Page 74 of Poet & Protector

As he approached, I couldn’t stop myself from slowly retreating until my back hit the row of lockers. I was a Guardian, trained to fight and kill. Little frightened me.

Logan Bane scared the hell out of me.

He had for years; a threat I could sense lurking in the background. The kind of danger you glimpse in your peripheral vision but can’t get a bead on until it’s too late. Today marked the first time he’d approached me directly. I couldn’t see it as anything other than an omen of doom.

“Logan.” I kept my expression neutral. At least I hoped I did. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta run or I’ll be late for class.”

“Don’t worry.” Logan leaned against a locker, deigning to take off his sunglasses and make eye contact. Not his usual MO.

His irises were a deep amber that verged on red, which made them incredibly striking but also unsettling. I wondered if that was the reason he hid them behind sunglasses so often.

“If you think it’s going to be a problem,” he added. “I’ll write you a note.”

I laughed, assuming it was a joke, but Logan’s steady gaze and slow smile made me realize he meant exactly what he’d said. That also meant he expected me to stay.

“Okay,” I said, shifting my weight as my nerves started to get the better of me.

I didn’t like anything about this. Logan shouldn’t be talking to me. I was a Nightshade, not a Bane. His father’s authority didn’t extend to my pack. That gave strong odds that whatever Logan wanted had nothing to do with pack business, which made me very, very uneasy.

While I wished it were otherwise, my discomfort was rooted in more than simple Keeper and Guardian hierarchies. Wolves like me attended the Mountain School alongside our masters’ children, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The elementary, middle, and high schools occupied different buildings across the school’s sprawling grounds.

While we were in the same classes, boundaries remained in place to keep our communities distinct. Human students were all boarders, as were some of the Keepers, though of course the latter lived in far more luxurious accommodations. We wolves lived in the Nightshade and Bane compounds near our wilderness patrol routes and commuted to class. On campus, our groups didn’t mix beyond sharing physical spaces.

Logan Bane was a year ahead of me in school, which meant we weren’t in the same classes. Yet, somehow, he’d noticed me. I don’t know when it started, but eventually I noticed him noticing me, and from the moment I became aware of his interest a creeping dread nestled deep within me, as if I knew it was only a matter of time before a monster sprang from its lair to devour me whole.

When I was younger I couldn’t grasp the reason behind his attention, but as I grew up it became easy to guess why I caught him watching me so often. Since we’d started high school it only felt like a matter of time before he acted on whatever he was feeling. Though I’d tried to pretend for years it wasn’t true, I’d known this day would arrive from the first moment I locked eyes with him and sensed…something.

Logan’s gaze traveled over me, slowly. Too slowly. His smile made gooseflesh erupt up and down my arms.

“My friends and I couldn’t help but notice there was a significant alteration of the relationship between the Nightshade and Bane packs in the cafeteria today,” he remarked.

“Calla thought we should get used to each other,” I told him, forcing a pleasant tone. “With the union coming up and all. Eating lunch together was a first step.”

It was an honest answer that didn’t give too much away. I wasn’t going to add anything about how much the Keepers’ sudden scrutiny of our alphas’ lives had prompted the change. Logan didn’t need any more information than absolutely necessary. I would always protect my pack as much as I could.

“And I applaud that decision,” he replied. “With the union so near, it’s necessary to let old animosities fall away. It’s a new dawn for all of us with many changes on the horizon. I, for one, am looking forward to a promising future that begins with the new pack.”

I ground my teeth, wondering what the most tactical response would be to this odd pontification. I settled on a nod.

“My father and I hope to encourage these new bonds,” Logan told me. “Did Renier extend our invitation to the party at Eden on Friday to your pack? He was meant to.”

Tensing slightly, I nodded again, hoping the action wasn’t too stilted.

When Calla told us Ren had asked our pack to join them at Eden, she hadn’t said anything about the Keepers prompting the invite. I wondered if she knew…or if Ren was at all aware a secondary agenda existed. Had Efron planted a seed in the hopes it would bear particular fruit?

That thought had me questioning whether the Nightshades should go to Eden after all. I’d been looking forward to it. Efron Bane’s club was the most exclusive venue in Vail, and promised a scintillating night out, especially with the bonus of Nev being there. The new, if forced, friendliness between our packs gave me an excuse to be close to my boyfriend. I was more than happy to take advantage of the cover the upcoming union offered us. Logan’s revelation complicated all that.

“I’m delighted to hear it,” he said in response to my nod.

He stepped closer to me and my pulse tripped over itself. I didn’t want him close. It was like being cornered by a dragon.

“If Ren hadn’t invited you, I would have done it myself,” he told me. “Your pack is welcome in Eden or any other venue my father owns. By extension those spaces fall under my purview and I want you there.”

“Oh.” My instincts screamed at me to run, but I was trapped in this spot until Logan said otherwise.

He laughed. “Oh? That’s all you have to say?”

This was awful. I had no idea how to handle it. “Um…thank you?”