Best Friends (New Species Book 15)

by Laurann Dohner

  But soon.

  He ended the kiss and their gazes locked. Mel was his entire world now…and by the love in her eyes, Snow knew she felt the very same.

  Lash

  Chapter One

  Mary wished she could crouch lower on her seat or even hide under the table. She kept her chin tucked down, since it seemed as if everyone stared at her when she looked up. The wedding cake sitting before her was great, but she couldn’t take another bite. Her appetite wasn’t present.

  She just wanted to leave. Her stomach felt queasy. Nerves always did that to her.

  No one at Reservation had been rude. It wasn’t them. It was her. She was terrified to be here, and no amount of reason or logic could fix her distress.

  New Species frightened her. It wasn’t personal. Her past had made her the way she was.

  A dog had attacked her when she was five. It was the first time, but it wasn’t the last. Another dog had come after her when she’d turned eight. Then again at ten, thirteen, nineteen…and just six months before in a grocery store, right after her twenty-sixth birthday. Worse, everyone had laughed at her when she’d climbed inside the cart to get away from the menace. It may have been small but the second it saw Mary, it snarled and barked as it lunged toward her.

  Why couldn’t anyone else see how that might be scary?

  Cats absolutely hated her, too. She’d smile at them and they’d just hiss. One had even chased her right out of her aunt Christine’s front door. The entire family had sworn they’d never seen anything like it before. Their loving and typically calm kitty had turned into a snarling hairball that seemed intent on clawing Mary’s eyes out.

  The hatred animals demonstrated toward her even extended to horses. The one time she’d tried to learn how to ride, the beast had gone crazy when she’d approached and had attempted to trample her. Then it had tried to take a bite out of her. That had killed her dream of maybe falling in love with a cowboy. Ranches weren’t a safe choice.

  Animals just hated her. It used to hurt her feelings, but she stopped caring as much after the attack of the rodents. That had been the last straw.

  She’d been on a date with a man at a park. Picnics were supposed to be fun and romantic. One second they’d been smiling at each other over a basket of fried chicken, and the next, a dozen field mice rushed them. It had been like something out of a horror movie.

  Her date had later said they must have been starving and going after the food. Mary wasn’t buying it. They’d come after her, and if she hadn’t run for her life, they probably would have tried to eat her alive.

  She’d sworn that day to avoid anything with claws, fangs, hooves, or tails. Goldfish were safe—from at least a four-foot distance. She’d figured that out after a couple had actually leapt from their little bowls when she’d been around. Their owners had to scramble to quickly scoop them up and dump them back into the water. It had happened twice in her life. Both friends had assured her it happened but she was pretty sure…it only happened when she was around.

  It was just a fact. Animals seemed to instinctively hate her. It was just one of those mysteries of life she’d stopped trying to figure out or explain. It just was.

  Now she sat in a large cafeteria with at least forty New Species at Reservation. They were all part animal. Worse, they’d grown up being severely abused by humans. She wondered if any of them harbored any resentments. A chill ran down her spine, and she glanced around surreptitiously, praying that she didn’t remind any of them of someone horrible from Mercile Industries.

  “You look ready to jump out of your skin.” Mel leaned in close and bumped her shoulder. “Breathe.”

  She turned her head and gave her best friend a pleading look. “Can I go home now?”

  “No. You made it through my wedding but the reception isn’t over. Dancing is up next, and then I’m going to toss the bouquet. You have to try to catch it…and I happen to have inside information that you’ve totally got this in the bag. The few New Species women who came swear they don’t want to be mated. They’ll clear the area for you to make sure you get it.”

  “I don’t want to find a man that bad.”

  Mel sighed. “You like Snow.”

  “Because he loves you, and he knows you’d be pissed if he attacked me. That means he’s got motivation to fight his instincts.”

  Mel rolled her eyes. “That’s bull pucky. You’ve just had some bad luck.”

