Oh, my fur and whiskers. My future soon-to-be-ex-husband was hot. So, so hot. He was standing outside the lodge, talking to a few very handsome shifters who looked as if they were related to him, but I could barely see them because he was so hot.
I was even willing to forgive them for having come to pick me up in a pickup truck on my wedding day.
August was tall, about six four. I'm five six, not exactly short, but he would tower over me. He had broad shoulders and big, burly arms, and mighty thighs. I could tell because his jeans fit him quite nicely.
Jeans. Was that what he was going to marry me in? My illusion spell made it look as if I were wearing a flowing white silk wedding dress trimmed in lace, and a massive gauzy veil covering my face and flowing down my back, held in place with a garland of pearls and white roses, and he was wearing a black t shirt and jeans?
Oh, well. I wouldn't mind stripping those jeans right off him. I went back to mooning over how gorgeous he was. Full, sensual lips, high cheekbones, thick dark hair that I couldn't wait to run my fingers through...
Wait. I gave myself a mental slap on the face to bring myself back to reality. I'd never get to run my fingers through that hair. I'd be effectively divorced by this afternoon.
I watched him throw back his head and laugh at something one of the guys who'd come with him said, and felt a sudden twinge in my belly. Maybe Trey was right. Maybe he would want to be married to me...
No! What was I thinking? I'd taken leave of my senses.
A hot guy like that would never want me. I knew that quite well. I looked just like my mom, and I'd spent my childhood and adolescence listening to her moan about how men never fell in love with women who looked like her – and then watching her be the living proof of that. My dad had an affair with my mom, and left without marrying her. It had broken her heart. She'd never gotten over it, she'd gone through life dating jerky guys and mooning over my dad, who ran off and married some beautiful, slim leopard. Then he'd cheated on her and she'd booted him out, but that was another story entirely.
I sighed, and went back to admiring the scenery. August and his family were a very handsome group of shifters, and actually the scenery behind them was beautiful too. It was June at the foothills of the Black Forest Mountains, and the emerald green of the trees and the shocking blue of the sky were like something out of a Technicolor dream. Fat white clouds floated like lazy, happy sheep, drifting in a gentle breeze. The Black Forest Mountains loomed in the distance, dark purplish blue and capped with white.
The Black Forest pack, like many packs, had thousands of acres of property, which let them members live in safety and privacy, away from human discovery. They had a central family compound, where important gatherings took place, and where anyone who wasn't working would likely be found hanging out and socializing during the day. They had a farm and ranch animals, and a logging operation. I was in a building a quarter mile down the road from the compound, so I'd been told.
The building was a guest house, and I was in a living room with furniture hand-hewn from logs. I turned away from the lovely scene in front of me, and walked back to the round mirror that hung on the wall. I'd been checking my reflection every five minutes, petrified that the charm would somehow stop working.
Nope. Megan still stared back at me from the mirror. I stuck my tongue out at myself, put my thumb in my ears and wiggled my fingers.
"You are in for a big surprise, August Aslina," I said to myself with Megan's mouth. "And it serves you right."
The door flew open with a bang, and I started and spun around. I expected August to come striding through, but it wasn't him. If I had to guess, based on the descriptions I'd heard of him, I'd say it was Ric Storm.
My heart froze in my chest. Had he found out what Lauren and I had done? Even worse, had he caught Megan and Frederick? God, not that, I prayed.
He slammed the door shut behind him. He was big and angry, with an air of menace rolling off of him like a cobra that could strike at any time. I suddenly felt fear curling up in my stomach.
Ric was a handsome enough man, somewhere in his forties with thick black hair and a beard and mustache shot through with some gray, but the enraged expression on his face made him very ugly to me. He had a scar slashing through one eyebrow, and another on his neck. Not surprising. Most Alphas were pretty scarred up. He looked me up and down, glowering.
"I came to make sure you didn't try to make a run for it," he snarled. "And what the hell are you wearing?"
"What?" I was taken aback. "It's called a wedding dress."
A look of shock and fury washed over his face. "What the hell did you just say to me?" he demanded.
