Logan righted his overturned desk and looked around his office. It was in shambles, what with all the books from the overturned bookcase and everything that he’d had on top of the desk when he’d sent it flying. It was going to take a while to clean up the mess, and he gave a bitter laugh. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

There was a knock on the door, and he figured that someone had heard the crashing that had gone on in here hours ago and were finally coming to investigate. They probably thought he’d calmed down enough for it to be safe for whoever to come in.

“Fuck off.”

He wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, but whoever was on the other side of the door didn’t appear to care. It opened and Mason walked in. He stood stock still for a moment as his eyes swept around the office. He shoved a couple of books aside with his foot and closed the door.

“What the hell happened in here?”

“Nothing.” Logan turned away to set the bookcase back in it’s place. He didn’t want to talk about this, he didn’t want Mason to know that he’d failed with Faith. “Tell me what you want and get the hell out.”

“I talked to the boys who were fighting with Connor and found out what it was about. I came here to give you a heads up but from the looks of things you’ve already talked to Faith and it didn’t go well.”

Logan threw aside the book he’d been in the process of putting back on the shelf and turned toward his best friend. Mason had the worst fucking sense of timing, coming here to warn him after the shit had hit the fan.

“Why the fuck didn’t you call me when he got in the fight? He’s my son and I should have been the first person you called.” If Mason had called him, he could have done damage control, but now of course it was too late. He raked his hand through his hair. It didn’t matter, Faith was gone and it was for the best. Now he could focus all his attention on what he needed to do for the pack. “You know what? Forget it. As you can see, Faith and I are done so you can go now.”

“You can’t possibly be trying to put this whole mess on me? I’m not the one who hooked up with one woman while intending to commit to another.”

“It wasn’t like that and you know it.” Logan turned on him and curled his fingers in toward his palm. There was still a lot of anger inside, most of it directed at himself, but if Mason didn’t get out of here he was soon going to find himself on the receiving end. Mason’s eyes went down to Logan’s fists and his lip curled as he took a step forward.

“You want to go? Do you think that’s going to solve your problem? If you want to fight, I’ll fight you and you might win. But I guarantee you that it’ll be a while before you can go after your woman once I get my licks in.”

Logan stared at Mason and while it would be satisfying to get out some of his frustrations with physical violence, it wouldn’t help what was wrong inside him. He uncurled his fists and turned away. “I’m not going after her.”

“Say again? Your woman, the one who it’s plain to anyone with eyes that you’re in love with, walked away from you and you are not going after her.”

“That’s right. What would be the point? Me and a human, it wouldn’t work. If it hadn’t happened now, it would have happened eventually. I would have spent all my time waiting for her to walk out the door and she would have spent all her time looking for the opportunity.”

Despite her saying that she forgave him for walking out on her that night thirteen years ago, she’d obviously been waiting for the first opportunity to bail. She might have been willing to stay here past the summer, but they were both fooling themselves. Something would have happened eventually and it would have been all over.

“You stupid son of a bitch.”

Logan spun around to face Mason. Didn’t this bastard realize how close he was to snapping? He was the stupid one if he thought he could talk to him like that and emerge from this office unscathed.

“Are you looking to get your ass kicked? You think that’s any way to talk to your alpha?”

“I’m not talking to my alpha right now. I’m talking to my cousin and best friend. And right now you sound like a stupid son of a bitch.” Mason’s eyes narrowed for a second. “Actually you sound just like your dad.”

“You’re crazy. Look, I’m done talking about this, so get the fuck out of my office. And that is your alpha talking.” Mason crossed his arms in front of his wide chest and short of physically pushing him out the door, there was no way Logan was going to get him out until he’d had his say. “Fine. You got something to say, say it.”

“You need her. You fucking love her.” Logan shook his head. He really didn’t want to hear all this. “Don’t deny it.”

“Okay, so what. I love her. Love isn’t all rainbows and fairy dust that will make everything work out fine. You of all people should know that.” It was a low blow and Logan regretted it when he saw Mason’s face pale and his eyes narrow.

“We aren’t talking about me. I know your mom leaving had to hurt, but you gotta let it go. I think your mom going had nothing to do with her being a human mated to a werewolf and everything to do with your dad being the selfish, self absorbed bastard that he is. You know your dad better than anyone. Do you honestly think that Mike Sawyer is an easy man to love?”

Logan’s mouth tightened. “My mom and dad have nothing to do with Faith and me. In case you missed the memo, she walked out on me.”

“Of course she did. You fucking lied to her, man. Did you think you could hide a secret as big as the one you were sitting on in a town like this?” Mason sighed and unfolded his arms from over his chest. He scrubbed his hand over his face. “You know what I think? I think a tiny part of you, the one that believes every bit of poison your father has dripped into your ear over the years, expected this to happen. That’s why you were hedging your bets. But it’s time to man up.”

