Logan POV
It was late when Logan headed up to bed. He opened the door quietly in case Emma was sleeping. He didn't want to wake her. He closed the door softly behind him. The television was still on, Emma was snoring. He had found her like this almost every night. He went to the bathroom and pulled of his clothes. He took a quick shower and grabbed the towel and dried off. He hung the towel up and walked into the bedroom, and all his glory just hanging out.
Too bad doc said that those activities were still off limits for now. He grabbed a pair of shorts from the dresser and slipped them on. He went over to the bar and grabbed a glass and poured some whiskey into it. He took a drink as he walked over to the bed then sat the glass down on the bedside table. He pulled back the blankets and crawled in bed.
Emma groaned and pressed herself closer to him. He put his arms around her and pulled her closer, he buried his face in her hair. He loved the way she smelled, the citrus and rain. He brushed her hair back out of her face. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her color was finally back in her face and she looked healthier. Since she hasn't shifted yet, her body was taking longer to heal. Once she shifts, her healing will be just as fast as his.
He kissed her eyes, then her nose, her cheeks, then her lips. He felt sparks every time he touched her, it felt like electric radiating through his skin.
"Logan." Emma said sleepily.
"Shh love, go back to sleep." he whispered to her.
"It's kind of difficult to sleep with you poking me in my stomach."
He chuckled. "Hang on."
He reached down and adjusted himself inside he shorts so he wouldn't be poking her. He stroked her hair until he heard her snoring again, then kissed her gently on her lips. Logan rolled over and grabbed the glass of whiskey and drank it all. He pulled Emma on top of him so he could reach her side of the bed to get the television remote. He turned off the tv and then settled her back down on the bed, pressed up against his side.
He was going to have to get her strength up more, soon. It was proving difficult restraining himself while lying beside her night after night. He looked at her and smiled, he would wait as long as he needed to. He was just happy she was here, and he was determined to make sure that this is where she stayed. He closed his eyes, trying to shut down his mind long enough to go to sleep. He felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He needed a better solution for his prisoner, but he wasn't really sure what to do. He was glad his parents would be back tomorrow, his father would know what to do. He turned the television back on and flipped the channels to a movie that seemed half interesting. Now he understands why Emma falls asleep like this every night.
He had just about fell asleep when he felt a mind link try to push through. He opened up the link.
What is it? Even his mind voice sounded sleepy.
Sorry to bother you so late Alpha, but we have a situation at the gate that needs your attention.
Logan groaned, out loud and in his mind.
On my way. He said and cut off the mind link. He slipped his arm from underneath Emma and pulled the blankets up around her and tucked them under her. He grabbed a shirt from the dresser and slipped on a pair of socks and tennis shoes.
He pulled his car up to the gate and got out. Six guards, his beta, and his gamma were all standing around the gate.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
Nathan pointed out of the gate toward the tree line. "Look over there."
Logan looked to where Nathan was pointing. There was a stick stuck down in the ground, on top of the stick was the head of a wolf. Logan growled.
"Has anyone been out there to check it out yet?" he asked.
"No, we were waiting on you to get here." Lane said.
"You four come with me." Logan said pointing at four of the gate guards. "Nathan, Lane you stay back with the other two guards and keep an eye out for any movement along the tree line that doesn't belong to us."
"Yes, Alpha." They said in unison. Neither one of them wanted their Alpha to go out there without them, but they had better eyes than the guards and they could pick up any movement faster than they could.
One of the gate guards went into the guard building and hit the button to open the gate.
"Alpha, do you want me to close the gate behind you?" the guard asked.
"No, leave it open, but keep it blocked in case anyone tries to get past." Logan said.
Logan walked past the gates, the four guards following him. He got to the tree line where the wolf's head was. Logan sniffed the around trying to catch a scent. Whoever put the head there was able to mask their scent well because he couldn't catch anything. He looked around on the ground so see if there were any tracks, still nothing. There was also no blood on the ground, which means this wolf had been dead for a while before its head was put here.
