Page 143 of Bonds of Pain
I open my mouth to take Logan’s side, to trust him like I always have. But then I really look at his expression, at the wayhis golden eyes won’t quite meet mine. At the defensive set of his shoulders, the way he keeps glancing back down the corridor like he’s expecting pursuit.
Logan is lying.
The realization feels like a sickness in my gut. After years of following him without question, I can finally see the deception written across his features. The subtle tells I’ve been blind to, the careful omissions that suddenly seem obvious.
“What aren’t you telling us?” I ask.
Logan’s eyes snap to mine, genuine surprise flickering across his face. “Ares?—“
“No,” I cut him off, the word tasting like poison in my mouth. “Poe’s right. You’re lying to us. Even now, with whatever shit is going down, you’re still not telling us everything.”
Something dark crosses Logan’s expression—not anger, but something closer to hurt. The blood streaking his face makes him look like a stranger, a violent apparition wearing my pack leader’s face.
“Fine,” he says, voice dropping to that dangerous register I know means he’s done pretending. “You want the truth? My father knows I killed Ander. He’s always known. And he doesn’t give a shit because he thought Ander was weak.”
The confession hangs in the air between us like a blade. I feel my world tilt, everything I thought I understood shifting beneath my feet.
“The arrests, the investigation—it’s all theater,” Logan continues, his voice growing harder with each word. “A show for the masses while he dismantles the pack system piece by piece.”
“But that’s not all you’re hiding, is it?” Poe asks dangerously.
Logan’s mouth works silently for a moment, and I see the exact instant he realizes there’s no point in continuing the charade. His shoulders drop slightly, the fight going out of him as he leans against the cell doorframe.
“Cillian is an Omega,” he says quietly, the words falling like stones into still water. “He’s been hiding his designation since before he joined the palace guard. I’ve been helping him maintain the deception.”
The confession expands between us like poisoned air. Cillian—our beta, our steady second-in-command—is an Omega. Everything I thought I knew about our pack structure, about the dynamics between us, crumbles in an instant.
“What?” I breathe, barely able to process what I’m hearing.
“I bonded with him by accident,” Logan continues, his voice growing more strained with each word. “After I killed Ander. I was in a rage-fueled rut, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. The bond formed before I realized what was happening.”
Poe’s face has gone completely still, that mask of indifference he wears when he’s processing something that cuts deep. But I can see the hurt beneath it, the betrayal that mirrors my own confusion.
“How long ago?” Poe asks, his voice deadly quiet.
“Over a year,” Logan admits, not meeting either of our eyes.
The silence stretches between us, heavy with implications. A year. An entire fucking year of secrets, of lies, of watching Logan interact with Cillian while knowing nothing about their true relationship.
“Why?” The word tears from my throat, raw with emotion I can’t contain. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Logan’s eyes flash with anger, defensive and cornered. “This is exactly why. Look at your reactions right now. You think you could have looked at him the same way, treated him with the same respect?”
“We’re pack,” I insist, though the words feel hollow now. “We don’t keep secrets from each other. That’s the whole fucking point.”
“Is it?” Logan challenges. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like the pack mentality is exactly what would have gotten Cillian killed. One slip, one moment of Alpha instinct overriding common sense, and his secret would be out. Game over.”
Poe stands slowly, his movements deliberate and controlled. “You made that decision for us. You decided we couldn’t be trusted.”
“I decided to protect him,” Logan snaps. “Just like I protected Maya by bonding her through Cillian instead of running the risk that we would lose her entirely. I tried to save them both, just like I’m doing now. If you two fucks would just fall in line and let me.”
The mention of Maya sends a fresh wave of panic through me. If Logan is here, bloodied and desperate, where is she?
“Where is Maya?” I demand, lurching to my feet. “And where’s Cillian?”
Logan glares back at me. “They’ve been taken. The Inquisitor has them both. Doing whatever the hell he wants while you two waste time.”
“You let them get taken?” Poe’s voice is deadly quiet, more dangerous than I’ve ever heard it.
