There’s a beautiful girl wearing my t-shirt, and making breakfast in my kitchen. My shirt reaches to almost halfway down her gorgeous thighs. The beauty spins and glares at me.
“No fair! I was going to surprise you!” she gripes at me and I can’t hold back the laughter that bubbles up. Yep, this beautiful spitfire is definitely my woman.
I cross the kitchen towards her, lift her up by her ass onto the counter, and take her mouth with mine. She wraps her arms around me, and moans as my hard length presses against her.
My name, a whisper on her lips, calls me forward. I slide inside of her and raw emotion consumes me.
She throws her head back as I pound wildly into her, not bothering with gentle and slow. I need this woman like I have never needed anything before.
Though it was only a nightmare, I had felt the loss of her all the same.
Buried inside her, I hold her tight to the point that I wouldn’t doubt that I’m leaving bruises. I’m not one to be into causing pain, but the thought of marking her brings me to my release. She screams in ecstasy, and her muscles clench around me as her orgasm consumes her. I love that I can make her feel this way and that my coming undone is her undoing as well.
We pant against each other, and I hold her to me, not ready to let go. I kiss her head and breathe in her intoxicating, reassuring scent.
When she pulls back, I look her over. Shame falls upon me when I see that I really did leave bruises on her beautiful skin. The quickie was fucking fantastic, but at what cost? What will she think when she finds what I did?
I wince as her teeth bite into my chest, drawing the tiniest bit of blood. I throb inside of her and it almost brings me to my knees. What in the fuck was that for? I give her an incredulous look.
“Did you feel more pleasure or pain?” she asks smugly, and it dawns on me why she did what she did. She must have sensed my shame or saw me staring at the marks on her. I just smile and nod in understanding and place a quick kiss on her pouting lips.
My sulking had ruined the moment for her, but she quickly forgives me. I should know better that my girl can handle a little pain. Though I don’t like the reminder, she had even taken a bullet like a champ.
Pulling out of her, I help her off the counter. She giggles at her shaky legs, and the precious sound centers me. The stress from my nightmare recedes a bit.
Now my hunger is at the forefront of my brain, which is slowly getting blood flow back.
Ari sets to work making me a plate of food, and I realize that she recreated our first meal together; bacon, egg, and cheese croissants and hot chocolates. My sweet Ari. The toughest person I know, but has a pure heart of gold.
Chapter 17
My bride to be has a vision of what she wants our big day to look like. She has been firing out orders all day, and I have to say that I am very impressed with her ideas. It had been her great idea to hold the ceremony out in the yard. There are two trees that sit about 10 feet from each other, and she plans to make that arbor area.
As per her request, Jerek and I get to work, building a double doorframe for the two barn doors that she found. It turns out just as she wanted, and it’s what everyone will walk through as they make their way down the aisle. When I spoke to the out of town members about training, I also invited whoever wanted to come to the wedding, so who knows how many guests we will have.
Together, Ari and I set up chairs, and on the end of each row down the aisle, Ari places a wooden box and or crate upside down.
When I think she’s lost me, she puts lacey mats, old style lanterns, and small mason jars filled with fake flowers on each one. It looks beautiful.
She then takes the extra boxes and crates and stacks them around the trees that will become the arbor. Using two larger carriage lamps that she took from the barn, she places one on each side, and then fills in the rest of the scenery with more mason jars. No flowers this time. She tells me that she wants real ones for those, and plans to pick wild ones in the morning.
I help her hang lights from tree to tree to tie it all together. The finished product is something out of a fairy tale. I might just leave it like this all year round. All of the pack members could have their weddings here if they wanted to.
While Ari makes some finishing touches, I carve our initials onto the tree next to the arbor. And with that, the ceremony area is complete.
As for the reception, a few of our pack members are catering and bringing tables with linens as well. Ari has a box ready to go of candles and other little trinkets to use as centerpieces. What impressed me most was that she found most of the items here on the property, and the rest she got from discount stores.
Of course, I told her that money was no object when it came to our wedding, but she is keen on not taking more than she needs.
The set up took a lot less time than we thought it would so we decide to take the horses for a run. We then spend the rest of our time relaxing and talking. Trace and Asher are taking me out tonight, and then we are staying in the large guest room in the barn. Silly human traditions. This is going to be the longest 24 hours of my life.
Since Benjamin appears to be the most promising to fill Braden’s role, I had him get ordained and am giving him the privilege to marry Ari and I. We don’t bother with a rehearsal. Werewolf weddings aren’t as stressful as human weddings. They are similar, but a lot more laid back. More like a party, I would say.
“Should I be worried about your last night out on the town?” Ari feigns insecurity. With my arm wrapped around her on the porch swing, I pinch her side. She looks up at me with a silly grin.
“Ari, most of the pack has seen you fight. No one would dare cross you by making a pass at me,” I grab her by the chin, forcing her to look into my eyes, “and there will never be anyone or anything I want more than I want you.”
Our mouths mold together, but Trace and Asher riding up the driveway together in Asher’s GMC Sierra, halts our passionate kiss. They honk obnoxiously, knowing they are interrupting our moment.