  “Yeah, you’ve told me that before. Then you brought that cute little kitten into the diner that the Johnson family had just adopted from Animal Control, to prove me wrong. Do you remember what happened?”

  Mel nodded. “It hissed at you and tried to jump on you.”

  “Animals hate me.” She shrugged.

  Mel looked around. “Well, New Species don’t. Some of the men are staring at your breasts, though. You’re showing a good amount of cleavage, what with you hunched over like that.”

  “It’s likely my throat they’re staring at.”

  Mel got that irritated look Mary knew too well. “You’re safe here. These folks are really…well…human. Forget they have fangs and get over it. Now, sit up straight like I’m sure your mama told you a million times while growing up and find your backbone.”

  “My mother never said that to me.”

  “Rub it in. Mine sure did. Then she’d touch my hair, ask if I was getting a yellow streak and say that I was embarrassing her. I still can’t believe her and my papa refused to come to my wedding. She’s praying for me with her church group instead.”

  Sympathy rose for her best friend. Mel tried hard to seem like it didn’t matter that she didn’t get along with her mother, but Mary had seem glimpses of her pain. Especially when her family hadn’t reacted well when she’d told them about falling in love with a New Species. “She’s still upset that you married Snow? I hoped it would just take a few days to adjust to the surprise of your news and she’d get onboard.”

  “She isn’t going to get over this. Snow is hurt that my folks aren’t happy about us, but I had to tell him the truth. It doesn’t matter. My mama’s more upset that she isn’t getting to marry me off to the old widower next door. She really did have her heart set on trading me for those corn fields and that bigger pond.”

  Mary hoped Mel kept telling herself that, and it caused the hurt to lessen. There were a few choice things she’d love to tell Mel’s mother. None of them would be nice. “I remember. The neighbor’s old and he drinks, and she was hoping he’d die fast so you’d inherit all his property.”

  “She’s never going to win a Mama of the Year award.” Mel grinned. “Plus, she swore she’d never come visit me and made it clear Snow wouldn’t be welcome there. Do you know what that means?”

  “You don’t have to see your family ever again.”

  Mel lifted her hand. “High-five me, best friend.”

  Mary smacked her palm, despite seeing that hurt again in Mel’s eyes. “I’m so happy for you.”

  Mel dropped her arm. “It’s your turn next to find what I have. That’s why I’m not letting you leave until after you catch the bouquet.”

  “You don’t really believe in that crap, do you?”

  “It couldn’t hurt. Why take a chance?”

  “Fine. I’ll stay. I’m not dancing, though.”

  “Hey, I can compromise.”

  “Good.” Mary glanced around, and she did see men watching her. She dropped her gaze as fear surged. “Where’s a bathroom?”

  “I’ll take you.”

  That meant Mel would hustle to get her in and out as fast as possible, but Mary just wanted to hide. She guessed the women’s bathroom should be a safe place to do that. “No. You go dance with your new groom and just point the way. I won’t be too long.”

  “I know what you’re up to. Do you have your cell phone in your purse?”

  “Always.”

  “Fine. Go drag out fixing your hair until I call you. Swear to me you won’t leave, though.”<
br />
  “I swear.”

  “Best friend honor?”

  Mary sighed. “Best friend honor. I see that determined look in your eyes. I know better than to try to take off until you toss those flowers at me.”

  “They’re silk. Snow remembered real ones make me sneeze. Isn’t he amazing?”

  Mary really did feel happy for her friend. “He’s perfect for you.”

  “He is.” Mel stood. “Come on. I’ll walk you across the room and point you in the right direction. Keep your purse close and make sure that your ringer is on. Don’t try to flush yourself down the toilet or anything.”

  “Funny.”

  Mary had to admit she was grateful that Mel walked her across the large room. She kept her gaze down but still felt as if she were being watched. They stopped at open double doors and Mel jerked her thumb to the left. “It’s all the way down the hallway, turn right, and you can’t miss it. There’s a sign on the door.”

