“Is my little girl hungry?” he asked, rubbing my belly.
“I don’t know if she is, but her mommy sure is. I could kiss your mother for bringing this, but if I do, she’ll take that as an okay to continue doing it. I can’t have that.”
He laughed and made himself another sandwich. We ate and talked about the wedding. He assured me that we could follow Dave and Danielle wherever they went. Just because we got married while a part of one pack didn’t mean we were stuck with the pack, which I kind of already knew, but it felt good to have it confirmed.
Once we’d demolished everything on the tray, he turned to look at me with a devilish grin.
“What?” I asked, looking from him, then down at the long t-shirt I wore, thinking I had spilled something on it.
“What do you mean, ‘what?’ You know what.”
“No, I don’t. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What was it you said a few minutes ago?”
“I don’t know. I said a number of things in the last half hour. Help me out a bit. Give me a hint.” Okay, so I knew what he was talking about, but I wanted him to say it. I sat back in the chair, propped my hands on my belly, and looked at him. My look was supposed to be questioning, but I knew my eyes twinkled with playfulness.
“You said, ‘Eat now. Sex later.’ We’ve eaten, so…”
“So you want sex?” I asked in a teasing tone.
“I do, but I think I want a little dessert first,” he said, slipping from his chair. Quickly, he piled our leftovers onto the tray. Turning to me with a big grin plastered on his face once he was done, he gently lifted me out of my chair while simultaneously lifting my sleep shirt up to my hips. He sat me on the edge of the table, then kissed me deeply before moving down my body to settle between my legs. As he parted my legs to open my sex up for him to get a perfect view of it, I gripped the table with all my strength.
“This is my favorite dessert,” he said before leaning in and sliding his tongue between my folds.
I gasped loudly, and he moaned his appreciation for both my reaction and the taste of me. After a few licks, he nibbled playfully at my clit, causing me to look down at him, which is what he wanted. Between already being on the plus side of things and the growing baby, I couldn’t see all of what he was doing, but I could see him looking up at me while he swirled his tongue.
His eyes were no longer human. They glowed a devastatingly bright blue. I didn’t break from his gaze as he devoured me until I came. The onslaught of emotions had me bowing and bucking, my head thrown back to allow a satisfied scream to rock the cabin.
Ryan’s tongue didn’t stop circling me, but I felt him moving and shifting under me, indicating that he was disrobing. Before I could come down from the euphoric state I was floating in, he jerked to his feet and entered me swiftly. The impalement sent another small orgasm rushing through me. As he rocked into me, he leaned down and kissed me.
Gradually, we moved to other places in the cabin, then the bed. We napped again after that until it was time for dinner.
Ryan’s mother started talking quickly the moment the words, “We’re getting married,” spilled from Ryan’s mouth. She had my entire wedding planned before he could shut her up long enough for him to say the rest. My mother looked sad at the news that we wouldn’t be having a large wedding and that the event would be the next afternoon, but she didn’t throw the fit Ryan’s mother threw.
The woman got so upset that she nearly turned into a leopard right there at the dinner table. Ryan’s dad leaned over and whispered something in her ear that didn’t necessarily calm her, but it did stop her transformation. She pouted the rest of the night. I felt a little bad for her and my mother, and I almost changed my mind and the date and size of the wedding. Ryan told me not to. He said that his mother did stuff like that all of the time in an attempt to get her way, which made me harden my resolve. Even so, I felt guilty.
The next day was a bit of a blur. Ryan took care of the paperwork we needed for the wedding and got our rings while I helped decorate the main hall for the festivities and tried on dresses that women from all over the pack brought over for me to look at. The only time most of those women were my size was while pregnant. That was evident in the types of dresses they brought me. I ended up settling for a classic V-neck dress of Abby’s that had flowing gap sleeves and an empire waist. The dress was a little on the plain side, but between my mother, Ryan’s mother, Danielle, Maddie, Abby, and Katelyn, they had it and me all dolled up and looking wonderful by the time the ceremony started.
