Only I knew that wasn’t the truth. Despite clearing up our misunderstanding, Jalisa seemed to still have her wall up. She didn’t trust that our reunion was safe, and I suspected she didn’t trust that I was as innocent as I claimed when she’d found me with that female solider. It had been true, but I didn’t blame her for not believing me. Her eyes held her own truth and they were much stronger than my words. No matter what I said, it’d be hard for her to shake the image of another female on top of me, even if we were broken up. She had three years to stew in that belief, and it would take more than a week to change what she knew as truth.
The wedding went through without so much as an objection, which surprised me. I half expected that Jacob asshole to pop out and try to stop it, but nothing. Not even from that rat-faced Jullian. He just glared at me from the back of the small event room with a look of pure disdain, which only encouraged me to give him my widest grin. Despite the falseness of it all, Jalisa and I were married and were having a pretty nice wedding.
The space was intimate and beautiful, with dimly lit floating orbs and candlelit tables shining against white furniture draped in golden cloths on top of marble floors. The floor-to-ceiling windows were covered behind an equally golden window dressing, hiding the evening sky. Dark green, red, and indigo plant life covered the crown molding and spread out from the corners of the room. A band played in the center as tables filled with food and drink and mostly laughter and conversation. Despite the impromptu nature of this wedding, our nearest and some-what dearest had shown up. The fae did love an opportunity to dress up and party, even if they didn’t agree to the reasoning.
While Jalisa had her friends and coworkers from the city attended, I also spotted, much to my displeasure, her family. I also noted that a few friends of hers and mine from Nodoor were present. Had she invited them? That seemed to go the opposite of what she’d been doing, hiding. No, this had to be the backstabbing work of Jullian. He only needed to tell a few Nodoorians, and the rest would spread the word on their own. That had to be how my family arrived because I certainly didn’t invite them. I didn’t have anything against my family, well the few that were still with me. It was just my father, two sisters, their partners, an aunt, and cousin here. I should be pleased with their dedication to come, but I felt a little guilty that this wasn’t real. No matter, I would make it real.
Jalisa stood up from the wedding table and looked down at me with resigned eyes. I didn’t have to read her mind to know she wanted this whole affair to be over with and not because she was eager to be alone with me. “I think we have to say hello to your family.”
I let out a breath, not looking forward to that encounter. “I apologize in advance for anything they say to you.”
She nodded, an unbothered smile on her lips that called my attention. “I apologize in advance for what I’ll say back. Oh, and same goes for my family. Times two.”
I snorted and got up, touching her lower back as I moved us toward the table of dragons. Her dress, practically painted to her body in a way I could only thank the gods for, had a low back. The touch of her soft skin against my fingers made me shiver, despite her warmth. It was funny, I was the one who ran cold as an ice dragon, but she never seemed affected by my icy touch. At least not in a negative way. There were times when she sought out my chill when we cuddled at night long ago. I knew we were to sleep in separate rooms now, but I couldn’t erase a tiny hope that she might change her mind.
When we got to the table, my family looked up at us with cautious smiles, but I could feel the temperature drop just surrounding their table, and it wasn’t simply because they were ice dragons. Fortunately, Aaron and Melina were sitting with them to cut some of the tension.
Jutting out my chin, I stuck out my hand toward the table to show off my ring that Jalisa had purchased. It was a simple onyx band incrusted in tiny jewels. Just my style, just this side of too much but not over the top. “You may now address me as Jalisa’s husband or Mr. Evenbright.”
Melina cackled, and I heard Jalisa grumble beside me. “Please don’t.” She gave an awkward wave to the table. “Hi everyone. So glad you could come. It’s nice seeing you after all these years.”
My older sister, Isabella, cocked a blonde eyebrow. She looked most like our deceased mother with curly blonde, shoulder length hair and sea green eyes that seemed to see more than you wanted. Her thin red painted lips were made even smaller by how close she’d pressed them together. Needless to say, she did not seem happy. Although she’d dressed in a celebratory pale pink gown that complemented her fair skin tone. I appreciated the effort. “It wouldn’t have been so long had you not left our brother in the first place.”
I gritted my teeth as I watched her partner, a noble female alpha, Tola, elbow her in the side. I hadn’t spent much time with the alpha before, but I could appreciate that she at least had the decency to know when my sister was being an ass. She was tall and curvy but muscular with jet black wavy hair that cascaded down her back, matching her equally black gown.
