CHAPTER 13
> Cullen House
The night roared with an icy wind that could freeze bone. Shadows stretched across the place, the wind howled like a cry, and the rain hammered against the glass house. It almost felt like… something bad was about to happen.
Logan looked at Rosalie. An uncomfortable expression formed on her face; he sighed and held himself firm. He felt the pressure. They weren't human. Their voices, their scent, their appearance… everything about them pulled you in.
But…
To him, they were just masks. He had only known them from legends, the "cold ones." Seeing them from afar was already strange enough, it gave him chills, but being trapped in a house with two of them…
He could only describe it as being trapped between two beasts. A sweet, sickly scent filled his nose, hitting him like a punch to the stomach…
He felt dizzy.
A subtle aroma lingered in the air—alive and dead at the same time…
A mix that sent shivers down his spine. He felt a cold hand trail down his back, raising every hair on his skin.
"Rose!" Esme yelled with a sharp, angry voice. "Don't be rude! He's a guest of Carlisle.
As long as he's your father's guest, you will respect him!"
Logan looked at Mrs. Esme and Rosalie. It almost felt like a normal mother scolding her daughter for misbehaving… almost real.
"Someone like him shouldn't be here!" Rosalie snapped back. "He'll only bring trouble to this family!"
"Enough!" Esme's voice cut through the room. "Sit down or leave!"
With obvious reluctance, the furious, unrealistically beautiful blonde walked past Logan. Their eyes met.
That cold, fierce, terrifying yet mesmerizing gaze… those supernatural golden-brown eyes…
Everything about her drew you in like prey toward a predator…
Something impossible to resist.
And then it happened. Their eyes locked. Her gold against his dark.
A scent overwhelmed her. That was what unsettled her the most…
Why did this human make her feel strange? Why was his scent so disturbing?
---
The room had an elegant, polished table, white walls, and a dark but warm atmosphere. Was it his imagination, or why did everything feel so terrifying and uncomfortable?
Around the table, Logan's bulky frame overshadowed Esme and Rosalie. He didn't notice much, but… had he grown even more?
Was his Quileute gene activating faster due to stress?
He had never wondered…
"Logan…" Esme looked at him kindly. "Why are you here?"
"As you can see, most of my family isn't here right now," Esme continued. "Carlisle didn't tell me the reason, he just informed me you'd be coming."
Logan met her eyes. The air turned serious, his posture tightened, he swallowed hard, clenched his jaw, and placed his hands on the table…
"I need answers, Mrs. Esme…" Logan said, uncertain. "The deaths in town… I know they were caused by people of your kind."
Esme's expression darkened. Her posture became defensive.
"Log—"
Before she could continue, Logan raised a hand to stop her words.
"Don't misunderstand," he said. "I know your family is different, but… I feel like someone is watching me."
His face shifted. A crushing aura weighed on his shoulders and his expression hardened.
"I just want to ask for your hel—"
He didn't finish.
"Noooo!" Rosalie leapt from her chair, slammed the table, and glared at Logan with cold eyes.
"Do you think our family would risk everything for you? Who do you think you are, human?"
"You, a disgusting human…" she continued with a cruel grin. "Why don't you ask your own kind for help?"
"Rose, stop!" Esme tried to hold her back, but failed.
"It's true! We'd never help a dog like you. What are you? A stray beaten puppy?" Rosalie spat, ruthless.
"Get out. You won't get anything from us."
Logan's expression darkened. A knot formed in his stomach, heat climbed up his body. He wasn't thinking clearly anymore.
This girl… he wanted to rip her head off. She wasn't human—she was a monster.
A demon wearing human skin.
"Shut up!" Logan stood abruptly, the table shook and his chair toppled over.
They stared each other down. Rosalie's eyes turned black, her fangs and claws extended.
And Logan felt his body melting under his skin. His eyes turned deep brown, his body expanded, his presence filled the entire room.
A killing aura threatened everything around him.
And for the first time in many, many years, Rosalie felt like she could truly die…
At that moment—
"Stop! Both of you!" Esme, impossibly fast, placed herself between them.
"What is wrong with you two?" she scolded, stern, forcing Rosalie and Logan to lower their heads in shame.
"Logan…" she whispered with sadness. "We can't help you. Even if we could, the Quileute tribe would never accept us helping someone like you…"
Esme felt a strange pressure in her chest. If she could cry, she would…
Logan looked so alone, so broken… with no one to trust.
"We have rules…" Esme said. "Treaties, laws that, if broken, would mean the destruction of our entire family."
"A fight with other vampires could attract human attention…" she lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry, Logan…"
Logan felt his heart twist. He came seeking answers, seeking help, but reality hit him hard.
He was alone…
Without family, without friends who truly knew what he was. His shoulders slumped, his gaze fell, his breath trembled.
He looked at Esme and Rosalie with anger and ran out the door, slamming it behind him—
---
The rainy night in Forks drenched him. Cold water ran down his face. He looked up at the sky and asked why.
It almost felt like the night was crying for him.
He looked ahead. The forest. His eyes peered into the darkness. Far-off shadows surrounded a human-like figure watching him with a twisted smile, as if his suffering fed it…
The scent hit him again.
That thing was dangerous. It was dead.
Not even all the flowers in the forest could hide the stench of death coming from it.
Sweet and dead?
"Great, Jimmy… now you're really alone…"
Logan walked down the road in the freezing night, swallowed by rain and darkness.
Slowly, his figure vanished between the shadows…
But even with his chest tight and anxiety clawing at his back, Logan didn't plan on taking a single step back.
To be continued…
---
Good morning, everyone…
I'm bringing you an extra chapter today because I'll be inactive on this English version for about a week.
I'll try to write 10 more chapters of the original version (in my native language, Spanish/Argentinian) so you'll have more to read when I return.
So… sorry for the wait!
Thank you so much for all the support, and I hope you continue enjoying the story.
It means the world to me. 🐻