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“No. What’s it to you? If I don’t like it, it doesn’t mean I have to make it my mission to break you two up. And, if you move your lazy ass and read on your front porch, we might not even have to exchange pleasantries too often.”
“I see…”
Jocelyn understood Avelyn’s disappointment differently. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I can tell you this, and you’d better pay attention because it’s the only time you’re going to hear these words from me: as wrong and bad as you are, you make Max happy. Since you’ve been here, I’ve seen him laugh more times than in the past 50 years. I could kick you out in a second, but I’d hate to see him go back to his brooding, depressive mood. If being with you brings him joy, then, by all means, you must be his bride.”
Avelyn watched Jocelyn’s face closely, hoping she’d see some kind of sarcasm that would tell her she didn’t mean any of it. To her surprise, the she-wolf seemed to be honest. “Shit. This didn’t work out at all,” she thought.
“Then, we’re friends?” Avelyn asked.
“Hell no! Are you insane?” Jocelyn threw her hands in the air to emphasize her exasperation. “I swear to God, you have a special talent to make me lose my patience.” She stomped towards the door and opened it in a swift motion. “Now, get off my porch. Go read somewhere where I can’t see you or even smell you.”
Avelyn smiled bitterly. If only Jocelyn had talked less and done more. She watched her disappear inside the Lunar Wing and cringed when the tall, heavy door slammed behind her. “Well, at least I tried.” She stood up, smoothed down her clothes, and started towards the Crescent Wing. She’d have to come up with another solution. And fast.
***
Coming down here right before dinner was the worst idea ever. She had made sure Christine was busy ordering the maids around and making sure the table was laid out properly before slipping unseen through the small door in the library. She had rushed down the spiral staircase and ran straight to Sabine’s room. Her soft flat shoes barely made a sound, and Avelyn stepped as lightly as possible, even though she was in a hurry. At this point, she was too desperate to stop and think exactly what she was risking by visiting Sabine at this hour. She needed to ask for her advice. The trick with Jocelyn had blown up in her face, and she was out of ideas.
Avelyn knocked softly. “Sabine? It’s me,” she whispered. She heard the bed squeak as the girl jumped off and came to the door.
“What are you doing here? Everyone must be preparing for dinner, and Christine will be here at any moment.”
“She’s busy with the cook and the maids. I had to talk to you.”
Sabine hesitated and took a couple of deep breaths. “You haven’t come to tell me you’ve changed your mind, right?”
“No, no. Stop worrying about that. Don’t you trust me? Our plan stays the same.”
The girl on the other side released a long, shaky breath. “I’m sorry. I’ve never doubted you. You’re my best friend, Avelyn. It’s just that the closer we get to the big day, I’m more and more stressed.”
“Nothing has changed. Except… I need your help with something.”
“Anything! As long as I don’t have to leave the room.” She laughed and Avelyn smiled too. It was a bitter smile.
“Max wants us to have the mating ritual tomorrow night, and for the life of me I can’t convince him to wait another month. I can’t ask him directly, because then he’d get suspicious. I’ve tried to play the ‘I’m-not-ready’-card, but it didn’t work very well. He keeps reassuring me it’s the right time and all his wolves are looking forward to it.”
“Even Jocelyn?”
“Jocelyn is a whole different story. She doesn’t like the idea, but she’s not opposed to it either. Believe it or not, today I went as far as to try to piss her off.”
“How did it go?”
“Poorly. She gave me a talk along the lines that if Max is happy when he is with me, then she won’t stay in the way of our happily-ever-after.”
A moment of silence, then a weak whisper: “Oh…”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. It was a good idea, though.”
“Thanks. The problem is it was my last one. That’s why I needed to see you so urgently. Can you come up with any other solution? Anything, really. I’m willing to try it as long as it doesn’t tip Max off.”
“Let me think…”
Avelyn checked the time on her smartphone, and leaned with her back pressed against the door frame. She was too nervous and stressed to sit down on the cold stone floor as she usually did. She heard Sabine pace the room.
“It’s complicated, you see? If he had wanted, Max could have had the ritual last month. An Alpha doesn’t need the approval of his pack or clan to take a bride.”
“I know. Jocelyn told me.”
