The car ride to James' house is short and uncomfortable. Carlos asks them if they're okay and Kendall asks the same question but Logan is silent and can't look at any of them. He's tense and stuck in his own head. He can't move correctly since the top of the car is still dented above them.
James parks outside of a big, two story house and Logan is sort of shocked. He didn't expect James to live in a shack, but he definitely didn't expect a house this beautiful. Carlos touches his arm to try and see if he's okay but Logan ignores him, opening the door and stepping out.
James watches him with this sincere, quiet gaze and Logan wants to punch him, but God knows James would beat him into a pulp. He doesn't even know who this guy is.
"Let's go inside," James says softly when Logan doesn't look at him, and they all start heading in. Carlos walks slowly, turning around to try and catch Logan's gaze but Logan won't give him that chance.
The inside of James' home is even more beautiful. There isn't much furniture, but the pieces that he has are just enough to make it cozy. Artwork covers the walls, beautiful sculptures in one of the sitting rooms. Logan blinks, taking it all in.
James walks into another room and Kendall looks at Logan, staring. Then he says, "Let me clean those up for you," and turns to walk up the stairs, slowly. Logan is convinced he's trying to act human around him and it's more than mildly annoying.
Logan doesn't know what Kendall's talking about until he looks down and notices the scratches on his arms. Some of them are deep, with blood caked over then and he has welts from the thicker branches snapping against his arms. The adrenaline must have taken over him, because they don't start hurting until he actually sees them.
"C'mon," Carlos says softly next to him, and reaches his hand out. Logan wants to take it. His mind is screaming, begging for it because he feels so alone and Carlos always fixes it when he feels this way, but he can't. It hurts, but he can't. He walks into the next room, ignoring the boy and he can hear Carlos' sharp intake of breath next to him. He's hurt now, too.
The next room is like a living room, Logan assumes, though there's no television. There are various couches though, a nice rug and a huge bookshelf. The fireplace isn't burning but it stands there beautifully. Logan takes the room in and he can smell incense of some kind burning.
"You can sit," James says quietly and that's when Logan notices that James is sitting on one of the arm chairs, watching him. Logan doesn't know what else to do so he sits on the floor. He doesn't want to feel at home in this place. He wants to leave and never come back.
Kendall comes into the room holding a first aid kit and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He sits down next to Logan without a word and takes out a sanitary wipe to clean up his wounds. Logan flinches away instinctively when Kendall reaches out for his arm.
The room is nearly silent now and Kendall watches him, his green eyes taking in Logan's face. He looks tired, and so sad.
"Logan.. I'm not going to hurt you," he says softly. He sounds so devastated.
Logan takes in a shaky breath and stares at him. Quietly, he says, "I don't even know who you are anymore."
Kendall swallows, his throat thick with something he can't name and he flinches, a slight movement that only Logan notices. He sets down the sanitary wipe and looks at his hands, playing with his fingers.
"I didn't want you to find out like this," he says, looking up at Logan again. "I wanted.." he pauses, trying to find the right words. "I wanted to build up our trust again, first."
Logan doesn't realize that he's shaking until he speaks. He clenches his fists and asks the question that scares him the most. "What are you?"
He feels so fucking stupid, being the only one in the room who has no idea what is going on. He's never been on this side of any situation and it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing that even his best friend knew, and never bothered to tell him.
Kendall takes in a shaky breath and looks over at James for support, not knowing what to say. But James just watches him, waiting. They're all waiting.
"I'm.." he starts, then blurts it out, "I'm a werewolf."
Logan thinks his heart must have sunk into his stomach because he suddenly wants to vomit. He knew Kendall was something, obviously, but he never imagined that it would be something like this. He shakes his head in disbelief, staring at the boy in front of him.
To Logan, werewolves are fictional characters. They were in the books he read as a child, in the movies his father watched, in the mindless TV shows his mother enjoys. He doesn't know what to say.
"I know it's hard to take in," Kendall says quickly, as if that could take back what he said, "And I know you probably don't even believe me but."
"And the others?" Logan asks, looking at James when Kendall looks down. "Those things that attacked us, are they -?"
James nods. "Yeah. They're part wolf too."
Logan grinds his teeth together, jaw clenched as he looks at his best friend. Carlos looks like he wants to cry.
"And you knew about all of this?"
Carlos takes in a shaky breath but he nods, his eyes filling with tears. "Yeah, Logan. I knew."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Logan asks, exasperated now. "You knew how scared I was, how long I've been trying to figure all of this out!"
Carlos gets off the couch to get near him, on his knees now. "Logan, I just wanted to protect you," he swears, coming closer and Logan wants to back away from him. "Please, you know I would never keep anything from you."
"But you did," Logan says, his voice cracking and he can't believe how furious and upset he's getting. Carlos nearly bursts into tears and says, "I was just trying to help."
"Carlos found out about the others first and then he came to me," James says and they all turn to look at him. His voice is loud, demanding attention.
Logan is so confused, again, and he turns to Carlos. "How did you find out about them?"
Carlos looks like a sad puppy. Logan pushes away any thoughts of hugging him.
"I-I looked into the history of the town," he explains, swallowing hard. "I found out about the Diamonds so I just assumed it had something to do with them."
Logan squints. "The Diamonds?"
James takes in a deep breath. "My family owns these woods," he begins, settling into the couch. "Werewolves have been a part of this town and these woods for centuries now, thanks to them."
