“That’s different.”
Feeling frustrated, I stood up and held my hand out to him. When he took it, I yanked him to a standing position and pushed him forward. “Just go ask her to dance, please.”
He huffed out an exasperated breath. “Fine,” he grumbled before stomping off to the girl he desperately wanted to hate.
I watched as he approached Sadie. His lips were moving, but with the loud music and conversations whirling around I couldn’t hear what was said.
Sadie smiled and took his hand as he led her to the dance floor.
“Shall we join them?” Nate whispered in my ear. I jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance behind me.
“Sure,” I whispered as he led me to the dance floor, wrapping me in his arms. I gazed up into his blue eyes feeling more connected to another person than I thought was possible. He truly was the one for me, werewolf mate or not.
“You look beautiful,” he murmured as his eyes locked with mine.
I felt my face flush at his compliment. “Thank you.” I glanced around at our guests then looked back up at him. “Are you having fun?”
He leaned down to nuzzle my neck. “Yes,” he said against my skin. His breath warm on my flesh. “Is it better than our first wedding?’ he asked hesitantly.
To me our elopement was an escape from my mother, an extremely joyous one, but an escape nonetheless. I would admit it might not have been the right way to handle the situation, but however close my mother and I become after tonight, I would not be admitting that to her. “I hate to say it, but yes.”
He lifted his head and smiled. “I agree. It was the happiest moment of my life and I wanted to share it with my family. I’m so thankful your mother finally came around.”
Emotion tugged at my heart at the mention of my mother. I was still so shocked at the events that happened such a short time ago, it all felt surreal. I was sure I was going to wake up any moment, back at the cottage. “She said she was sorry for everything and they both want to try harder to be better parents.”
Nate leaned his cheek against mine. His smooth skin was warm and tingly. “I’m so happy for you,” he murmured softly.
I pulled away after a few moments. “Do you think it’s too late though?”
A brow lifted over his right eye. “Why would it be?”
“I’m a werewolf now. We’ll have to move away soon so they don’t notice that I won’t age.”
Something dark washed over his face. And since I knew him so well, I imagined it was guilt. He must feel like he was the one responsible for taking me away from my family, just as they finally started to show that they cared. “We’ll deal with that as it comes. Let’s just enjoy it while we can.” His words soothed me. Even though it wasn’t an answer to our predicament, it was all we could do for now.
I nodded, leaning my head on his shoulder. I watched Sadie and Adrian through the crowd of dancers. They both looked stiff and uncomfortable, but I could also tell that their close proximity was affecting them. Right at this moment, I was ecstatic. I was married to a wonderful man and we had shared our love with our family and friends. I felt so giddy I wanted to help others feel the same way. At that moment, I promised myself that I would help Sadie get the guy, whether she wanted him or not.
The feeling didn’t last long though as my gaze shifted around the room. I stopped when I noticed Joe sitting at a table by himself. Lauren was standing close by, speaking to her mother.
His head was slumped down and he was picking at a piece of cake in front of him with his fork. This was not the Joe that I had come to know. He was normally cheerful, the life of the party. He was always taking the chance to tell jokes and make people laugh. “Have you talked to Joe yet?” I asked, as I was spun around. I lost sight of the werewolf in question as Nate turned me around the dance floor, but I knew he hadn’t moved from his seat.
I felt Nate’s body stiffen under my arms.
“There is nothing to say.”
“So that’s it?” I leaned away from him so I could look into his eyes. “You’re never going to talk to him again?”
His face was hard as he met my gaze. “I’m sure I will at some point, but I can’t forget that he lied to me for fifty years. He saw me grieve for Sadie. She was my best friend. She showed me that not all werewolves were evil. Before her, I had only met Charlotte and Rowan. I was lonely before we met. My only relationships were with my human relatives who could never understand me. She changed that and he helped her leave.”
“But he thought he was protecting you from a vampire.”
