by Lisa Oliver
Unfortunately, Asaph’s mood persisted. The ground breaking ceremony was…nothing shattering. Ronan stood at Asaph’s side while the man dug a hole in the ground. Men clapped and cheered. Asaph made a speech and that was that. Ronan wanted to go back to their hotel so he could have alone time with his mate, out of bed, but Asaph dragged him to the shops on The Strip, determined to find him the perfect jacket. After that, lunch in a bustling café with Asaph being studiously busy on his phone. By the time they got back to the hotel, Bronson, Beatrice and his friends had arrived. Enzo’s loud cries about a biker wedding and him having nothing to wear needed to be sorted and not long after that Bronson dragged Asaph away, claiming they should have some time alone before the actual event, so the chance for a talk never happened.
Now it was too late. Ronan looked around the small chapel. It’d been decorated and looked like a swanky biker bar. There was a huge Harley Davidson flag in place of flowers above the altar, which itself was a plain wooden table complete with gouge marks and graffiti. The celebrant was dressed in ripped jeans, chains and a surprisingly clean white t-shirt, his grey hair standing out in tufts around the bright red bandana he wore. Bronson and the others decided to sit on the hard wooden chairs provided, but Enzo declared he would stand by Ronan until his prospective groom arrived.
And then Ronan heard it. The unmistakable thrum of a Harley engine turning into the driveway of the chapel. The bike was the reason Ronan wanted this particular themed wedding – he had no interest in Elvis, Medieval or Marvel Comic themes. Although Ronan had never been on the back of a bike in his life, much less ridden one himself, he could picture his mate riding straight into the chapel, his arrogance, confidence and model-worthy looks complemented perfectly by the gleaming black bike.
Turning, Ronan’s breath caught in this throat. The reality in front of him was so much better than his imagination. Asaph had left off the helmet provided, his mussed blond hair enhancing the devil-may-care smirk he had on his face. As Asaph eased the bike to a stop, turning it off, the silence was almost deafening. But then he lifted the black-mirrored glasses he was wearing and Ronan’s heart leapt. Asaph might’ve been standoffish and moody all morning, but as Ronan watched his mate stalk towards him, every inch the Alpha he was, the possessiveness, the happiness and the lusty gleam in those bright blue eyes touched Ronan’s soul. His wolf howled in his head and his heart sang right alongside him.
“I knew you’d look good in leather pants,” he said with a smile as Asaph stepped close and took his hand.
“Meh, these old things,” Asaph said, but Ronan knew he was pleased. “Bronson dug them out of the back of my closet and brought them. I wasn’t sure they’d even fit anymore.”
“You look fantastic,” Ronan said. And it was true. Asaph in a business suit came across as untouchable and aloof, but in more casual clothes, and with his eyes still bright as Asaph looked Ronan all over – this was the man he was going to marry. For one split second Ronan wished his mother could be standing by his side, but he refused to let negative thoughts upset his wedding day. He was sure, if she could see him, no matter what her advice had been growing up, she would have approved of Asaph.
Instead he focused on the slight tinge of pink on Asaph’s face, the way his jacket stretched effortlessly across his broad shoulders, and how his muscle shirt looked painted on. His mate was every one of Ronan’s dreams come true, and yet even in the short time they’d been together, Ronan also knew that under that forbidding exterior, Asaph had a heart of gold. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Well, shall we do this then?”
Asaph winked, and still holding onto Ronan’s hand they turned and faced the celebrant who was looking more than a little amused. “It’s not often we get a couple in here who are so clearly in love as you two,” the celebrant said. Ronan refused to consider what it might mean that they hadn’t spoken those three magic words yet. They were shifters, they had plenty of time. Even if the words weren’t said, Ronan knew what he felt in his heart, and he straightened his back and smiled as the celebrant started his introductions.
