Destiny Revealed

by Bailey, Nicole

  “Whoa! Mamma, stop right there. Nick and I never slept together before our ceremony and neither have Nat and Jack.” I was seriously offended.

  “You expect me to believe you spent a week alone with him in Mexico without anything happening?” she raised her eyebrows at me. “I saw the way he looked at you before.”

  Nat started laughing. I was dumbfounded and couldn’t think of anything to say for a minute. “We slept in a bed together sure, but he stayed above the covers. I swear. I wasn’t ready to take that step. And I’m glad we waited. It made it that much more special,” I finally recovered.

  She kissed me on the forehead and said, “I’m so glad you waited.”

  “Wait a sec, are you telling me you and Babbo…” I couldn’t bare to finish the thought.

  “Oh barf. I don’t know if I can handle this conversation,” Nat said. “I suddenly have things to do.” She practically ran out the back door.

  “We really should not be having this conversation. Things were different when we were younger living in Italy,” she turned away from me and went back to sorting her herbs.

  “Oh yuck. Can I please have a lunch break now?” I didn’t bother to wait for an answer. Instead, I walked out the front door to the end of the block and around the corner to the restaurant.

  Nick smiled as I walked in to the kitchen. He picked me up and kissed me deeply. “Oh, Aberto, remember when we were so young and in love?” Daniela said from the doorway to the kitchen. I quickly pulled away from Nick, not realizing we had an audience.

  “What do you mean woman? We are still young and in love,” Aberto smiled widely at her as she walked around the counter to his side.

  “Do you mind if I steal my Alpha for lunch?” I asked.

  “Well, when you put it that way, of course,” Aberto agreed.

  I tugged on Nick’s hand as he removed his apron and pulled him to the dining room. I sat in one of the booths in the very back corner that was usually reserved for our family and friends. “Oh my gosh, you have to hear the conversation I just had with Mamma. I’m nauseous.”

  “Oh no, what’s wrong?” Nick asked, worried. I proceeded to tell him and he frowned. “Ugh, why did you have to tell me about it? In the future, keep stuff like that to yourself.”

  “Sorry, we share everything in this marriage,” I grinned. “For better or worse.” He shook his head at me and asked if I was hungry. Roberto showed up just then with some pasta covered in the sauce Nick bought in Ventimiglia at the market. “Any success in replicating it yet?” I asked.

  “I’m still missing something,” he furrowed his brow.

  “You’re a genius in the kitchen; you’ll figure it out soon enough. Oh, by the way, I saw Gia today.”

  “Really? In the store?”

  “Yeah, she came by to get some stuff for Rosetta. I was nice, trying to give her another chance, but something is off.”

  “Oh, how so?”

  “She was getting some weird stuff. I can’t shake the feeling that it was actually for her and not Rosetta.”

  “What kind of weird stuff?” Nick furrowed his brow at me again.

  “Well, like some love spell herbs.”

  “That could just be for Rene,” he interrupted.

  “No way. He was already all over her before we left. She wouldn’t need anything like that for him,” I argued.

  “Luca maybe?”

  “No, he was attracted to her too. It’s gotta be for someone else. Rosetta wouldn’t be using those things.”

  “Well, leave it be for now,” he said, nuzzling my neck. “Hey, I could get out of here for awhile.”

  “As tempting as that is, I have to get back to the store.” Nick gave me his best pout, but I ignored him and pushed him out of the booth. “Like Daniela would ever let you leave before dinner service.”

  “She loves you—probably more than me. If I told her you needed me to leave for awhile, she would let me.”

  “Raincheck,” I said. “I really should help Mamma back at the store. It’s shipment day and we still have some organizing to do.”

  I left Nick, shouted farewells to the family and headed back to the store. Mamma and I worked in peaceful silence while we stocked shelves and filled bins. She wanted me to try on the dress for Nat’s ceremony so I slipped into her office and changed.

  “Oh Piccola, you are such a beautiful woman,” she said, her eyes getting a little misty. “No wonder Nico is so in love with you.”

