Page 11 of Baiting the Werewolf

But werewolves?

I stand there frozen, processing the scene in front of me now that my mind is finally back online. Glad it didn’t leave permanently, even though there's a high chance I’ve gone crazy.

WEREWOLF!!

Then we’re surrounded. Thankfully, by humans this time. I think?

Three cars stop one after the other just beyond our little alcove in the trees. A short woman and a large man walk out first.

The woman surveys the scene before walking towards us. The rain stops suddenly, like even the weather was afraid of inconveniencing her. She blows out a frustrated breath, her eyes now trained on Logan. “Maybe I need to start sending you long, comprehensive letters about missions, Logan, because you clearly can’t interpret texts written in plain English anymore.”

Ooh, snap! On one hand, I wanted to jump to Logan’s defense. But I deserve to enjoy a tiny petite woman blow off on a gym bro.

“I had to,” Logan says, his posture defensive. “They were going to attack Wesley.”

That brings the woman’s attention to me, and that’s the moment I understand why Logan had almost regressed to a teenager in her presence. She’s scary. And probably not all human.

“Oooh, who’s the human, Logan?” another woman asks as she joins us.

“Yes, who’s the human, Logan? And why did you bring him into a forest infested with wild killer werewolves?” the scary lady asks.

Alright, that’s enough of that. “I followed him,” I say, squaring my shoulders.

Logan’s focus turns to me. “How?”

I sigh. Time to come clean. “I shared your phone’s location when you weren’t looking.” Wait, I’m not the guilty one here. “That’s not the point! Were you ever going to tell me about this? Twenty-five years, Lo! You didn’t think—”

Logan’s partner interrupts my righteous rant. “Ooooh-kay, I think it’s time to take these werewolves to the slammer before we have to repeat the entire badass fight sequence.”

My gaze stays on Logan, who looks like he’d rather take his chances with these werewolves than answer my questions.

“Yes, haul them to the cars. Nicholas, I assume you parked close by? Go get your car here too,” I hear the scary lady say, all the while I seethe in anger.

I don’t even care what happens to these people. Wait, did Nicholas say slammer? Are these cops? Is Logan a cop? How is he managing that with his corporate job? Wait a second…

“Logan? You can drive back with your friend, right?” the scary lady asks as the other six people start dragging the men into their cars.

When Logan looks at me for confirmation, I nod. “Yeah, we’ll drive back in Wes’s car.”

“Very well. Go home. Talk to him, then bring him back to the headquarters.” She watches him until he nods. Then, with a flurry, they all get into their cars and drive away just as quickly as they came, taking Nicholas with them too.

Just leaving me, Logan, and the reservoir of secrets between us.

As the sound of tires fades away, my anger grows. If I were a cartoon character, smoke would be coming out of my ears. Twenty-five years! That’s how long I’ve known the man standing in front of me, looking all hot without a hint of guilt on his face. In fact, he has the audacity to be frowning right back at me. “What the fuck, Logan?”

Logan’s eyes go wide. “You’re asking me? You drove into the woods all alone at night! Who the fuck does that?”

My jaw drops. “Do you really think you’ll be the one asking questions right now?”

He sighs, his body sagging in defeat. “Why did you follow me, Wes?”

“What else was I supposed to do? I knew you were hiding something from me.”

“Clearly, I wasn’t doing a good enough job,” he says.

I suddenly felt cold all over again. His dismissal hits harder than the betrayal.

He was never going to tell me, and he regrets that I found out. Here I was, believing I meant more to him. Maybe it was all my overactive imagination? Thinking I was his best friend. His family.