Chapter 10
Reed
“Namaste, Serenity Ridge Retreat, this is Chloe. How can I help you?”
The cheerful voice echoes out of the tiny speaker on Luna’s phone while I’m standing completely still, rooted to the floorboards.
Just two minutes ago, Luna was standing right there, her hand in Bram’s, the kitchen thick and heavy with her gorgeous blend of honey and gooseberries, driving my Alpha half out of its goddamn mind.
But when she checked her phone, her scent... shattered, turning sour with panic. And now, I feel like a cold knife lodged itself straight in my gullet, dragging downward.
“Hi, Chloe,” Luna says, her voice fracturing with a tremor that devastates me to hear. She takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “This is Luna Sae. I just got an email... it says my reservation was canceled.”
“Oh! Let me pull up your file, Ms. Sae.” The clacking of a keyboard fills the silence and my world tunnels down to the woman tremoring in front of me.
“Ah. Yes, I see here. We received a priority overnight letter this morning stating you needed to cancel your stay immediately. We processed it an hour ago and our system sent an automatic email.”
Luna’s breath hitches, and the sour tang of her distress spikes, flooding the kitchen. “But I didn’t send a letter. I think someone impersonated me.”
“Oh—” Chloe’s customer-service voice falters. “I am so sorry to hear that. Um, this is... a first for us, honestly.” She pauses for a beat. “The thing is, we’ve already auto-reassigned your room and your spot at the retreat to the next person on the waitlist.”
“What?” Luna gasps. “Oh no. No, please.”
Fuck.
My chest is tight. My alpha is raging, pacing against the inside of my ribs, screaming to find whoever sent that letter and break them into pieces. The sheer distress rolling off her is devastating. I hate it. I hate seeing her like this.
“I’m so sorry,” Chloe says, her voice trailing off. “I can’t promise anything but... I can talk to the owner and see if there’s any way to override it. I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Tomorrow at the latest.”
“Yes,” Luna whispers, her voice hollow. “Yes, please do.”
“Okay. Talk soon, Ms. Sae.”
“Bye.”
Luna hits the red button on the screen. The kitchen is dead silent.
She looks up, her eyes wide and glassy, staring right through the island.
I can’t stand it. Bram and Ash are already moving, both of them rounding the corner of the kitchen island to get to her, but I’m faster. I take two long strides, cutting across the floorboards to step directly in front of her before my brothers can reach her.
“Hey,” I say, keeping my voice low, steady. I force my hands to stay at my sides, fighting the urge to pull her against my chest. “It’s okay, gorgeous. It’s going to be fine.”
She shakes her head, her arms wrapping tightly around her ribs. “But the money—that deposit was so pricey and non-refundable. My whole vacation’s falling apart, and I don’t know what more I can do to fix—”
“Hey. Look at me.” I duck my head to catch her gaze. “I heard the retreat’s at Serenity Ridge?”
She blinks, struggling to focus on my face. “Yes.”
“That’s good news.” I exhale, keeping my tone steady to anchor her.
“Yeah, it’s only forty minutes away. Did you know that retreat sits right on the edge of Honeycreek Hollow’s jurisdiction?
I was out there a while back for a false fire alarm in a yoga studio.
The owner was there, and he seemed like a good guy.
If the receptionist is taking it to the owner, they’ll fix it. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Luna stares up at me. The wild, hunted look in her eyes slowly begins to dial back. Her shoulders drop a fraction of an inch, the agonizing spike of sour fear in the air shifting into something slightly less distressed.
“You think so?” she whispers.
“I know so,” I say.
She nods, slipping the phone back into her pocket, taking a shaky but complete breath.
I watch some tension ease out of her spine, my jaw flexing as I stare down at her, my Alpha vibrating with a dark, violent urge. I don’t know who the fuck impersonated her, but if that person thinks they can terrorize my scent match, they’ve got another thing coming.
Don’t worry sweetheart. I’ll make everything fine.