Iheard him walk up behind me. I turned and saw that he was covered in ash. Ismiled. “You look hot when you’re dirty,” I said aloud. Okay, I was an insecuregirl and I wanted Kat to hear it.
Hegrinned and pulled me in for a kiss. “Likewise.”
Katwas staring at us, she looked a little sad. I felt bad then, that we had rubbedit in her face.
“Youwon the bet.” She smiled at Kai.
Hisface grew sullen. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Whatbet?” I asked.
Katshrugged. “Sadie, Kai, and I had a bet going about who would meet their matefirst.”
“I’mhappy for you,” she told Kai.
Iforgot about how big of a deal it was to meet your mate. That it was allwerewolves wanted.
“Yourtime will come,” he told her with sadness.
Shenodded and then looked at me. I wish I had some news for her. My gift justdidn’t work that way. I shrugged.
“Well,it’s time for a little explosion.” She regained her composure.
Weput the taco truck and two busses deep into the desert and Kat rigged them withexplosives. I watched the fire burn with intensity and with it, my desire tohelp the humans burned bright inside of me. I liked what Kai said about dyingand knowing you made a difference. That’s what I wanted to do in life. Make adifference.
WeddingBells
Thenext morning I awoke to a flurry of activity. Our plane from Phoenix was a redeye and got in early. I had crawled into bed for a little nap and was awoken toKai’s voice outside. Kai was screaming on the lawn and I could hear a large truckengine in the driveway.
“Gotcha,you bastard!” Kai screamed. My heart was hammering inside my chest. I openedour master bedroom window that led to the side of the house. I kicked off thescreen and leapt outside without thinking.
Kaiwas wrestling a drone to the ground from the net of our drone catcher. Jai,Izzy, and Anna were helping.
“Jesus!You scared me,” I told him. I was in his oversize t-shirt that barely coveredmy butt. He eyed my bare legs with a smoldering look. Anna and Jai hid theirsmirks and looked away.
“Goinside and change. The wedding set up people are here,” Kai told me.
Ohmy God. I was getting married the next day. I smiled. He grinned back at me.
Iheard Emma’s voice then. She was barking orders around the front of the house.
“Thisis cream! I ordered white! Look at the form. White.” Emma was screaming.
Ireached into the bedroom window and grabbed a pair of yoga pants off of thechair. I put them on and ran to the front of the house, pulling my hair into apony tail.
“Emmawhat’s wrong? You’re pregnant. Calm down, you might go into labor,” I scoldedher.
Shehad one hand on her belly and the other on a piece of paper. “I ordered a whitesilk tent for your wedding. Look at this thing! It’s eggshell.” She gestured toa group of guys holding a very large bundle of beautiful silk fabric.
“Emma,it’s gorgeous. I love it!” I told her.
Herface cooled. “Really? Because they can exchange it.”
Theguys seemed to be having a hard time holding onto the bundle for very long. Iseriously thought it looked white and couldn’t tell the difference.
“Yes,I really do. Set it up out back,” I told them and patted Emma’s belly.
Iwent inside to shower and get ready for the day. As the water beat down on myback, a sad thought struck me. My mother wouldn’t be able to attend thewedding. My heart ached at the thought. Maybe Sylvia could tamper her memory orsomething afterward? But during the ceremony she would be so weirded out aboutthe Shaman and the blood exchange and that wouldn’t work. I felt awful.
