Out of everyone she had met since joining the Silverrose pack, Vincent was one of her favorites. He’d always gone out of his way to be nice to her and the other former slaves. He always took a moment to chat, even if he had somewhere to be. She was slow to build relationships, and Vincent was one of the few people she considered a genuine friend.
“Thanks for the recommendations, by the way,” Vincent said. “You were right. I devoured them.”
She grinned. “Right? That series is a ton of fun!”
They spent the next couple of minutes chatting about the plot, the characters, and theories. For a few minutes, she actually felt normal. But then the smile that had been tugging at her features dissipated when he changed the subject to something far less palatable.
“Congratulations, by the way,” Vincent said cheerfully. “I have to admit, when I heard about the wedding, I wasn’t expecting it. You never struck me as the marrying type.”
Nikki shrugged, schooling her features and keeping them as a mask. “What can I say? I’m just full of surprises.” Without looking at him, trying to keep an even countenance, she scanned the books, then handed them to Vincent. “These will be due in two weeks.”
“Thanks.” He tucked the books under his arm. “Hey, so I think I told you about this cool spot near a waterfall ages ago. Remember?”
“Yeah! It sounded gorgeous. What about it?”
“Well, it’s getting close to winter, and I figured we were coming up on some of the last few weeks to go this year. I wanted to see if you might be interested in going?”
“That would be great.”
“Awesome!” He glanced at the growing line behind him. “Let’s plan it for sometime soon.”
With a wave, he let the next person step up. Nikki smiled and took their books, allowing herself to get lost in her work for the rest of the evening.
***
Nikki glanced down at the dress. It was simple and cream-colored, with three-quarter-length sleeves and a bit of lace around the collarbone and hem. It didn’t exactly scream “wedding dress” beyond its color, which was just what she wanted.
She had insisted on a small ceremony at the pack house with just the two of them and a couple of witnesses. In her mind, this wasn’t the type of wedding to celebrate, and she didn’t want it to be any more of a fuss than necessary. When she was younger, she’d imagined a big wedding with a huge party that would go well into the night. Then again, that had been with someone she had chosen. Not someone who had picked himself for her.
In Jasper’s defense, he had asked her what she wanted. He seemed genuinely determined to make this work and to make her as comfortable as possible with the situation. She would have appreciated the sentiment, but at the same time, it just felt like platitudes, and it was hard for her to believe any of it was genuine.
“For the record, you look amazing,” Amber said, teasing a strand of Nikki’s hair into place.
“Thanks,” Nikki muttered, though without much conviction. She sighed, glanced in the mirror, and checkedher makeup, wondering idly why she was even bothering. Straightening, she said, “All right, might as well get this over with.” Again, not exactly the sentiment she had pictured when she’d fantasized about her wedding.
The ceremony was to take place in the grand hall, where most weddings were held. It was almost entirely empty when she stepped in. The only attendees were herself, Amber, Camden, Cillian, Franco, and Jasper.
Unbidden, her eyes strayed to Jasper, and a wave of heat washed over her. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but admire how good Jasper looked in his suit. It fit his muscular frame perfectly, the dark of the suit complementing his tan and hair. She tried not to imagine what he looked like underneath the suit, and failed miserably.
He watched her with that same intensity she’d grown accustomed to from him. She sucked in a breath, her heart hammering as heat rushed over her. What was it about him that made her lose her senses? There was some pull there that she couldn’t fully describe or articulate, and it seemed only to amplify when he stared at her the way he was in that moment.
The wedding began, with Camden presiding over it. Nikki barely heard what he was saying. Despite herself, she found herself unable to tear her gaze away from Jasper. There was something magnetic about him, despite her best efforts to keep that yearning for him under wraps.
Camden finished, and the only reason it registered with her was because Jasper was leaning in for a kiss. For half a second, she considered stepping back to refuse the kiss, even if she couldn’t refuse the marriage. But before she could fully follow that train of thought, Jasper’s lips were on hers, and her mind went blank. Her heart stuttered, and for a moment, all shecould think about was the taste of him. A bizarre craving sparked to life despite herself. It took all her willpower not to lean further in, not to succumb to those urges, but she pulled herself away. When she looked at Jasper, she saw the same surprise and hunger on his face that was currently running through her. That expression sparked an even deeper longing within her.
As she stared at him, though, a new knowledge rippled through her that sent shivers running down her spine. The wedding was over, and she and Jasper were married, for better or worse, bound together forever, until death did they part.
What alarmed her the most was that part of her seemed to like the idea.
Chapter 7 - Jasper
The sun streaming through the window called to Jasper tantalizingly, warm and inviting despite the season. Normally, this would have been the sort of time when he and the others would have found a reason to sneak out of work early and go on a hunt in their wolf forms. This time, however, Jasper, Camden, and Franco were hunkered down in one of the meeting rooms in the pack house, each of them hunched over their own stack of notes, trying to make sense of them.
Cillian walked in, and the other three glanced up. He was wearing an uncharacteristically irritated expression as he stalked into the room and slumped into his chair.
“Bad scouting trip?” Camden asked, unnecessarily.
“Yup,” Cillian grunted.