Logan looked down at the floor, knowing that Mason was right. He had been hedging his bets by telling himself that he’d go ahead with mating with Grace even after the first time he slept with Faith. Years of hearing life according to Mike Sawyer must have stuck with him and deep down he’d believe that there as no way things could work between him and Faith. He’d been lying to himself all summer, telling himself that what was between him and Faith was just about sex, was just a fling. Faith may have walked out on him but he had been the one to push her out the door.

“I hurt her, Mason. How am I supposed to come back from that? How am I supposed to get her to trust me after all this?” Logan raked his hands through his hair. Just because he wanted to make things work with her didn’t mean that she wanted to make things work with him.

“I have no idea but I do know love isn’t easy. I know what it’s like to love someone to the very bottom of your soul and have it go to shit. And I’m telling you that if you let her go now you’re going to be walking around with a hole inside you for the rest of your life.” Mason looked away and Logan knew he was thinking about Grace. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell him that he needed to take his own advice but that was something Mason needed to figure out for himself. “If you let her go I want you to take a good look at your father, because that is what you will become without her. You are ten times the man, ten times the father that Mike Sawyer ever was. So man up and don’t be him. Connor deserves to have a family, Faith deserves to have a family and so do you.”

Logan cleared his throat. Faith and Connor were his family, and he would fight to get them back. He would go to her on his knees if he had to, he would do whatever it took to get his family back.

“Thanks, man.” Logan held his hand out and Mason gripped it tight. Logan gave a tug and hugged his cousin, with both of them clapping each other on the back before stepping apart. “You know if the boxing thing doesn’t work out you should set yourself up as a marriage counselor.”

Mason shook his head with a laugh but it was enough to ease the tension between them. He turned toward the door and paused with his hand over the knob.

“Do you hear that?” Mason cocked his head as if he was trying to listen for something, and Logan stood still for a moment.

The normal hum of voices and music coming from the bar on a Saturday night was conspicuously absent. Things had been jumping enough for Logan to hear it when he’d been arguing with Mason, but it was now like someone had hit a mute button.

“All I hear is a whole lot of nothing.” Logan’s body hardened with tension. It took a lot to make the bar silent like that, and whatever was happening out there couldn’t be good. 

* * *

Faith rushed over to where Connor lay sleeping, oblivious to the danger he was in. She shook him, and when he made a startled noise, she put a gentle hand over his mouth and raised a finger up to her lips.

“Connor, baby, you and Mommy need to get out of here now. I don’t want you to be scared but there are some bad men outside.” She eased her hand away from his mouth as his eyes widened. “I need you to be a brave boy. Can you do that for me?”

In the dim light her son swallowed hard and nodded his head. “What are we going to do?”

Connor jumped and made a startled noise when a crashing sound came to them as Logan’s father and his companion smashed open another door. She was pretty sure their intent was to terrify her, and make her bolt out the front door of their room. She was frightened, more than she’d ever been in her life, but she had to be strong. Connor was trembling in the bed, and she had to be strong for him. The most important thing was getting him out of there, and she thought she had a way for him to do that.

“We’re going to go in the bathroom. There is a window in there. We can’t go out the front door, they’ll see us.” Faith took Connor’s hand as he scrambled out of the bed, and she was grateful that he saw the necessity of moving quickly.

They got in the bathroom, and she shut the door, turning the flimsy lock. It wouldn’t keep the men after her at bay but might buy her a second or two to get her son out of danger.

She flipped on the overhead light and her eyes darted to Connor’s face. He was as white as parchment and she could clearly see the terror in his eyes. He took a deep breath and gave her a trembling smile. “What do you need me to do, Mom?”

She wanted to hug him and tell him how much she loved him. He was being so brave and there was so much of his father in the determined look that came over his face that it made her ache inside. But there wasn’t time for that, and she didn’t want to give Connor the impression that he was not going to see her again.

“I want you to go out the window and I want you to run. I want you to go to the bar and get your dad. If he’s not there, someone will know how to find him.”

His eyes darted to the window and then back to her. “But what about you? Aren’t you coming?”

“I won’t fit through the window. You need to go. You need to be the brave boy I know you are and get your dad.” What she didn’t add was that even if she could have fit through the window, she would not have gone through it. Right now she had no idea what these men’s intentions were, and her son was her most important consideration. Connor needed to get away, and if they both went out the window there was a greater chance that the men would catch them trying to flee the motel. She was certain that she was the true target of all this and they wouldn’t look too hard for Connor if he wasn’t in the room with her.