Ronan had never been to a wedding before, but he presumed that the customary opening remarks about love and commitment were commonplace. Personally he thought those ideas were unnecessary. If a couple came together to get married, then surely they’d already thought about those things. But it is Vegas, he reminded himself, so maybe those magazine stories were true and people did just get drunk and get married. Although it would have to be one heck of a bender because he and Asaph had to wait twenty-four hours after getting the license before they could actually go through the ceremony. But for shifters a wedding wasn’t even necessary and if he and Asaph didn’t spend so much time in the human world Asaph probably wouldn’t have mentioned it at all. But of course the celebrant didn’t know any of that, and didn’t need to. Ronan was just keen to get to the important bit. The kiss at the end.
“Before Asaph and Ronan exchange their vows, in accordance with the law I need to ask if anyone present knows of any valid reason these two should not be joined together in matrimony today.” The celebrant smiled at Bronson and the others. Ronan smiled too. There wasn’t one person present who had a problem with him and Asaph getting married. That’s probably why the wedding party is so small. But the chapel doors slamming open made a lie out of his assumptions.
“I object,” a clear, loud and unmistakably female voice yelled. Oh no!
“Leticia?” Asaph turned, pulling Ronan with him. It was Leticia all right, and she wasn’t alone. Mario was with her, as was Paul and someone who could have passed as his twin brother. Both men were carrying large guns.
“That’s right sweetheart,” Leticia said striding forward. “I have every right to object to you marrying this, this, this person, when you promised to marry me.”
“I did no such thing,” Asaph said hotly, moving as if to protect Ronan from Leticia’s spite. Ronan wasn’t having any of that. He gripped Asaph’s hand tightly and stayed by his side.
“I have witnesses,” Leticia said casually. “I have this lovely rock on my finger with a receipt for it in your name. You asked me to marry you, I said yes, we agreed to do it in two weeks’ time, all of which constitutes a contract. Marry this thing beside you and that’ll be all the proof I need to win the court case.”
“Excuse me, miss,” the celebrant stepped forward. “Whether he promised to marry you or not, the license has been issued for Mr. Bosch and Mr. Montgomery. You can sue him for breach of promise, but that’s not grounds to stop this wedding.”
“That’s what you think,” Leticia snapped, and she waved Paul and his lookalike forward, before digging in her purse. “I have papers,” she declared, waving them about, “court papers putting an injunction on this marriage until the breach of promise case is finalized.” She handed them to the celebrant who quickly scanned them.
“They’re not valid,” he said, handing them back. “Those papers only apply to weddings performed in Florida. There’s nothing in that injunction stopping me from marrying these two today. Now if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to get on with it. I have another wedding booked in thirty minutes.”
“Oh you’re no fucking use.” Leticia stuffed the papers back in her bag and then pulled out a small hand gun, firing point blank at the celebrant. He fell to the floor with a loud thud, the white of his t-shirt marred with a growing bloodstain. Ronan stared in horror and Asaph growled beside him.
“You’ve gone too fucking far this time, Leticia. You’ve got no interest in marrying me, you never had. You just want to get your hands on my fucking money and I’ll tell you now, it’s not going to happen.”
“Oh that was Daddy’s plan,” Leticia said, looking for all the world like she was at a party rather than standing over the body of a man she’d just shot. Ronan noticed Shaman Waters creeping over to check the celebrant, who was breathing at least. When had he arrived? Waters gave him a quick wink and settled his hands on the celebrant’s chest. Ronan looked bac
k at Asaph and Bronson who’d appeared by his side. There was going to be fur flying in a minute if those two Alphas didn’t calm down.
“You’ve always loved Asaph, haven’t you? This was a love match for you, wasn’t it? Is that why you’re so upset?” He said, moving into Leticia’s line of sight.
“What would you know about love, faggot?” Leticia said. Her mouth twisted in an ugly sneer and her eyes were cold. “Love’s for fools. Don’t you know who Asaph is? How important he is among people who matter? How could you possibly understand what being married to him will mean. You…your nothing but a…peasant. A fucking toy, and if you think for one minute I’m going to let you step into my place by Asaph’s side, then you’re more stupid than you look.”
“I’m not going to marry you Leticia,” Asaph growled. “There’s nothing on earth that will make me marry you.”
