Just before I reached the three of them, he slung his arm around Persephone’s waist. So, they were a couple. She appeared to be showing him off to Holly, although there wasn’t much to show off.
Holly looked a little flustered. Persephone had always been able to get under her skin. It used to piss me off something fierce back when Holly and I were together. Just as I had suspected, Persephone obviously hadn’t changed, she was up to her old tricks as usual.
Persephone was more than just a nuisance back in the day. She’d actively focused her attentions on breaking Holly and me up. Sure, I was the one who ruined our relationship in the end, but Sefi had been a constant source of tension. And there had been no reasoning with her. She was a spoiled brat who thought that just because she’d been born into the “right” pack, with the “right” name, she was better than everyone else. She hadn’t earned a damn thing in her life, but she acted like she was entitled to the world and then some.
By the time I realized that Mr. Cheap Catalogue Model was with Sefi, I was too close to turn back without looking foolish. Persephone was touting the virtues of her boyfriend to Holly.
“He’s second in the line of succession of Alpha of the Silver Paw Pack. That’s how we met. He’s been meeting with all the packs, discussing his plans for uniting some of the more significant packs. Of course, he hasn’t gotten to yours yet. For obvious reasons.”
Holly looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, but Persephone kept babbling on, making it impossible for her to break away. I knew I should stay out of this, but the rage bubbling up inside me made it impossible.
I slid up next to Holly and shot a look at Persephone. “Is someone having a job interview or what?”
Persephone’s eyes widened at the sight of me. Her mouth fell open. “Chase. I didn’t know you’d be here. What are you talking about? Job interview?”
I shrugged. “It sounded like you were rattling off this guy’s resume. I assumed you had a reason. Or were you just trying to impress Holly here?”
Persephone’s eyes narrowed, and I suppressed a grin. “I can’t help it if Tyler is amazing. Who can blame me for gushing?”
“Maybe you can go gush somewhere else,” I said.
Persephone shook her head. “No can do. We’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of Holly’s mystery date.” She finger-quoted the air when she said it. And wore a smug smirk.
Holly looked decidedly uncomfortable. Colton had mentioned she didn’t have a date for the wedding and I quickly figured out exactly what the hell was going on here.
“Mystery date?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” Persephone said, clearly enjoying the fact that Holly was in the hot seat now. “I heard she was here alone, but she claims her man just hasn’t shown up yet.”
Holly’s face turned beet red, and her gaze shifted down to the ground. Even though I’d promised myself I would keep my distance from Holly, I wasn’t going to stand idly by while Persephone unleashed on her full force. I could only imagine the taunting Persephone would put her through when no date showed up. No way would I let that happen.
Without hesitating, I slipped my arm around Holly’s shoulder and pulled her close to me. “Well, your wait is over, Persephone. You’re looking at him.”
Several moments of silence followed while Persephone’s jaw hung open in shock. “You?” She turned to look at Holly. “He’s your date?”
Holly snapped out of her own shock to respond. “Got a problem with that?”
“I…uh…” Persephone blinked in confusion. “You two are back together? I just find that hard to believe. You know, after everything that happened.”
“I feel like a broken record saying it again, but as I’ve said so many times in the past, what Holly and I do is none of your business, Sefi.”
Her nostrils flared in anger and I saw the old flames of jealousy burning in her icy blue eyes. She drew herself up. “Well, we’ll see about that. Come on, Tyler.”
She pulled Tyler away in a huff. When she was gone, Holly shook my arm off her and turned to me in anger.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
“I was helping. Or so I thought.”
She glared at me. “I don’t need your damn help, Chase Stone. I don’t need anything from you.”
I grinned. “Maybe we can discuss this later. When Sefi isn’t hovering around, waiting to catch you in a fib. Until then, we should probably act like a happy couple.” I winked at her.
Holly groaned in frustration. Then, she nodded. “Fine. But after these photos are taken, you and I need to set some serious ground rules.”
The photo session was as long as it was ridiculous. I don’t know where Colton found his photographer, but he had us posing like we were at a junior high prom.
What the hell had I been thinking, claiming to be her boyfriend? The best thing I could do for both of us was to stay the hell away from her, not force myself closer. I had a terrible feeling that this would end badly.
Holly seemed to share my fear. As soon as the last picture had been taken, she clamped her hand over my arm and dragged me off into the woods. I felt a strange sensation of deja vu, like the past and the present were overlapping.
In the old days, Holly and I often snuck out into the woods to get some privacy, much like we were doing now. Only today, I doubted I’d end up with Holly’s legs wrapped around my hips`, and her cries of pleasure echoing through the trees.
This time, when she turned to look at me, her eyes blazed with passion alright, but not that good kind. She was so infuriated, I thought she might actually give in to her urges and throat punch me or something.
“What the hell were you thinking, Chase?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but she just kept talking, pacing in front of me.
