Page 24

The resolution with Sparkle Hollow was an uneasy one, but considering how quickly it had escalated, it seemed like the best option we could have hoped for. It wasn’t an alliance; that would be far too much to hope for. But the promise of them leaving us alone for the time being was a good start.

After they had departed, we returned to our wedding celebration. It was somewhat dampened by the events of the afternoon, and Jenny refused to leave Colson’s side.

The adrenaline was still coursing through my system, which helped me get through the rest of the day and put on a brave face for Jenny and the pack. Once we got home, however, I felt exhausted.

“Get some sleep,” Colson urged me as he carried Jenny—who had fallen asleep—to her room for the night. “It was a long day.”

“But it’s our wedding night,” I pouted.

Colson chuckled at my expression, shaking his head at my petulance as I removed my shoes.

“You’re too tired, and so am I. We always have our honeymoon,” he pointed out.

“Where are we going?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. I’m just going to put Jenny to bed.”

He disappeared into the hallway and reappeared a moment later. He doffed his suit jacket and untied his tie before sitting next to me on the couch. I opened my mouth to repeat my question about the proposed honeymoon when a sharp rap on the front door startled us.

“Stay here,” he ordered, jumping into action. He hurried to look through the peephole, and I saw his jaw tense as he spied who it was outside.

“Trouble?” I asked.

“Better not be,” he replied with a scowl.

The door opened, revealing Alpha Franco—alone.

“What are you doing here?” Colson demanded. “I thought things were finished between us.”

“I have a message from Alpha Lex and Sparkle Hollow. The official banishment,” Franco said.

“Come in, then,” Colson said, softening slightly. To anyone else, he would have sounded the same as he did before, but I knew him well enough to pick out the hint of defeat in his voice as he was reminded of the conditions of our truce.

Franco came inside and stood awkwardly in the entryway as I made my way over to them. He handed me a thick piece of parchment paper. The top of it showed the flowing script of Sparkle Hollow’s official documents.

“This has all the details concerning the banishment of Christa and Jenny Lionel from Sparkle Hollow,” Franco said. “There’s another sheet beneath that explains the consequences for any member of Pack Marsden if they encroach on the territory of Sparkle Hollow. It will be up to our allies if they want to extend those rules to their own territories, so you will want to contact the other alphas before they make any travel plans.”

“Understood,” Colson responded. “Anything else?”

“There’s one other document,” Franco said.

I flipped to the last page and saw an itemized list detailing the value of the transport, supplies, and cargo from the ambush that brought me to Colson’s pack. I winced as I read the final line.

“‘Costs associated with the deaths of allies from Moonstone pack,’” I read. “Has the alliance been formalized, then?”

“It has,” Franco confirmed. “A condition of which is that Sparkle Hollow is negotiating for the repayment of these debts on their behalf. If you want the truce between us to last, a promise of repayment must be made.”

Colson sighed deeply, looking at the hefty figure at the bottom of the page. “That’s a steep price for peace, but we will pay it,” he promised.

“Alpha Lex asked that I get a timeline from you so we can let the Moonstone pack know your intentions,” Franco continued.

Colson pinched the bridge of his nose as he did some quick calculations to see when such a sum could be paid in full.

“Two years until it is paid in full, with quarterly payments of one-eighth of the total amount until it is paid,” he said. “Will that be sufficient?”

“It should be. I’ll pass the information along to the others and get back to you.”

With an awkward nod, Franco left. I reviewed the documents in front of me and then passed them to Colson.

“How are we going to afford this?” I asked.

“We’ll figure it out,” Colson responded.

***

We had gone to sleep shortly after Franco left, both exhausted from the emotions of the day. Now that it was morning, the realities of our situation had fully sunk in. It could always be worse, of course, but we had some tough decisions to make about how we were going to pay the debt owed to Sparkle Hollow and the Moonstones. The most obvious choice was to save the money that Colson wanted to spend on a honeymoon and put that towards our repayment.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” I assured Colson for the fifth time that day. “I’m not high-maintenance. Whatever I can do to help the pack, I’m going to do.”

“I know, but I wanted to take you away from here for a little while,” Colson sighed. “You deserve a break, and we need time to ourselves, too. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t take my bride on a honeymoon?”

“The kind that can see the bigger picture,” I assured him. “We have our entire lives to spend together. Let’s not start off on the wrong path. Besides, what kind of message would it send to our pack, or Sparkle Hollow, if we left right now? Things are on the path to being settled between us, but we need to be here to make sure everything goes according to plan.”

“You’re right,” Colson sighed again.

“But just because we aren’t going on a honeymoon doesn’t mean we can’t spend time together. What do you think Jenny would say to another sleepover at her friend’s house tonight? We could lounge around in bed for twenty-four hours and forget about everything but us just for one day.”

“I can’t think of anything I’d like to do more,” Colson agreed.

Jenny, of course, was thrilled with our plan the moment we suggested it to her. “Can I go over right now? I’ll just go pack my bag really quick!” she said excitedly, running off to her room immediately to pack.

