Ryan didn’t say another word throughout the elevator ride up to my floor. He let me exit first, so I held the door while he maneuvered the cart out. I pointed him in the direction of my room, and we walked in silence. At my door, he took my key card and let himself in. I followed, pushing the cart. Before I could say or do anything, he carried my two garment bags to the closet, and while I was carrying my toiletry bag to the bathroom, he sat my two suitcases on the bed.
“Do you need help with anything else?” he asked as I removed the gift bags and set them on the small, round table by the tiny kitchen.
“No, thank you,” I said, unable to make eye contact with him. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I did see him take a hesitant step toward me with his hand reached out as if to touch me. I held my breath in anticipation of feeling his hand on my bare arm.
Before he could touch me—to my relief and disappointment—his cell phone went off, playing Metallica’s The Unforgiven II. A man after my heart, I thought and smiled.
Ryan cursed, said goodbye, and left. Through the door, I heard him answer the phone with a gruff, “Hello.”
I slumped in the nearest seat and let out the breath I had been holding.
Chapter 5 ~ I Do
~~~Ryan~~~
On more than one occasion throughout the nearly twenty minute ceremony, I told myself that if I ever got married I would have the shortest wedding possible. I did my best to pay attention to Dave and Danielle, but my eyes kept going back to Leigh. I’m not a sentimentalist, but on occasion, since Dave told me he was going to propose, I have thought about what it would be like to settle down. Standing there, though, listening to the vows and watching Leigh watch her sister made me think seriously about it, long for it more than I thought I would.
I wouldn’t allow any of the people there, aside from Dave and Danielle, at my wedding. I didn’t even think I would invite my parents after some of the things they’ve said about Leigh over the past few weeks—not that I understood that I was factoring Leigh into my wedding then. All of their hatred was more than I could stand, and I didn’t know if I wanted them in my life anymore.
A few months before the wedding, I’d started talking to the son of an alpha of a pack east of Pine Hollow about joining his pack. Dave had contacted the son years earlier when contemplating leaving the pack to be with Danielle. His father’s pack had become more accepting of humans in the last year or so, and rumors said that another one of the alpha’s sons was married to a human woman.
I wasn’t planning my life with Leigh right then. I didn’t even know if she felt anything for me, and I barely understood my feelings for her, but I did know that that event was my last straw with the Pine Hollow pack. The way Dave’s aunt had treated Leigh in the hotel lobby the day before was bad, but the way they had treated her at the rehearsal dinner that night was beyond ludicrous.
The hotel has three restaurants its residents could eat at on top of what they can order and have brought to their room by the hotel’s kitchen: a gourmet deli only open from eleven to three and two high-class restaurants that are only open from four to midnight. One is more or less a steak house and the other focuses mainly on seafood and oriental food.
As shapeshifters with high metabolisms, we eat a great deal of meat, so the families decided that the steak house would be the perfect venue for the rehearsal dinner. I had looked for Leigh during the actual rehearsal, but hadn’t seen her or sensed her. If she had watched the proceedings, she had done so from a hidden corner somewhere out of smelling range. My wolf had begged me to ask Dave about her, had fought the urge since the second I had dropped her at her hotel room, to seek her out, to take her.
In the hour between the rehearsal and the dinner, I had slipped away to see if I could catch her scent in the hopes of pretending to run into her somewhere, but all I got was the hours old smell of her in the lobby and in the elevator we took to her floor. I took that same elevator and got off down the hall from her room. Her scent was stronger there and was an indication that she hadn’t left her room since she got there. I paced the long hall for about ten minutes, trying to gather the nerve to knock on her door, and just when I thought I would, Dave called wanting to know where I was. Even though I had wanted to throttle him for the second time that day for interrupting me while I contemplated all the ways I would have Leigh, he was a nervous wreck and needed a drink, and I couldn’t deny him.
Leigh didn’t slip from my mind completely after that, but when I got to the bar in the restaurant we would be eating at and saw how pale my friend was, I shoved everything else out of my mind and focused on him. He wasn’t nervous about marrying Danielle. He loved her, but his family was stressing him about everything. He and Danielle wanted to live outside pack territory for a little while, they didn’t want to start a family right away, and when they did move back to pack land, they wanted to live away from both of their families—all things his family and the Council were having a fit over.
“You look about as bad as I feel,” Dave said, when I took a seat beside him at the bar. “Want to talk about it?”
“Nope. There’s nothing to discuss. Today’s all about you. You want to tell me what’s bothering you?” I asked, ordering a Coors Light from the bartender.
“Nope,” he said, mimicking me. “I just want to drink.”
“Don’t drink too much. This night isn’t over.”
“I know. Why did you have to talk me into having my bachelor party last weekend? Tonight I could really use that kind of a release.”
“Because I didn’t want you puking all down the front of Danielle’s pretty dress tomorrow morning. She wouldn’t forgive either one of us if that happened.”
“No, she wouldn’t. Thanks for that. We did get pissed, and I did spend all day Saturday sick to my stomach. I thought we had better constitutions than that.”
