Page 194 of Pack Baby for the Silver Foxes

I pointed at him. “And a plan.”

“Aye,” Lincoln said, laughing. “A very Mary plan.”

A knock came at the door.

Maeve opened it without waiting. “If anyone is naked, that’s your own fault for not locking the door.”

“Good morning to you too,” I said.

Lincoln and Hudson gave me a kiss and left the room.

Maeve swept in wearing blue, and behind her came Presley in rose pink, all bright eyes and northern delight. She was holding a small emergency bag that probably contained snacks, wipes, lipstick, and a legal weapon.

“Oh,” Presley said, stopping dead. “Look at you.”

“Don’t,” I warned.

Her eyes filled. “You look loved.”

That was much worse than pretty. I pressed my lips together.

Maeve’s face softened. “You really do.”

“I hate all of you.”

“No, you don’t,” Maeve said.

“I could grow into it.”

Maeve rolled her eyes. “You haven’t got the attention span.”

“You’re even sarcastic on my wedding day.”

“I have a reputation to upload. Now it’s time to get you married.”

Maeve straightened my sleeve, businesslike suddenly. “Before I forget. Artem asked me to tell you, so you wouldn’t have to wonder about it today of all days. Callum’s channels are still quiet so whatever Artem and Ivan arranged, it worked. He can no longer reach. You’re bonded anyway, but once you’re married it’s over anyway. Artem checked this morning, because Artem checks everything.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing,” Maeve said. “But you have your weapon on you, don’t you?”

I lift the dress, showing her the small gun Artem gave me when I said I didn’t want to hide away for the rest of my life.”

“Good. And you’ve been practicing?”

I laughed. “Callum taught us to shoot guns from kids, I think I know how to use a gun.”

She sighed. “Pax thinks that once you’re married he’s finished anyway. You’ll be a bonded, married omega and can’t be contracted to anyone. There’s nothing left for him to sell, so there’s nothing left for him to want. You can walk down those stairs and not carry him with you.”

I hadn’t realized how much room he’d still been taking up until I felt the space he left behind.

The ceremony was held in the garden of the hotel, because Hudson had suggested a registry office and Maeve had looked at him as if he had proposed a duel in a car park. Artem’s security team had quietly turned the hotel estate into a fortress with roses, which was very on brand. White flowers lined the lawn in low arrangements, deliberately toddler-proofed after Rain had attempted to eat a rose that morning.

The hotel owners were alphas and understood the importance of the day.

It wasn’t a traditional wedding. Nothing about us had ever been tidy enough for tradition.

Hudson and Lincoln waited at the altar. Pax and Mat, the best men beside them.