Page 39 of Holiday Surprise

He kissed me. I melted into him, but I knew he was right. I had to make things better with my parents.

Thirty minutes later I’d convinced myself a dozen times that it was a bad idea, yet I somehow made my legs walk up the familiar front porch and right into my childhood home.

“Mom?” I called out.

“Sydney,” my dad said in surprise and I suspected mom hadn’t told him I was coming. “What a nice surprise.” He strained his neck around me looking for Luke.

“Luke’s not here, dad,” I assured him.

“Oh good,” he said. He hugged me, then stiffened. He pulled back. His eyes were filled with terror as he yanked down the color of my shirt to expose my bond mark. “No!” he cried.

Mom came running into the room on full alert.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded.

“She did it. She bonded herself to that Larken.”

I was ready for him to throw me out and disown me. To my horror I realized just how real a possibility that was. Instead, for much of the next hour he paced back and forth as he lectured me over the consequences of my actions as if I were still a child.

Finally, I’d had enough, and my temper came to me honestly thanks to him. I unleashed and yelled back.

“Well, dad, you’re just going to have to either get over it, or risk losing me permanently. I’m one of them now, if you’re going to put that divider up. Does it really make me any less your daughter?”

Mom started to cry, and I thought maybe I was getting through to my dad even just a little. I knew he would take things bad, but I didn’t think he’d disown me over a true mate. It wasn’t like I could help it.

My phone rang and I looked down to see that it was Luke. I swiped to dismiss it, but it immediately rang again. A bad feeling started to sink into the pit of my stomach.

“I need to take this,” I said. I didn’t think Luke would call like that unless it was important. He knew where I was and wouldn’t disturb me without a reason.

“Hello?” I answered as I got up and walked outside to sit on the front porch.

“Sydney. Don’t come home. Go to your place or over to Peyton’s with the rest of the pack. It’s all gone, Syd. Everything.”

He sounded so distraught that it was scaring me.

“What happened?” I demanded.

“The trailer park, it’s gone. Everything’s gone.”

“Luke, where are you?”

“I’m here. The firemen are still working. We got everyone out,” he assured me. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he confessed. “Everything’s just gone.”

“I’m on my way,” I told him, with tears springing to my eyes.

Luke

Chapter 17

I was pacing back and forth watching as the firemen worked without ceasing to put out the fires. At this point we all knew there was nothing left to save.

It had happened so fast. One minute I was in post-coital bliss having just sealed my bond with Sydney, and the celebration that followed with our packmates, and the next it was all ablaze. She hadn’t even been gone an hour.

I was busy cleaning up and putting away the remainder of the food from our open house party when the smoke first hit my nose. I ran outside ready to fuss at the teens who I had just told not to start a fire.

Instead, I walked outside and into a literal hell. Smoke was billowing out of the five trailers surrounding the courtyard. Others had already sprang into action to help. Old Sid was running out of his trailer with a bucket filled with water. He threw it on the flames, but it did nothing to squelch the fire.

My legs were already running towards the chaos before my brain kicked in and realized what was happening.

---