The Whipping

Chapter 16

I stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen, not wanting to go anywhere near Heather in case of a repeat of her unusual outburst. She was scrubbing at the dishes angrily, clattering them down on the drying rack with much more strength than necessary.

I glanced to my right to see Logan making his way back into the kitchen, shoving his phone into the pocket of his shorts. "Sorry, my Beta was just updating me on some pack business."

I nodded, avoiding eye contact, not wanting to talk in case it would set of Heather.

"Do you need help with the dishes?" asked Logan, grabbing a tea towel, but Heather snatched it from him, throwing it back on the counter.

"No, Mom is going to help me after Millie's bath," Heather's tone was glum and gloomy, and I could tell Logan was taken aback by his sister's aggravation.

"Okay, well we're gonna head out."

Heather nodded, chewing the inside of her mouth as she focused on scrubbing the plate in front of her.

"Please tell Diane I said thank you for dinner," I said, chewing on my lip.

Heather scoffed, shaking her head whilst she laughed to herself, causing Logan to glance at her in confusion.

We made our way out of the house, stepping down from the porch onto the gravel path.

"She knows we're mates," mumbled Logan, dragging me down the path and away from the house quickly.

"Yeah she does," I replied, running my hands through my dark hair. "What does this mean? Is she going to tell everyone?"

Logan shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose in stress. "I'll make sure she doesn't. I don't want the whole pack to know or things could just start to get messy. I need to figure out what I'm doing first."

"Why don't you just throw a party?" I said cheerfully, smiling.

Logan raised his brows, gazing at me questionably. "What?"

"You know, one of those parties where packs all come together so that people can find their mates. Why don't you just hold one of those and that way, people will still think you're mateless, and nobody needs to get hurt."

In my head, it was a great plan, and I was annoyed at myself for not mentioning it earlier, but Logan shook his head, his mouth set in a firm line.

"Inviting a bunch of packs who despise us onto my territory and giving them the upper hand? Something tells me that wouldn't go too well Eliza. It's way too risky."

"Besides, people would find it suspicious that I stopped the first Whipping and never organised another one. It would be way too obvious that I had found my mate."

I nodded, understanding what he meant. It would just be a perfect chance for them to strike and it was a silly suggestion of mine. I was upset with myself that I couldn't seem to think of a way around all of this, and it seemed that neither could Logan.

"We're running out of time. They could be planning their attack as we speak because I stopped the first Whipping. I've made it so obvious!" growled Logan, his hands balling into fists, causing multiple people around us to turn and look curiously.

"Shh, Logan, let's go over here," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the forest away from the busy village, settling myself on an old log, but Logan refused to sit, pacing up and down on the freshly cut grass.

"We need to do something about this quickly. Eliza, the Whipping is the only way!"

I shook my head, pushing myself up and walking over to Logan, stopping right in front of him. "Logan, that isn't an option."