I could kill them.
You’d think the two men closest to me in this pack would know not to push my buttons. Growing up together as children must have affected the typical relationship between Alpha and his seconds.
“Hey you two,” Trace drawls out the window. Ari flips him off, earning chuckles from both of them. That’s my woman and my soon to be wife.
“Get in. It’s time to get our party on,” I glare at Asher’s command toward me, and he quickly raises his hands in surrender.
Giving my attention back to my mate, we stand together and I turn her into me before I press my lips to hers, kissing her like no one’s watching. Pulling back, I look at her, taking in every gorgeous inch, and I don’t want to leave. Her eyes even beg me to stay, but she blinks the look away and steps back.
“Go have fun. Enjoy your last night as a single man, because once you say ‘I do’, you are all mine,” she smiles wickedly.
“Baby, I have been all yours since the moment I watched you kick an Alpha in the face,” I growl before claiming another kiss from her. Her chuckle vibrates against my lips.
It pains me, and I have to physically tear myself away from her. The sooner I leave and get this over with, the sooner I will have her back in my arms.
I kiss her hand that wears my ring before running to the truck like a lovesick teenager. Her gaze trails after us until we are out of sight.
Ari
Darien gets to have his bachelor party, so I’m having my bachelorette party, though only Alex, Mindy, and Jerek are here. Inviting anyone else would have felt weird. Even having Mindy here was a little awkward, but since we started training, I sensed that we just might be able to get along.
Over alcohol, pizza, and cards, we chat about various things. Jerek wasn’t happy about babysitting three girls, but after some beer and shots, he relaxes and becomes his normal goofy self that he is with me. As he flirts and jokes around, I can tell that he was quite the ladies’ man before
his girlfriend had been taken from him. With just a few drinks to numb his pain, he becomes the life of the party.
Alexia and him are really starting to hit it off. Alcohol makes everything better. Until the next day of course. This is actually only my second time drinking.
Last year, when I turned 21, Niko and Charlie came over with a whole truckload of alcohol to celebrate. Technically, I didn’t have to wait until then to drink since alcohol doesn’t affect us nearly as hard, or as long as it would a human. It also has no long-term effects on us, so we don’t have many restrictions on it.
Due to the fact that I had chosen to wait, they just had to make a big deal out of it. The whole night we had played games outside by the bonfire, and we drank way too much.
Then after they liquored me up, they challenged me to a fight, and me being me, I couldn’t turn it down. Getting my drunken ass kicked by both of them made me swear off alcohol around them, afraid that they would take advantage of the situation again. Hopefully Jerek doesn’t decide to challenge me tonight.
Focusing back on our conversation, I come to find out why Mindy is such a strong fighter. She is a healer. Though she remains in the back, she gets to go to war in order to help the wounded in battle. The job is still very risky, and there are targets on the healer’s back, so she has to be a good fighter.
I’m surprisingly jealous of her, and contemplating becoming a medic, if that’s what it is going to take for me to get what I want. The medics of the pack usually come from the same family and are trained from children. Apparently, it takes special training to be a werewolf doctor, and there are only a few in each pack.
We also end up learning that Mindy has a crush on Ben, but his father was Darien’s fathers second, whom of which apparently took advantage of Mindy’s mother. Ben and her had been only kids, but he keeps his distance even though Darien had killed him to get to his father. Both his father and Ben’s were equally guilty.
I feel bad for Mindy, and hope that things end up working out for them. Now that she had mentioned all this, I remember the way Ben had watched her during the training; proud, but also protective.
Life had seemed a lot simpler in Alaska. If there was all this pack drama back home, I hadn’t heard about any of it. My father is a good leader though. As far as I knew, the males cherished and protected the women, not abused them.
It’s upsetting to learn how wrong I was. I thought I had it bad, not being able to fight and choose my life for myself, but at least I didn’t have to fear for my life, or be paranoid about someone trying to sexually and, or, physically assault me at any moment. Once again, I am reminded that the first 20 years of my life could have been much happier if only I had let it be so.
Tonight, is my last night as an unmarried woman. Tomorrow I will stand before my pack, in a badass dress, and marry the leader of this pack. In just one short week here, I have made a solid handful of friends, and somehow earned myself the position as head trainer. It has been quite the ride so far. Tomorrow I will no longer be a Wilder, but a Shield.
My laid-back but fun evening makes me think of what Darien must be doing right now. Most males would be fall-on-your-face drunk, and crying or panicking over the fact that they will be stuck with the same damn woman for the rest of their lives.
Darien is too reserved for that though. I’ve never seen him drink, but he looks like a man who can hold his liquor, and I’m not worried about him shacking up with anyone.
Somehow, I won the key to his heart and have the only pass to what’s beneath his pants.
He reserved it all for me; the girl who had planned to kill him from the moment I learned we were to marry.
My turn comes around, and I make my move. I waited for them to get bored of my games, but they all seem to be enjoying them as much as me, even the ones they didn’t know that I had to teach them. We play Rummy, Golf, Black Jack, and Crazy Eights, while my favorite movie, 300, plays in the background. At some point we take a break to make banana splits, making my night complete.