Ryan and I requested that the wedding vows be simple, so he floored me when he went down on one knee after he said his vows to me to say similar vows to our unborn child and all of our future children. The action turned me on so much that I could have jumped him in front of everyone, but I settled for kissing him repeatedly while Daniel tried to finish the ceremony.
People were crying and laughing, and Sam looked shocked when I threw my small bouquet directly to her as Ryan and I walked back down the aisle hand-in-hand. My mother and what appeared to be half the pack had a huge meal waiting for us when we were done.
We didn’t have the “dream wedding,” but we had our wedding and it was amazing. Our wedding night was even better. I thought we had been loud the day before, but that night those staying in the cabins next to us moved to the main house for the night. Ryan was quite proud of himself the next day as he pranced around the campgrounds.
Chapter 29 ~ The Plan
~~~Ryan~~~
Three days after the wedding, my father received a call from one of his friends asking for assistance in escaping Pine Hollow. After what happened the last time we assisted someone in leaving the town, Dave and Daniel were a bit hesitant to help anyone else. The two of them, plus Danielle, Katelyn, Darius and myself were sitting around a large table at the Sullivans’ house discussing the matter and not coming up with a plan we liked.
My parents were waiting in the other room. Dave had asked them to leave, but my father had refused. Dad wasn’t being disrespectful, but he was being argumentative and pushy in his insistence that we help his friend. Despite this, Dave had seen his refusal as an act of defiance and, for the first time, had used his alpha voice on one of us.
Dave didn’t want to leave any one in the town who didn’t want to be there, but he also didn’t want to start a war. Our best bet, we were deciding, was to take the matter to the Regent and persuade them to help. Serena had taken most of the news to them already, and they appeared reluctant to intercede. Dave felt that if we requested a meeting and took everyone from Pine Hollow with us to tell their stories, then we might be able to persuade them to assist us in taking over the town.
Our group was discussing this option when Devan stormed into the room with Rebecca in tow. Dave looked outraged that she, one of our people, was in handcuffs without his knowing, but said nothing since we weren’t in his house or on his land.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Daniel asked, coming to his feet with Katelyn following his action as she contemplated the woman. Dave and Danielle remained seated, and I could tell he was attempting to reign in his anger. Both of us knew that Devan wouldn't have tied the woman up for no reason, but it was hard to not take offense of his doing so without consulting Dave. Our reactions told me that Dave definitely needed to request that the Regent place him in charge of Pine Hollow. He had been skating around the topic, but everyone knew it needed to happen.
“You need to hear what she has to say,” Devan said, pulling the woman closer to the table. The room went quiet. Rebecca didn’t say a word only looked at all of us in turn. When she got to me, she burst into tears.
Puzzled, I looked to Dave for answers. He didn’t speak to me. He stood and walked over to the woman. He led her to his chair and untied her arms, though he surreptitiously motioned for Devan to stand behind her. Dave was on her right between her and an empty chair. I was on her left. She couldn’t make a move without us catchi
ng her.
Darius handed her a box of tissues. We all waited for her to get control of herself before asking Devan to tell us what was happening. What he knew ended up not being much. He was on patrol at the campgrounds. Rebecca approached him and asked if he would bring her to Daniel’s house since she didn’t know where it was. Devan refused. She begged, saying she had something important to tell Dave. He said she could wait until he got back. She said she wanted to tell him right then while she had the nerve.
“I kept blowing her off until she said she was hired to kidnap Abby and Leigh,” Devan said.
His last words brought on an explosion of action and commands from nearly every person in the room. I tried to run from the house and to Leigh, who was with Abby at her cabin, but Dave stopped me. Dimitri tried to do the same, but his father pinned him to the wall while he and Dave both ordered guards to the house and demanded someone call Abby’s office. There wasn’t any real reason to panic. There was no way the Council was getting onto pack territory without someone knowing it. And on the off chance they did, Abby’s cabin was highly guarded. Besides, Rebecca said that someone had hired her to kidnap them, not anyone else, and she was still sitting in the chair Dave put her in, crying.