“Usually we do. You just set out to see if you could get that drunk. That liquor store we went to probably closed after we left…you spent so much money. And that was on top of what was already waiting for us at the cabin. I bet you won’t do that again, will you?”
“Not on your life. I thought I was dying.”
“For a second there I thought you were as well. I’m glad you lived. Danielle would have taken my balls for that.” We both burst into laughter until a familiar voice spoke behind us, freezing our expressions.
“I would have taken your balls for what?” Danielle asked, stepping in between us and looking at me.
“Nothing,” I said, trying not to look at Dave’s shaking head behind her.
She narrowed her eyes at me, but I held strong.
“Dave, what did your friend do and to whom did he do it to?” she asked, turning to her husband-to-be.
“Ryan didn’t do anything to anyone.”
“Then what am I missing?”
“We were talking about last weekend.”
“And…”
Sighing, Dave said, “We were talking about how much we drank. And Ryan was saying that if he had let me have too much to drink that night you would have had his balls.”
“This is true,” she said, grabbing Dave’s beer and downing the last half of it as we stared on in awe.
“What’s wrong with you?” Dave asked, taking the glass from her and shaking his head “no” at the bartender when he asked if they wanted more.
“Nothing.”
“Hey, that isn’t fair. We told you.”
“Okay. I just want to go on record as saying I hate our family. Ryan, you tell no one I said that.”
“You’re not getting any argument out of me. I’m growing to hate them also.”
“Why?” she asked, zeroing in on a way to deflect from her problems.
“Maybe after you guys are back from your honeymoon I’ll tell you both. I have some things to think about first. Is that cool?”
She eyed me suspiciously but nodded. Dave did the same.
“So why are we hating our families right now?” Dave a
sked, pulling her back on track.
“Because of Leigh. I sent her a text asking if she would be at the rehearsal, and she said no. Just no. Nothing else. A few minutes ago, I sent another one letting her know I was alone and heading down to the bar—I didn’t know the two of you were here. I asked if she would come have a drink with me before dinner, and she said no again. Just that one word. I know why she’s saying no, and it infuriates me. She didn’t come for the bachelorette party. She wouldn’t come early enough to spend one day with me. I even promised on every holy book on the planet it would only be the two of us, but that wouldn’t sway her. I’m losing her, Dave, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Dave pulled Danielle into his arms as she burst into tears. I turned from them both, trying to silence the snarl that was attempting to burst from me. I downed my beer and was tempted to order another but didn’t. It would take too long and too much alcohol to get me drunk. I didn’t have the time or the patience for that right at that moment. The wedding party and a few early guests would be arriving any moment. Dave and Danielle’s rehearsal dinner was not the place for me to show my ass.
I turned to see the helpless look on my friend’s face as he held his sobbing bride-to-be. If I knew how to help them, I would have, but nothing short of them leaving the pack would fix the problem they were facing, and as much as Danielle loves her sister, I wasn’t sure she would take that step.
Eventually, Danielle pulled away from him and wiped her face. Dave asked the bartender for a wet paper towel for her to use. The man nodded and handed her one. She tried to clean herself, but the tears that were streaming down her cheeks hindered her progress.
“Shh…” Dave said and pulled her back to him. “Everything will work itself out.”
“How?” she asked.
“I’m not sure yet, but I have a feeling some big changes are coming. Your parents aren’t happy with things. I know they are playing the part until this is over just as we are, but this way of thinking can’t last. The Council is old and antiquated,” he said in a low voice. “Too many supernaturals are venturing out of our world and into the human one. They are finding lovers, making friends, building lives. If they can do it, so can we. Leigh is one human. Surely, they can grow to accept one human.”
“I don’t think that will ever happen,” Danielle said.
“It will,” Dave said, with more confidence than I think he felt.
“And if it doesn’t?” I asked, turning to face them. When neither of them said anything, I continued. “I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t live under such strict rules anymore.”
“What are you saying?” Dave asked, leaning in to whisper even lower.
I looked around and didn’t see anyone I knew, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone in the vicinity with sharp enough senses to hear me.
“I’m saying that sometime real soon, I’m leaving. And if things go as I hope they do, I’ll be taking Leigh with me.”
“What?” Danielle asked, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
“Never mind,” I said, cursing myself for the slip up. I hadn’t meant to say it. Didn’t know why I had. I hadn’t even touched the woman, but I felt as if she were mine.
“No. What does Leigh have to do with your plans?” she asked. “Is there something going on between the two of you I don’t know about? She hasn’t said, and I haven’t smelled your scent on her.”
“No, there isn’t anything going on yet, and there might not ever be, but…”
“Do you have feelings for my sister?” The hint of glee in her eyes was too much to bear.
“I don’t know.”
“Where will you go?” Dave asked, saving me from Danielle’s inquisition.
“I…” I didn’t get to finish my sentence because at that moment Danielle’s parents entered the restaurant. Her mother headed straight toward us, as her father went to confirm our reservations.
“Oh my, Danielle, what’s wrong? You look awful,” her mother said, pulling her into a hug.
“I’m fine, Mom. I’m simply being overly sentimental. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll run to the restroom real quick before we eat and freshen up,” she said, extricating herself from her mother’s tight embrace.
