1
Third time was the charm,right? It had to be. I wasn't buying another wedding dress if something happened. Again. For thethirdtime. I shook off my maudlin thoughts, took a deep breath, and looked at myself again in the floor lengthmirror.
Hair done?Check. My long black hair had been pulled back in a soft chignon with loose curls sweeping around my heart shaped face. Makeup? Also check. I had good skin, or so my grandmother liked to tell me as she would pull my lips back from my teeth like I was a thoroughbred or something, so the makeup I'd finally agreed to was minimal. Golden eyeshadow was used across my eyelids, bronzer on my cheekbones and a peach lip gloss. That wasit.
A lot of brides tanned before their big day. My skin was naturally on the darker side, so there was no need forme.
The white dress against my skin wasbrilliant.
Ilookedbrilliant.
This was going to befine.
Me being nervous on my big day had nothing to do with my fiance, only on me and the spectacular amount of run away grooms I'd sufferedthrough.
Jeff wastheone.
I sighed, nodded at myself in the mirror like I was a soldier about to go into battle, and turned from the mirror. As I was reaching for the door handle to let my family back in, it twisted and in pushedJeff.
I let out a little screech and held my hands to my face. "Get out! It's terrible luck to see thebride!"
Jeff chuckled and pulled my hands down. He was handsome as most of the Lupin pack was. Bright blond hair and soft green eyes didn't match the angularity of his jaw or the strength in his powerful frame. It softened it somehow, making him seem like a really uptight surfer. I wasn't terribly attracted to him when we first met. My type ran a little bit darker in both the hair and eyes department, but he had won me over soon enough with his good sense of humor andcharisma.
I immediately noticed the smile didn't reach his eyes, and despite myself, my brain began to spin with theworst.
"You look lovely, Katie," Jeff said and pulled me against his broad chest. He was warmer than normal people. Werewolves' metabolism ran faster so every time I snuggled against him I felt like I had a personal spaceheater.
"Thank you." I tilted my chin up to look him in the eyes. "What's goingon?"
Jeff released me and stepped away. "I uh looked in our bank account this morning. Our savings too. We've spent a lot on thiswedding."
We had. But we'd both agreed to all of the purchases. I nodded. "Yes." I didn't like where this wasgoing.
"Well, I didn't realize we were so low and uh I may need some extramoney."
I stared at him for an uncomfortable amount of time before I spoke. "That account was for wedding expenses. We both knew it was low. The savings is for our honeymoon." I paused. "We have separate accounts still. So...I don't understand where you're going withthis."
He scratched the back of his neck and made a sucking sound with his teeth. "Yeah. We do, but I ran into sometrouble."
I breathed in. I breathed out. I stifled the fear and rage slowly beginning to boil in my veins. This couldnotbehappening.
"We are getting married in less than fifteen minutes. Can this possibly wait untilafterward?"
"You can't just..." he wiggled his fingers, "do yourthing?"
I blinked at him like he had lost his mind. "My thing?" Ihissed.
Sensing he had pushed me too far, Jeff backed up a couple of steps and laughed uncomfortably. "Of course. Sorry. Yeah. I just got nervous." He swept a soft kiss across my cheek and gave me a little wavegoodbye.
As soon as the door closed behind him, my mother swept in, gave me one look and let out a soft little sigh. "Oh, honey. It’s going to beokay."
The music struckupAve Mariawhich would horrify the Catholics if we had any here, but I didn't care. My wedding. My music. If I wanted to strut down the aisle to Salt N Pepa'sPush It, I would have, though I could imagine my mother wouldn't be very happy. But, I'd erred on the safe side and stuck with the classics. Even though it wasn't exactly a traditional choice, it was still pretty and my mother hadapproved.
I carried a bouquet of roses and lilies, plucked from my mother's gardens. She'd tucked a sprig of baby's breath at the top of my chignon. She'd whispered it was for luck as she kissed me on both cheeks and gave me a little push toward the doors. They opened seconds later and I was confronted with the faces of my family and friends and half the town of Midnight Cove. The Lupin pack was popular and their influence was wide. Jeff had been adamant that we needed to bow to the authority of his Alpha on the guest list and while I was annoyed, it wouldn't matter in the end. We would still be married no matter who showedup.
Isquared my shoulders,pushed them back and lifted my chin up. I took my first steps into the chapel and met my father seconds later. He offered his arm out to me and I took it. His smile was...sad.
My brow furrowed together at his expression, but I squeezed his arm and we slowly walked up to theaisle.