As soon as she was ready, I walked her back to the Spencer house, smiling at Mrs. Spencer when she opened the door.

“What would we do without you?” I asked. “Thank you for agreeing to do this again. We’ve had to change some of our plans around, but didn’t want to miss out on a mini-honeymoon at home.”

“It really is no trouble. Jenny is a joy, and we’re happy to have her visit any time,” Mrs. Spencer said.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, baby,” I said to Jenny, giving her a hug before she ran inside in search of her friend.

“Love you, Mom!” she shouted back at me.

I hurried back home and catapulted myself onto the bed where Colson was still lounging. He laughed as I burrowed under the blankets to snuggle up next to him.

“Miss me?” he asked as I flung one leg across his.

“I never want to be away from you again,” I declared.

“Good,” he replied, pulling me close to him.

For the remainder of the day and night, we remained glued to each other’s sides, talking about the past and the future we imagined for us. Our intimacy had transcended passion, settling into a comfortable and peaceful feeling of oneness. By the time the sun rose the next day, I felt more excited about the future than I thought was possible. Hearing Colson’s plans for the pack and our family had ignited a fire in me, and I couldn’t wait to get to work on making his dreams a reality.

But before we did, we needed to spend some time with Jenny. The past few days had been hectic, and we knew that she could use a day at home with us. So, after a leisurely breakfast, we walked back down the street to pick her up.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky and the birds were singing their morning song as we held hands and enjoyed the gentle breeze.

“I can’t believe it’s almost summertime,” I said.

“When the weather turns hot, I’m going to have to take you and Jenny to my favorite stream,” Colson said. “It’s perfect for swimming.”

“Jenny loves to swim,” I told him enthusiastically.

“Just like her dad,” Colson said with a smile as we headed up the short walkway to the Spencer’s front door.

We were steps away when I stopped dead in my tracks, the smile falling from my face as I looked at the front door. It had been kicked open. The wood was splintered around the doorframe, and it stood ajar.

I inhaled sharply as my eyesight laser-focused on the details of what I was seeing.

“Jenny,” Colson whispered, his attention drawn to the house after my sudden stop.

We both took off at a sprint inside the house, searching for Jenny in every room. The house was in shambles, having been ransacked by whoever had entered. Whatever they had been searching for, they had done a number on the place as they looked. Torn throw pillows lay on the floor, papers had been tossed from the desk, and the table—including a full dinner spread—had been flipped onto the floor. A thick red substance was pooling beneath one of the chairs, and I hurried toward it to inspect it.

“Pasta sauce,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Jenny!” Colson shouted.

There was no response.

Eventually, we found the Spencers. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer and their daughter had been knocked out and tied up in one of the bedrooms to prevent their escape. Mr. Spencer was just coming around when Colson knelt down to unshackle the silver chains around his wrists. At the sight of Colson so close to him, he began to flail about.

“Easy, easy,” I said calmly, moving into his line of view so he could see we weren’t a danger to him. “It’s just us.”

“Luna,” he breathed, wincing in pain from the silver cutting into his wrists and the lingering injuries from the fight. “I’m so sorry.”

“Who did this?” Colson demanded. “Where is Jenny?”

“She isn’t here?” he asked, eyes widening.

We finished untying the family and moved Lizzie to her bed, as she was still under the effects of whatever had been used to cause their unconscious state. Colson remained with Mr. Spencer to question him about what happened as I walked from room to room, looking for any sign of Jenny that we might have missed.

Finally, I had to accept that she was gone.

“She isn’t here,” I told Colson, panic causing my throat to tighten as I spoke the words.

“She’s been taken,” Colson confirmed. “Mr. Spencer said that a group of wolves came in and started tearing the place apart. He held them off as long as he could, but they knocked him out first. Jenny must have been with Lizzie and Mrs. Spencer when she was taken, but they’re both still out cold.”

“Who could have done this?” I asked.

“I have one guess,” Colson said, his brown eyes darkening like a storm as he spoke.

“They wouldn’t,” I argued. “They promised to leave us alone if we agreed to their demands.”

“Who else could it be?” Colson snapped.

He pulled out his phone to call Reagan and alert the rest of the pack to the situation while I took my investigation outside. Colson was right that the most likely suspect was Sparkle Hollow, but a part of me still believed that they would hold up their end of the bargain. Besides, what motive would they have for taking Jenny? If anything, kidnapping Colson should have been their priority.

I could see from the tracks in the backyard where the kidnappers had gone, so I followed their trail. After a few moments, Colson caught up to me.

“What did you find?” he asked.

I pointed toward the north, showing that they had gone in this direction—away from Sparkle Hollow to the south. There was only one pack north of us that had any reason to quarrel with Pack Marsden. And the last person I would want to have his hands on my daughter.

Gage Desmond.

“Should we wait for backup?” I asked.

“No time,” Colson said, taking off in a dead sprint.

“We’re coming, Jenny,” I whispered, hoping that she could feel her parents running to save her.