“Not even to save your precious toy?” Leticia raised her finger and Ronan suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of two guns, Mario’s men were scarily focused, their trigger fingers itching. Ronan went to say something, but a glare from Asaph made him shut his mouth. His Alpha was barely hanging onto his control, Ronan could see the wolf in his eyes and the increased hair on the back of his hands.
“You see,” Leticia said, walking around Asaph trailing her gun-free hand over his body, pushing Bronson out of the way. “My dad’s plan was too simplistic. He wanted the money, he was furious when he’d heard you’d dumped me. When you refused to cave in to the pregnancy demands, well, he took matters into his hands one way, with the court case, and as for me. Well, I had a little help from your Italian friend.”
“He’s no friend of mine,” Asaph growled. Admittedly Mario’s face was covered in sweat and he didn’t look as confident as he did when he’d arrived. Seems he wasn’t aware of what Leticia was capable of. Ronan didn’t think any of them were. Shifters were faster, stronger and more capable than humans in a lot of respects, but a gun could still kill one. Not to mention that if any of them shifted then there’d be hell to pay. “Selling me out for twenty million is not a good basis for friendship,” Asaph added and his voice dropped dangerously low.
“I did what I had to do mio amico.” Mario shrugged. “Business is business, and I didn’t want your reputation to suffer.”
Ronan didn’t have a clue what Mario was talking about, but apparently it didn’t matter, because Leticia was bored. “You two,” she said, pointing to Paul and his companion. “Take the scrawny one, lock him up and keep him hidden until you get my call. Come Asaph darling, we have a license to get and we can find someone else to marry us within the next twenty-four hours. I’ve already done the preliminary application, so we just have to appear in person at the clerk’s office and show our ID.”
“I’m not marrying you and if anyone lays one finger on Ronan, I’ll fucking kill them.” Sugar Pops. Asaph was on the verge of shifting and he wasn’t about to stop. Ronan looked around, Enzo was staring, his eyes wide.
“Enz,” he hissed. Enzo looked. “Lock the chapel door,” Ronan mouthed. Enzo frowned, and Ronan tried again, “Lock the chapel door.” Enzo’s hands came up as if asking a question, but then as silent as a mouse, he crept towards the door, and Ronan heard a distinctive click as Enzo turned the lock. Out loud, Ronan said brightly, “I think it’s about to get messy in here,” and it was as though that was the signal Asaph was waiting for. His shirt and jacket exploded in a mass of shredded threads and fibers, his fingers became massive claws and Ronan watched fascinated as Asaph’s chiseled features sported fur and the elongated snout of a wolf.
My Gods, he’s holding his shift between forms. But it wasn’t just Asaph, Bronson had done the same thing and now there were two huge furry forms looking like something out of a late night horror movie. Asaph flung his head back and howled, the long angry sound morphing into growls as he advanced on Leticia.
Leticia screamed, and started yelling, “Shoot them, shoot them.” Not on my watch, Ronan thought grimly, swinging his leg high and around, knocking the guns to the floor. Paul and his pal didn’t even bother trying to pick them up. They ran to the door, frantically trying to get it open, but suddenly Waters was there, his power swirling around him like a huge cape.
“Sleep,” Waters said, raising his arms. Both men stared as though in a trance and then just fell to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs. Ronan turned back to see Asaph had grabbed Leticia and had a big hairy hand around her neck, her feet dangling in mid-air. Asaph was trying to say something, but all that was coming out of his mouth was growls.
“Asaph, you can’t kill her,” he said, running over. Asaph tilted his furry head and Ronan could see the question in his eyes. “Sure, she might’ve tried to trap you into marriage, she’s suing you for thirty million dollars, and she shot the celebrant and was going to marry you at gunpoint.” Ronan closed his mouth. The more he thought, the more he felt Leticia would be better off dead. If she’d been a shifter, there wouldn’t have been any doubt. Asaph was still looking at him, and he shrugged. “Sorry, you’re right. I got nothing.”
“Actually Ronan, you were right,” Waters said, coming up and placing his hand on Asaph’s arm. The fur started to recede. “You can’t kill her, despite the threat to your mate. I’ll call the council and they can deal with her, the two goons and your Judas over there.”