He breathed out a loud sigh. “I know and when I told him it was Rowan, he still feared the vampire, now that he knew they existed. But he should have given me the choice.”
I understood his words, it must have been hard to find out that after fifty years the person closest to you had lied about something so huge. But I hated the strain on their friendship. We had been through so much already. I just wanted everyone to be happy.
“Will you just talk to him?” I begged.
Nate stopped moving and lifted my chin with his finger. “I’ll do anything for you.”
I grinned as he leaned in and touched his lips to mine. He made me feel so loved and now after the steps my parents had taken, my heart swelled with it. “Good,” I took his hand when the slow song ended. “Let’s go.”
We walked past Adrian and Sadie as they separated. Adrian nodded rigidly and rushed away. Sadie smiled weakly at me before returning to her seat. I watched her go while Nate led me across the dance floor.
Carolyn was just walking away when we approached Lauren. “Were you surprised?” she squealed.
I winced at the high decibel of her shriek. “Yes, I was surprised. Did you know?”
She nodded, a big grin plastered on her face, a few strands from her up-do coming loose. “Just since this morning, before we left to get our hair done. That’s what Mona wanted to talk to me about.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I can’t believe your parents did this? Do you think this new attitude will last?”
I shrugged, a twinge of disappointment tugging at my heart. “I hope so. But if it doesn’t, I’ll be fine. I have a new family now.”
As we were talking Joe and Nate avoided eye contact. Joe was suddenly interested in his cake that he had picked apart and Nate was watching the dancers in the center of the tent.
Lauren sat down next to Joe and leaned her head on his shoulder, the loose sand colored strands stuck to his suit jacket. Even the presence of the girl he loved couldn’t pull his attention from the cake on his plate.
When I could take the silence no longer I pushed Nate into a chair across from Joe. “Talk,” I mumbled through the side of my mouth.
“How is work going?” Nate asked Joe robotically, his focus on Joe’s ear more than his face.
Joe looked up, his expression a mixture of surprise and frustration. “Fine,” he answered shortly.
Lauren elbowed him in the ribs. He didn’t even flinch at her not so subtle gesture.
“Um…Nate wanted to thank you for looking out for him,” I explained. Nate’s head spun to face me, shooting me a dirty look.
Joe smirked at his friend and laughed humorlessly. “Oh, I doubt that. He doesn’t give a shite that I was trying to protect him from something we didn’t know existed.” His voice rose above the guitar beat of the song that was playing. “All he can focus on is that I didn’t tell him.”
Nate glared at Joe. “Trying to protect me? I’m a big boy Joe; I can do that myself. You should have told me.” Nate’s voice was cold as ice. My dumb idea had backfired. “Besides, you didn’t have to protect me from Henry did you?”
Joe’s eyes narrowed. “No, I didn’t. But that was only twenty years ago. Besides, I didn’t know about him until later. I was across the country opening a store.”
“And once you found out that I was friendly with a big bad vampire, why didn’t you tell me about Sadie?”
I g
lanced around making sure that no one was in hearing distance. Thankfully everyone at this table had stepped away.
Joe closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Because, it had been so long I didn’t think you would be able to find her. And I was afraid of the way you would react.”
Nate’s eyes glowed yellow in the dimly lit tent. “You didn’t tell me because you were afraid I’d be mad at you?” He pushed his chair back. “When did we turn into teenaged girls?”
I snorted a laugh at his remark and was rewarded with the stink eye, the second dirty look in less than ten minutes. That was a record for us.
“Nate,” Joe began, his voice strained.
Nate stood up, his eyes turning back to their natural blue. “No. I’m done talking.” He stood and walked away without looking back. I watched him make his way to Will who was speaking to Emma.
I smiled apologetically at my friends from across the table. “I’m sorry, guys.” I stood up on shaky legs. “He’ll get over it.”