  I rolled my eyes and went back to change. As I bent over to pick my shirt up off the chair, I saw something that had fallen out of Gia’s box on the floor. It was something I had only ever seen in a force spell, a spell used to control the will of another person. Now I knew for sure she was up to something. And that something wasn’t good.

  I went to Nat’s apartment when I got home that night, much to Nick’s disappointment. I had to tell someone who would understand about my discovery. Jack answered the door.

  “Um, excuse me but it’s the night before the wedding. What are you doing here?” I grilled him.

  “Just moving the last of my stuff. I’m leaving right now,” he smiled.

  “You look so guilty right now and by the swollen lips of my best friend over there on the couch, I’m thinking you haven’t just been ‘moving your stuff’.” Jack blushed, shrugged and walked around me out the door.

  “What’s up buttercup?” Nat asked innocently as I plopped down on the couch next to her.

  “Something weird happened at the store today before you came by,” I started. I told her about Gia stopping by and the things I found in her box.

  “I knew it!” Nat exclaimed. “That skank is up to something bad. I never trusted her. Just waltzing in and attaching herself to our group.” We discussed what she might be up to for a bit before Nick knocked on the door and let himself in.

  “Can I please have my wife back?” he begged.

  “Of course,” Nat smiled. “I’ll think about it and see what wicked ideas I can come up with and get back to you.”

  “What’s she talking about now?” Nick questioned as he opened our apartment door.

  “We were talking about Gia showing up at the store. I didn’t get a chance to tell you yet, but I found something that fell out of her box. It’s used in spells to control someone’s will.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Nick agreed.

  “Finally coming around to my side, huh?”

  “I’m always on your side, Bella. Now, come to bed with me,” he threw me over his shoulder and I screamed as he carried me down the hall to the bedroom.

  The store and restaurant were closed early the next afternoon so that everyone could go to the ceremony. Fridays were good days to get bound in the witch culture. I helped Nat with her dress and her maman did her hair. By early evening, the guests started to arrive.

  Nick’s entire pack showed up, along with his parents. The rest of our circle, minus Ky and Marco, were also in the backyard. Nat and I were talking just outside the backdoor before things got started.

  “Does this feel weird at all to not have Ky here?” I asked Nat.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “But he’s kind of an outcast now.”

  “I know. And most of me hates him. He’s done so much to try and hurt Nick and I, but the five of us were a circle. We’ve known each other our entire lives. Besides you, he was my best friend. I miss him,” I said sadly.

  Nat’s eyes went wide and I realized someone must be listening in. Not just someone, but most likely Nick. I turned slowly and met his eyes. It was that heartbroken look all over again. The one he gave me the night he walked out on Ky kissing me at Spring Fling. His eyes turned dark, angry, and before I could say anything or even take a step towards him, he shifted and was gone.

  “Ah crap,” Nat said. “This is not good.”

  “Oh, Nat. I’m so sorry. Like you need any drama right now. You’re about to start the ceremony.” Tears filled my eyes. I didn’t know how to fix thi
s. I didn’t know if anything I ever said or did would make up for what Nick just heard me say. I recognized his howl then and my tears spilled out and down my cheeks.

  Nat put her arms around me. “Go fix this,” she said. “We’ll wait. And stop crying, your mascara will run.”

  “No, I’m not ruining the best day of your life. I’ll try to talk to him later. But, Nat, what if I can’t make it better?”

  “You will. Nick loves you more than life,” she tried to comfort me. I didn’t believe her. He hated Ky more than anything, had almost killed him once and had punched him in the face on more than one occasion. Hearing me say that I missed him would’ve broken him.

  Nat’s mom, Adeline walked up, “Êtes-vous prêts?”

  “Uh…” Nat hesitated.

  “Oui, Adeline. We’re ready,” I answered for her. I was not about to ruin my best friend’s binding ceremony with my marriage drama. She deserved a perfect day.