“Hey, I didn’t see nothing, I didn’t do nothing, I’m…I’m not….”
“Sleep.” Ronan wondered where the Shaman got his powers; it was a pretty awesome trick. Leticia went from a screaming mess, to a rag doll in the space of a second. Mario resisted for all of a second and a half, before he too ended up slumped on the floor.
“Hey, you’re not going to do that to us are you?” Marcos said. Ronan completely forgot that the others were in the room. Beatrice looked shocked, her face white, but she had a determined set to her chin. Enzo was curled up in Jeff’s arms and wouldn’t look at Asaph and Bronson. The celebrant seemed to be still unconscious, but he was breathing regularly and didn’t seem to be in any pain. Ronan was surprised to see even the man’s t-shirt was blood and hole free.
“I think all of you have got things to discuss,” Waters said calmly. “However, you should know that our council takes the possibility of leaking our secret to humans seriously. If I doubt that any of you can keep your mouths shut, I will be back, and it won’t be pleasant.”
“We won’t say anything,” Enzo said with a flash of bravado the spunky little twink was known for. “But yeah, our friends, old and new have got a lot of explaining to do.”
“What about our wedding?” Asaph returned to his human form, although he was without a shirt or jacket. Bronson was in the same state, and Ronan’s mouth twitched as he saw Enzo’s eyes widen. His friend was devoted to Jeff and Marcos, but it didn’t stop him looking.
“The celebrant will remember nothing; the council will make sure there’s no record of you having been here.” The Shaman looked around the room. “And we’ll need a quick cleanup crew, and thankfully I know there’s one local. But the celebrant won’t be fit to marry you today.”
“I’m guessing it’s going to have to be another time,” Ronan said regretfully. “As my dear friend pointed out, we’ve kinda got to do a bit of explaining first.” He looked over to where Bronson was kneeling in front of Beatrice, saying something in a low voice. Beatrice glowered, but Bronson kept talking and slowly the woman smiled. After a few more moments Bronson patted her on the knee and stood up, coming over to where Asaph now had Ronan snugly held in his arms.
“Whew,” he said, “I felt for sure Beatrice was going to take my coffee away. There’s no way I’m suffering through cups of Chai Latte simply because she thinks it might be better for me.”
“So you pointed out that going furry had nothing to do with coffee?” Asaph asked.
“Of course,” Bronson tried to look indignant but failed miserably. “That woman loves me, and now she loves me even more because of my genetic conditio
n.”
Genetic condition. That was one way of putting it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Asaph gently stroked the hair from Ronan’s face. His little mate looked exhausted even in sleep, and Asaph felt guilty about waking him. Apart from Beatrice who’d cried a little when she thought Asaph didn’t trust her; and Enzo who’d muttered something about buying Ronan a rhinestone covered flea collar for Christmas; the whole “shifters are real, it’s a secret, and no we aren’t like the werewolves on television” conversation went remarkably well. Enzo thought the idea of fated mates was “too adorable for words,” and even Beatrice was seen to wipe a quiet tear from her eye.
The “I have a psycho ex-girlfriend and yes she’s after my money,” conversation didn’t go as well, but it was soon forgotten. Waters had been true to his word; within thirty minutes of the attack, Leticia, Mario, Paul and his sidekick were bundled into black SUV’s with tinted windows and spirited off into the afternoon. Asaph didn’t know what would happen to them all, and personally he didn’t care. He’d worried about his land deal for two seconds flat, and decided his mate’s health was more important.
Jeff and Marcos teased him and Bronson, claiming if they were shifters they should have more flexibility than they had. Ronan shifted, simply to show his friends, and Beatrice, that not all shifters turned into massive two-legged creatures with fangs and drool. Asaph would have shifted too; but he’d had enough teasing from Ronan’s friends as he made his way from the chapel to the hotel without a shirt or jacket. Not that Bronson was in any better state. A huge meal, more than a few laughs and a couple of well-deserved bourbons made for a pleasant evening and by the time Ronan and Asaph had seen their friends off at the airport, there was no weirdness at all.