It was an exhausting day, and one in which I was reminded again how grateful I was to have money.
It was amazing what a person—or a wolf—could accomplish in a day with a bottomless wallet. And amazing what you couldn’t buy.
I couldn’t buy safety. I couldn’t buy certainty about what was going to happen. I couldn’t buy reassurance.
But damned if I couldn’t buy most everything else I needed. Everyone had their price.
It was also amazing how every task, every step in every task, seemed to just remind me of something else that would be needed.
By the time night was falling, I wasn’t just exhausted physically, but mentally.
~ CARA ~Rig was at my side, both of us leaned back against the kitchen counter eating pizza off paper plates. He’d held me so tightly when I got back with Natalie, for a minute I’d been worried. But he was smiling when he pulled back to check if I was okay, and he hadn’t left my side since.Even now, he stood right against me, our arms brushing every time we moved.We were all gathered in the kitchen, two massive pizzas and a slightly wilted salad scattered on the table. Everyone was sitting on the stools or standing around while Rig filled us in.“We’ll leave first thing, but we’ll make a performance of it, right? Bags in the back of the Jeep, everyone tired but excited, talking about it. After the ceremony it’ll take hours to g
~ RIG ~My entire body thrummed in time with my pulse which thundered in my ears so loud I had to concentrate to catch what was said, both out loud, and in the link.Cara stood in front of me, her little shoulders back and hands fisted at her sides, her feet shoulder-width apart.And my little kitten was growling.Holy shit.Natalie’s scent rolled between horrified, shocked, and angry.‘She’s still finding her confidence, Nat,’ I sent quickly through the link. ‘Don’t tear her down now. Please.’A growl puttered in Natalie’s throat too, and she cut her eyes up to look at me over
~ CARA ~When the door to Rig’s room flew open, startling me out of sleep, I groaned.“Get up! Get up!” Natalie sang.I groaned again and threw a pillow at her, rolling over to bury my face in Rig’s neck. I didn’t know how long we’d been asleep, but I knew it wasn’t very long. We were all still up and making plans, Rig assigning instructions and explaining the risks he was trying to avoid at three that morning.We’d fallen into bed and into each other’s arms at some time before dawn, but there’d been an unspoken agreement that we would wait… so, with barely time to breathe each other’s scents, we’d fallen asleep almost as soon as we’d laid down.
~ RIG ~I was bleary-eyed, exhausted, exhilarated, and… horny as fuck.It was a good thing Natalie had come to the door and woken us. If I’d had any time with Cara alone that morning I would have said to hell with the plans, locked the door, and not let her out until she was mine.Her stand-off with Natalie the night before had had my blood boiling in my veins. The planning and organization—not to mention the hovering threat of what my father would do if he found out what I was up to—had been a useful distraction. Then watching Cara drag her ass into bed the night before, barely able to keep her eyes open… well…The way she’d thrown herself into my arms and immediately fallen asleep had curbed any ideas I might have been brewin
~ CARA ~ Natalie called Tessa twice for advice on my make up. I’d told her in no uncertain terms I wanted to look as natural as I could. When she was finished on my face, I found myself blinking into the mirror and stunned… because I still looked like me. Just better. “Wow.” Natalie smiled as she tugged a brush through my hair and got started with a hot curling iron. “That’s what he’ll say,” she quipped. I snorted, my cheeks flushing, though the makeup hid a lot of it. My head was swimming. Natalie had admitted she was teasing a little bit about the claiming, but she had explained—a wolf mar
~ RIG ~The drive to the cottage for the ceremony was pure torture. We knew we were probably being watched, so Natalie had to ride in the front with me, while Cara sat in the back. She’d put herself behind the passenger seat, so at least I could look at her in the rearview mirror. And every time I did, she was already looking at me.Mack was miserable. He barely spoke for the whole hour, leaning his elbow on the door and staring out the window, tension in every line of his body. Natalie was babbling, which was unlike her.I wondered if she was nervous, or angry about the days to come when they’d be thrown together.I sent up a little prayer for my brother that Natalie would let her walls down. That the drive home would be a lot happier for all of us.
~ CARA ~I had been so impatient, rushing through Natalie fixing my hair and touching up my makeup, I hadn't even taken the time to really look at the house or anything on our way through it. There was a humming, driving tension in my body. I needed to be close to Rig. I could feel him nearby, but it wasn't enough. So when Natalie finally put the comb away and smiled at me, "Okay… time for the dress," I froze.How had I forgotten about the dress? We'd gone shopping the day before and after the first two hours, I had despaired. Every little boutique Natalie dragged me to, every tiny hidden designer corner was full of stunning dresses that I could have seen Natalie carrying off any day of the week. But every sparkle and seam made me feel like the dress was wearing me, instead of the other way around.Even when my fr
~ RIG ~“I’ll go first,” I said to buy myself time, which was completely redundant. I could feel Mack shaking with restrained laughter behind me, but I put it out of my mind—slammed my mind closed to him and Natalie.I was only sharing this moment with her.When I looked down for a second to try and clear my mind, Cara’s fingers tightened on mine, and it made my heart sing.That was the point, right?Right.“Cara…” I started slowing, clearing my throat. “I’ve been waiting for this day my whole life without even knowing it. When we met, I didn’t know what I needed, so I didn’t know what to ask for, or e