  The coast was clear. There weren’t any New Species in the hallway. “Got it. Right turn. Sign. Easy enough.”

  Mel squeezed her arm. “Thank you for coming to my wedding. I know you had to face a lot of fears. I appreciate it. I would have been devastated if I didn’t have you standing up with me. You’re my family now.”

  Mary wrapped her fingers around Mel’s and squeezed. She’d happily take that role, since Mel’s real family sucked. “I feel the same way about you, and you know I’ve always got your back.”

  “Go hide. I’ll call you.”

  “I’ll return when you do.”

  “Don’t go wandering off. This place is huge. It used to be a resort hotel for the rich folks who wanted to ride horses and get close to nature before the NSO bought it. I promised them you wouldn’t leave the building, or they would have assigned you a guard to stick to your side. I figured that would flip you out.”

  “I’m not stepping foot outside. You just said ‘nature.’ That means wild animals. I still have nightmares about those mice. I’ve yet to be attacked by bunnies, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  Mel chuckled. “You should get therapy. It helped me.”

  “You fired him and called him just about every name in the book.”

  “But I had issues standing up to my folks until that guy pissed me off so much, I realized telling him where to go felt good. I can’t cuss at my mama because I was raised better, but I did learn the fine art of sarcastic torture from that jerk therapist. He was making fun of me, thinking I wouldn’t notice. I feel much better now.”

  Mary opened her mouth, then closed it. She loved Mel but her friend had an unusual way of seeing things at times. They usually chalked their differences up to Mary being from Northern California and Mel growing up on a small farm in Indiana. Mel always made her laugh regardless.

  “I’m going now.” Mary straightened her shoulders and walked away alone.

  The bathroom was easy to find. Mary used one of the stalls, and then washed her hands, staring into the big mirror on the wall. The dress wasn’t quite her style, but she’d seen far worse bridesmaids’ dresses.

  It had a low V-cut neckline, with tiny buttons down the front. The soft material hugged her frame, from the thin shoulder straps to just below her knee. Mel had simple tastes, and she had gone for the summer dress look. Cream wasn’t Mary’s color, but at least it wasn’t chocolate brown with hot pink bows sewn all over it.

  She grimaced, still traumatized by her cousin Della’s wedding the year before. That gown had been so ugly, she’d burned it on the gas grill in her parents’ backyard the day after wearing it.

  Mary leaned in and used the side of her pinky to fix her smudged mascara. She hadn’t worn much more than that and a little bit of clear gloss on her lips. Her hair was a bit flat without hairspray, but she’d been asked to avoid it, as well as perfume. New Species didn’t like chemical smells.

  She ran her fingers through her blonde hair. It needed to be cut. The problem was, she couldn’t afford to go to the hairdresser for another few weeks. And no way was she going to allow one of her friends to hack away at it. It had taken her almost a year to grow it to the length she’d wanted after the last time she’d made that mistake.

  She opened the flap on her purse and pulled out her cell phone. There were no messages or missed calls. That wasn’t anything new. All her friends from her youth had husbands and children. They were too busy to hang out with her these days.

  It was a depressing reminder that her best friend now had a husband, as well. Snow was sweet, extremely hot, and Mary didn’t blame Mel saying for yes to his proposal. It just meant that Mary’s life was about to get a whole lot lonelier. Mel would live at Reservation, and she’d already quit working at the diner.

  It also meant Mary spending a lot more time around New Species if she wanted to hang out with the only real friend she had left. That was going to be rough. It had taken every ounce of her courage to attend the wedding. Just thinking about going through NSO security again made her shudder. A big New Species wearing a uniform and a helmet had patted her down and searched her purse. She’d managed to not freak out by pretending he was someone else.

  Mary dropped her phone back inside her purse and dug around to look for her lip gloss. It was buried under a travel-size container of tissues. She reapplied it on her lips and sighed. No one else was in the bathroom, so she wanted to stay and enjoy the quiet, but there was nowhere to sit except inside one of the stalls on a toilet seat.

