Page 42 of Forced By the Alpha

No messages came from Sparkle Hollow or Killian after her departure. There were no threats of retribution, which was reassuring for the pack, but it saddened me that Sienna didn’t reach out. Even if it was only to let me know that she was safe, I would have taken that. It was clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. Everything we had been through together had been for nothing.

After a week of no contact, I finally began to resign myself to her loss. Dylan had offered his help if I wanted to track her down and bring her back, but I had made my decision. I wouldn’t force her to return. Instead, I secluded myself in my cabin and mourned for what could have been.

As I sat ruminating over my many mistakes, a buzzing told me I had a new message. I felt a flutter of hope and wondered whether it was news of my mate, but I quashed it. I would only be torturing myself by thinking she could ever care about me again.

SOS town bridge: visitor.

“Not this again,” I groaned. If Colson had come back to complain about our presence again, I would be hard-pressed to resist fighting him.

I hurried to the bridge but stopped short when I saw who was waiting for me.

“Ki?” I asked weakly.

Although my half-brother’s expression was stern, he didn’t look angry or upset. “We need to talk,” he said.

“Sienna, is she…” I trailed off as my voice broke with emotion.

“She’s safe, in Sparkle Hollow,” he replied. “I’m here for the truth. You need to tell me why you kidnapped her.”

Admitting the truth to Killian—about the curse, my inability to break it, and the terrible things I had done because of it—would be difficult. But I had hurt him far too much to do it again. He deserved honesty, at the very least. If I ever wanted to make amends with him, it had to start now.

“You remember how badly I was acting when you joined my pack,” I began. “Well, shortly after you left, I ordered my wolves to rob a man on the road. It turned out it was a witch. He fought back and put a curse on our entire pack. Anyone who had sworn fealty to me was affected by it. If we don’t appease the curse with violence, we experience debilitating pain. I’ve been trying to find a way to break it ever since.”

“And how does Sienna factor into this?” Killian asked.

“About a year ago, I found out the identity of the man who cursed us,” I continued. “I tried to get to him, but he lived in a town protected by a strong wolf pack. There was no way to break through the defenses without risking death. But then I found out he had a child, and that child was friends with your luna. I decided to kidnap her and force her to use her magic—her father’s magic—to break the curse.”

There was no use in sugar-coating my explanation or the reasoning behind my decisions. Killian had come for the facts, and that was what I would give him.

“Good,” he said. “I’m glad you decided to tell me the truth, brother.”

I looked into his eyes, surprised at the term of endearment. “You knew?” I asked.

“Sienna told me everything. But there’s one other part I need you to explain,” Killian demanded. “I saw the mark on Sienna’s neck.”

My heart ached, and I closed my eyes to take a deep breath at the thought of my mate so far away from me.

“The bloodlust put her in danger from the pack. I marked her to ensure her safety. None of the pack would harm their luna,” I said.

He looked at me suspiciously. “There’s more you aren’t saying about her, isn’t there?”

“I can’t say it out loud,” I admitted quietly. “I never even got the chance to tell her.”

The pain must have been evident on my face, because Killian moved closer and gave me a hug. I dropped my forehead to his shoulder and let out a long sigh of relief and desperation. It had been years since my big brother had shown me affection. Years of yearning for belonging and love. And here he was, ready and willing to pick up the pieces of my broken life and help me put them back together.

“I can see how much you love her, brother,” Killian said. “From the way she described you, I had a feeling. I only came here to confirm it.”

“What do I do?”

“You mean, what dowedo?” he corrected me. “That’s the other reason I’m here. I’m going to help you fight for her.”

Chapter 21 - Sienna

I was starting to wonder if my dad was ever going to come back home. It had been a week since I returned to Sparkle Hollow, and I still hadn’t heard from him.

Being alone in my childhood home had been emotionally draining. Even though the choice to leave Franco’s pack had been my own, I still missed him terribly. The strength of my feelings surprised me and threw me off-guard, so I did my best to distract myself.

Unfortunately, most of the distractions took the form of memories from a happier time.

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