Page 95 of Spark
“It’s about Silvio—” Sophie began.
“If you’re here to ask me to give up my revenge, I won’t!” Laura snarled. “Not until the last Ornelas is dead or gone from here!” Her golden eyes glowed red at those last words.
“But the Ornelas family wasn’t responsible for your murder!” Sophie protested. “Your Uncle Sven and his daughters planned the whole thing and set up Silvio and his relatives to take the blame. The police arrested them last week. Astrid Tringstad just confessed to everything, and she’s cut a deal with the authorities to testify at her father and sister’s trial.”
“No! That can’t be true!” Laura shook her head emphatically, her distorted muzzle with its gleaming fangs swinging from side to side. “My family— my pack— wouldneverhurt me! And Silvio’s family was against our mating from the very start! I heard the police officers talking while they took my body away—they said that Silvio’s brothers did it! And that Silvio might have been involved! My own mate! And hebetrayedme!” Her face twisted in anguish.
The sensation of intense cold at the back of Sophie’s neck suddenly magnified. She saw a cloud of vapor as she exhaled.
Silvio was abruptly standing next to Laura, his body glowing and transparent. His jaguar skin regalia had been replaced by a baby-blue tuxedo with a ruffled shirt that looked like it had come straight from the disco era, with a white rosebudboutonnière.
“They lied,cariño,” he told her, his voice resonant with deep emotion. “I could never hurt my mate. I love you deeply, with all my heart and soul. And I couldn’t live without you.”
Laura stared at him, disbelief evident even on her distorted features. “Silvio? You’re here? It’s really you? Youcamefor me?”
Silvio nodded. “Yes, my love. And I’ve missed you so much.”
He opened his arms and Laura threw herself at him.
As they embraced, Sophie saw Laura’s wolf gradually melt away, until the monstrous werewolf was replaced by a young, golden-haired woman dressed in her wedding-night lingerie, now whole and free of the terrible bloodstains.
Laura was sobbing, her face buried in her mate’s neck. “What happened, Silvio? What did they do to you?”
He shook his head. “They arrested me, Alejandro, and Luis for your murder. I tried to tell them that I was innocent, but the sheriff was part of your family’s wolf pack, and wouldn't give me a fair hearing. Without you, I had nothing left to live for. So, I tried to join you, but…” He shrugged and smiled wryly. “I found myself trapped at the jail, unable to move forward, until this young lady came to speak with me.”
“Ken Jacobsen died a few years ago,” Sophie added. “Sheriff Mary Jacobsen is in charge now. She reopened the cold case of your murder, Laura, and her deputies arrested your killers after they tried to attack me.”
“Hah,” Laura said bitterly from her place in Silvio’s arms. “If the Jacobsens are still running law enforcement in this town, there will be no justice. My pack only ever looked out for their own!”
“That’s not true!” Matt protested. “I’m a bear shifter and Bill and Mary Jacobsen helpedmyfamily lots of times.”
Chris added, “Maybe things were like that in your day, but they're different now. I’m a sabertooth shifter, and they helped me, too.”
“Bill Jacobsen—he's the Bearpaw Ridge Pack alpha now--exiled your uncle and cousins from the pack and branded them as lone wolves,” Sophie said. “And if for some reason they’re acquitted of all the charges against them, he’s promised that the pack will deal with them as outlaws.”
Laura’s shoulders slumped. “So, it’s true? Uncle Sven, Molly, and Astrid really did this to me…to us?”
Sophie nodded. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I know this must come as a shock.”
“Let go of your anger and need for revenge,cariño,” Silvio pleaded. “We’re together again. Let’s go to the next world together, and leave the pain and bad memories of this world behind.”
He took her into his arms and kissed her with a passion that made Sophie feel like a voyeur. A bright golden glow kindled between their bodies and shone like a miniature sun as their severed mate bond re-formed.
The deep chill in the hotel room faded away.
When Silvio and Laura finally parted, they gazed deep into each other’s eyes for a long moment. The longing and passion in their expressions pierced Sophie’s heart like a red-hot needle. They were each other’s soul mates, and they had been parted for over fifty years.
Then, hand-in-hand, the couple turned to face Sophie. A cord of glowing golden light now connected them heart-to-heart, just like the one that connected Sophie to Matt and Chris.
“So, that’s what a mate bond looks like,” Matt breathed.
“It’s beautiful,” Chris said, in a low voice filled with wonder.
“Thank you for reuniting us,” Silvio said to Sophie, all of his former sadness banished by the incandescent joy radiating from his smile.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for believing in him…and us…even when I didn’t,” Laura said, her smile every bit as radiant as her mate’s.
Now that she was back in her human form, she was beautiful, glowing with happiness.