“You walk out of my life without so much as a goodbye. I don’t see you for ten years. And when I do, you act like you barely know me. And then you tell Persephone-frickin’-Caldwell that we’re dating again? Do you have to try to drive a dagger through my heart, or does it just come naturally to you?”
She stopped pacing and stood glaring at me with her fists clenched at her sides. Her nostrils flared with every breath. She looked like a bull about to charge.
“Well? Are you going to answer?” she asked sharply.
“I was just making sure you were finished. I told Sefi I was your date because I couldn’t stand watching her treat you like you’re somehow inferior.”
Holly crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to consider that for a few seconds. “And you’re sure there’s nothing more to it than that?”
“Like what?”
“Like, I don’t know. Like some weird way of trying to get me to forgive and forget? Like you think this is a way for us to get back together?”
I frowned. “Holly, no. There is no more you and me. I know that. Whatever we shared was in the past. And there’s no going back. Not ever.”
Her face dropped and she rapidly blinked away the hint of tears that were forming. Fuck. I wished I could take back the words I’d just spoken. I was such an asshole. I wanted to say something to comfort her, but I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I’d only eat more of my foot.
Her voice was barely a whisper when she spoke, “If you hate me so much, then why do even care how Sefi treats me?”
“Hate you? I don’t hate you. Not at all. Not even close. I…” What could I say to her? What could I say without making everything worse? I couldn’t tell her that I was still in love with her. That she would always be the one and only woman I loved, even though it was the truth. She couldn’t know the truth. That was a part of the promise. “Just because we don’t share our lives anymore, doesn’t mean we don’t share anything.”
“I don’t understand.”
I grinned, trying to lighten the tension. “Come on. We both share a mutual dislike for Persephone Caldwell. Anything to take that girl down a peg, count me in. Tell me it wasn’t satisfyin
g as hell to wipe that stupid smirk off her face earlier.”
A ghost of a smile tugged at Holly’s lips. “I have to admit, that did feel pretty good.”
“Right? And admittedly, this places us in an awkward situation. We’ll have to continue to pretend we’re a couple. But it’s only for a few days.”
She shook her head. “As long we both understand, this is only pretend. It changes nothing between us. And it doesn’t mean I will ever forgive you for walking out on me without a word the way you did.”
Pain seized my chest. “Holly, about that.”
She thrust a hand up to cut me off. “I don’t want to hear it, Chase. It’s too late for apologies. Too late for making things right. It’s been too long to change how I feel now. I’ve had ten years for those feelings to harden into place. It is what it is.”
I nodded, but my insides clenched like a fist. “I understand.”
Holly began pacing again, her feet shuffling through fallen leaves. “And as fun as it was to shut Sefi up, I’m still considering telling everyone it was just a joke, but I know she’d never let me live it down. She’d humiliate me every chance she got this week. So, I’m willing to go along with this to save a little bit of face. But as far as I’m concerned, you and I are going to spend as little time together as possible. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Good.” She bobbed her head up and down as if we’d just sealed some kind of deal. “Now, I’m going back to my room to lock myself away until the ceremony. I’ll see you at the wedding.”
I watched her go, savoring the sway of her ample hips beneath her dress. Staying as far away from each other as possible was definitely for the best. It would make things easier on both of us.
I fully intended to do just that, but that night at dinner, fate, that conniving back-biting little wench, had something else in store for us.
5
Holly
Zoe and I arrived at the First Night Dinner. It was not an optional event. The wedding party and their assorted partners were obliged to get together to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. This was the official beginning of the festivities that came with a Sky Valley Alpha wolf’s marriage.
We entered a large dining room, dominated by an enormously long table in the center. It looked like something that belonged in a palace. It could easily seat thirty, which was fortunate, because that turned out to be the size of the wedding party.
I’d told Zoe about Chase on the walk over. How I was pretending he was my date. I needed her to know what was happening so she didn’t spoil the charade. I thought she might disapprove, but to the contrary, she seemed highly entertained by the situation. At least someone was getting a kick out of it.
For my part, I was dreading seeing Chase at dinner.
Zoe took her seat at the head of the table, next to Colton.
“Where do I sit?” I asked her.
She gestured to the place cards in front of every seat. “Find your name. Although, you should be seated up here near me.”
I walked around the table glancing at the cards. Like Zoe said, my card was up near her end of the table. Close enough so we could talk. But the name on the place card next to mine gave me pause.
Chase Stone.
I groaned inwardly. Was this really happening?
I leaned in close to Zoe. “Why the hell is Chase seated next to me?”
She grinned. “I guess word has spread about your clever ruse.”
“Keep your voice down,” I said in a harsh whisper. “Did you have something to do with this?”
She laughed. “I’ve been with you since the photo session. Besides, as amusing as I think this all is, I wouldn’t be that cruel. It must have been the event planner. She probably heard you were a couple and rushed to make sure you sat together. She really is that good.”
“I guess so.”
“Look, it’s just one dinner. Remember what we talked about? Pretend. You can make it through this.”