"So you're.. James Diamond?" Logan asks.
"Yes," James answers. "Carlos went to the town library to find records of past crimes and found out that I'm the last Diamond alive."
"It wasn't that easy," Carlos continues, looking guilty. "I had to bribe a lot of people to see those files."
"I still don't understand how you found out they were werewolves," Logan says, staring. He hisses when Kendall presses the wipe on one of his scratches, the pain stinging. He glares at the blonde boy and Kendall completely ignores him, continuing with his work.
Carlos sighs, relaxing on the floor. "Well, I knew they had to be beasts of some sort. And looking through those files, I found out that there used to be animal-like humans all over the town, and I took in that information and found mythology books that matched the creatures and then I just.. Guessed."
Logan's eyebrows shoot up. "You guessed?"
"Sort of, yeah," Carlos says softly, and he looks innocent again, like the Carlos Logan knows so well. He really wants to hug him.
"So then I found out about the Diamonds, who were basically a family of wolves, and I thought they were all dead until I found out about James," Carlos says, glancing at the man.
James nods, recollecting the story. "I knew that whatever was happening in the town would eventually reach me, but I didn't know that it would affect me this much."
Kendall puts a hand on James' knee and James covers it with his own, squeezing. Logan looks away, the moment too intimate for his eyes. Carlos watches Logan, trying to lock their eyes but Logan doesn't know if he can do that yet.
"What do you mean by affect you?" Logan asks, looking at James again when Kendall returns to cleaning his skin.
James is silent for a few seconds, trying to find a good answer to that question. "Werewolves have always been around, but it's been years, decades, even, since I've heard of a new pack."
Logan watches him, waiting.
"These woods have always been the property of my family," James continues, sitting up straighter. "They're gone now, and since then the only wolves that have passed by this part of the woods have been people that I know. And they have never been within a pack."
Logan is both impressed and saddened that James can speak about his family being gone so easily; it must be old wounds, something that becomes usual after a while. Logan can't help but feel sorrow for him. It also interests him that James calls the werewolves 'people'.
"What's so bad about a pack?" Logan asks and he can tell it's a stupid question because Kendall makes a huffing noise next to him. Logan nudges at him and Kendall presses down on a welt in retaliation. Logan hisses.
Carlos is the one who answers. "If they are traveling by pack, that means they're stronger. They have a group they can rely on if anything gets in their way," he explains, "It also means that they have a plan."
"A plan for what?"
"We don't know," James answers and he looks different now. Uneasy. Logan feels uncomfortable.
"But it can't be a good plan, if they're mixed in with the kidnappings," he continues, squeezing his fingers together. "But these two that attacked us, they're just." James looks distressed and he stands up, pacing around the room. Kendall has his eye on him, ready to pounce if he has to. Literally, Logan thinks.
"What?"
James is silent, trying to find the right words. "They're young. They're basically children."
"They're not that young," Logan insists, "They're were all in high school."
"No, I mean they have only been werewolves for a few weeks. Maybe even just days."
Logan must look as confused as he feels because James continues to explain. "The younger they are, the less control they have of the wolf," he says and Logan can almost feel the passion in his voice when he talks about this. "So these crimes could be happening just because no one is able to control their betas."
"Or no one is trying to," Kendall murmurs under his breath but James hears him because he tenses, his fists clenching. Logan doesn't understand anything anymore.
"Uh," Logan says, mouth open. "Betas?"
Kendall sighs like he doesn't have patience for this and James shoots him a look. Almost instantly, Kendall shuts up and continues with his work, wrapping a bandage over Logan's worst cut. Whoa.
"We'll explain everything to you soon," James says when the moment has passed. "Right now, you two can't be here," he glances at Carlos as well, crossing his arms, "They attacked for the first time with no clear reason, so this is not a safe place for you to be until we learn more about them."
Logan nods and stands up, noticing his legs are still vibrating from before. Carlos stands but hesitates on leaving. He asks, "So we're just supposed to ignore that this happened?"
"Yes," James answers with no hesitation and he begins walking out of the room. They all follow because it's his house, but also because Logan feels a connection towards him. He can't explain it, but he feels like he can trust James. It's terrifying.
"But what if they come back?" Carlos asks and it's clear that he's worried. His eyes are big like they get when he wants answers and knows he won't get them right away. Logan allows himself to brush their fingers together.
James turns around. They all watch him, waiting for his response. It's like the ground shakes when he looks at them. Then he smiles, endearing but still strong. Logan's pretty sure Kendall swoons next to him.
"My priority right now is to protect you two," he says, his smile fading away to something more serious. Logan swallows. "You know a lot, probably more than you should. And now they know that you've been around us. We can't be too sure about what they'll want from you."
Carlos links their fingers together and Logan squeezes back. He's shaking again. He has no idea what he has been brought into. He has so many questions, he could probably explode from that alone. The curiosity eats away at him but it also terrifies him; not knowing means not being prepared. How can he be strong when he has no idea what to expect?
"What could they want from us?" Logan asks and he can't hide how afraid he is. His voice shakes when he speaks. He doesn't have it in him to be ashamed.
James takes a deep breath in, and then he looks straight at Logan. His stance is relaxed but strong. Fearless.
"It doesn't matter, because I will protect you."
A/N: I hope this answered a few questions and raised some new ones. :)