A second later, Abby’s voice quieted everyone. Darius’s cell was lying face up on the table and the call was on speaker. “Hello, Darius,” she said.
“Abby, baby, are you all right?” Dimitri demanded, breaking away from his father and leaning over the table to the phone.
“Yeah. Leigh and I are working. Why? What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone. Have your guards bring you guys to Mom and Dad’s. Now.”
“Okay.”
“Dimitri, is Ryan all right?” Leigh asked before Abby could disconnect. Her voice was steady, but I could tell she was terrified.
“I’m fine, baby. Do what Dimitri says, okay. Hurry.”
“All right. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The call cut out, and we waited. Thankfully, most of the Sullivan pack had magic in them because in seconds the room was full of people. A guard held each woman and Kayla. Once they let the three go, Daniel ordered the guards to surround the house and put everyone on alert.
I pulled Leigh into my arms and toward the back of the room away from Rebecca. Dimitri did the same. Darius took my place as one of Rebecca’s guards.
“Ryan, you’re scaring me,” Leigh said, holding me tight. I was not ashamed of how violently my body was trembling.
“And you’re scaring me,” Abby said to Dimitri.
“Fucking mating makes them overreact,” Devan said, shaking his head.
“Go to hell,” Dimitri said.
“Watch the language,” Abby said, covering Kayla’s ears.
“Sorry,” Dimitri and Devan said.
“I’m not wrong, though,” Devan said. “She’s just a tiny woman who said what she was hired to do. She didn’t actually do it.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll take any chances with her,” I said, blocking Leigh from the woman’s view.
“We should at least hear the entire story before we freak out,” Devan said.
“I agree,” Daniel said, and Dave nodded. “Why don’t we all just calm down and listen to what she has to say. Rebecca, are you ready to tell us what you meant by ‘you were hired to kidnap Abby and Leigh?’” I heard Leigh gasp behind me, so I pulled her back into my arms.
“I think so,” Rebecca said, nodding and ignoring everyone but Dave. “About a month ago, the Council came to me and asked if I would keep an eye on Emanuel and Josey. They knew Emanuel was Dave’s cousin and might be the next one to try to leave town. They didn’t say if they hired others in town to watch anyone else they suspected of leaving, but I figured they had. They offered me a great deal of money, and since most of the town was hurting financially, I figured it couldn’t hurt, so I said yes and signed a contract. I didn’t fully understand what I was signing until about a week before we escaped. Martin came to me and said that he didn’t know when the couple would make their move, but it would be soon. He wanted me to follow them, leave with them, if possible, and bring Leigh, Abby, or both back with me.
“I haven’t made a move to do so. I haven’t had contact with the Council since I left, but I know that every day at noon a van will be waiting for me at the market just outside of town and that I have a month to comply or they will kill my sister.”
“Why are you telling us this?” Dave asked.
“Because I can’t go through with it. I love my sister. I don’t want her getting hurt or dying, but I can’t kidnap anyone. I mean, I thought about it. I tried to work out a plan, and I only focused on Leigh. I knew there was no way I could manage them both. But I didn’t know Leigh was pregnant until yesterday at the wedding. My sister’s life isn’t worth that baby’s life and my soul.” Silent tears were streaming down her cheeks as she spoke.
“You understand that we can’t let you go, right?” Daniel said, looking and sounding apologetic.
She nodded. “What will you do with me?” she asked.
“For now, you’ll go into a holding cell. You haven’t committed a crime that we are aware of, but at the same time, you are a perceived threat. You’ll stay in that cell until we deem you safe.”
“I understand,” Rebecca said and held her hands up to Devan for him to cuff her again. He and another pack member led her from the room.