Uh oh. Megan probably never talked back to him. She was a sweet, soft spoken girl; a bully like him would run right over her.
I glance down at the illusion wedding dress, which would vanish once I took the charm off. "What difference does it make what I'm wearing?" I asked.
He scowled at it, his face reddening. "It's ugly, and I already told you what dress I wanted you to wear. What did you do with it?"
Oh, crud. Megan could have warned me about this. Then again, seriously, who the hell was he to insult Megan's choice of dress, or tell her what to wear?
"I wanted to wear this one," I said, struggling to sound respectful when what I really wanted to do was shift and throw down. That would, of course, get me killed, so I resisted.
"You wanted to wear it? Since when the hell does it matter what you want?" He stalked over, and I backed up, until I was up against the wall and he was towering over me, his hot breath on my face.
He grabbed the neckline of my dress in his fist. He thought he was holding on to my wedding dress, but what I was really wearing was a simple white sun dress, which was bunched between his fingers and ready to tear as he twisted his hand.
"This dress isn't sexy." His lips wrinkled back in a snarl. "We want you to look sexy. This alliance is important to me, and he could still change his mind. You need to be showing off your goods, and by your goods I mean your tits. Where is the other dress? You're going to change right now."
With him in the room? Hell with that.
I grabbed at his hand, trying to pull it off me. He clenched tighter, and the fabric started to rip. There was murder in his eyes.
"Let go of me!" I yelled, panic clutching at my throat. "I left the other dress back home. Get off me!"
I put my hands on his chest and tried to push him away. He grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm painfully.
"How dare you speak to me like this?" he roared. "You think that just because you're joining the Black Forest pack, you can act any way that you want? You're in my pack and under my command until the minute you say I do."
"Let go!" I screamed. "You'll break my wrist! Let go!"
"I'll break more than that!" he bellowed. "Forget it! This wedding's off! No woman talks to me that way! I'm going to take you home and show you some good old fashioned discipline!" He got a gleam in his eye which terrified me. "In fact, maybe I'll just claim you as my bride. Yes, I believe I will. I'll give you a wedding night you'll never forget, and once you can walk again, you'll learn the meaning of respect."
He could do it, too. He had already claimed two brides. That was the privilege of the Alpha, if he so chose to exercise it. In the 21st century, most Alpha's didn't.
He grabbed my arm, nearly wrenching it from its socket, and began dragging me towards the door.
The door flew open again, and August stood there, towering so high his head scraped the top of the door frame. He stomped through, and slammed the door behind him.
"What the hell are you doing with my bride?" he roared. His face rippled, and his eyes glowed with anger. Black and silver fur sprouted on the backs of his hands, and black claws shot out from his fingertips. His ears turned pointy.
Ric let go of me immediately, and stumbled back. August well's fur and claws receded and he grabbed me, and slung a protective arm around me, as I blinked back tears. His arm was so strong, and it felt so good to lean into him, breathing in his cologne and animal musk. My knees were shaking, but I felt his strength pouring into me and I began to calm down.
"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" he demanded.
"I'm fine." I resisted the urge to rub my aching wrist, because I didn't want to inspire him to get in a fight with Ric on the spot.
My heart pounded in my chest. This was what Lauren had been living with ever since Ric took over her pack? Why hadn't she told me? Then again, what could I have done to help her? The Alpha made the rules.
The council of Elders, the thirteen who oversaw matters which affected wolf shifters as a whole, would be very unlikely to help out in a case like this. What could Lauren have told them? Her new pack Alpha was a mean asshole? They wouldn't care. They mostly only intervened when there was a threat of exposure to humans, or some threat to all shifters. They didn't interfere with pack business.
"The wedding is off," Ric growled. "I'm taking her with me." He made a move as if to grab me away from August well, and August let out a mighty growl of rage and went wolf.
I staggered back as he shifted, splitting out of his shirt and jeans. His snout shot out, his ears went pointy, and white fur rippled like a field of grass in the wind. He'd been wearing a necklace in human form, a strip of leather with some tokens dangling from them, and that stayed on him, dangling down. The rest of his clothing lay in strips on the floor.
