The song is slow and romantic, and we sway together for a minute.
“Finally, my favorite part,” I murmur in her ear.
“Dancing?” she asks slyly.
“No. Being near you,” I say, earning a small giggle and a playful swat to my arm. Her perfume washes over me again, thick and heady and something else I can’t quite place.
“Are you okay, Dulzura?” I ask, studying her face and movements more closely now. She seemed fine during the ceremony. She stumbled a bit on the way into the reception but recovered quickly. Every so often, I noticed a small crease between her brows, and I thought she was just concentrating.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says, but there’s strain in her expression.
“Dulzura,” I ask carefully, “are you lying to me?” Warm laughter rises in my chest, and it takes effort to keep it down.
“What? No!” she exclaims, looking a little panicked.
“Wow. You’re the worst liar I’ve ever met, and I’ve met more than my share of teens trying to pass for eighteen to get a tattoo.” Then it clicks. “You’re not okay. What’s wrong, Dulzura?”
“No, no, no,” she whispers sharply, trying to push me back into dancing. I go along with it, reluctantly. “You can’t stop dancing. Everything’s fine. I’m just—” She huffs.
“What?” I press.
When she hesitates again, I pull out the big guns. “If you don’t tell me, I’m marching over to the table and telling the pack something’s wrong. Then they’ll all be out here demanding answers.”
Her eyes widen, then narrow, but I don’t budge.
“Fine,” Winnie says. “I might be experiencing some pre-heat symptoms.”
The words hit me like a motorcycle slamming into a brick wall. The deeper scent. The crease between her brows. That wasn’t focus. It was pain. Heat cramps. If she’s heading into her biannual heat, that kind of pain can be brutal.
Fuck.
I glance toward the table where my pack sits. Corbin is talking with Cole. Gage is deep in conversation with Zeke. But Eli looks up immediately, locking eyes with me. He straightens, reading the edge of panic on my face.
Before I can mouth the word heat, thin fingers curl around my chin and jaw, pulling my face back to hers.
Winnie looks up at me, eyes pleading. "This is my sister's wedding. It's just a few more hours. Please, just help me get through this."
Good lord I don't know who on earth is strong enough to resist that face but it sure as shit isn't me.
"Fine, but I am telling the others. I'm not getting my ass kicked because you went into heat and I didn't tell anyone." She lets out a very annoyed little huff and I have to bury my face in her curls and scent mark her hair to keep from chuckling.
"Dulzura, I love you." I confess and her eyes go wide. "I love you in a way I've only experienced once before and if anything ever happened to you," I look toward Eli who's still looking ar us. "To either of you. I couldn't handle it. So please, let us take care of you." She leans up and kisses me gently before pulling back to meet my eye.
"I love you too," she admits.
The song ends and all of the eligible women in the room are called up to catch the bouquet. I turn to the pack table. Now everyone'slooking at me. Eli clearly clued them in that something was up. I take a deep breath.
Winnie
I did not display any amount of athletic prowess during the bouquet toss, and certainly not enough to beat out Kristen as she dove, claw-like nails first, at the bundle of flowers. I stepped out of the way. I'm not about to lose a limb over it. As I stand toward the middle of the group, another wave of heat cramps rolls through me. I place my hands on my hips and try to make it seem like I'm just catching my breath as pain radiates up and down my legs and into my back. My core clenches on nothing, looking for a knot I don't have access to right now—becauseI can't.
The music starts up again but I'm rooted to the spot. I just can't move.
"Can I have this dance?" a deep voice I recognize asks behind me. I take a deep breath, put on a smile, and turn to find Corbin behind me.
"Of course," I say. The heat cramp is easing enough for me to take his hand and let him guide me out onto the floor. He wraps an arm around the small of my back and he holds me close to his chest.
"Are you having a fun time?" Corbin asks. I think through my day. Helping Flora get ready, tempering two bridesmaids meltdowns, the groom's awful mother, the storm and rearrangement. Fun is not the word I'd use. But I also think of the happy expression on Flora's face.Her lovestruck new husband. I look over to find them arm-in-arm and she sends me a little wave.
