Page 33 of Talk About… Secrets
“You were going to hide this?”
“Until you got back from the honeymoon,” I defended. “I have no regrets on that. You deserved this moment and I wasn’t going to be like them.”
“Ugh,them. Can you fucking believe Celine? You could never be like them,” she argued.
A quick knock sounded before Beck, Spencer, Cade, and Nolan shuffled into the room.
“We got the planner to pull everyone into the dining hall for lunch. You guys have a flight in three hours, let’s sneak you out of here,” Beck said. “They’ve unlocked the maintenance hall and Nolan already pulled around back.”
“Nolan, did you know?”
My pack froze, while their brother looked at Hailey in confusion.
“About Celine’s dress? Of course not.”
She pointed at Beck. “No, about your brother finding his mate.”
“Wait, what?” Nolan said while Beck let out a startled noise and looked at me with wide eyes.
“She tortured it out of me,” I admitted.
“Wait, you?” Nolan asked, looking from me, to them, then back to me. I’d be offended if he sounded anything but confused.
“Yes,” I admitted. “We were keeping it a secret until after the wedding.”
His smile was blinding as he clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Congrats, bro. That right there is why she’s a good choice.”
“Yes, and you need to go before the bitch brigade finds you sneaking off,” Beck said with a chuckle. “We’ll handle the rest.”
“Starting with getting this de-scenting shit washed off,” Cade muttered, making us all laugh.
It felt like a master spy operation as we each took a bag or suitcase and rushed them off downstairs. We managed to load them into Nolan’s SUV without incident, glad the dining room didn’t face the back parking area.
“The dress shop is expecting you if you want the dress,” Spencer said. Hailey’s nose wrinkled, but she nodded.
“Don’t worry, I’ll send you some money for a new dress. Buy one in Italy. One that makes you smile,” I said as I hugged my sister tight, both of us swiping at tears.
Then they were off. My mates stepped close now, no need to keep our distance.
“I think we should make up an excuse, tell no one why they’re gone, and just have the normal activities until we have the photos in hand,” I said.
“That gives them time to adjust before the calls start,” Spencer sighed. “I have a feeling this won’t be pretty.”
“First things first, get your things to our suite so we can all shower,” Cade groaned. “I need to smell my mate.”
Grace
Now that our scents were washed off and I had come more times than I could count, I walked out of my room to face the world.
Only to come face to face with my mother.
Her eyes were bloodshot and I just knew this was about to get dramatic. Especially since they lacked the puffiness of actual tears.
“I just don’t understand this behavior out of my girls,” she started with a sniffle, dabbing at her nose despite not a single tear falling.
“We are done being bullied and you letting it happen. Our mother should be the one defending us, not letting us get mistreated.”
She gasped. “I’m not letting you be mistreated, I’m teaching you how to turn the other cheek.”
