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It’s my wedding day!
“I can’t believe you’re making me wear this,” my best friend, Paige, says. She’s not a wolf shifter like me. However, she is mated to one.
“I’m not making you wear anything. If I remember correctly, I told you to pick out your own dress and wear something that’s comfortable.”
“Comfortable?” she screeches. “I’m eight months pregnant with twins! There’s nothing out there that’s comfortable. Scratch that. One thing. Me... nude. Lying in bed while Wake brings me food and rubs my feet.”
“You can’t be in my wedding in the buff, P, so suck it up.” Not only is she my best friend, but her mate, Wake, is my mate’s cousin. It’s confusing, to say the least. I keep saying we need a book so anyone new who joins the pack has a family tree to reference, as well as a bio on each paranormal.
“Only for you, Ari. No one else would get me into a dress in this condition.”
“Your wedding to Wake is in a month. You’ll be in a tight dress then. At least this one is loose fitting.”
She waves me off. “Whatever. You’re lucky I love you.”
Leaning to my side, I bump her shoulder with mine. “Love you, too.”
We stand and look out the window of the house I share with my mate, Orion. This is my happy place. The one location where I feel the most at peace. And I’m using it to get ready for my wedding.
There’s a clearing in the woods on the Avynwood Pack property. I can’t see it from here, but I know it well. Down a dirt drive, there’s a narrow path through dense trees that opens to a large, circular clearing. It’s the place where I’ll say my vows to my mate. It’s also the place he first revealed to me he’s a wolf shifter. And the place where the last pack war took place. Lives were lost there. Although, I can’t forget how my new life began there as well.
“About ready, princess?” my other best friend, Ford, says after he appears behind me. Vampires have that power. They can teleport with a snap of their fingers. Fortunately for me, I have that power, as well as many others, thanks to Ford biting me and gifting his abilities.
“I am. Are you?” With my father deceased, I wanted someone to walk me down the aisle, but not just anyone. It had to be someone who cared for me deeply. Ford has proven that time and time again by laying his life on the line for mine. He would die for me and I’d do the same for him. We have a bond that can only be broken by death. Even then I wonder if we’d find ways to haunt the other.
He chuckles in my mind. “We absolutely would.” Another fantastic vampire power—telepathy.
Ford looks stunning in a tailored tuxedo. I tried to convince him to wear a bow tie, but he wasn’t having it. With the money amassed by Ford’s family, I have no doubt that tux was made in Italy with the most exquisite material.
Paige will stand beside me as my maid of honor and Ford next to her. On Orion’s side will be Wake and Aries, who is the pack alpha, as well as Wake’s father and Orion’s uncle.
When Orion—or Rion, for short—was a year old, his parents were murdered by a rival pack. Aries and his mate, Cassandra, brought him back to their pack to stay. They raised him and helped him become the male he is today. The male I’m grateful to call mine.
“You look stunning,” Ford says softly as he comes up to stand on my other side.
I’m not one to get dressed up and all girly. But this is my wedding day. I wanted to do something special. The dress I chose isn’t traditional. Far from it.
Black tulle makes up the top in a plunging neckline then flows from the waist in layers of more tulle. Over the tulle are gorgeous gold embroidered flowers. It’s light and airy and made by Oscar de la Renta. I feel every bit a princess in it, just like the nickname Ford gave to me when we met.
“I still can’t believe you chose a black dress,” Paige pipes up.
I shrug. “When have you known me to follow trends? I wanted something different. Something that spoke to me and this new life I’m living. After all, it was an ash moon overhead when Rion first shifted in front of me. What better way to bring that to our wedding than in a dress just as dark and just as beautiful as the moon was that night?”
Paige quickly blinks away the tears which form in her eyes. “Well, when you say it like that.” She sniffles. “Freaking pregnancy hormones.”
“Don’t worry, minx,” Ford says. “You’re still hot.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“What? Pregnancy suits you.”
“Pregnancy makes me murderous and emotional at the same time. I want to eat everything in sight then cry about it. What am I going to look like when these babies finally break free of my body? I’ll be a saggy mess.”
Ford walks over and puts his arm around Paige’s waist to bring her to his side. “You’re going to be just as beautiful as the first day I met you. As you are today. Your beauty comes from within, Paige. And your mate will love you even more when his children enter the world.”
“Ugh!” she groans. “Why is everyone making me cry today?”
Someone bangs on the door. “Are you making my mate cry in there?” Wake yells.
