I couldn't seem to get my head around the fact that someone would go to such lengths to gain more power. Phillips needed to be stopped. I was sure that if he did take over my pack he wouldn't stop there, and it was because of this that I called Alpha Davidson to discuss what he thought of the situation. He was due in tomorrow morning.

Realizing that there wasn't much more, I could do until I talked with Davidson, I decided to retire to my room. Flopping down on my bed, I reveled in the silence of my own personal shelter. As much as I knew I should change out of my clothes and take a shower, I just didn't have the will or the energy to do so.

Laying in my bed fully dress, shoes still on my feet, I could feel myself slowly doze off. As my eyelids began to sag, I found my thoughts drifting to Izzy. I wondered what she was doing if she was ok. It didn't take long for sleep to overcome me.

'Logan!' she screamed. I ran as fast as my four legs could carry me, pushing my body to the brink. My muscles burned, begging for a reprieve, but I couldn't slow down. I had to get to her; I just had to. The forest around me seemed to be thickening, dodging trees became more difficult. As I darted around one tree, another suddenly appeared. It wouldn't deter me, though, I would get to her in time. I had to.

Suddenly I reached an all too familiar clearing. My eyes scanned over the area searching for her, but all I could see were wildflowers and overgrown grass. She had to be here. Finally, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Without thinking, I shifted back into my human form and dashed in that direction.

"I'm here, I'm here," I said, trying to comfort her, but when I looked down at her face I stumbled back, confused. My brain couldn't comprehend what my eyes were seeing. The beautiful woman lying there bloody and battered wasn't my Olivia; it was Izzy.

"Logan, I'm so sorry," she cried out as she began to cough, blood staining her white teeth. I leaned down and gently caressed her cheek. Her skin felt colder than it should have and lacked it's usually rosy luster.

"Izzy," I whispered, unable to say anything else. Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't lose her too, not her. Why was this happening?

"Izzy?" She managed to get out, before a fit of coughs racked her body. "Whose Izzy?" she asked blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

"Hahaha." The sound of maniacal laughter echoed throughout the clearing. Without seeing the source, I knew exactly who that laughter belonged to. Phillips.

I awoke with a start, my heart pounding in my chest. What the hell was that? I couldn't wrap my head around what had just happened. Knowing it was only a nightmare did nothing to calm the raging fear building inside of me. My nightmares had never changed like that before. The image of Izzy laying on the ground so close to death caused a shiver to run down my back.

I needed to see her, to make sure she was ok. I quickly got out of bed instantly regretting the sudden movement. I grabbed onto the bedside table trying to steady myself while the room spun around me. My head hurt, but at least now it was only a dull throbbing. I debated for a fleeting moment whether it was worth the effort to go take a shower, and again decided it wasn't.

Much slower, this time, I walked over to the dresser and pulled out a new T-shirt. After making a quick change, I headed toward my office hoping that the paperwork awaiting me would distract me from the nightmare currently replaying in my head.

Reading form after form of requests, reports, and government documents normally would have been a tedious minding numbing task, but at the moment, it was a welcomed interruption from the stress of the last few days. I was surprised how quickly I managed to knock out a few stacks of paperwork before the pounding in my head forced me to take a break.

I was shocked to see that the clock on my desk only read just after five in the morning. What time had I awoken? I needed a way to kill some time and possibly relieve my headache. The idea of, a warm shower didn't sound so bad anymore. I organized the few files scattered around my desk and head back to my room.

I didn't waste any time stripping out of my clothes as I walked to the bathroom. The sensation of the piping hot water against my skin was better than I had expected. Instantly, I could feel the tension in my shoulders melting away. I might have stayed in the shower for a few more hours or at least until the hot water ran out, but the sound of my bedroom door opening and closing made me cut my shower short. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I made my way out of the bathroom.

"You know, if you keep barging into my room unannounced I might start to think you want to see me naked," I told Griffin jokingly. Only when I turned to look at him, I was met with a shocked, wide-eyed Izzy. Frozen in place, I didn't know what to say. All I could do is stare at her as my cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Of course, the one time I decide to say something about Griffin's never ending intrusions it wouldn't be Griffin at all.

"Uh...I wanted to umm talk to you, and Griffin told me just to wait in here," She said, possibly as mortified as I was if that was even possible. Her eyes slowly drifted from my face down to my half naked body, making me suddenly aware of the fact that I was only wearing a towel.

