None of this was normal for me. I didn't share hotel rooms with alphas. After a hookup, I never stayed the night. Tonight was supposed to be a special milestone in our relationship, but it was just as domestic as our other dates. The hot-as-fuck kiss in the storage unit hinted our relationship could be more, but we had yet to prove it.
I didn't mind, though. Tonight's trip to the nail salon had been an emotionally intense retail therapy session with Becca. She knew she wanted to marry Bruce, but she had so many hang-ups about his past, their financial freedom, and the uncanny feeling he was keeping something from her.
I'd seen him extricate himself from conversations about their finances with the dexterity of an acrobat. He was downright shady about money, which was weird because he spent it like a billionaire. Or so I assumed. How would I know? I didn't know any billionaires except the shitty ones making headlines for shooting off into space.
Becca loved Bruce, but she worried she was entering into a marriage that would eventually end in financial ruin and divorce. So much for fated mates. She prided herself on being financially frugal, especially with her fine arts career. Like me, she taught on the side to make ends meet, but that didn't mean her art was any less valuable or important than the proverbial starving artists. She was a responsible artist perfecting her craft, and she worried her husband's debt would erase herhard-earned gains in a millisecond and leave them perpetually behind.
Tomorrow, Becca and Bruce would walk down the aisle together and bet half their shit they would love each other forever. She worried that half her shit wouldn't be enough.
Though I tried to stay positive, I couldn't disagree with her. From what Becca had told me, their ideas about money were so different, and it weighed heavily on her mind, even when she swore she was happy with him.
Someday soon, I needed to have a similar discussion with Mika. He had an excellent job with the state, but all it would take was one elected official saying green energy was a waste of time and money, and he would be looking for a new job.
So far, he relied on his family for the big-ticket items, like the bookshelves he loaned me. Though I'd only seen inside the one storage unit, I'd been impressed by his family's commitment to recycling and reusing their storage items.
Meanwhile, when Bruce wanted something new, he went out and bought it. I'd gotten the better mate, even if they were close friends.
My heart ached for Becca. She was walking into her relationship with Bruce with eyes wide open, which was the only way I could forgive myself if it ended up being the wrong decision. It had never been my decision to make. She'd loved Bruce since we were fourteen.
I'd only known Mika for a couple of weeks, and while it was selfish, I would have rather mated someone with emotional maturity than someone with tons of book smarts but who avoided confrontation outside of his wolf form.
Who was I kidding? No matter how much I liked Mika, he would eventually realize I was too much, and then he would walk away.
Becca lookedevery bit the blushing bride as she and Bruce stood with their backs to the audience, facing the rolling tides and a vibrant officiant with plum-colored hair that matched her dress. In no time at all, they said their memorized lines, recited their vows with more than a few tears, and then it was time for Bruce to kiss the bride.
I couldn't keep my gaze on Becca, though. I kept darting over to where Mika stood at Bruce's right. He wasn't the best man, who almost forgot to give Bruce the ring, but he was the third groomsman standing up with him.
Meanwhile, Becca's side had Jenna, Bruce's little sister, as her maid of honor. Two acquaintances who didn't even know Bruce stood up as her attendants. I would have looked better than all three of them in the pink gowns Becca had picked. Instead, I, her real best friend, sat on a rickety metal folding chair two rows back, certain one wrong move would send me tumbling into my dad, who sat to my left.
Gods love him, but my dad did not understand that wedding etiquette was to be quiet during the ceremony. He leaned over to whisper in my ear about everything.
"Why is her dress white? She's been fucking that guy for ages."
I wanted to tell him to shut up, but that would only infuriate him, increasing the volume of his whispers.
"I thought all of Bruce's friends were alphas. What's up with that skinny beta?"
He meant Mika, since Isiah, the best man, had two inches and fifty pounds of muscle on Bruce, and the other groomsman was Bruce's size. "He's an alpha, Dad."
"He's no alpha," he said after a short pause. "Even if he was, he wouldn't be good enough for you."
In less than five minutes, my dad had already dissected my love life and found it wanting. My horrified expression gave me away.
"Don't tell me you like him. That would be just perfect." For once, his sarcasm rolled over me like the tide without pulling me out to sea.
After the ceremony, we formed a line to greet the happy couple. When I shook Bruce's hand, my shirt sleeve slid up, and Dad saw the tail and feet of my meerkat tattoo. Once Bruce and Becca moved on to the next well-wishers, he grabbed my arm and pulled my sleeve up even further. "What is this? Please tell me you had somebody draw on your arm and this isn't permanent."
"No dad. Becca and I got tattoos two weeks ago."
"Tattoos!" He blanched, and I worried he might faint on me right there in the sand. "You marked your skin forever. No alpha will want you now."
"You know what, Dad? Maybe that's for the best." A flash of pink and charcoal drew my attention to Mika and the rest of the wedding party. They walked up the hill toward the hotel, and an uncanny pull from my tattoo urged me to follow them.
I didn't get more than two steps before Mika's mom stopped me. "Introduce me to your dad," she said, her voice low enough that I doubted other shifters could hear her.
I turned, finding him still standing where I'd left him, now frowning at the wedding party. "Dad, this is?—"
"Talia Mears." She stepped between us and held out her hand. "My son Mika is in the wedding party."
