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Our return to Reading was marred by the bad news that Wanda had kidnapped the triplets from right under the pack's noses, by going to their school and taking them in her car. Our parents had never thought to warn the triplets' school, since Wanda didn't seem the type to drive up to Reading for the purpose of a kidnapping, but she'd done it, and the triplets were now in her not-so-tender care. Wanda herself refused to answer any of the contacts our parents sent her, and the packhouse was a hive of worry as to the triplets' fate.
Dad was, therefore, understandably pissed when he saw Sienna had come with Zach and I, and after giving us a well-deserved bollocking for bringing her here, he then confined her to a guest room. To further ensure she didn't try anything, he ringed the room with what we called a "glass box" - an invisible construct that prevented mental contact from going into or out of the room - to make sure Sienna couldn't contact Wanda and vice versa, despite her protests she was innocent of this latest setback. Dad wasn't having it, and when Zach protested that he was being overly harsh, Dad threatened to have Zach confined and "boxed" as well if he didn't shut his trap. Even Mum and Candy thought this was going too far, and they teamed up to let Dad know he was being patently unreasonable. Confining Sienna to her room except for one hour of supervised excercise was going way beyond the boundaries of sane behaviour, and it was likely to make her more likely to join - or rejoin - Wanda's cause. "Confine her to the house," Candy insisted. "That way she knows you're being stern, but fair. Don't make her a prisoner like Zach and Saffron - that's just going to turn her against you. We need all the help we can get if we're going to get the triplets back, and if you turn Sienna against you, she's going to run to Wanda the first chance she gets and help her in whatever nefarious scheme she's got going now."
Dad refused to back down. "Sienna is playing us false," he insisted. "I'm not giving her a freedom she denied my son and daughter."
Candy threw her hands in the air in disgust. "Have you even asked her why she came?" she said angrily. "Or are you so hellbent on believing the worst that you're refusing to see there might be a reason why she risked her neck to come here?"
"Don't take that tone with me," Dad warned. "In case you forgot, I am the Alpha, and my word is law. Sienna stays where she is, and if anyone goes against my word, they'll find themselves confined in the same way."
Candy sighed as she left the room, signalling me to follow her. "He's impossible," she said crossly, but there were tears in her eyes, and I could feel the pain radiating off her. She and Dad had only had two disagreements in their teens when the issue of Wanda's control over their relationship had almost driven them apart, but never had I ever heard Dad speak so coldly to Candy as he had now. "I know he's worried for the triplets," she continued, "but he seems to forget I'm just as worried. Those are my children as much as his, and I can't sleep at night for fretting what sort of fate Wanda's got in store for them."
"I can tell you," I said. I then told her of what Sienna had told me the day before we'd fled Brighton, and by the time I was finished, Candy was sheet-white. "Could you tell she was sincere in her desire to break free?" she asked.
"I didn't get any alarm bells," I said. "Whisper's not so sure, and truth be told, I'm worried, but she did her damndest to make sure Wanda's cronies had no idea we were making a run for it. She could have told on us any number of times during our trip, but she never made a peep. I'm a little more inclined to believe she's sincere now, but I've had no chance to talk to her; Dad has forbidden Zach and I from talking to her when she's doing her exercise, and we can't reach her telepathically either."
"This was what I was afraid of," Candy said with a grimace. "If Sienna gets pissed enough, she'll likely find a way to break loose so she can go in search of Wanda and help her out. If I were in her shoes, I'd do the same; I can hardly blame her for feeling angry and betrayed."
"There is one way we can reach her," I said, stopping as a new thought occurred to me. "Dad didn't put a box around her dreams that I know of. I'll try to reach her tonight, and if I make contact, I'll reach out and bring you and Mum in so she can be assured at least some of the pack believe her."
Candy nodded. "Just be careful," she urged.
"Whisper will cover for me," I promised. "And Sienna's wolf is a familiar as well - turns out Sienna is more witchy than I believed. Between her familiar and Whisper, we should be able to create a ring of protection and illusion that will hopefully fly under Dad's radar."
"I'll keep my eyes peeled," Candy said, giving me a heartfelt hug. "I'll also try and reason with Jackson one more time, but I'm treading on thin ice as it is, and I haven't felt this unsure since we were teenagers fighting to save our love from Wanda's heinous grasp." She sighed. "It feels as if history is repeating itself."
I had no words, so I hugged her back as fiercely, wiping away unexpected tears as I watched her walk into the bedroom she normally occupied when she wasn't sharing a bed with Dad. I had a feeling she'd be spending quite a few nights there following this sudden and spectacular fallout with her mate, and I shivered as I made a beeline for the pool. It was colder now, but the poolhouse was heated, and I needed a swim to clear my head. I just hoped Dad would find a clearer head in the days to come, else more than one relationship was going to be damaged beyond repair.
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