Connor shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. Dad says that being a man means you have to protect the people you love.”

“I know, honey. And by going out the window you are protecting me. I know you’re brave and I know you’re strong, but there are two full grown werewolves out there and we need your dad. You have to go to him.” They didn’t have time to argue about this anymore. She heard the door in the room next door come crashing in and they were out of time.

She went to the window and slid the glass pane over. The screen popped out easily, and she turned to Connor. He shrugged his shoulders back in the way she’d seen Logan do a hundred times and it was like a knife blade in her heart. She would do whatever she could to stay alive for both of them, but if the worst did happen, at least her son would be safe.

Faith bent her knees and cupped her hands together. Connor came forward and put his sneaker covered foot on her palms. He grasped the edge of the window and pulled himself up as she pushed him upward. It was a tight fit but he managed to wriggle through the window and land on the other side.

She looked through the open window as her son got up off the ground and dusted himself off. He gave her a thumbs up to show her he was unhurt, and relief poured through her. Connor was safe now.

Crash!

Faith whipped her head around as she heard the door to her room come smashing open. She quickly turned back to the open bathroom window.

“Run Connor.”

Thankfully he didn't need to be told twice, and he took off into the wooded area behind the hotel. Once she could no longer see him she closed the bathroom window and turned to face the door. She hugged her arms over her belly and waited.

The door to the bathroom crashed open and bounced against the wall. Logan’s father loomed in the doorway, looking older and meaner than the last time she’d seen him.

“There you are, you little bitch.” He came forward and grabbed her by the arm. His hold was so tight that she knew if she made it through this she was going to have a bruise. If that was all she was going to get out of this she would count herself lucky.

“How did you know I was here?”

“There are no secrets in this town. You were seen leaving my son’s office and it didn’t take much to put together that you finally came to your senses and left him.”

“Why are you doing this then? I left Logan, what more do you want?” She stumbled forward when he gave her a yank. The smell of alcohol coming off him made her eyes burn. Obviously she needed to be careful not to struggle since who knew what he was capable of in the state he was in. She needed to give Connor enough time to get away. Her son was all that mattered, and she did her best to cooperate with them so they would not have a chance to notice that her son was not there.

“It’s nothing personal. Let’s just call it a guarantee that you aren’t going to go running back to him. My son needs to do his duty to his pack and can’t with you shaking your tail in front of him. If you cooperate like a good girl I’ll let you go once he does what needs to be done.” He dragged her forward through the motel room. She knew that despite his words he would not let her go. Her only hope was that Logan would find her before he had a chance to kill her. She stumbled behind him as his companion came in from the parking lot.

“I can’t find the boy.”

Relief swept through Faith. Connor had gotten away, at least for now.

“Where’s your whelp, bitch?” Logan’s father gave her a shake that rattled her teeth.

“He wasn’t with me. I left him with a friend so that he can be with his father.” Faith took a deep breath and forced a cold look on her face. She was certain that she knew this man’s opinion of her and from what little Logan had told her about his history, he would believe a human woman would walk away from her child. “Knowing Logan was going to mate with that wolf bitch was the last straw. I’m sick of all this werewolf business, and don’t want to have anything to do with it. Logan can keep his son. I’m done with it all.”

She had to be careful not to lay it on too thick, and as the man holding her gave her a narrow eyed stare, she thought perhaps she wasn’t as good an actress as she hoped. He yanked her forward and pulled her out of the motel room.

“What do you want me to do?” The greasy young wolf looked at Logan’s father and Faith held her breath. She was pretty sure that if they looked hard enough they’d find evidence of Connor and this whole game would be over.

“Forget about the boy. He’s not our concern. Let’s just get her out of here.” He dragged Faith out to the decrepit old pick up truck that had a cap over the box. Logan’s father lowered the tailgate, and bound her legs and feet together with rope he had sitting in there. Once she was tied, she was shoved inside and the tow men got in the front of the truck and started the engine.

She scooted into a sitting position as best she could as the grooved metal of the truck box bit into her flesh. For all Logan’s father’s talk about letting her go once his son had bound himself to Grace, she knew that wherever they were taking her chances were good that she wasn’t coming back. She was certain that Logan’s father intended to make it look like she’d left town, and he couldn’t take the chance that she’d come back. She closed her eyes and offered up a fervent prayer that he didn’t kill her as soon as they got to where they were going.

She thought about the baby she knew was growing inside her. She had to hope that she would get out of this, but she didn’t know if she could do it on her own.

“It’s going to be okay, baby.” She was careful to keep her voice as quiet as possible as she tried to comfort herself by talking to her unborn baby. “Your dad will come for us.”