“I’ll escort you out. I could use a bathroom break myself,” I said, needing to take a breather before the night’s festivities began.
Dave nodded gratefully toward me. His parents were approaching and wouldn’t be giving him the second he needed to see to his future wife. Placing my hand on the small of Danielle’s back, I led her through the restaurant to the hall where the restrooms were located. She had her cell out and was texting franticaly. When she let out a sigh of relief, I asked if everything was all right.
“Leigh is on her way.”
“She’s coming to the rehearsal dinner?” I asked with too much hope in my voice.
“Yes. She promised to come if she could sit at the end of the table away from our families. I told her that was fine. Will you sit next to her, Ryan? I know she’s human, but…” she started to say before remembering the conversation we just had.
“You don’t mind?” I asked. I wanted the opportunity. I would pursue Leigh without Danielle’s permission if need be, but I did want her to be okay with the idea. “I mean… I would like the chance to get to know her. Danielle, please don’t be angry, but I think she and I have a connection. I can’t say she’s my mate, but I feel drawn to her.”
I think I said that last bit with too much enthusiasm because Danielle’s head jerked up at me in surprise, and she said, “Really?”
“I could be wrong. I haven’t spent enough time with her to know for certain. I hadn’t planned to do anything about it until after the wedding, if I did anything at all. I don’t know what I’m saying or feeling, but I would be honored to keep your sister company during this meal.”
“Thank you,” she said, beaming up at me.
“You’re welcome,” I said and gave her a one-armed hug.
Chapter 6 ~ The Rehearsal Dinner
~~~Ryan~~~
Danielle and I parted to go to our respective restrooms, did our business, and met in the hall a few minutes later. I followed behind her as we made our way through the restaurant to the corner her father had reserved for the event. As we approached, we saw one of the hosts escorting Leigh to a small table away from our group and along the back wall where she was close enough to see everyone but not close enough to be a part of the dinner.
Leigh stared at no one as the man pulled out her chair and told her someone would be right with her to take her order. I saw the hint of tears gloss her eyes and the hitch in her breath as she sat alone, but nothing else about her demeanor suggested there was anything wrong.
Danielle froze at the sight of her sister, looked from her mother whose eyes pleaded with Danielle to not make a scene, then back to her sister sitting alone. I felt the woman’s body tense beside me, and I knew the moment she had made the decision that she was done playing by the pack’s rules. The scent of her anger and determination cloying the air was welcoming because it masked mine. I was doubly glad for the suit I wore as it covered the fur that was sprouting from my arms and back. I felt my teeth shifting, and it took everything I had in me not to curl my lips and snarl at the pack members surrounding the tables Mr. Alexander had reserved. My wolf was scratching at the surface of my skin, begging for me to release him. I could feel Danielle’s body vibrating in front of me, wanting to do the same.
The instant Danielle started to turn in the direction of her sister, a large man stepped up behind us, placed an arm around each of our shoulders, and led us toward our waiting pack. Instead of cowering, my wolf snapped at the man. I forced myself to keep my mouth shut and to keep my eyes straight ahead to prevent the man from seeing my defiance.
The older wolf said Danielle’s name jovially and spoke as if nothing were wrong, but his grip on us told me he was angry. Martin Burch, one of our more stubborn and voc
al Council members had also seen Danielle’s decision and quickly stepped in to stop her. Burch looked fifty-five, but was hundreds of years older than that and had the strength to prove it.
Danielle’s face instantly shifted to docile and compliant, and she let him guide us to our corner, but her fake smile fooled no one. Despite our bravado, the Council still intimidated us. I could feel their hold on me weakening though. Danielle’s body language suggested the same for her.
We took our seats, and I did as Danielle had asked. I sat at the end of the table far from the Council and the bride and groom’s family. From my location, I could see Leigh’s every move, every breath, every blink. She wore a stunning midnight blue, ankle length wrap dress with matching heels. She had her phone out on the table. She pretended to read something on it as she waited for and ate her meal. She never once looked our way.
I did hear Danielle’s phone vibrate a few times from under the table and knew that Leigh was surreptitiously texting her. I couldn’t help but grin at the sisters’ defiance.
Martin looked my way a few times, his expression hardening with irritation every time he caught me watching Leigh. I didn’t hide the fact that I was watching her from anyone, though I think he was the only one paying enough attention to me to notice. He glowered at me in the hopes of intimidating me, but all his look did was fuel my anger and my determination. Our pack wasn’t small by any means, but I knew that we couldn’t lose too many members or others would see the town as weak and try to invade us. I didn’t want to leave the pack. Pine Hollow was my home. Unfortunately, I was finding more and more reasons not to stay.
Every so often, I wondered if it would be better if someone else seized control of the pack. We didn’t have an alpha family like so many others. We had a ruling Council made up of family members from the six families that created our pack. The longer they ruled, the harder their grip on the community got, the more power they seemed to want. Martin was the worst. His family had been the first to come to Pine Hollow, and he walked our streets with an air of superiority.
Outcast (Supernaturals Book 2) Page 4