It wasn't that I was uncomfortable or self-conscious about my body, but more that I was worried what my lack of clothing might lead to. The memory of our last time together flooded into my mind, and I couldn't help the low growl that escaped my mouth. Izzy looked up at me startled before realization seemed to sink in. The hungry look on her face and whirling of black in her eyes made me want to ignore all reasoning for why I shouldn't throw her down on my bed and have my way with her. After staring at each other for a few minutes, Izzy cleared her throat.

"I'm just going to wait outside and let you, uh, finish getting ready," she said, her cheeks a beautiful shade of pink. I shook my head, trying to my mind back on track.

"Yeah, thanks, I'll only be a moment," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. She gave me one more fleeting glance before turning and leaving the room. I hastily whipped off my towel discarding it in the corner. Grabbing the first things I found in the top drawer of my dresser, threw on my clothes, nearly tripping over myself walking to the door.

"Hey," I said when I yanked the door open. I couldn't seem to wipe the broad grin from my face.

"Hey," she replied a small smile gracing her lips. I didn't anticipate the nerves building up inside of me, which made me feel silly. Here I was a grown man, a leader, and I was acting like a teenage boy, but Izzy seemed to do that to me.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked standing off to the side and motioning into my bedroom with my arm. She hesitated for a moment, looking at my room as if it were a dangerous trap, before nodding and cautiously entering. She looked around taking it all in, as I stood and watched her, studying her face. I began worrying what she was thinking. My bed was still unmade from this morning, and there was a very large pile of clothes just next to my overflowing hamper. It was far from clean, but still not a complete pig sty.

As she took it all in her face remained blank, unreadable. Which only served to make me more self-conscious. Suddenly, she stood frozen her eyes staring intently at the side table on the far side of the room. I tilted my head a little to see past her and realized she was focusing on the picture of Olivia and me on our wedding day. It had been the only thing of her that had survived a meltdown I had after I first lost her. I had shifted in my room and destroyed everything in my path. Needless to say just about everything in the room needed to be replaced including the bed and dresser. But to my amazement that picture of us remained intact among the rubble.

"I heard about the attack," she said finally taking her eyes off the picture. "Is Asher ok?"

"Yeah, he should be fine in a few days or so," I answered. "The doctor will know more once he wakes up. How did you hear about it?"

"I was stopped by one of the guards on the way in and he informed me of the attack. He told me that I shouldn't be traveling on my own," she said rolling her eyes at the last part. It was clear she didn't agree with him. I debated for a moment whether to bring up her father or not. He was the cause of all this after all.

"Spit it out already," she practically demanded. Her brassiness never ceased to amaze me, it was something I wasn't used to in my position, only Griffin dared speak to me like that.

"Your dad," was all I managed to say. She sighed at the mention of him and walked towards my bed. Sitting on the edge of it, she kept her eyes trained on her feet.

"He's the one behind the attack," I wasn't sure if her words were meant to be a question or a statement, but I answered anyway.

"Yeah, he is," I replied trying to keep my anger towards him out of my voice. "He is going to force us into a war." Taking a seat next to her, I laid back and stared up at the ceiling. We sat there in a comfortable silence, both lost in thought.

"Have you tried talking to him?" She asked.

"You think I should go to him and beg for him to stop?" I asked incredulously.

"No, that's not what I meant," she replied shaking her head. She turned her body sideways and tucked one leg under herself. Izzy seemed to be having an internal battle with herself as she bit her bottom lip. "Do you want to go to war?"

"Of course not. I don't want to risk the lives of my pack members," What I wanted to say is I didn't want to force my pack to fight a losing battle, but I didn't. She silently nodded.

"What if there was a way to avoid war? Would you take it?" She inquired sounded almost nervous. I looked up at her skeptically, not sure where she was headed with this.

"If you asking me to hand over my pack to him--" I started, but she quickly cut me off.

"No, no not that." I propped myself up on my elbows staring at her, my eyebrows knit together.

"Then what?" Her eyes drifted to her lap and again she chewed on her lip.

"You like me, right?" She asked ignoring my question. If I was confused before now, I was completely perplexed.

"Yeah?" I said though it sounded more like a question than an answer. She appeared to be hesitant to say what was on her mind. I reached out a grasped her hand in mine trying to encourage her to continue.

"Then I think I have a solution to your problem," she finally said her eyes on our joined hands.

"What?"

"Mate me."

~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~

Hey, guys a bit of a long chapter this time. Hope you enjoy it. What do you guys think of the new cover?

What do you think of Izzy's solution?

Please don't forget to vote and comment. = D