Logan pulled the stick up out of the ground and walked back towards the gate. Once he reached the gate he stopped. Nathan and Lane had tensed up. Logan spun around.
"What do you see?" He asked them.
"I thought I saw eyes watching us." Nathan said.
"Me too. But they disappeared almost as soon as I saw them." Lane said.
"Everyone get inside and close the gates." Logan said and he turned around and got back inside the gates.
The gates started to close just as soon as he was inside. Logan walked into the guard building and turned on the flood lights and lit up the tree line.
"Keep the lights on for tonight, and have four guards stationed instead of two." he told Paul, who was head of the night's guards.
"Yes, Alpha." Paul replied.
Logan sat the stick, still with the wolf's head on top of it, down on the table. He pulled the head off and sat it down on the table. They knew it was just a regular wolf's head, if it had been a werewolf, the body, including the head, would have shifted back after it was dead.
"Why would someone cut off a normal wolf's head and put it on a spike outside our gates?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know, but I think it's supposed to be some kind of message." Logan answered.
"What message?" Lane asked.
"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling it has to do with our new prisoner." Logan said.
He picked up the pike and the head and handed it to Paul.
"Get rid of this please." Logan turned to all of the guards. He didn't like to use his Alpha command on his pack, and he rarely has to. Every wolf in his pack would lay down their lives for each other. But this time, he felt it was necessary. He wanted this to go no further than them for now, even though he knows that none of them would say anything on purpose, sometimes slip ups happen. His command would prevent this from happening.
He lets his Alpha command slip out and into his voice.
"What happened her tonight is to go no further than us. At least for now, until we can figure out what is going on. I do not want to cause a panic."
"Yes, Alpha." They all said in unison.
Logan pulls his command back. "I'm sorry to use my command, but this is important."
"Don't worry Logan, we know." Nathan said.
"Should we let Elder Michael know about this?" Lane asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to call him in the morning. He is going to need to talk to the other pack elders as well." he told them.
"Has any of the other packs been attacked?" Lane asked.
"Michael talked to the other Elders and he told me that nobody else has been attacked yet."
"Could they be targeting just our pack?" this time it was Paul that asked.
"Alpha David was here today and he looked at the prisoner to see if he might recognize him, but he didn't. He thinks that this guy and is pack isn't from any of our state's packs. He believes that this pack is from another state, so anything is possible at this point. Although I don't see why another pack would want to attack us, especially one from another state." Logan told them.
"Could be a power play." Nathan said. "If they want to expand their territory into another state, why not try to take over that state's biggest pack. One sure way to gain power."
"If they feel confident enough to try to take over our pack, then that must mean they feel they have the numbers to do so." Lane said.
"Like I said, anything is possible at this point. We just need to be ready for anything." Logan said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. It was 2:30 am.
Logan sighed. "Go home, get some rest. We will discuss this more tomorrow."
"Yes, Alpha." they all said.
"Paul, what time does the next shift take over?" Logan asked him.
"5 am, Alpha." Paul replied.
Logan nodded his head. "I will get with Adam and Marcus in the morning and make sure we have three guards during the day, four at night. If you need some of the day guards to help with night guard, let me know and I will have some transferred. I don't want anyone wearing themselves out and being exhausted."
"Thank you, Alpha." Paul said.
"Just make sure that is disposed of before the next shift takes over, and no one is to be outside of the gates at night, and for the time being, keep the flood lights on at night." Logan told him.
Paul bowed his head and left. Logan got into his car and headed home, all he wanted to do now was crawl back in bed with his mate and snuggle up with her. And that was exactly what he was going to do. He walked in the front door and went upstairs and into their bedroom. The television was still on and he still had a little bit of whiskey left in his glass. He picked it up and drank what was left and poured some more, filling the glass three quarters of the way full this time.
He drank half of it in one swallow, letting the whiskey warm his body and relax his tense muscles. He drank the rest of the whiskey in one more drink and put the glass down on the bar. He walked over to the bed and crawled back in bed beside Emma. He pulled her close to him and buried his face in her neck. He let her scent wash over him and relax him and soothe his mind. Before long he was snoring right along with Emma.