Elain laughed as Brodey smiled and released her to Cail. Cail also kissed her, deeply, passionately. When he released her, she swayed a little on her feet.
“Wow!”
Ain took her hands in his. “Ready for the next one?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I want cake.”
Brodey proudly grinned. “That’s my girl!”
Trent looked around before leaning in to his partner. “There are a lot of shifters here,” he whispered. They’d had no problem getting in. They’d parked in a field with the other guests and made sure they had a clear exit without worries of getting parked in. No one was checking for invitations. Had they been challenged, their agreed-upon story was that they were reporters looking for the caterer to do a magazine story on her. Trent carried a reporter’s notebook and professional-grade digital camera for cover.
Ken nodded. “I know. I’m going to sneak into the house during the ceremony and scope it out. See if there’s a back door we can take her through. You have the stuff?”
Trent nodded and passed him a small, black pouch. “I have three, and you have three.” Inside lay syringes full of clear liquid, M99, a powerful animal tranquilizer.
“You think it’s strong enough to take her down?”
He shrugged. “If it’s not, she’ll kill us and it won’t matter. You saw what she did to Paul.”
Ken shuddered. “I also saw what Abernathy did to Paul for losing. I don’t want either happening to me.”
“Then let’s not fuck this up. Get moving.”
Ain removed his ring and handed it to Lina, who was acting as Elain’s maid of honor for the public ceremony. Elain gave hers to Brodey, who was Ain’s best man. Everyone except Liam and Elain headed outside to take their places.
Elain started to say something to Liam when again she caught a glimpse of a wispy apparition reflected in the sliders. She walked over to it, but it disappeared before she could be certain.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he followed her.
She frowned. “I don’t know.” She reached out and touched the glass. It felt warm to the touch, from the outside warm afternoon weather radiating in.
“Then why do ye look like ye saw a ghost?”
She started to reply, then stopped herself.
Ghost?
Naw. Her life was freaky enough already without adding ghosts to the mix.
She took a deep breath. “I’m just seeing things, Dad.” With a smile, she turned to face him and hooked her arm through his. “Let’s get this over with so we can eat.”
Over three-quarters of the guests were shifters or shifter-friendly. Elain had invited a few friends, including former coworkers, but the past few weeks had taught her a thing or two. People she would have previously labeled “close friends” didn’t come a fraction as close to her heart as her new friends and adopted family. She’d never realized before how guarded she’d been, even before all the developments of the past several months and meeting the guys, over the years. Never letting people in close.
As she stood with her arm hooked through Liam’s and stared at the guests, some familiar, some not, she swallowed back a nervous gulp. She knew it had to be nerves, but at the pit of her stomach she kept having the feeling something bad was about to happen.
Here? With everyone around? Not likely.
Liam leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Relax, sweetheart. Yer already married to ’em. This is just for show.”
She smiled. Ain, Brodey, and Cail all stood at the front, waiting. Lina and Mai also stood at the front.
Suddenly, a hysterical laugh caught in her throat. Both her bridesmaids were pregnant. How much longer before I join them?
Where before she didn’t want to think about having kids until some undetermined point in the future, now it was all she could think about.
She stifled her nervous giggles all the way down the aisle. Liam patted her arm and when he handed her off to Ain, he kissed her forehead.
“Yer beautiful, sweetheart.”
The lawyer spoke. “Who gives this woman away?”
Liam straightened, looking handsome in his tuxedo. “Her mother and I do.”
Elain’s nervous giggles almost burst out of her as a sob. Her mother and her father both there for her on one of the most important days of her life.
Yet the gaping hole in her heart for the woman she’d never know still felt like a raw wound.
Liam took his seat next to her mom. Lina couldn’t focus on anything but Ain’s grey eyes as she said her vows and placed the ring on his finger.
“By the power invested in me by the state of Florida, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Ain took Elain into his arms and, to a rousing round of applause, gave her the kind of kiss that nearly fried her panties right on the spot. When Ain finally let her up, he used their mental connection to speak to her. “Just wait until the three of us get you alone later.”
“I can’t wait.”
“I present to you Aindreas and Elain Lyall,” the lawyer said. “The bride and groom invite you all to join them in the tent over there for the reception.”
Ain walked Elain back down the aisle and toward the tent with the rest of the wedding party following behind.
“You won’t smash cake in my face, will you?” she whispered to him.
“Me? Would I do that?”
“You’d better not.”
“I promise I won’t do that.”
“What about Brodey?” It was just the kind of thing he’d do.
“I can’t speak for him.”
“You can edict him not to.”
Ain grinned. “Now what fun would that be?”
Lina kept a sharp lookout. She’d warned Jan, Rick, Kael, and Zack to be ready for trouble, but didn’t want to scare Elain. Something was afoot, she just didn’t know what. She’d awoke that morning feeling grouchy and surly. It’d taken every ounce of her strength to paste a smile on her face and force herself to be cheery for Elain.
This was her friend’s day. She wouldn’t ruin it for her.
She stretched before she sat down in her seat. Mai leaned in. “What’s wrong?”
Lina shook her head. “Nothing. The twins are killing my back today. Glad I wore flats.” She scanned the crowd, however, not wanting to say anything to Mai, either. No sense in alarming her.
After the reception, everyone hooted for Elain to toss the bouquet. Carla dragged Lina and Mai into the throng of women with her, standing in front.
Elain turned her back to the group and with a laugh, heaved it over her shoulder. She looked just in time to see Lina reach for it and grab it seconds before an expression of horror transformed her face.
Elain raced to her side. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Carla and Mai also flanked her as Rick, Jan, Kael, and Zack tried to push through the crowd to reach her.
Lina gasped and looked up from the small puddle now surrounding her feet. “I’m not sure, but I think my water just broke!”
THE END
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