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I grinned so hard, my cheeks hurt. “Mrs. Lucas,” I said. “And you’re my husband.”
He smiled, leaning in to nuzzle my nose before pressing a lingering kiss to my lips. And then another…and another…and…
“Nope!” he said, suddenly breaking off the kiss. “We really are on a time crunch this morning, and if we keep doing that, we’ll lose much more time than I have to spare.”
He handed me my plate of perfect pancakes and a fork. I smiled up at him dreamily. “Thank you,” I said.
I ate breakfast, and while I did, Cole started gathering our things. I was surprised to find that he’d packed both our bags and hidden them away in the building a few nights prior.
“You thought of everything,” I marveled.
“Did you think I was only going to do this for our honeymoon?” he asked, sweeping his arm over the room.
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t have minded.”
“Well, I would have,” he said as he opened a nearby window, letting the freezing air breeze into the room.
“Cole!” I yelped.
“What? It will help wake you up for the trip,” he teased.
I stuck my tongue out at him before taking another bite of my food. “Where are we going?”
“We are going to Paris. The one in France,” he said, winking at me. “I thought about doing Hawaii, but I figured we ought to change up our usual scenery for something new.”
“Paris?! Cole, I don’t know if I still have a passport.”
“You do,” he said. “I called your mom, and she shipped it over to me. We got lucky. It expires at the beginning of next year.”
“How long are we going for?” I asked.
“Two wonderful weeks,” he said with a sigh. “Things are stable enough within the pack that we can spend a little time away and—”
His head suddenly snapped up as another breeze wafted through the window. “Shit,” he said.
“What is it?” I asked in alarm.
“Curt.”
Even though he’d helped us, I knew his presence here was not a good thing. He’d made it clear that he expected me to pay him back for his help. I just hadn’t thought he’d come collect so soon.
I got dressed and followed Cole downstairs to meet with our uninvited guest. By the time we reached the foyer, we saw Curt looking around at our freshly painted walls.
“Nice place,” he said, his hands balled up in his hoodie pockets. “Big.”
“Thanks,” Cole said tightly. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“So chilly already?” Curt asked with some soft clicking of his tongue. “After I saved your hide?”
“You were thanked,” Cole said.
“By you,” Curt said. He smiled as he looked over at me. “But not by her.”
I blinked and opened my mouth to speak, but Curt put his hand up. “Don’t bother. That’s not what I’m here for, really.”
“Then what?” Cole asked.
“A bit of a notification. A declaration, if you like.”
A chill swept through me. I couldn’t tell if it was from his ominous tone or the frostbitten air coming in through the open front door.
Cole said nothing, only waited.
“My pack is going to war with yours,” Curt finally said, looking at us with his impassive, black-eyed stare. “I have a plan, and that plan is to win. And when I do, I won’t just take control of your pitiful little pack and set it to rights. I might even take your mate.”
My heart raced and my skin burned as a single thought thundered in my mind.
Over my dead body.
