The latest chapter is here!  I'm going to try to update again soon! I'll aim for two updates a week, but I can't promise specific update days right now (life's a little hectic--good hectic, but still).

THANKS FOR ALL THE BOOK TITLE SUGGESTIONS! ♥ ♥

In other news... 

• I'll be here to chat with you guys live on Saturday, March 24th from 10:00 to 11:00 in the morning (Toronto, Cacnada time) •

You can Google "time zone converter" to figure out what that would be where you are (I'll also post this link in the comments: https://goo.gl/UrqGiS). To join the chat, comment on the latest chapter! Ask me questions, say hello, yell at me, tell me I should update faster, give me advice on how to improve this book--you know, whatever you want, I'll be here. 

Dedicacted to Vampire reader pettybrowngirl for the most awesome 173 comments. I may be exaggerating with that number... just a little... or maybe I sat in my windowless room like a crazy person, counting them all... you never know! 

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Logan

"Start from when you were walking home," I suggest. "Saf, Zara and Jess picked you up from school..."

"Yup," Nicki replies, popping the 'p'.

"And Kaitlin," Joshie chimes in.

"Kaitlin?" Father frowns. "What was—"

"She wasn't there," I interrupt. She couldn't have been.

"Yeah, she was." Nicki nods vigorously. "I saw her."

"Me too," Nisha adds.

"Well, she couldn't have been there," I snap. I can't believe they're making up stories now, when we need to find those rogues and rescue Jess.

"She was there," Nicki shouts. Nisha and Joshie nod.

"Kaitlin was still at school," I say patiently, trying not to raise my voice. I have to force myself to take a deep breath before I do something I'll regret. "I saw her as we ran out of the gym."

"And her scent wasn't anywhere near that clearing," Father adds. "If it was, the Trackers would have said so."

"That's because she left." Joshie sits up straighter.

"She left?" I raise an eyebrow. Maybe talking to the kids is a waste of time. I should just go back to the infirmary to sit with Saf, wait for her to wake up.

"When did Kaitlin leave?" Father asks, sounding equally annoyed.

"I dono," Joshie mumbles, looking away.

"Did she walk home with you or not?" he demands.

"She did." Nicki moves closer to Joshie, and her knee hits his leg.

"Ow," Joshie complains.

"So Kaitlin walked home with you guys," Father presses, "and then she left?"

The kids nod. I clench my hands into fists, losing patience, fast.

"She had a test," Nicki adds.

"Yeah," Nisha chimes in, "a math test."

Father frowns, and we exchange a look.

"Didn't she say something about Math? Remember?" I ask him. Maybe the kids aren't making stuff up, and we're actually getting somewhere.

"Perhaps." Father sighs. "I had other things on my mind."

I think what he really means is that he zoned out. He wouldn't be the first to do that while listening to Kaitlin. It's actually something I need to work on, since she saved Saf's life. I owe her. And I do remember her saying the word math, I just didn't really pay attention. "Maybe she had a make-up test or something? I doubt it matters." I turn to the kids. "So after she left, you walked home with Zara, Saffron, and Jess?"

The kids nod. Finally, we're getting somewhere.

"Okay, then what happened?" I ask.

"We were playing Wolf Spin with Sofie." Nicki starts to grin, but then her face falls. "Logan, is Sofie hurt too? Joshie doesn't think so, but Nisha said—"

"She's going to be fine," I interrupt. "Doctor Dev thinks she'll be up in a couple of hours."

"Can we go see her?" Nicki begs. "Please?"

"Pretty please?" Joshie adds.

"With a Wolf on top?" Nisha finishes.

"If you tell us everything that happened, she can visit you when she wakes up," Father replies.

"Zara too?" Nicki asks.

"Zara too," Father agrees and the kids cheer. "Now, what's is this Wolf Spin?"

"Wolfie Spin," Nicki corrects him with a giggle.

"It's when you do this," Joshie adds. He opens his arms wide and accidentally hits Nicki in the shoulder.

"Yeah, this." Nicki giggles as she throws her arms out and almost hits Joshie in the face. "Then you spin around and around and around..."

"Okay, okay," I interrupt. "So you were playing Wolfie Spin and then the Rogues showed up?"

The kids all nod again.

"How many Rogues were there?"

"One, two..." Joshie starts to count.

"Five," Nicki interrupts.

"Six," Nisha argues.

"Five," Nicki says a little louder.

"Nuh-uh," Nisha raises her voice too. "There were six rogues."

"Yeah, six," Joshie chimes in.

"No, five," Nicki yells, glaring at them.

"Silence," Father shouts, and the kids stop talking. They all turn to look at him with matching, wide-eyed, hurt stares.

"What Father means," I jump in, "is that you're going to take turns telling us what happened, like at school. Now who wants to go first?"

"Me, me, me," Nicki and Nisha raise their hands in the air and start waving them.

"No, me," Joshie adds, raising his hands a few seconds later.

"Okay, Nisha," I point at her, "go."

"No fair," Nicki scowls. "I wanted to go first."

"Me too." Joshie pouts.

"You can have your turn after Nisha's done," I tell them. I glance at Father, and he nods in approval. Nisha's the obvious choice. She's the only one who saw—and heard—everything that happened. I know Nicki left to get help, so she would have missed half the fight, and Joshie's too young to shift, which means he also can't link. "Go on, Nisha."

"So we were spinning around," Nisha says, "and around and then Zara said we had to run but we couldn't run because the wolves came and then we—"

"Hey, slow down," I interrupt. "Take a deep breath. Now, what happened next?"