August was a very fast shifter, turning in seconds, and he was, not surprisingly, one very huge wolf. Saliva dripped from his gleaming fangs, and his eyes glowed with rage.
Ric shifted too, into a big, sturdy wolf with thick black and blond fur. It took him several seconds longer than August well, and August was significantly bigger than him.
I stumbled back away from them as they crouched there, snarling at each other.
Then, abruptly, Ric shifted back to human form, which signaled his surrender. It wasn't quite as submissive as rolling onto back and baring his belly, but it was a clear admission of defeat.
I was startled and relieved. This was the mighty Ric Storm? When he was up against a real Alpha, he didn't seem so tough after all.
August shifted back, hands balled into fists, his jaw set with anger.
Ric held up his hands placating. "This should be a day of celebration," he said. "There's no reason to fight here."
"You attempted to put your hands on the woman I will be marrying. That's a reason to fight," August well's voice was a rough, angry growl.
"She has disrespected me, and I can't tolerate that," Ric said. "I need to take her back to my family compound and teach her a lesson. An Alpha can't tolerate disrespect; you know that."
I shrank away from him, heart hammering on my rib cage. This was bad. If August let him take me, I was as good as dead, especially when he found out who I really was.
"Her behavior is now my concern, not yours. Are you attempting to renege on your deal with me?" August demanded. "Because that is the equivalent of declaring war on my pack. Is that what you wish to do?"
Ric swallowed hard, and then cleared his throat. I tried not to look at how incredibly well hung August was, but it was really hard not to look.
Ouch. Hurt me so good, I thought. Then I immediately chided myself. This was really not the time or the occasion to go all pervy!
"I can provide you with another bride, equally attractive and much more agreeable," Ric protested. "You want a bride that is submissive and will obey you, and show you the respect you're due. That isn't her. My apologies for bringing the wrong woman. I had no idea she was capable of the kind of behavior she's displaying today."
"Don't tell me what I want in a bride," August snapped. "You promised me this one. I want this one."
Oh, goody, now I was the juicy bone that the two wolves were fighting over. Still, he had saved me, and I was grateful for that.
Ric stood there, furious, not wanting to back down but not wanting to challenge August either.
"Your pack and my pack can meet on the field of Aslina," August said, smiling a very nasty smile. "Or you and I can meet wolf to wolf. Shall we notify the Council of Elders?"
August was basically threatening to issue a formal Death Challenge. Winner would have the right to take over the other's pack and lands. Somehow, I didn't think Ric would take him up on that – and I was right.
"Fine. If you want her, take her. My family and I will be leaving at once; we will not be attending the wedding. As soon as the nuptials are complete, you will notify me. Then our packs are officially allied, and you will not be returning her to me. I don't take used goods," Ric sneered at me, and turned and left the cabin, still buck naked.
"Are you all right?" August asked me, scowling after him. "I'm fine," I assured August well. "Thank you for rescuing me."
He stuck his hand out, as I concentrated very hard on looking him in the eye and not noticing anything else.
"I'm August Aslina," he said. "We haven't yet been formally introduced." "I'm Megan," I muttered, unable to meet his gaze. All of a sudden I felt badly about lying to him.
He was still the jerk who had pretty much bought Megan without regard for her wishes, and he had just been fighting for me as if I were livestock, but he'd also just stood up for me against a very scary Alpha, and I was having a hard time hating his guts as much as I should.
Also I was afraid that I'd somehow complicated things with him. I hadn't really given much thought to how my deception would affect August well's pack. Would the alliance be off? Probably. Would I somehow cause the packs to go to war with each other?
Hopefully the Storm family realize that it wasn't August well's fault, and only be mad at me.
"So, uh, are you going to change into a tux?" I asked him. He threw back his head and laughed, a warm, rich sound.
"You apparently don't know that much about Black Forest traditions," he said.
"We do things a little differently around here. I was wondering why you were wearing a wedding dress. It's not really suited for the day's activities."
Interesting. What kind of activities could he be talking about? I wasn't sure I liked the amused smirk on his face.