Lauren patted Joe’s hand, but before she could speak, Joe cut her off. “I’m fine, t’is not necessary to make me feel better. We’ve been friends for a long time. I’ve been pissed at him before and he’s gone months without returning my calls. I won’t be needing your advice. I know t’will be fine.” Despite his deeply accented words, his voice was hard and his eyes held a hint of uncertainty.
I squeezed my lips together and raised my brows. What could I say to that? “Okay…well, I’ll see you guys later. I want to go and see how Sadie’s dance went with Adrian.
Sadie was sitting alone again. Marisa was dancing with Nathan and Sadie was watching them with a dreamy look on her face. “So?” I asked when I took the empty chair next to her.
“So, what?”
I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes.
She laughed. “Couldn’t you see?” She sat up straight and turned in her chair. “It was awkward as hell.”
“It did look that way, between the steamy looks you both were hiding.”
“Oh, come on.”
I leaned in close to her. “You can’t tell me that being close to him wasn’t affecting you.”
She pursed her lips and sunk in her chair. “Fine, there is an attraction, but it’s only our wolf side coming through. He won’t even look me in the eyes.”
I grinned. “Oh, he will. Just be patient.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, but I’m not even sure I want that.”
Instead of answering I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. There was a good song playing and I was done with my friend’s drama. It was time to let loose and enjoy my reception.
Chapter Twenty
Full Moon
Over the next week I talked to my parents more than I ever had. My mother called a couple times just to see how I was doing and to ask me to lunch and when we went, it wasn’t terrible. My father called and asked if Nate would like to go golfing with him and his friends. To my surprise, Nate accepted and said that he had a good time. I didn’t entirely believe him, but it was great that he was trying.
Nathan took Marisa out to a movie where he introduced her to some friends, so when she started school in the fall she would know some people.
Adrian joined the crew to finish the addition at the shelter and Sadie had taken over nights for Evie. This gave Evie a chance to run the Career Managing program. Since Sadie was spending the nights at the shelter and the cottage would be empty during the days, we asked her if she would like to prolong her stay. I admit, my reason for that was to give Adrian a chance to forgive her so she could move in with him and Marisa eventually.
Four days before the full moon I brought home Chinese food. I had had a long day at the shelter and Nate was supposed to be working late. So I was surprised to see his car in the driveway when I pulled up.
“When did that happen?” Nate asked into the phone, when I let myself into the cottage. I hung up my purse and set the take-out bags on the coffee table; the smell of grease and sweet and sour sauce filled the tiny cottage.
Nate looked up at me from where he sat on the couch and mouthed the word ‘hi’.
“Did you call the authorities? I hope you didn’t handle it yourself.” There was a pause and then his face paled. “Of course, I know that. I’m sorry Henry.”
The blood in my veins went cold as I spun around to face him. He was talking to a vampire.
“No, I understand…That’s what we both want.” He paused again as the vampire spoke. For some reason I couldn’t hear his words, which was odd considering my heightened hearing. “Actually, Henry, that’s why I’m calling, I know your kind value their privacy, but I was wondering if you knew a man named Sebastian.” Again, there was silence. “Well, I’m looking for a werewolf named Isaiah King and I have reason to believe that this Sebastian can help me find him.”
Nate rubbed his hand against the arm of the couch. “I’m not sure. I found his name in Charlotte’s coat when we killed her….Yes, I think so.”
More words were said that I couldn’t hear. “Great, thank you. I appreciate that.” He ended the call and laid the phone onto the coffee table in front of him.
“That was the vampire?” I whispered the words. I was too afraid to say them any louder.
He eyed me apprehensively. “Yes.”
“Is that wise?” I gulped the fear that was bubbling up inside me. The idea of those creatures being real really freaked me out. I knew that werewolves were myths from horror stories and not supposed to exist either, but vampires sounded so much worse. They drank blood and killed people. Werewolves didn’t have to kill to live. We could survive on normal food; but vampires couldn’t. The idea of drinking blood made my stomach roll. Unfortunately, my wolf wasn’t quite as disgusted.