"We were really scared but then Safie said we had to fight and—"

"Saffron said that?" I ask in surprise.

"She did." Nisha turns to Nicki and Joshie for help.

"She told me to run really fast," Nicki chimes in while Joshie nods. "Then she—"

"Hold on Nicki," I stop her, "let Nisha finish her story. Then it'll be your turn, okay?"

"Yes, Logan."

"Nisha?" I ask. "What did Saf say?"

"She said Nicki had to get help and we had to fight the rogues."

"What about Zara and Jess?" I ask. Did my mate really take charge with both of them there?

"They had to fight too," Nisha says.

Joshie and Nicki nod.

"No, I mean—"

"Saffron took charge?" Father interrupts. "Not Zara or Jess?

"Saffron," Nisha agrees.

"She was so brave," Nicki says dreamily.

"She wasn't scared at all," Joshie adds. "I wasn't scared too!"

"I was a little scared," Nisha admits.

"Me too," Nicki adds.

"Well, I wasn't." Joshie frowns.

"Yeah, you were," Nisha and Nicki both shout at the same time.

"Was not!"

"Hey," I snap, getting their attention. If this continues, I'm seriously going to suggest to Father that we separate them and talk to them one at a time. "Okay, what happened next?"

"Okay, um... Nisha pauses to think. "Saffron counted to three, then Nicki ran and Joshie and I attacked the littlest Rogue. We were really scared."

"What did everyone else do?" I prod.

"Zara had to fight the biggest rogue, and Jess the second biggest—but he was still really, really big," she spreads her hands out wide, "but then he didn't want to fight, and..."

"What about Saffron? Who did she fight?" I ask, heart sinking. My mate may have taken charge, but a Luna doesn't let her friends fight the biggest rogues while she cowers. She...

"Saffron fought two wolves." Nisha grins.

"She did," Nicki agrees.

"She beat them up," Joshie adds. He makes some punching motions with his fists. "She went bam, bam, bam, bam and then they were dead."

I think back to the clearing. The Rogue they keep calling the "littlest Wolf" must be the one who looked like he was still a kid. Did that mean the two wolves next to the tree were the ones Saffron fought?

"What happened next?" Father asks.

"Then this big, scary wolf showed up. He was going to kill Zara, but Safie stopped him, but Zara was still in trouble, and—"

I'm trying my best to follow Nisha as she talks a mile a minute when a high-pitched ringing makes her stop mid-sentence. She instantly goes quiet, and all of our heads swivel in the direction of the alarm. In that split second, we all realize where it's coming from: next door. It sounds the same alarm as the one that came from Kaitlin's heart rate monitor—only now it means something is wrong with Saf or Zara.

We all react at once. I jump to my feet and run for the door. I'm almost through it when I hear Father's chair crash to the ground. His heavy footsteps pound after mine as we head down the hall. A few seconds later, two lighter sets follow—one a second behind the other.

We all race down the hall, the blaring of the alarm getting louder and louder. I know something is wrong; really wrong. There's an equal chance it's Saf or Zara, but there's only one name on my lips as I burst inside the infirmary.

"Saffron," I shout.

The moment I see her, the air leaves my chest and I feel as if someone punched me straight in the gut. Saf's got one of those plastic masks covering her mouth an nose, and Doctor Dev is standing over her, pushing down on her chest over and over again.

Jasper's in front of Saf's heart rate monitor, but off to the side enough that I can get a look at the screen. There are still spiked lines on it, like before, with all these different numbers next to them; the only difference is that they're all red, and blinking fast.

"No," I shout, racing straight for my mate.

Jasper rushes toward her at the same time and we almost collide. I manage not to plow him down, and take in the two metal paddles he's got in his hands. They're the sames ones you see in movies. The ones you always see the doctor press to someone's chest, making their entire upper body jolt.

"Do something," I shout, trying to push past Jasper so I can get closer to Saf.

"Alpha, hold Logan back," Doctor Dev yells, continuing to push on Saf's chest. "Jasper, the moment you hand me those plates, turn the dial."

"No, please, she's my mate," I cry as Father grabs my shoulders. He starts pulling me back while Jasper shoves the metal plates at Doctor Dev and rushes back toward Saf's heart rate monitor. I struggle to break free as Doctor Dev presses them against Saf's chest, and when her body jolts, just like in the movie, I let out a startled cry.

The sounds overwhelm me. The shrill alarm. The piercing noise coming from the heart rate monitor. Doctor Dev's shouts of "now" right before Saf jolts. The zapping of the electricity. Jasper's "come on, come on." The kid's loud sobbing behind me.

"Logan." Father wraps both arms around me, holding me back.

"No, please, no," I beg, struggling to get free. I need to get to my mate. I need to do something. I need her to live. Tears stream down my face as I beg, plead, shout. "Please. You can't leave me. Saaaaaaaffron!" 

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Cue the shouting... 

Any comments?

Questions?

Did you like this chapter? 

Should I even ask what you think of the Nicki/Nisha/Joshie scene?

Or do you guys just want to talk about Saaaaaaafffron!?!?!?! 

♥ Thank you to everyone who's reading this book. I can't believe you've all come this far with me! ♥

On a side note, Hunter's Luna is at 16 Chapters if you'd like to read something else while I madly work on the next STAWP chapter. To recap: Hunter's a jerk, and Luna's his mate. Yeah, her name's Luna, but since he's an Alpha, she's also a Luna. Weird, right? Oh, and she may not be entirely human...