Jacks hands me the dress and I step into the bathroom to put it on. It fits perfectly, and I had completely forgotten that they were tailored for each of us. Thank goodness he knows what’s going on; I’m super scatterbrained right now. I step out so he can zip up the back for me, and afterwards he sets me in front of a mirror and starts curling my hair. I don’t really go to the salon; Mom has always just trimmed it for me at home. This is kind of a fun new experience.
Once he finishes curling and twisting part of it up with a bunch of bobby pins, he moves on to my makeup. Everything’s in a deep purple and gray color, and I was worried it could look strange on my skin tone, but he really seems to know what he’sdoing. By the time Xan leads Stephanie up the stairs, Jacks is finishing up a smokey cat eye with pale shimmery lids.
Stephanie steps into the bathroom to put on her own dress, and when she comes out, Jacks hands me a small cardboard canister and sends me back to the bathroom to put it on. I open the box to find a fake rabbit makeup puff. Not knowing what to expect, I smack it against my hand to see what comes out—glitter.Somuch silver body glitter. I try to wipe my hands off on my own arms and shoulders, before dragging the puff over them to smooth everything out…I feel so sparkly right now. Leaving the bathroom, I’m super self-conscious of how shimmery my skin is.
When the door opens Candice is sitting on her bed, and she bursts into tears when she sees me. Worrying about what I did to upset her, I start to stammer, “Sorry, Candice, I can go wash it off if you want. I…What’s wrong?
“You just look so pretty!” Candice sobs, as Xan takes my hand and leads me towards the door and down the stairs.
“Sorry about that. Pregnancy hormones have made her a little emotional lately. She cries every time we watch a movie.”
“Well, then why are y’all making her watch sad movies?” I huff, genuinely surprised at him. I never thought any of the guys would do anything to upset their omega.
“Well, they’re her choices. She’s been hogging the remote every night for the last two months. I know so much more about anime than I ever wanted to.” He laughs, but there’s still a lot of strain in his eyes. The whole pack's worried about her, but Xan’s the one who usually fixes problems, so I think the fact that he can’t help is really throwing him for a loop.
“You ok? You know I’m here, even if you just feel like venting.” We don’t hug—it would just be freaky—so I just pat him on the shoulder. That at least earns me a halfhearted smile.
“Thanks kiddo, I appreciate it…I would totally ruffle your hair right now, but I think Jacks would kill me.” At least his smile's more genuine this time. Unsure how to change the subject or what to do to fix the awkwardness, I’m saved by the doorbell. Xan lets out a relieved sigh and practically runs to answer it.
Sal’s here too, and she beelines straight for me to give me a hug. “You look beautiful, Kelly.” But her smile doesn’t really reach her eyes. Sheisa wonderful and amazing woman. That’s why she’s the best man…er…woman…person? We dated for a couple of months, but it just didn’t work out, and it wasn’t either of our faults. She is so sweet and loving, and hot—holy crud is she hot—but we just don’t have anything in common except our love of cars and dogs. Sadly, that doesnota relationship make.
Ok, so totally my fault. But I may have also freaked out when she brought me lunch at school a couple of times, people started calling me an alpha chaser and being butt-heads, and I shouldn’t have listened. Because I know they’re full of crap, but confidence has never been my strong suit. And when people make fun of you for something, it can sometimes be too easy to let that something go. But she really is a wonderful person, and I wish our feelings lined up better. I hope she finds someone soon; she deserves to be happy.
“Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself.” And I mean it, she looks amazing in a tux. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t look good in a tux really, but she's totally rocking it. Luckily, I’m saved from embarrassing myself when Stephanie comes down the stairs, holding onto Candice’s hand, and I watch as all of Sal’s attention is suddenly on Steph. I’m adult enough to admit that there's a little stab of jealousy there, but I’m also super happy for Sal.
“Stephanie…wow, you look...amazing.” Sal has to swallow a few times to keep talking, and Stephanie’s cheeks turn an even darker pink under Jack’s skillfully applied makeup. Candicelooks back and forth between the two of them as they reach the bottom of the steps, and her smile turns into a wide grin as she hurries over to Xan and me.