He stood up, stepping toward me. “We have nothing to fear from Henry.”
Doubts crept into my mind. I wanted to support him in anything he did, but I wasn’t sure about this. I was deep in thought, chewing on my lip when I felt his finger touch my chin. He lifted it up so we could make eye contact. “What’s wrong?” he asked me softly.
I pulled away from him and wandered over to the window, gazing out to the lake that surrounded us, the sun’s reflection shimmered on the water. “I know that you want to find this man. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea to get involved with vampires.”
“Don’t worry, Henry is a good man.”
The sun dipped in the sky turning it and the clouds pink. I spun away from the view to face him. “Good Man? It sounded like he was scolding you.”
Nate lowered his head. “He was. I was worried he had hurt a man that had come to the shelter wanting to take his wife back.” He stuffed his hand in the pocket of his dress pants. He had yet to change out of his work clothes. “Since he is the only vampire I know, I can’t say what they are all like, but Henry is very old. He was a royal in the seventeen hundreds. So when someone questions him, he doesn’t like it. But I think that is the royal thing more than what he is.”
That made me feel a little better, but I was still anxious. I was afraid that he would eventually regret his actions. We were just now living a happy drama free life and I wanted to keep it that way. I couldn’t help but feel that something bad was going to happen if he pursued this. Although, it was probably more about our past experiences, more than a premonition.
“What did he say? Did he know Sebastian?”
“No, but he said that he would ask around and let me know.”
When I only stared at him hesitantly he closed the gap between us, cupping my face in his hands. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I just need to find out what this means.”
I really didn’t feel any better, but I couldn’t help but melt into his touch. He said everything would be fine, so I just had to trust him. For now I would ignore the feeling of dread that lingered inside me and enjoy my time with my new husband.
“Are we doing this or what?” Lauren asked as she and Joe walked toward us on the night of the full moon. They wer
e living in the guesthouse at the back of the property, now that Lauren had finished the school year and Joe had taken a leave at the store. Will was not happy about their living arrangements but Lauren didn’t give him much of a choice. Once she found out that Joe’s old house was taken, she unpacked their belongings and refused to leave.
Nate, Sadie and I were on the porch waiting for the rest of our pack to begin our run. Sadie was home for the night. I had asked Evie to take her place, saying that she was sick. We were just waiting on Adrian.
It was still dusk. The moon was out, but it was just a dull white circle in the charcoal colored sky. “Where’s Adrian?” Joe asked, taking a seat on the porch step at my feet. His shoes thumped onto the wooden steps.
“He’s dropping Marisa off at the main house.”
“When did he leave?” Lauren asked. “I didn’t see him when we passed the house.”
“An hour ago,” I answered, leaning back, my hands resting on the wooden planks behind me, a thin layer of dirt stuck to my palms.
Lauren and Joe exchanged confused glances.
I smiled at their reaction. The main house was a five-minute walk from here. They must be wondering why Adrian would take an hour just to drop his sister off.
“He’s a little reluctant to leave her with your brother.” Sadie explained, her expression told me that she agreed with her mate. “He’s worried about teenage hormones.”
Laurens eyes widened. “Aw, I get it. And Eww, that’s my brother.”
I laughed at my friend, who sat on the step next to her boyfriend. “Has he said anything about her?”
Lauren raised a brow. “Am I in high school?”
I shot her a knowing glance. She wasn’t fooling me. If there was something going on, she’d know or have at least asked him.
She grinned and leaned forward. “I think he likes her, but he’s not talking.” Her smile faded. “He’s still a little leery of me.”
Her words that started out light, turned heavy. I knew this must be hard on her. When we were first turned into werewolves, she didn’t tell her father and wouldn’t have if he didn’t find out. She worried that it would change how her parents felt about her, but thankfully it didn’t. They both were upset that it happened, but never thought ill of her for what she had become.
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