He grabbed me by the hand and led me out to the truck. He was still stark naked, but shifters are used to that. One of the men standing there raised an eyebrow, and reached into the bed of truck. He pulled out a pair of pants and handed them to August well, who stepped into them and zipped them up. Shifters always carry spare clothing with them.
Now he was just standing there bare chested, with that leather strip of a necklace and the jeans. His abs looked as if they'd been carved with a chisel. Looking at him sent ripples of heat through my body.
"Sounded like things got a little loud in there," the man said. He was a dead ringer for August well, but looked maybe a few years younger.
"He left with his tail between his legs," August shrugged. I could see a truck driving very quickly off into the distance, followed by several cars; it looked as if Ric and family was leaving the property.
I imagined he'd brought his younger brother Kent, who was always by his side and who also had a terrible reputation, and various cousins and uncles. Now that Ric was an Alpha, they all had started throwing their weight around, bullying other shifters and picking fights, from what I'd heard. Ric's cousin Aretha, for instance, had a shoplifting habit, but whenever a storeowner caught her, she'd call them a liar and threaten that Ric would issue a death challenge to them and they'd back down.
The men looked me over curiously. "She's not going to be able to run too fast in that getup," one of them observed.
Run? Why would I need to run on my wedding day? I suddenly felt very out of place in my illusory gown and veil. I thought this was a perfect wedding day outfit. Should I have had the shaman conjure up jeans and a tank top?
"She'll change later," August said. "There's been a change of plan. I'm taking her to the parson to be married right now, and then we'll come over to the reception hall in a couple of hours. Don't worry, we'll be at the feast, and we'll still do the Mate Chase this afternoon."
Mate Chase?
I knew that every pack had their own unique wedding traditions, especially for their Alphas. I hadn't bothered to study up on Black Forest Valley, because I refused to acknowledge this as a real wedding day. Maybe I should have done a little more research.
I barely had time to wonder what I'd gotten myself into, when all the other wolves threw back their heads and howled their approval.
"He can't wait to get her back to the bridal chamber!" one of them bayed.
"Maybe she'll outrun him. I'll claim her any day of the week, if he can't catch her!"
Another one howled.
"Watch it," August growled at him. "And don't worry, I will catch her and I will be Mate Chase her."
The shifters kept whooping and hollering their approval. I blushed furiously as he held the passenger door open for me and helped me into the truck.
We pulled away, and he stuck his arm out the window and waved at his relatives, who were still baying happily. "Don't mind my brothers and cousins," he said. "An Alpha wedding is a big deal around here."
"What's Mate Chase?" I demanded.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." He flashed me a taunting grin.
No, I wouldn't. I'd be calling for a ride soon enough, I thought, feeling oddly disappointed. Whatever Mate Chase was, I had a feeling that I wouldn't mind having August do it to me.
"So what are we doing now?" I asked, as we headed down the road in his truck.
"Well, normally, we'd go introduce you to everybody, then we'd have the ceremony in front of everybody, and then we'd commence with the next part of the marriage ritual. "
Which involves what, for heaven's sake? I wanted to scream.
"Given how your uncle acted this morning, I've decided on a change of plan. We're going to get married right away. That way your uncle won't get the chance to change his mind," August said, pulling up in front of a log cabin style building. A white gravel path led to the front door, and there were pretty flower beds lining the pathway.
Yeah, yeah, wouldn't want the business deal to go south, I thought, as he rushed me inside. "Aren't there a bunch of people waiting for us?" I protested.
"Yep. I'm the Alpha, it's my wedding. What I say, goes."
"Won't they think it's kind of weird? I mean, I don't want to be rude..." The thought of actually going through with this fake wedding suddenly filled me with panic. It would really have helped f August hadn't been turned out to be Mr. Sex on Four Legs, and also if he hadn't just saved my butt from a psycho.
"I'm a maverick. I do things my own way. They'll just think I was overwhelmed with passion and wanted to rush the ceremony." Again, he flashed me a wicked grin.
The pastor's secretary looked puzzled as August ushered me into the office. She stared at my dress as if I were a space alien, then looked questioningly at Jordan.
