When my lower belly began to spasm like someone had hooked it up to an electrode, I pulled away.Please, Lycaon. Please overlook me.
Liam combed back a strand of my hair, his lupine eyes dimming. “It hurts when I’m close?”
Breathing hard, I croaked, “It doesn’t hurt, but it feels . . . funny.” Anguish slicked my eyes. “What if it is a mating bond in the making?” After laughing, now I felt like crying. “I don’t want you not to be able to touch me for six months.”
His brown eyes flashed. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Really? You’re going to be fine with six months of celibacy?” I supposed he’d already gone that long without sex.
He brought one hand up to my face, his knuckles grazing the delicate chain of twinkling stars. “I meant it won’t be a problem because I’ll be sending your mate on a diplomatic mission into another pack territory. The Rivers, perhaps. Their Alpha and I are on excellent terms.” His thumb stroked my lobe. “Leading a pack has its perks.”
“And that’ll be far enough?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in his tone, as though he knew this for a fact. Maybe he did.
“What ifyouget a mate?”
“I already got myself a mate.”
“I meant, a real one.”
He stepped in until his hard body dented my soft one. “You feel very real to me, Miss Freemont.”
“I’m serious.”
“She’ll also be sent away. Nothing and no one will come between us. Never again. You’re stuck with me for life, and if I can help it, for the afterlife too.”
He laced his arms around my waist and hugged me, just hugged me. And although my navel kept thumping, it no longer pained me, because Liam had a plan, and I had Liam.
Chapter 67
The sun dipped and tinged the snow rose-gold to a version of the Wedding March like none I’d ever heard.The Grandpopswith their banjos, fiddles, and guitars, turned the soulful melody into one which felt shaped by the earth and trees themselves.
Last night, I’d wondered how my mother and Grandma Reeves could outdo themselves, but as I moved down the aisle strewn with pine needles and lined with crackling tiki torches, I marveled yet again. They’d even adorned the frozen surface of the pond with candles shaped like water lilies.
My long copper dress snapped around my ankles as I walked arm in arm with Nolan, absorbing the splendor of the evening.
“So, I’m guessing you said yes?” he asked.
“To what?”
“You mean, to whom?”
“You were in on it, too?” My jaw must’ve dropped a little because he pressed it back up on a bent knuckle.
“Well, he did come to all four of us to ask for our permission.” He squeezed my arm, as he flicked smiles at the crowd of shifters lined up behind the row of torches. “After he got our parents’ blessing.”
I didn’t think Alphas asked for anyone’s permission. What if my brothers hadn’t given it to him? Or my parents? Would he still have pursued me?
“Better shut your mouth before someone decides to launch a snowball at it.”
“Only Niall would do that, and he’s behind us.”
Nolan chuckled as he released my arm and took his place beside his twin under the wedding arbor. I eased in opposite him, then turned to watch Nate and Bea approach. Her eyes shone fire-bright and her full cheeks shimmered with a pearlescent sheen that matched her metallic dress. Beside her, my oldest brother glowed in his own way—tanned, smiling, with a freshly-trimmed beard and gelled hair. The picture of health and bliss.
As Bea sidled in beside me, she stared open-mouthed at the swaths of glittery tulle draped over the simple wooden structure, braided in with heavy garlands of white blooms and strings of lights.
“Beautiful. So beautiful.” Her murmur was edged with heartache.
