Page 26

The door to our house opened softly, and the three of us filed inside. Everything was exactly as we had left it, and yet everything had changed. The ticking clock on the mantle echoed through the room, somehow louder than it had been before. The cars in the streets and the sounds of children laughing from the houses next door seemed at odds with the somber feeling in the room. Yet, they fit right in. Life had continued while we had fought to preserve ours. It was exactly as it should have been.

Jenny and Colson sat on the couch, sitting silently as the adrenaline from the day left their systems. It had been a long walk back, and we were all exhausted. I stood silently near the door, staring at the faces of the two people who meant more to me than life itself. I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from them, afraid that if I so much as blinked, they might vanish in front of me.

I shut the door behind me, and Jenny jumped, looking at me with wide and terrified eyes.

“Sorry,” I whispered quietly.

“It’s okay,” she replied automatically. “I just…”

“We know,” Colson said.

He reached a hand out, and she placed hers into his. His large, muscular hands enveloped her delicate fingers in his embrace, and I could see her relax at the contact. We all knew we were safe now, but an uneasiness lingered.

“Mom?” Jenny asked, looking at me with an expression far too mature for her age. “They aren’t going to come back, are they?”

“No, baby. They’re gone,” I assured her.

“They’ll never hurt you, Jenny,” Colson promised.

Jenny gave a half-hearted smile, and I realized it was going to take longer than one day for her to feel safe again. My new mission in life was to make sure she could return to her carefree existence. The life she led before Gage Desmond pulled her into his bid for power and stole her innocence.

“How do you know?” she asked uncertainly.

I sat down next to her and placed an arm around her, resting my hand on the side of her head and tilting it onto my shoulder.

“Being the daughter of the alpha and luna isn’t always going to be easy,” I began. “Being a wolf isn’t always easy. But you’re lucky. You have two parents who love you more than life itself, who will stop at nothing to make sure you are safe. And more than that, who will make sure that you can keep yourself safe in any circumstances.”

“I didn’t do a good job of that,” Jenny said quietly.

“That’s not true at all,” Colson argued gently. “What you did today was very impressive. I’m not sure how you did it, but you convinced them to take you away in your human form on foot. Doing that made it so much easier for us to track you.”

“And faster, too,” I added.

Colson nodded in agreement. “Then when we caught up to you, you kept fighting back. You listened to what we were saying and paid attention so you knew whether to fight or run. I’m very proud of you.”

“But I got captured,” Jenny said. “How do I know it won’t happen again?”

“Because your mom got the other alphas to be on our side,” Colson said with a small smile. “They all know now that if anyone messes with you, they’re going to be in big trouble. And believe me, they don’t want to be in trouble with us.”

Jenny was beginning to loosen up. I could tell that Colson’s explanation of why she was safe was making an impact on her, and I realized he was much more equipped to handle these questions than I was. I was in the same boat as Jenny—wanting to feel hopeful, but deeply afraid that everything I loved could be taken away at any minute.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to erase the memories of the day and focus on the here and now. Jenny was home, sitting right next to me, exactly where she belonged.

“I’m really tired,” Jenny said.

“Of course you are,” I said, kicking myself that I didn’t ask her if she needed anything before now. “Do you want to go to sleep? Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I think I’m okay to be on my own,” she said. “But if I change my mind…”

“We’ll be here,” Colson promised.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” I added.

Jenny gave me a smile, and I knew she was going to be alright. I walked her to her room and gently tucked her under the covers.

“Can you leave the light on?” she asked.

“Of course I can.”

I closed the door behind me and headed back to the living room, where Colson remained sitting on the couch. Now that Jenny was safe in her room, I felt myself beginning to fall apart at the seams. The threads of my sanity felt like they were beginning to unravel now that I didn’t have to put on a brave face for our daughter.

Colson took one look at my face and hurried to my side, ready to lend me his support. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

He tucked my hair behind my ear, an action he often used when he wanted to be close to me but didn’t know if his advances were welcome. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest, breathing in the comforting smell of him.

“Life. Death. Everything in between,” I admitted. “We came close to the end today. I thought for a moment that everything we fought for would go up in smoke. That everything was lost.”

“But it isn’t lost,” Colson reassured me tenderly.

His chest was warm against my face as his strong arms wrapped around me, reminding me that we were still here. We had spent weeks—years, truthfully—working on our own issues so we could become better versions of ourselves. Through all the trials, we had been true to ourselves, and now, finally, we had defeated the biggest threat to our happiness.

Colson kissed the top of my head, his voice soft and gentle against my hair. “I’ll always protect you, Christa. Our family is safe and always will be. I’m more certain of that now more than ever.”

I pulled back slightly so I could see his face. All the emotions I had squashed down for the past few hours bubbled up to the surface. The fear, uncertainty, and terror of almost losing Jenny could no longer be contained.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you today,” I confessed. “If it weren’t for you, Jenny would have been lost. And you… I almost lost you today, too.”

Colson wiped a tear from my eye with his thumb, caressing my face gently as he did. “You’ll never lose me, Christa. In all the worlds, in all the universes, in all the lifetimes, I will be right by your side. You are my one true mate. I will never be apart from you again,” he promised.

I closed my eyes and nodded, feeling the certainty of what he said as the words washed over me. We had survived it all. Even with enemies disguised as allies pressing in on all sides, we had survived. Colson and I had come out of the experience stronger than ever, with a trust between us that grew by leaps and bounds with each passing day. Our bond was unbreakable now.

“I never want to feel helpless like I did today when we couldn’t find Jenny,” I admitted, unable to dislodge the memory from my mind: the frantic searching through the Spencers’ house as we called her name, the race through the wilderness hot on the heels of her abductors—each second seeming to last an eternity before we had finally caught up to her.

“You won’t,” Colson assured me. “We’re more prepared now, and so is Jenny. We’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

“How do I move past the fear? I’m so worried I won’t be able to. That’s no way to live.”

“I can’t promise our lives will be easy, but I can promise that you will never be alone. The fear might never go away entirely—and maybe that’s a good thing—but it won’t rule our lives. We will find a way to move forward. Together.”

“You promise?” I asked, needing to make sure.

“I promise,” he swore. “And I never make promises I can’t keep.”

I sighed with deep relief at his words, feeling the weight of them down to my soul. We had come a long way from the kids we were when we first met, and even though he had hurt me in the past, there was no doubt in my mind that the promises he made now were true. Never again would I have to face the world on my own. I would still be strong, of course, but I didn’t have to be strong all the time anymore. Colson was strong enough for the both of us.

“I love you, Col,” I told him.

“I love you, Chris,” he whispered.

He bent down and placed one arm behind my knees, sweeping me up so that he could carry me like a bride through the threshold. The motion was sudden, making me erupt into giggles.

“Are you laughing at me?” he asked, feigning offense at my laugh.

“Always laughing with you,” I replied.

“Good,” he said. “I love to hear your laugh.”

His lips pressed against mine as he carried me into our bedroom. For the first time in a long time, I finally realized that I was home.