Page 43 of Mated to the Enemy
19
Looking down at the piece of paper she held, on which Klaue had drawn a crude map, she made the last turn. If she’d followed the directions right, Natalia’s room should be just up here on the right.
Jessica’s stomach was filled with butterflies as she knocked. The entire idea made her uncomfortable, but also strangely accepted. Nobody besides Klaue and the Queen herself had shown Jessica much in the way of courtesy since she’d arrived, so it was a strange feeling indeed to be so welcomed into this woman’s life, and on her wedding day, no less.
But while Nat had seemed nice enough, Jessica didn’t know about the rest of the women. Would they be as polite and open with the situation as well? Or would they treat her like the men had, with a cold shoulder? After all, she wasn’t a part of House Ursaorthe wedding party, and yet she’d been invited to join them in getting ready. Plenty of women would be miffed at that, she knew.
The door flung open to reveal a beaming Natalia. “Jess!” she cried, immediately using the short form. “You came. Awesome. Come in, come in.” She yanked on Jessica’s arm, pulling her inside. “Girls, this is Jessica, you know, the one I was telling you about? Klaue’s, um, date.”
Jessica blushed as she heard excited noises from the group within. “It’s not like that,” she tried to protest, but it was cut off when one of them yelled a loud, “Bullshit!”
“That would be Loren,” Natalia said with a grin. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
The first woman to get up and come over as she took off her shoes was a lovely shorter woman with a warm smile and light brown hair already styled up in a beautifully intricate bun. “I’m Haley,” she said cheerfully. “That shit-talker there is Loren, Natalia’s best friend. You can ignore her.”
“Good luck,” the energetic blonde said with a laugh, getting up—and, to Jessica’s surprise—giving her an embrace. “Nice to meet you. Nat has had only good things to say.”
“How much did you manage to tell them?” Jess asked. “I only met you for like half an hour yesterday.”
“Nat is a sucker for romance and hookups,” another woman said drily as she came up. “I’m Michelle. She is obsessed thatsomebodyhas to get together at her wedding, and right now, she’s latched on to you. So, from Loren and myself,thank you so fucking much!”
Jessica laughed along with the other girls, surprised at how at ease she felt already. Loren came over to give her a swift embrace and then pushed a tall flute glass filled with what had to be champagne into her hands. “Here, take this as my thank you as well. I may hook up with someone tonight, but Nat’s long used to me doing that, so I think she’s excited at the prospect of playing cupid for someone else.”
“You all suck!” Nat pouted as they all took seats on chairs that had been assembled.
“It’s your wedding day, you idiot. Focus on yourself, and not getting someone else laid,” Loren told her as the rest of them laughed.
Jessica sipped her champagne and couldn’t help but smile to herself. All the fears of her being welcome had vanished in the span of two minutes. It seemed Nat liked to surround herself with similarly caring people.
“I’m not worried about anyone getting laid,” Nat said as the hair stylists came back out of the bathroom and went to work on Michelle next. “But you should have seen how Klaue looked at her.”
Jessica nearly choked on her champagne as Nat pointed at her. “Um. No, she’s just making that up. It’s not like that.”
Nat laughed. “Darling, Klaue is Kirell’s right-hand man. I’m Kirell’s soon-to-be wife.”
Jessica caught the slight hesitation before the wordwife.At first, she thought it was nervous jitters, but then realized the other women in the room probably had no idea they were staying with a bunch of bear shifters! She made a mental note not to say or do anything to give that away, glad she’d come to her senses before making an ill-timed comment.
“What’s your point?” she asked cautiously.
“My point is, I know Klaue well. You two have been spending lots of time together. Now you’re going to the wedding with him. So, how is it going with you two?”
Jessica hemmed and hawed some more. “I’m…I’m not here because of that.”
“I know,” Nat said dryly. “You’re here because House Canis, those rascals. Everyone knows.”
“They do?” she asked, surprised.
The other women nodded, and Loren spoke up. “Yeah, Nat told us that you came here from there for whatever reason.”
“Oh. So how come none of you is mad at me?”
Nat and Haley rolled their eyes almost in unison. “Because, Jess, we’re not big dumb men. We can see you’re scared and not here on some secret job for Canis. We know you’re telling the truth.”
“Oh.” She was beginning to feel like a broken record, repeating the same surprised word over and over again.
“That may have been what brought you here,” Haley teased, “but it’s Klaue that’s keeping you here.”
“I told you, there’s nothing going on between us,” she protested, but her denial just led to more laughter.