Great. I most definitely should have had the charm conjure up a pair of jeans and a t shirt instead of a fancy wedding dress.
"I'd like the pastor to perform the ceremony now," August said. "Now?" she echoed.
"Right now," he said firmly. "Right here."
She got up and left the room, clearly bewildered. "You're going to get married barefoot and shirtless?" I asked.
"Why, you don't think it's a good look for me?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
I sighed. "It's not a terrible look," I conceded. Understatement of the century.
The pastor, an older shifter with thick silver hair parted on the side, came rushing through the door into the office a minute later, adjusting his tie. "August well! You don't want to go to the reception hall first?" he asked, confusion wrinkling his face.
"We want to get married right now, Reverend," August said firmly.
The pastor forced a smile. "Of course. Young love. Well, let's get you hitched, then, shall we?
The wedding ceremony itself was pretty anti-climactic. It literally lasted about two minutes. The pastor went through what sounded like a typical Alpha ceremony to me – I'd been to a couple of Alpha weddings at home. Respect the Alpha's authority, love and support your mate, never publicly challenge your mate because it undermines his authority, put the pack first at all times, honor, cherish, and so on. The Alpha had to promise he would love, honor, cherish, protect, never let
anyone disrespect his bride, and so on, and so forth.
I was barely listening, mechanically uttering my "I do's" at the right moment. I was in a daze. Nothing was going how I'd planned it today.
"I now pronounce you Alpha and Bride," the pastor said, jerking me out of my reverie.
August reached down, swept the illusory veil off my face, placed his hand behind my head, and kissed me passionately.
At the touch of his lips on mine, I felt a bolt of desire shoot straight down my body, ending up in the cleft between my legs. My panties were instantly soaked. His lips were soft, but his grip was firm and strong. He placed one hand on my chin, cupping it, and I felt my lips part for him. His tongue probed my mouth and he tasted like maple syrup pancakes and passion. Our mouths melted together, and I stifled a low moan.
His tongue swirled around mine, deeper, leading my tongue in an intimate dance.
Then I realized we were making out in front of a pastor, and I pulled away from him in shock. As I did, my body cried out in protest. More. I wanted more.
"Um, we're in a house of God, making out in front of a man of God. Lightning might strike us or something," I said.
"It's okay, honey," he smirked. "We're married." Yes, we were.
I was actually starting to panic now. How could I possibly have thought that this would be no big deal?
It's worth it, I told myself firmly, especially after I saw what Megan had been living with over the last year.
"So, uh, we should go to the reception now?" I said weakly, feeling a little faint.
August flashed me a grin that was filled with pure mischief. "Absolutely not, darling. We're going straight to the bridal chamber."
Tell him! Do it now, I urged myself.
* * *
Unfortunately, I'd been struck dumb when I walked through the door of the bridal chamber and saw what was waiting for me there.
We were in a big stone lodge on a hill overlooking the vast spread of the Black Forest property, and the bridal chamber would have been big enough to stage an orgy, with room to spare.
Apparently the kinky reputation of the Black Forest pack was well deserved. The bed was massive, and there were leather straps attached to all four posts, with cuffs dangling from the ends. There was a table next to the bed which was literally filled with sex toys. Vibrators. Feathers. Butt plugs. Nipple clamps. Floggers. Paddles. Riding crops. Ben was balls. Bottles of flavored lubricant. Jars of flavored body butter. Implements I didn't recognize.
"Cat got your tongue?" August said from right behind me. He was standing too close; I felt a dangerous magnetic attraction pulling me towards him. A wave of heat rippled over my body, and my brain went fuzzy.
I struggled to find words. "Um," I said. "My goodness, August well. You certainly prepared for your wedding day."
"Oh, you can call me August. No need to be formal."
I really didn't want to tell him the truth. I wanted to stay there with him in the bridal chamber. I wanted to find out what all those toys did.
"So, not what you expected for your wedding day?" he asked.
Then, before I could answer, he grabbed ahold of my wrist, yanked the bracelet off, and dropped it on the floor. I gasped in shock. Instantly, I looked like myself again.
"Now, what's your real name, and where is Megan?" he demanded.