AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I should have known,” said Martina, shaking her head slowly. “I always had my suspicions, but I guess I just didn’t want to know.” She looked up at her husband. “Sit down, Giuliano.” Martina turned to look directly at the child she had raised as her own. “You must know, first and foremost, I did what I did to protect you. My husband had gambled away most of the wealth of our holdings. He took me to mate because of the dowry I brought. He managed to squander enough of that away that he was desperate—”
“You have no right…”
“This is my home, Bacchus. I decide who has what rights here.”
“In any event,” continued Martina, “he got into bed with the Shadow League. Your poor mother saw the Shadow League carry out an execution. Not only did she see the murder, but she saw those who were there, both assassins and victims, shift. The Ruling Council or the Shadow League—I’ve never been sure which, and it doesn’t matter—deemed her a threat to our way of life and issued a death sentence on her. Crystal, that was her name, found a way to contact the Shadow Sisters—do you know who they are?”
Simone nodded. “Midori told me. She was one of them. She was the one they sent to extract my birth mother, but she was too late. She felt she had failed us, my birth mother and I, so she remained behind to take care of me. She said that you defied Guiliano and the Shadow League and took me away.”
Martina nodded. “I could not save your birth mother. In truth, I don’t know that I would have defied the Council or the League, but I could not let them murder you. So, I took you. To avoid questions and scrutiny, I took you in, or we took you in, and raised you as our own. There was a witch in a neighboring village who had great power. I had her imbue the medallion with spells and other properties that would keep anyone from being able to tell you weren’t wolf. It’s the reason I was so insistent that you always keep it on and out of sight. For what it’s worth, your sister never knew.”
“I already gathered that. GiGi never would have lied to me. I know you felt like you did what you did to protect me, but I didn’t need to be protected from myself.”
“Have you decided?” Mischa asked her.
“Yes. I’ve given a lot of thought to what you and Midori have said. And while I’m still angry at them, I do think Martina did what she thought was best. I think Giuliano did what he thought was best for Giuliano. But still, it would send the wrong message if they weren’t at the wedding.”
“You should thank my mate. Her first inclination was to bar you from our ceremony, but it would appear upon reflection her cooler head has prevailed.”
“Why you ungrateful…” sputtered Giuliano.
Mischa growled low. “You’d best learn to ameliorate how you speak to my mate. While her generous and loving heart might allow you the luxury of believing nothing has changed and you may treat her as you always have, I can assure you I do not possess such a gracious nature.”
* * *
SIMONE
The day of her bonding ceremony dawned bright and clear. The night before the fireworks had been put to shame by the dazzling display of the aurora borealis. The feast Mrs. Perkins and her staff had prepared had rivaled any master chef or catering company. It seemed that each member of her pack had gone over and above to make this day a true celebration for her and Mischa.
Everything would have been perfect had Mischa not taken it into his thick head to decide it was bad luck to see your bride on your wedding day before seeing her in her dress, that he would not see Simone at all prior to the ceremony. Accordingly, he absented himself from their bed and their room around midnight, and, according to Valentin, locked himself in his office to drink until he passed out. Also according to Val, he was paying for that decision this morning with the mother of all hangovers. Good; it served him right.
She had shooed everyone else out of their room save Midori, GiGi, and Nancy who had taken on the role of handmaiden and assistant to Simone. She kept her appointments, scheduled things, and just generally took a lot of the everyday tasks off Simone’s shoulders so she could focus on the vineyard and her mate—not necessarily in that order.
GiGi stood in front of the zipped bag that held Simone’s ceremony dress. Valentin, at GiGi’s urging, had kept it a secret—not that it existed, but just what it looked like.
“Are you ready?” asked GiGi, her hand resting on the zipper.
“Am I going to hate this thing?” asked Simone.
“Originally, I worried that you might think it was a bit too much and a bit too daring, but that was before you and your dire wolf became such good friends. That’s why Val had all the measurements taken and the dress altered in Australia. By the way, is Val seeing anyone?”
Simone laughed. “No, and he asked me the same question about you.”
“Did he now,” said GiGi speculatively. “This day just got a whole lot more interesting.”
“It’s funny, I always thought only the big cats had a link between their altered self and their fated mate.”
“I asked Mischa about that. He thinks that it’s probably true of the shifters whose purebloods have not become extinct. He believes dire wolves have it because we’re prehistoric. We retained the ability to communicate with our mates down an established tether when many other species did not.”
Midori nodded. “I guess that makes some sense. Now, open the damn bag. I’m dying to see what this dress looks like.”
Standing on a raised dais, GiGi unzipped the bag and removed the dress with a flourish. Simone was stunned. She couldn’t have imagined anything this beautiful and perfect. There were mixed floral details that created gorgeous lacework that formed a wide V-neckline and open V-back with an organic finish. Floating laces created a traditional look with a modern and slightly bohemian silhouette. Small, clear, shimmering sequins had been placed throughout the lace on the bodice and over the top layer of the full skirt, giving it a dewy radiance. The underskirt consisted of layers upon layers of tulle with organza and horsehair trim to give it an effortless, structured volume.
Midori, GiGi, and Nancy helped her into the creation. The hairstyle Nancy had designed was a kind of messy fishtail braid, with curled tendrils of her blonde hair escaping to frame her face. Nancy tucked small sprigs of lavender, lilac, baby’s breath, and rosemary into Simone’s hair.
“Who’s the rosemary for?” asked Midori.
“For Crystal,” was the quiet answer, “and the unknown man who sired me. Both are lost to the mists of time, but I will always remember them. Now, go on, all of you, I’ll be down in a minute.”