Daniel pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. A female voice answered, and he asked if she would please join us at her earliest convenience. The woman said she was free and would be there in a second. True to her word, before he could hang up his phone, someone knocked on his front door.
We turned to see a guard escorting Serena into the room. She went to Kayla to give the child some love before coming to the table. Everyone took a seat after she did and remained silent until she spoke.
“What can I do for you today, Daniel?” she asked sweetly.
“We have a problem, or to be more precise, our current problem is escalating. We have a young woman in our holding cell who says the Council ruling Pine Hollow hired her to kidnap my daughter-in-law and Mrs. Hart. I know the Regent has been on the fence about this situation, but we feel that things have gone on long enough. We need to rid that town of its current rulers and place Dave and his wife, Danielle, in charge. There might be some opposition, so we were hoping that the Regent would back us in this endeavor to avoid bloodshed,” Daniel spoke softly, and Serena listened without interrupting.
When he finished speaking, she turned to Dave and Danielle and asked, “Are you finally willing to seize what’s rightfully yours?”
Dave looked from his wife to the Angel and said, “We don’t want the position, no ma’am, but we can no longer stand by and watch what’s happening to our home. What they’ve done to the Alexanders and others in similar cases over the years is unacceptable. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to lose lives in this, but we have to do something.”
“What’s your plan?” she asked Dave, putting up her hand to silence Daniel who was about to offer his advice.
Dave looked to his wife, to Daniel, but said nothing.
“I have an idea,” Danielle said to the silent room. “I don’t know how well it’ll work, but with the Sullivans by our side and the Regent backing us, we might be able to pull it off.”
“What’s your plan, dear?” Serena asked as we all turned to her.
“We let Rebecca kidnap them both.” The second the words were out of her mouth, the room erupted in voices. Serena said nothing, only looked at Danielle. Leigh began to cry. Abby argued that she couldn’t go through with this plan because of her daughter. I yelled at Dave that his wife was out of her mind and that I refused to put my wife and unborn child in danger. Dimitri yelled at Daniel, saying about the same except the unborn child part. Daniel and Katelyn ignored us all and discussed the plan. Dave just looked at his wife in shock a
nd as if he was considering the idea.
“Silence,” Serena said. She didn’t yell, but her voice carried and quieted the room. “Please elaborate,” she said to Danielle.
Looking around sheepishly, knowing that anything she said would further anger everyone in the room, she said, “We let her kidnap them. Let her take them to the Council and then, once the Council thinks they’re in the clear and are on the road with them, we ambush them. They’ll be on guard at first, but the closer they get to Pine Hollow, the more they’ll let their guard down. We can set up patrols at the three main entrances to town. Whichever one they use, we can converge there. We stop them, take them into custody, and lead them through the center of town, so that all of the pack will know what we’ve done.”
“What if the Council makes it into Pine Hollow with them?” I asked.
“We have two options. Abby can get them out using magic or we go in and get them. They’ll have two of our people, mated women whom they’ve taken against their will. We won’t be going against any supernatural laws by going in and getting them. While we’re there, we take down the Council.”
No one necessarily liked the plan, but after more yelling and arguing, we all grudgingly agreed it was the best way to get things over with. We talked for hours, working through all the scenarios we could think of before we felt that we had the plan settled. The one thing we needed to know for certain before we put it into motion was if the Regent would back us. If they didn’t, the town might not accept Dave and Danielle as their alphas.
Chapter 30 ~ The Kidnapping
~~~Leigh~~~
Three days. Three long freaking days. That was how long it took Serena to get back to us with the Regents’ decision. She didn’t say why it took her so long. I worried that she had a hard time convincing them that we needed help or that they needed to get involved. She didn’t act as if there was an issue, so maybe they just took their time deciding or had too many other pressing matters. Luckily, she returned with good news. The Regent had agreed to the plan. They promised to watch the situation play out and to step in only when needed. That would make the task a tiny bit more difficult. We had feared that would be their decision though, which was why we hadn’t factored them into the plan too much.
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