  The three of us made our way to the altar where Jack was already waiting for Nat. He was dressed in black linen pants and a white button-up shirt. I noticed he was barefoot like Nat. Everything was set up on the altar—the candles, paper, athame, and I had the ribbon in my hands ready to bind their wrists. Nat had asked me to do it rather than her maman. She told me it was because I was the one who finally pushed them together.

  I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned in time to see Nick sliding into a seat at the back. It filled me with hope that he realized I never meant to hurt him. Or maybe he just didn’t want to ruin your friends’ day either, the realistic side of me thought.

  Nat was the one to do the ceremony since females were the dominant ones in witchcraft. I couldn’t help but get misty eyed. I thought about my binding to Nick and felt moisture on my face again. I almost missed my cue to tie their wrists together.

  When I finished the bow, I handed her the lavender I brought and said, “Blessed be this union with the gifts of the East. Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South. Blessed be this union with the gifts of the West. Blessed be this union with the gifts of the North.”

  “So mote it be,” the rest of the witches said in unison. I untied the ribbon and Jack lifted Nat in his arms and kissed her passionately.

  “Hey, get a room,” Dash shouted out. Everyone laughed and they broke apart. Nat was blushing, but surprisingly Jack wasn’t.

  “Time to par-tay!” Nat shouted.

  I saw Nick get up and turn to leave. I tried to push my way through the crowd that was now surrounding the newlyweds, but couldn’t get to him in time. I saw a streak of fur run off into the woods. I was defeated. I made my way to the dinner table under the twinkle lights and collapsed in a chair.

  ~Chapter Thirteen~

  I felt someone brush me as they sat down and said, “Cosa c’è?”

  I looked up to Luca and answered, “Nothing’s wrong. Why do you ask?”

  “I’m not stupid, Sof. I know when something’s wrong with you. You look miserable; I can tell you’re crying and I just saw Nick take off as a wolf.”

  “Is it that obvious?” I asked pathetically.

  “Sì,” he smiled.

  I wiped at my cheeks. “It’ll be fine. He just overheard me say something that he didn’t like.”

  “Oh no, what’d you say now, bigmouth? You’re too much like Babbo. You don’t think before the words come out,” he shook his head at me.

  “I was talking to Nat and mentioned that it felt weird not to have Ky here. I mean even Renata and Enzo came. I figured they would be keeping their distance since they still don’t like the wolves.”

  “It’s just Nick they don’t like. Because he stole you away from Ky. And damn sista, I can’t believe you said that in front of him.”

  “Idiota, I didn’t know he was behind me when I said it. I would never say anything like that with him around. I know how mad he would be—is.” I put my head in my hands.

  “Unless you want to tell everyone here, you might wanna buck up little camper. It’s dinner time,” he said while elbowing me in the side. I wiped at my eyes again before lifting my face to smile as people started to sit down.

  Leave it to Mamma to notice something was off. “Where is Nico, Piccola?” I was usually quick to come up with something. I was famous for doing it when I was lying to Ky, but this time I was blank.

  “He said he needed to check on some ‘wolf stuff’ in the woods,” Luca answered. “He won’t be long.” Aberto looked over and furrowed his brow, but didn’t comment. Nick would not have left the party to check on ‘wolf stuff’. I was grateful to him for not saying anything and gave him a sad smile.

  Adeline, with the help of Jack’s maman, Colette had created a gigantic four course French meal. I never understood why the cheese came between dinner and dessert, but French cheeses were so good that I didn’t care.

  “Adeline, this croquembouche is absolutely amazing,” Dash complimented. The “wedding cake” was a traditional French dessert. It basically looked like a huge Christmas tree made of cream puffs, and hers were always the best. She even made one for my sixteenth birthday.

  “DJ Rene in the house!” Dash shouted as he stood up from the table. Much to my surprise, while Nick and I were gone in Italy, Rene offered to play some music at the wedding. He knew only the kids would be dancing, but thought it would be a fun way to celebrate. He even had his own equipment.

  “How did I not know this about you, Rene?” I asked. He shrugged his shoulders in response as he went over to the table where his turntables were set up. As the music began and the group started to dance, I snuck away to find Nick. I wasn’t exactly sure where I should look for him. I didn’t know if he went home or not, so I started in the woods where he disappeared to.

