Logan's glare bore full blast on Nik again when he declared he wasn't going back. He was going back if Logan had to drag his carcass back in pieces, that was all the feral man knew. Fortunately, he had just enough control not to say the challenging words, no matter how true and real they felt to him. He swallowed thickly, salivating profusely at the prospect of violence. If determination and stubbornness had a scent, it would hang thickly in the cool woods air between them.
"Yeah," Logan answered dryly. "I'm the father." He narrowed his eyes at Nik's words, not quite making the leaps of logic here that might have made him see Nik was still under the impression that Karr was dead. He was, after all, too angry to think with complete clarity. Maybe if he went over one more time over all the ways Karr had been in the wrong he'd stop feeling like gutting the man wolf before him, who had just issued him an apology in the form of a challenge. It was almost too much for his humanity to withstand, his feral side chomping at the bit for him to take it, to let fang and claw decide the outcome of this encounter. Somehow he didn't think the justice of the wild would be a good enough excuse for Chuck if he only brought back Nik's head to the Haven. He could see how it might send the wrong message. Welcome to the Haven. Attempt to leave, and we'll be forced to bring you back in pieces.
Yeah, he didn't think Chuck would go for that at all.
"Before we make any decisions here, y'wanna tell me what the hell happened?" His question was designed to buy time, and once again to remind himself this had probably been Karr's fault. He loved that boy, but he had grown up a little too attached to the taste of being a fuckup for its own sake. Besides, it would give him time to decide whether to give in to instinct or not. Today it was a struggle, seeing as no matter how innocent Nik might be, he'd still done his darnedest to rip Karr's throat out.