“Oh, I’m so glad you two are here, I need some help in the nest getting my dress on.” She’s yanking hard on Xan’s arm while stealing glances back at our friends.
“If I gotta go, kiddo, so do you,” he says, grabbing my hand before he’s dragged towards the nest.
Pack Asher rented out the community center for the ceremony and reception. I’m not sure who they got to decorate it, but it looks amazing. There are flowers and garlands everywhere, and a beautiful archway covered in gauzy netting with fairy lights. I don’t see myself ever getting married, but if I do, I want to recreate some of this. It’s gonna be even more beautiful during the reception just as the sun’s starting to go down.
Sighing wistfully, I wonder again about the lack of romance in my life. It’s not that I don’t want to be swept up off my feet. I just…I haven’t met anybody yet that really calls to me. Someone that I can see myself getting old with. It’s not that I’m against dating or anything, but with school and work, I don’t really have time.Alsono one’s really asked me. I mean, Sal and I went out a few times, but that’s really been it since my high school boyfriend broke up with me just before graduation.
I don’t even know if what I wantisromance, so much as just…someone to talk to, companionship, camaraderie maybe?
Stephanie and I arrived at the community center early. She’s Candice’s Maid of Honor and needs to make sure all the decorations are set up properly and the food's running on schedule. I just came along to help because otherwise I’d be sitting at the pack’s house like a lump on a frog watching everybody else run around in a tizzy. At least here I can be an extra set of hands if Stephanie needs it.
I think Sal wanted to offer, but Jacks took one look at her hair and dragged her upstairs to “make you look fabulous!” At first, I thought he was embracing his metrosexual side, but Candice says he just really likes doing hair, and regularly styles hers. If it makes him happy, who am I to judge? Also, he did an wonderful job on mine.
Stephanie runs around in a whirlwind of activity, cell phone in hand, confirming catering, adjusting flowers, fluffing curtains and netting. She’s like a one-woman organizing army. Eventually she gets tired of me following her around and hands me a broom. “I’m super sorry, Kelly. Can you just go check the front entryway? It was really windy last night, and I just want to make sure there aren’t any sticks or leaves before I put down the rug.” It seems an odd request, but I want to be useful, and I know she’s stressed since guests should start arriving in the next thirty minutes.
Something must be stuck, because when I try to push open the front door it just jiggles and makes a clacking noise. I check for locks around the base and up the center, but can’t see anything. I can’t quite reach the top, but I don’t see anything up there that looks like a lock. Leaning heavily against the bar I heave as hard as I can while wearing heels, and the door suddenly springs open halfway. There’s a loud thump and a groan, and I tumble outonto the sidewalk, hitting the concrete hard, pain flaring up both my knees. Looking down, I hope I haven’t messed up my dress.
Well, shoot!
My knees are bleeding.
“Are you ok?” I don’t recognize that voice; it’s deep and makes me shiver in a not unpleasant way. Looking up I see Brice and Joseph from Pack McKinley, as well as a guy I don’t know standing behind Brice. He has dark hair and eyes, and he’s taller than Brice, but I can’t tell much more than that from my spot on the ground.
I’ve got to get up before I ruin my dress!
Standing up from the ground in heels is super hard, and I fall over two more times before a pair of big hands wrap around my waist and lift me to my feet. They stay around me as I regain my footing and stop wobbling like a baby horse. Even after they let go, they don’t pull away. “Come on, Honey, let's get you cleaned up, ok?” That unfamiliar voice is a deep rumble that sends more shivers down my spine.
Who the heck's callin’ me honey?
“Sorry about that. Thank you.” I raise my head from my wobbly and scraped knees up into the face of the dark-haired stranger. He’s younger than I thought, a few inches taller than Xan, but shorter than the rest of the guys or Joseph. His long black hair's pulled into a ponytail, and oh, he has tiny silver hoops though the sides of his bottom lip, and gauges in his ears. He’s also big, has broad shoulders, and looks like he belongs in a heavy metal band. I can almost picture him with a guitar.
