Chapter 28

Violet

Lucas’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. For once, he was silent. I looked up at Theodore, surprised.

“Really?” I asked, searching his face.

Theodore nodded. “I know midnight isn't the kind of comfort that they're used to, but it's got to be better than being under the thumb of that idiot… besides it's time to send out the invitations.”

I was about to respond when my phone chimed. I glanced down at the message from Lily.

I heard that idiot came to visit you. Don't listen to a thing he says. He doesn't even know we're missing, but rumors say Darkmoon’s on edge.

A part of me wanted to relax and jump to my pack’s rescue, but the memory of their faces the night of the party—their silence, their passivity as Lucas publicly disrespected me as if he was their alpha and I was nothing to them—cut through me like a cold wind. It was one thing if it had just been the members of Twining River but it had been members of Darkmoon, too. None of them had reached out even now…

They hadn’t defended me, hadn’t confronted him, hadn’t cared. Even now, they were probably just enjoying the luxury that was Darkmoon’s infrastructure, built by my family and bettered through my decisions when Lucas would have made the pack crash and burn years ago. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and shook my head.

“They’ll be fine. My father would say it’s time they learned who actually fed them,” I said, my voice colder than I intended. “Send out invitations if you want, though.”

His eyes lit up like stars. “I want. I want more than anything.”

I chuckled at that and walked back inside, leaving Lucas outside with them, still seething as Theodore issued a formal warning that I had no doubt was being recorded.

“Starting from this moment on, I, Alpha Theodore Nightshade of Midnight, will begin loving trespassing violations against you as Alpha of Twining River. As you have been warned three times…”

I chuckled, a little impressed that he knew the law so well. I didn’t wait to hear the cars pull away. It did matter. I was looking forward to when Theodore would file charges for the damage Lucas and Nora had caused by barreling into the territory in his car. I almost hoped he’d done something heinous other than polluting the air and putting extra stress on the road. The thought of all the infractions piling up against him like kindling on a fire, ready to burn him to ash in court, made my heart light. With each step I took, my anger faded, replaced by a strange sense of triumph.

Lucas’s entire scheme was unraveling around him, and he was powerless to do anything but add more nails to his own coffin.

I laughed, unable to help myself.

Theodore

Lucas and his mistress burned out of Midnight twice as fast as they had come in. and I had to wonder why exactly she felt the need to come all this way. I guess she wasn't nearly as secure in her place with Lucas as one would think. I had the warriors along the route he took out of Midnight clock his time to add to the paperwork for damages, and I was looking forward to charging him a shit ton for it.

Within an hour of him being gone, I had Dahlia on the hunt for an invitation designer. By the end of the morning, we had dozens of options ready, which—after wading through various fonts, trims, and colors—I finally narrowed down to five to present to her over lunch.

She seemed surprised.

“So quick?” She tutted. “Must have been a pain in the ass to a lot of people.”

I grinned. “ I paid them well. What do you think?”

She looked over each of them, seemingly considering each of them with more thought than I ever imagined she would. After all, to her, this was still just a contract.

“This one,” she said, suddenly.

I looked up and couldn't help but smile. Violet’s style matched mine more than I’d hoped.

“It's like we're a perfect match,” I said. “This one's my favorite, too.”

She brushed me off and went back to eating without a word, I wasn’t bothered.

“Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?”

“Not thick enough.” I licked my lips, thinking back to the night at the hotel. “Not sweet, sticky, or heady enough, either.”

She shot me a glare. “Knock it off.”

I shrugged. “You have a list of people I should be sending invitations to, physical ones? Oh, and a code to let them know to come to Midnight for refuge?” I looked at her. “I know you said that you'd let them learn a hard lesson, but there had to be some innocent people in Dark Moon as well, right?”

She pursed her lips. “That may be true, but they’ll be fine… Besides, knowing Lucas, there’s a good chance that he’ll just halt the invitations at the border.”

“Don’t worry about the delivery. I’ll take care of it,” I said, keeping my voice light. “Just give me a list of loyalists in Darkmoon—at least one household to help spread the word and the code to send, obviously.”

She pursed her lips. “... I’ll think about it.”

I nodded, choosing not to press her on it.

“Get some rest. I know you barely slept last night.”

She stiffened slightly and glared. “Since we're bonded like this, and we specifically weren't supposed to be, I think we should set some ground rules like not using it to invade each other’s privacy.”

I smiled, forcing myself to remain calm even as I wanted to punch the air in victory and joy. Did it really feel that much like I bonded her? The spell was powerful, but only someone who had never been bonded before should have been completely fooled.

So either her bond with Lucas had been really shallow, or… the bond we had now was closer to a real mating bond than I intended…

It meant there was a good chance that we were fated.

“I didn’t bond you.”

She frowned. “What?”

Her confusion slipped out despite her guarded expression, and I reached out, trailing my fingers across the curve of her neck. She went still.

“Look in the mirror,” I said softly.

She frowned, but complied, pulling out her phone to open the camera and look.

Her eyes widened and she looked at me, her mouth slightly parted in shock.

“How… How am I feeling so much better?”

I stood and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “Take a nap, and I’ll think about telling you after the ceremony.”

Violet rolled her eyes but, for once, didn’t argue. She went to work on the text of the invitations and the list I needed, and left it on the table before heading back upstairs. I sent the information to the graphic designers and by dinner time, I had all of the invitations printed.

It was perfect. I called up Dahlia.

“Something tells me you’re about to do something ill-considered.”

I grinned. “Me? Never. Get me the fastest rider to deliver these invitations to the base.”

“Do I want to know why?”

I grinned looking out the window. “I’ll leave it to your brilliant imagination to guess.”

A few hours later, the news channels and social media were all flooded. I started laughing as soon as I opened the news feed covering the spectacle I’d made of the marriage invitations. The shot of Lucas furiously ordering the guards of Midnight to try to confiscate all the invitations was the highlight of the day, at least until I saw him flailing around, trying to catch them himself. He looked fucking ridiculous.

Alpha Theodore Shocks Twining River with Wedding Announcements to Former Luna.

The footage of thousands of invitations raining down over Darkmoon was going to be the highlight of my week, maybe even the highlight of the month.

I read through the rest of the coverage on my way upstairs, whistling to myself and gleeful.

Lucas was going to be burning and hopping mad for a long time. I couldn’t wait for him to try to sue me.

Littering? Vandalism? Whatever it was would fall apart in Court.

I closed my phone, laughing to myself and hustling up the stairs as I felt Violet awake and moving around. She’d headed into the luna’s parlor, so I headed that way, wondering if she’d seen the news and what she thought of my solution.

When I entered the parlor, she was lounging on the chaise lounge with a glass of whiskey in her hand. It made me think of that night at the bar. Desire burned through me as I approached and leaned over her, snagging the glass from her hand. She looked up, looking a little indignant.

“This is a bit strong for a lady, don’t you think?” I grinned. “Especially on the wings of such a great day? We should be drinking champagne!”