Chapter 100

Kayla

The reflection staring back at me was nothing short of beautiful. As the hair stylist’s fingers deftly twisted my red curls into an intricate updo, tiny pearls woven throughout even tinier braids, it was hard not to smile.

“What do you think of this, Luna?” the stylist asked as she held a small, delicate crown of baby’s breath up to the crown of my head. “Too much?”

I hesitated, brushing my fingers across the tiny white flowers. I could picture myself on my wedding day with those flowers in my hair, the pearls catching the light beneath my veil.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, forcing an even bigger smile although the slight tremble at the corners of my mouth nearly betrayed me. “It’s not too much.”

The stylist, oblivious, beamed and set aside the flowers. But the moment she turned away, my smile fell.

It wasn’t ideal to have my wedding stylist come today for a practice run. Honestly, the last thing I wanted after the news of Nicholas’s potential baby struck me today was to think about wedding plans.

But she had shown up anyway, with her bag of supplies, reminding me of the appointment I’d made weeks ago. And if I turned her away it would likely just create more gossip—of which I was certain there was currently a storm, although I refused to look at the internet today—so I let her in.

On the outside, I was the gracious Luna preparing for her wedding. But inside, I was dying.

Nicholas and I had slept together just once, and yet it had been the most magical, intimate night of my life. Perhaps we hadn’t put a name to our tentative new relationship yet, but I didn’t think we had to.

I thought we had time to figure all that out.

But luck was not on my side, because now there was a pregnant woman out there. A woman pregnant with Nicholas’s baby.

Allegedly.

Jade and Emma kept reminding me that it wasn’t confirmed yet, that she could be a swindler who was just trying to get money or security from Nicholas. But I had a feeling that wasn’t the case; after all, why would she come to the house so willingly to perform the test? And why was the timeline so perfectly matched up?

Suddenly, the sound of my phone ringing pulled me out of my reverie. I picked it up and suppressed a groan when I saw the guild’s number pop up; no doubt they were calling to use this pregnancy as further leverage to pull me and Nicholas apart.

The stylist, sensing I needed to be alone, gathered her things and left. I swiped to answer the call, and my stomach dropped as soon as I heard the stern female voice on the other end.

“Miss Sterling, this is the security office from the guild. You need to come right away.”

My fingers tightened around the phone. “Why? Is something wrong?”

A pause, then: “It’s Alpha Nicholas.”

I practically flew out of the house after that, my hair still in its bridal style. I didn’t even grab a jacket on my way out—I was too frantic, my mind racing with all of the worst possibilities.

Of course, my thoughts instantly went to what had happened to Noah. Had the same thing happened to Nicholas, I wondered? Or worse, perhaps?

Not long after—although it felt like an eternity getting there—I was at the guild hall, bursting into the security office. A chagrined-looking officer led me to the cells, gesturing to one at the end.

“He’s in there.”

I wrung my hands, cautiously approaching the cell. Nicholas was seated on a cold metal bench with his back turned to me, his head hanging in his hands. He was raking his fingers through his hair over and over again.

Despite the circumstances, I let out a breath of relief. So he was alive and upright, which was a good sign. He hadn’t been drugged, or so it seemed.

But then he turned to look at me, and all the air left my lungs.

“Nicholas, what the hell happened to you?” I hissed, surging forward. I gripped the metal bars with both hands as I took in his haggard appearance: a black eye, a cut across his nose, another cut that was bleeding on his lower lip.

He looked like he’d had the shit beaten out of him.

And what was worse… he was smirking.

Infuriating, as usual.

He rose from his seat and swaggered over to me, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I thought you might like the ‘rugged bad boy look’, so I decided to give it a try,” he murmured. He stopped in front of me and placed his forearm on the bars over my head while the other reached out to twirl a strand of my hair between his fingers. “This looks pretty.”

I jerked my head up and went to screech at him for acting like such a narcissistic fool right now, but paused when I saw the flicker behind his eyes. Something hummed through the bond then, and I snapped my mouth shut.

Play along, his gaze seemed to say.

Still, I couldn’t just let it go. “What happened?” I asked, my voice lower now.

Before Nicholas could respond, the security officer behind me cut in. “Alpha Reynolds was caught snooping through Guildsman Gray’s office,” she explained.

“And I gave you one hell of a fight when you tried to arrest me, didn’t I?” Nicholas retorted, causing the officer’s face to redden.

I wanted to reach through the bars and throttle him. I knew he was playing some kind of game, but it didn’t make any sense. And as for snooping through Gray’s office…

Sighing, I shook my head and turned to face the officer. “What’s his bail?”

The officer’s eyebrows shot up. “He trespassed on guild property and attacked an officer.”

“Actually, I was just defending myself. You attacked me fir—” Nicholas began, but I cut him off with a look that could shatter glass.

I pulled my wallet out and leveled the officer with a stern glare. “This is Alpha Reynolds of Nightshade pack—one of the most powerful packs in the territories. Not only that, but he is also Acting Alpha of Bluemoon pack, which is one of the oldest in the territories. It might not go over well for the guild if our people find out he’s been imprisoned over something so petty.”

The officer opened her mouth, but then closed it again. She seemed to be considering my offer, even more so when I held out a rather sizable wad of cash.

Finally, glancing around, she grabbed the cash and stuffed it in her pocket, then withdrew a set of keys. “Fine,” she said, “but I’m placing you both on suspension from visiting the guild hall until further notice. Unless you’re summoned, you’ll both be detained.”

Nodding, I stepped out of the way, allowing her to stride past me and unlock the cell. Nicholas sauntered out a moment later and draped his arm around my shoulders, shooting me a roguish wink. “Thanks, darling.”

I bristled, but kept my expression neutral as I led him out of the guild hall.

It wasn’t until we were out of sight that I whirled on him. Before I could stop myself, I pulled my fist back and wailed a sturdy punch against his arm. Then another, and another. Nicholas took the torrent of punches like a champ, scratching his head with the other hand.

“How could you be so stupid?!” I growled between punches. “Breaking into Gray’s office like that? You’re supposed to be the levelheaded one, not—”

Suddenly, before I could land one last punch, he caught my wrist with one hand. I huffed a strand of hair out of my eyes as I glared up at him, finding his amber eyes fixed steadily on me—with another warning in them. They flicked up and behind me, toward something just out of sight.

Hesitating, I followed his gaze. There, on the corner of the building, was a security camera. It was pointed at us.

I huffed again and wrenched my hand free, smoothing down my shirt. “This isn’t over,” I hissed as I stormed off toward the car.

Nicholas chuckled as he followed me. “I figured it wouldn’t be, firecracker.”