Darien
My one and only bachelor party that I’ll ever have, and I spend most of my night thinking about what Ari is doing. I have to remind myself that she has only been here a short time, and though she has bonded with a few pack mates, it’s still all so new. She belongs here, and I want her to feel that way every damn day of the rest of her life. Ari is mine, and I am hers no matter how many girls try to give me that “come hither” look, or try to approach me.
The few that tried, I sent steely gazes that say not happening, turning them right back where they came from. I have no ring on my finger, so they have no idea that I am taken, but I’m not the least bit concerned that I’ve hurt their feelings.
If Ari were here, they would have fared a lot worse, just as any man would have if they ever dared to hit on my mate in front of me.
Trace and Asher try to get me to lighten up, but she’s the only one I can be relaxed around. I feel like my younger self when I am with her. When she is not getting into trouble at least.
Benjamin and Gabe and a few other guys meet up with us at the bar in town. Since my father’s rule ended and my mission began, we haven’t really been able to do stuff like this, and the awkward silence makes it obvious that it has been too long.
“You’re marrying quite a woman tomorrow,” Gabe breaks the ice, instantly bringing a smile to my lips. Everyone erupts with their own agreement. I don’t need their approval on who I mate and wed, but I can’t deny that their acceptance of Ari makes me damn pleased. Most royals don’t give a damn if you like them or not, as long as everyone pretends to, but Ari truly wants people to like her for who she is, whether she believes that or not.
“She is something else,” I agree, starting up a conversation on how awesome it has been training with her and how good she is for our pack.
It’s not typical bachelor party talk, but it’s made my night. The rest of the evening flows easily, with good drinks, good food, good conversation, and typical boy rowdiness. This will be the beginning of a happier, healthier, and stronger pack.
After Ben and Gabe leave, Asher drives us back to my house. There is a large King size bed and a pull-out couch in the barn. I let them have the bed and take the couch for myself. I don’t want to share a bed with anyone but my mate right now.
As I lay in the darkness, I can’t help but think of the storm must be coming soon. Someone or something is going to pull the rug out from under me at any moment.
My wolf rises to the surface, ready to take on any threat.
Able to see better in the dark with my wolf’s eyesight, I find mine and the groomsmen’s suits hanging in the open closet. I’m getting married tomorrow. No one is going to stop me from marrying the woman of my dreams, and no one is going to take us away from each other. Ever. With that thought, sleep comes easy.
Morning comes, and I feel well-rested as sun-rays stream through openings in the curtains. I check the clock on the wall, seeing that it’s already after ten, and the boys are still snoozing. Ari had planned to get up early to pick fresh flowers. If the others helped, they are probably already done by now. I want to go to her, but I’m not allowed to see her until the ceremony.
We aren’t superstitious beings, but for us, it’s more for the intensity of the moment. Women want to see our reaction when seeing the bride in her dress for the first time, even though I was the one who picked out the dress.
Tires roll up the driveway, and I smell food so I know it must be the caterers. I wake the boys and we dress quickly before meeting them outside.
It’s a beautiful morning, and I smile brightly at my pack members, unable to contain my excitement for the day. My sunshine attitude must have caught them off guard based on the shock in their eyes as we shake hands.
They have brought fold-up tables, and we get to work setting them up and putting on the tablecloths while they go into the main house to start working on the food. The fresh flowers for the ceremony are already set up, and they look
perfect.
Mindy brings out a box full of various vases, jars, and canisters filled with fresh flower arrangements. They must be with the centerpieces for the tables. We give her a hand, placing them where we think they should go. Ari isn’t too picky when it comes to this stuff and has kept everything simple thus far.
The ceremony, the arbor, the reception area; it all looks like something out of a movie. Everything, aside from me and my men, are ready.
“Go get ready, boys. Alex and I are going to come by in an hour to take a few pictures,” Mindy says. Ari had invited her last minute to attend her bachelorette party, and then Alex had the bright idea to have her help take photos when needed. Pack members are family, and always ready to help whenever needed.
“Yes ma’am,” Trace drawls when I shoot her a ‘thank you,’ and a smile. I’ve known Mindy for a long time, and Ari has great taste in friends. She is surrounded in love and what will very likely be strong friendships.
Less than an hour later, we are showered and dressed in our suits. To match Ari, we wear dark brown pin-stripe pants with a matching vest over a cream collared shirt, and western tie. The vest has more buttons than there typically are, and we wear our boots to match Ari’s dress the best that we can.
Before we went out last night, the boys and I stopped at the barbers to get a fresh cut and a clean shave. My hair is a bit shorter now, and I have it gelled down in a sleek look.
I smell Alex and Mindy before their knock sounds at the door.
“Wow, Darien, lookin’ good,” Alex looks me up and down, and I only hope I can get the same reaction from my woman. I show her my full set of teeth in return.
She takes our pictures while at the same time showing Mindy how to use the camera. We only spend a few minutes posing in the barn with the horses and then a few outside. After that she gives us strict orders to go back to our suite and to not look outside while she is taking Ari’s pictures. It’s almost showtime.
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