  Maybe the dancing part of this reception won’t be so bad. I can just sit at the table and watch. It beats sitting on a toilet all night. Resigned, she closed her purse and hooked the strap over her shoulder, then pushed open the door and stepped out, walking down the hallway.

  “I know she went this way.” The man who spoke had a deep voice, and it wasn’t one she recognized. “You stay here.”

  Mary stopped in her tracks.

  “I’m going to help you find her,” a second man announced.

  There was a loud thump.

  “Don’t push me into a wall,” one of them snarled.

  The other one laughed. “That was a tap.”

  There was another loud thump. A few low growls sounded. It made her fear they were fighting or about to. One thing was for certain though.

  New Species were looking for her.

  She spun to the door on her immediate left and yanked it open.

  “I definitely scent her,” the first man announced.

  She’d forgotten they could smell as well as hound dogs, and they sounded closer now. She jerked open her purse and frantically grabbed the small bottle of perfume she kept in a pocket, squirting it into the air before she backed up and closed herself into the room. It was dark, but she found a light switch with her hand.

  It turned out to be a cleaning supply closet. There wasn’t a lock on the door or anywhere to hide.

  She dug inside her purse again and grabbed her phone. She’d call Mel for help. It couldn’t be good that New Species were looking for her.

  She knew it was a bad idea to come to Reservation.

  There was no cell signal. No! No! No!

  “Achooo!”

  Mary jumped. That sneeze had come right from the other side of the door.

  “I’ll find her before you do,” one of the males boasted.

  “No, I will,” the other growled. “The game is on.”

  Mary panicked. Were they hunting her? Like a sport? She frantically looked for a weapon, but the sight of a grate on the wall near the floor caught her attention. It was some kind of intake air vent.

  She dropped to her knees and gripped it. The men outside the door seemed to move away, but they’d realize she wasn’t in the bathroom soon enough. They’d search for her.

  Mary yanked on the metal and it gave way. She peered inside.

  It was barely big enough for her to fit, but she could manage if she lay down. There was only one problem. They’d see the vent cover on the floor. She turned around an
d got her feet inside, scooting backward until she lay flat. It was tight, but the soft dress material helped her wiggle in. She lifted the grate and put it back into place.

  Mary’s gaze landed on the light.

  Damn. I forgot.

  It was too late, though, because she heard voices again. She backed up more and kept going. She paused about eight feet inside the vent and checked for a signal on her cell phone. There still wasn’t one. She wiggled more, going farther. It was easier to face her fear of small, confined spaces over big men with fangs.

  Her foot brushed something, and she tried to look back. It was too dark and confining to see anything. She used one foot to remove the other shoe, then get both off. The two-inch high heels made tiny noises as they fell but she hoped no one else had heard. Her bare toes brushed metal. She turned partly onto her side and used her feet to feel what she couldn’t see.

  The vent ended but it split in two other directions. She checked her cell phone again. Still no bars. She’d have to keep going to find a signal.

  This is going to be a bitch.

  She turned more on her side and got her feet into one of the tunnels where the vent split, shoving her phone between her breast and the bra cup. She braced her hands flat on the sides of the metal and pushed. Her hip slid and it took some doing, but she made the turn. She rolled back onto her stomach and the phone slipped from her dress, landing under her.

  I’m never coming back to Reservation. Ever! I don’t care if Mel begs. She can visit me in town.

  She braced her hands on the floor and pushed backward, her body sliding deeper into the vent. She paused and lifted her phone to check the signal.

  Two bars showed.

  “Thank you!”

  She wiggled a little to get more comfortable and tapped the screen to call Mel. Her bestie would send Snow to save her. He would get her out of Reservation and away from his fanged buddies. She trembled so much, she hit the wrong number on the list displayed as her recent calls and had to cancel it out.