I nodded, not feeling entirely confident that I could handle it. Still, it wasn’t like I had a choice. I took my seat at the table. Chase was nowhere to be seen, but members of the wedding party were still filing in.
Maybe he would skip dinner. Chase had never been a fan of these kinds of formal events. He was a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, and to his credit, he looked damn good in such simple attire. Of course, he’d also looked pretty freaking hot earlier in his dress clothes.
It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t really know Chase anymore. Ten years was a long time. Back then, we’d been inseparable—carefree and reckless—teenagers filled with a youthful certainty of our immortality. Untouchable. Or so we’d thought. I’d thought.
The Chase I’d seen today was a hell of a lot more serious than the teenager I once knew. I had no idea what his life had been like since the old days. What he’d seen. What he’d been doing. What he’d been through.
As familiar as his face was to me, he might as well be a stranger. It would be better if he stayed a stranger. Then, I wouldn’t be burdened by the old grudges and scars.
I looked up to see Chase strolling over to me.
“I guess we’re sitting together,” he said quietly.
“I guess so.”
He chuckled bemusedly as he sat down. “Of course, we are. Well, look, all we have to do is get through this dinner. Then we’re home free. We’ll go our separate ways until the wedding.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
The more I managed to stay away from him, the better. I was fast discovering that every minute with Chase was a new kind of torture. A potent mixture of anger and desire. My emotions raged inside me like a hurricane, violent and destructive, tearing at my insides until I thought they would rip me apart altogether.
I had once loved him with all my heart, an innocent naïve first love that had encompassed every part of my being. A love like that never completely went away, and as much as I wanted to deny it, a part of my heart and soul still reacted that way to him. The best times of my life had been with Chase. Midnight runs under the filtered rays of the full moon. Lazy afternoons nestled in each other’s arms. Secret kisses in clandestine locations.
All those memories may have been buried as deeply as I could manage, but nevertheless, they remained. And the man sitting next to me was the grown-up version of that wonderful boy whose love for me was evident in everything that he did. Or so I’d thought.
He was now more handsome than ever. And his cocky smile still did things to my girly parts. I had to make sure to keep reminding myself that he was also the man who’d cut me the deepest. The pain of his betrayal was as fresh as the day it happened. I’d felt that pain for almost ten years now. So long, I barely remembered what it was like to live without it. And, from that pain, had grown a profound hatred.
It was said that love and hate were separated only by a thin line, and I knew exactly what that meant. The kind of hatred I harbored was the kind that could only be felt by first opening myself up completely to love, letting my guard down and allowing free access into my heart and soul, only to have it demolished by a sharp, steely blade jabbed in my back.
I’d allowed Chase’s betrayal to damage my heart beyond repair, to turn what was pure, untainted love into something dark and ugly.
There was still attraction, there, unfortunately, under the cloud of that hurt and anger. I wouldn’t let him see how I felt. Not even a hint. I wouldn’t make myself vulnerable again, opening myself up like that. Never again.
I sat there and pretended we were a couple. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. A close second to having to come to terms with his disappearance all those years ago.
I told myself I could make it through dinner. After that, I would nurse my wounds in private, without Chase around.
The clink of a spoon against a glass broke my train of thought. Colton stood up at the head of the table, glass in hand. The dining room went silent as all eyes turned to look at ou
r host.
“Welcome, friends and family,” he said. “Thank you for joining my lovely soon-to-be-wife, Zoe, and I for this celebration of our love and union.”
A chorus of cheers erupted at the table. Zoe’s cheeks tinged pink from all the attention. Still, I could see she was pleased. It was a good reminder to me that this week was supposed to be about her, not about the complicated web being woven between Chase and me. Whatever I had to do to keep the peace, I would do it.
Colton continued when the assembled crowd quieted down. “As most of you know, the Sky Valley Pack has an ages old tradition to be carried out whenever their Alpha gets married. A week of feasting and revelry and, of course, the wedding games.”
At the mention of games, round of cheers swept through the room. I thought these wedding games were a silly tradition, but apparently, I was in the minority. The shifters assembled around us seemed genuinely excited to take part in the competition.
“For those of you new to the tradition,” Colton said. “There will be three events. Each couple will compete as a team. Each team will get points depending on how well they do in each event. At the end of the week, the couple with the most points will be crowned king and queen of the games.
“Now, the first event was originally scheduled for tomorrow night, but there’s been a change of plans. We’ve decided to begin tonight, as the moon is full, and Zoe and I can’t think of a more auspicious way to begin these events than running under the light of a full moon. So, we’ll be gathering at midnight for the first even which is deemed The Hunt. Eat well and prepare yourselves,” he waggled his eyebrows and grinned, “This will be a night to remember.”
Colton sat down and an army of waiters swarmed the table bringing out steaming plates of gourmet delights. The others in the wedding party chatted animatedly, either about the games or the food, or both. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry.
Rogue Wolf Page 3