Tola looked to Jalisa apologetically. “Ignore Isabella, she is just irritable from the long trip here.”
Jalisa nodded in understanding. “No worries. I greatly appreciate you both coming from afar to be here with such short notice. And Isabella, you are right.” She wrapped her arm around mine and tapped her cheek on my shoulder. I was practically preening from her attention. “Ivan and I should have never parted. I’m only thankful we got back together after all this time.”
Gods, what I would have paid for this to be the truth. But I knew she was simply playing her role to ensure believability.
My father, Theodore, cleared his throat and nodded to me. We were similar in appearance, except for the color of our eyes. His blond hair, graying at the edges, was worn long, as was the popular style, and back in a low bun. “It’s good to see you, son. You should visit more often. Especially now that you have a wife.” He motioned his head to Jalisa but didn’t fully look at her, which irritated me beyond belief.
I wasn’t particularly close to my family. Just like Jalisa’s, they had their controlling ways. Although they would never force me to claim someone. I still burned at the idea of some foul alpha even attempting to touch her. If I wasn’t in my right mind I would have stormed over to her family’s table and demanded they tell me who he was so that I could end him. Luckily, I still had my mental faculties.
My family had wishes for me, but they were mostly talk, no action. I was the only son and the youngest adult alpha. My father would rather me be with another dragon or at least half dragon. They also didn’t care for nobles, finding them to be selfish, ruthless, and disrespectful. They weren’t the friendliest to Jalisa back then but much nicer than her parents. She was a noble after all. When I told my father and sisters that I loved her and wanted to marry her, despite mild objections mostly from my father and older sister, they let it go and seemed to accept it. Ultimately, it would bring up their station in life, as my aunt often reminded them. She was mostly on my side from the beginning when it came to Jalisa, although I suspected that was for the status we would receive more than anything else.
Jalisa moved her head from my shoulder, and I felt a slight twinge of sadness at her movement. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I wanted her as close to me as possible. She’d been keeping me at arm’s length throughout the week, but I wanted to change that.
She smiled sweetly at my father who still hadn’t turned his head. “He will definitely come see you more. I’ll make sure of it.”
He finally turned to her as if noticing her for the first time, deep brown eyes wide. “You do that,” he said simply.
I lifted a shoulder. “I love how nice everyone is being,” I said sarcastically. I loved a good party, but I wouldn’t be angry when this one ended.
My cousin, Nepa Coldpath, sat upright as she reached to put her drink down. She was a few years older than me and still a soldier. She came dressed in her ceremonial uniform, which I found odd, but Nepa was military to the core. I doubted she had much else in her wardrobe that was formal party wear. Her dark sunset orange hair was cut shorter than last time I’d seen her, coming to her chin in a bob that was tucked behind her ears.
She gave us an icy smile that I wasn’t sure she meant to be welcoming. “You know, cousin, Aaron here introduced us to your friend Lila. She’s a half ice dragon. It’s quite obvious. We’ve enjoyed talking to her.” She waved her hand around the table and the others agreed. “And she mentioned she was a soldier in the human world, which you know I respect those who serve. And she’s a talented baker. She made the delicious treats for this event. I’m surprised you hadn’t already gotten with her.”
She cut her eyes to Jalisa, who maintained a tight smile. I forgot how annoying Nepa could be. She had the least tact when it came to her dislike of Jalisa. I knew she hated the noble fae in Nodoor, but it always seemed extreme. Her father had worked for some, and it led to an early death, but that wasn’t Jalisa’s fault.
I kissed my wife on the cheek and beamed down at her as she looked up at me with a smile, eyes squinting. Jalisa had requested no kissing as part of this arrangement, but I didn’t think that meant in public when we were trying to convince others of our love. When I kissed her at the ending of our vows, I felt a buzz. Her lips were still pillowy, and her taste was still sweet. Damn, I’d missed her. Thank you, heavens.
“I’m not sure why you’re surprised,” I began. “My heart always belonged to Jalisa.”
Isabella chuckled. “Maybe that was the problem. You were too much of a pushover,” she said in a low voice that she had to know we could hear.
Jalisa gave a dry laugh, pressing my arm closer to her. “Ok, stop. My husband is no pushover. And I don’t like how you’re insinuating that I would take advantage of him. That’s not who I am.”
