happened in there?” I hissed, defensive for reasons I didn’t understand. “How did you manage to shift from a game of chess with my father to… whatever that was?”

He looked at m as though his eyes were searching for some sort of crack in my facade. “I had nothing to do with it, trust me,” he said, smirking slightly. “Your dad is quite the interrogator, though, I’ll give him that. I’ll admit it got a bit heated at the end.”

“And?” I prodded, impatient for clarity.

Logan took a deep breath, almost as though he was steeling himself for something. “And I told him the truth. That I care about you, Ella. That I’d do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

My heart clenched, like a fist closing around my emotions. This was the vulnerable Logan, the one who said things that resonated deep in my bones. But I couldn’t let that sway me.

“Wow, you’re an even better actor than I thought,” I shot back with a chuckle, letting the words fall sharp and caustic, hoping they’d sever whatever invisible threads were pulling me toward him.

Logan’s face flushed, a tinge of red spreading across his cheeks. “Sure, Ella. If you want to believe that, go ahead.”

At that moment, something surged within me. My wolf, always lurking in the background, lunged forward with a primal urge that shook me to my core. She wanted me to kiss him here in the hallway, but I couldn’t let that happen.

Why? I didn’t know. I just knew that I couldn’t do it. I had to look away, pressing my eyes shut to block out the sight of him, the smell of him, the gravitational pull that yearned to break my resolve.

“Don’t make me,” I growled to her in my mind, a warning.

“Why not?”

“Because—”

“Are you okay, Ella?” Logan’s voice broke through, laced with genuine concern, and it took everything within me not to crumble right there.

“I’m fine,” I lied, my voice flat and robotic, stripped of emotion for reasons that were becoming thinner and thinner in logic.

Logan stared at me for a moment with an almost amused look on his face before he surveyed the hallway, his eyes wandering as if looking for something. “So… Where was your room growing up?”

I blinked at the abrupt change of topic. “Down the hallway, third door on the right. Why?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

He met my eyes, and for a moment, I glimpsed the playfulness that always somehow managed to captivate me, no matter how much I tried to push it away. “I showed you my childhood playroom, didn’t I? I think it’s only fair that I get to see where you grew up.”

I sighed, considering. But Logan was right; it was fair. And right now, I didn’t want to return to the party, where we would have to put on the charade of our fake relationship again.

“Alright,” I said. “Follow me.”