  It wasn’t long before I smelled him. His scent was slightly different as a wolf, but I knew it well. I couldn’t see him so I called out, “Nick, where are you? I need to explain.” He slowly came out from behind a tree. He gave me a soft bark that I instinctively knew meant that he wanted me to talk. “I won’t talk to you unless you change.” He shook his head at me. “Nico Bartolini, I want to talk to you as a person. Now shift back,” I practically yelled.

  He gave in and shifted back to his handsome self. He was wearing the suit he’d worn to our binding ceremony and seeing him in it just then tugged at my heart. “What is there to explain, Sofia? I heard what you said. You miss Ky, plain and simple. I knew this was all too good to be true. I’ve always loved you more than you’ve cared about me.”

  “Stai zitto! That is not true and you know it. If you would stop being your stubborn Italian self and listen to me for five minutes!” I shouted. He shut up, but wouldn’t come any closer to me, so I went to him. He didn’t move away, but didn’t put his arms around me either. I wasn’t crying anymore because now I was mad. Mad that he would think I didn’t love him. Mad that he thought I would ever leave him for Ky.

  “Talk,” he said gruffly.

  I took his face in my hands and stared directly into his eyes. “I can’t believe you would say something so idiotic,” I started.

  “It’s not idiotic, it’s true,” he said flatly.

  “Stop interrupting and let me finish you pig headed jerk.” He turned his face away from me, but I forced him to look at me. “I have absolutely no romantic feelings for Ky.” His chest rumbled, but I didn’t say anything about it for once. “If you had heard the entire conversation instead of just the end, you would know that. Nat and I were talking about how sad it was that he wasn’t there. We’ve known each other since we were babies and he’s always been a part of our circle. I meant that I missed the old him. Not the him in love with me.”

  His chest got louder. “But the Ky that was my best friend. The six year old boy who put rubber cement on my seat the first day of Kindergarten. The twelve year old that picked me up off the ground when I slipped on the ice in front of my house and split my lip open. That’s the guy I miss. I’ve never been in love with him, nor wil
l I ever be. You are my true mate.” His face softened at my use of the wolf term. “You are my other half. My love, my life, my best friend. I bound myself to you for all of those reasons and more. And there is no way that you love me more.”

  He leaned in and kissed me then. Like really kissed me. It was exactly like the very first kiss we ever had. Hungry, passionate, desperate. It was amazing. We stood there like that for several minutes before he pulled back to look at me. “It just hurt so bad,” he whispered.

  “I’m so sorry. I truly didn’t mean anything hurtful by it. Imagine if you lost one of your pack. It would be a little upsetting, no?” I asked. He just nodded. “Please don’t ever doubt me again. Nothing could ever change my love for you.”

  I kissed him then and he backed me into a tree. Both of us were breathing hard. My hands were tangled in his hair, his lips moved down my neck to my bare shoulder as his hands started to move up my thigh. I heard someone clear their throat and we jumped apart like we’d just been caught when we were secretly dating.

  “Dude, I’m so sorry,” Tristan started. “Aberto sent me to come look for you, Nick. He was worried since Luca made up some story about why you left. Is everything good here? What am I saying, of course it is. Sorry again,” he rambled on and practically ran from us.

  We both burst out laughing. “That was slightly awkward,” I said as Nick wrapped me in his arms.

  “What was he talking about anyway?”

  “Oh, Luca found me moping at the dinner table and I told him what happened. So when everyone came over to eat and Mamma asked where you were, Luca told her you had to go do some ‘wolf stuff’.” He laughed so hard I could feel him shaking as he held me tight.

  “Classic Luca. What does my dad have to do with anything?”

  “Oh, I caught him looking at me funny like he knew that’s not why you left,” I answered. “By the way, you missed the most amazing dinner. And there might not be any left with all those werewolves there. You guys are kind of pigs.”

  “I am pretty hungry. Let’s go check. We’ll finish this business later,” he grinned wickedly as he playfully bit my neck.