Page 33 of The Alpha's Mail Order Bride

“I’m having a great time,” he said gravely. She knew without looking at him that his face would be its usual impassive mask. “It’s everyone else who’s losing their minds. You’d think my brother would know better,” he added, nodding toward the back of the room, where Reeve was barking harried orders and moving chairs back and forth, seemingly at random. “Though his wedding was a little different.”

“We don’t even need a wedding, really. We’re already married,” she grumbled. “All I wanted was a big stupid party. And an excuse to make you dance with me,” she added, shooting him a smug look. She was especially looking forward to that part of the ceremony tomorrow… that was, assuming the whole island wasn’t devastated by a series of stress-induced heart attacks. Wasn’t the bride supposed to be the one who was the most stressed about the big day?

“They’re having fun, really,” Darion said with a smile. “I’ve never seen Blaine so excited about clothing in my life.”

The other Alphas were serving as Darion’s groomsmen in matching suits, with Reeve as his best man. She’d been secretly pleased when Darion asked Reeve to fill that role. There had been a lot of tension between the brothers for a while, there—but, like a lot of their problems, the tension had gone away once Darion had actually admitted that human or not, Claire was his soulmate. They’d joked about announcing it to the island with a wedding…and then, somehow, that joke had become a reality.

It was sweet, really. A gesture of welcome from her new family, who’d already made her feel so at home here; their determination to understand and replicate every single human tradition was incredibly charming, if kind of exhausting to deal with. All she really wanted to do was lounge around in bed with Darion, but they’d been so caught up in wedding planning for the last few weeks that they’d barely had time to celebrate her officially moving in with him in his cottage. Well, that was what a honeymoon was for.

“You haven’t noticed,” Darion said now, and she could hear a note of disappointment in his voice. Frowning, she turned to get a better look at him. He looked devastatingly handsome in the tailored suit he was wearing—charcoal gray, setting off his silver eyes, his hair freshly trimmed and an incredibly easy smile playing around his lips. She almost forgot why she was looking at him until he lifted a pointed eyebrow. “Claire?”

“What? The suit is distracting, I’m hardly to blame. What haven’t I noticed? How badly I want to tear all the buttons off that shirt?”

“You haven’t noticed that I’m up to something,” he said, the disappointment in his tone intensifying. “All my scheming has gone unnoticed.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I got Reeve involved and everything,” he continued, his eyes cast ahead to the doors of the community center, which were standing slightly ajar to let a patch of sunlight through. “I was certain he’d give something away. He’s certainly been vibrating with excitement about it for weeks.”

“Everyone’s been vibrating with excitement, Darion. We’re having the wedding of the century, remember? What have you done?”

“I suppose it’ll just have to be a surprise,” he said heavily. “What a shame. I imagine you’ll have trouble sleeping—”

“Darion, that’s not fair,” she complained, smacking him on the forearm hard enough to draw a disapproving look from Raske, who was attempting to tune the piano that had been dragged out of a back room for involvement in the ceremony. “I’m the bride, you have to be nice to me.”

“Actually, the maid of honor outranks the bride, I’ve been told.”

Claire frowned at him. “What? Did Lyrie tell you that?” It certainly didn’t sound like her. But Darion was shaking his head.

“Unfortunately, Lyrie’s had to step down as maid of honor. I suppose you’ll have to find a replacement.”

And he nodded toward the doors just as they swung open. Framed in the doorway, never one to miss an opportunity to strike a pose, was Suzanne. Claire was already running, faster than her shock and disbelief, faster than was safe or wise in the shoes she was wearing—and then she and Suzanne were hugging each other and shrieking at a volume loud enough to shake the rafters. By the time they’d caught their breath, Darion had moved up beside her, a faint grin on his face. Suzanne lowered her sunglasses to take him in, her expression suddenly very serious.

“Hmm,” she said at last. “Definitely better looking than the photos, you’re right. Good suit,” she added, taking in the details with an expert eye. “He’ll do. But watch out, right? I know everything, Darion.Everything.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Suzanne,” Darion said, only the faintest touch of strain audible in his voice. Claire burst into laughter, not sure whether the tears on her cheeks were from laughing or crying. She just kept spinning back and forth, hugging Suzanne to reassure herself that her friend was actually there, then demanding to know how Darion had made this happen.

“Like I was going to miss yourwedding,” Suzanne said, rolling her eyes. “No tropical island is remote enough to keep me away from you. I’d swim if I had to. Also, Darion sent me a very nice letter inviting me personally,” she added.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Claire said, shaking her head with wonder. “This is…this is amazing. This is the best wedding present ever.”

“You deserve nothing but the best, babe,” Suzanne said firmly, squeezing her one more time before turning to scan the hall. “Now, I’ve got some maid of honor meddling to do.”

And just like that, she was gone, heading over to the nearest clump of bemused-looking wolves to introduce herself. Darion put an arm around Claire’s waist and drew her in, and she leaned fondly against him, already looking forward to getting him alone so she could thank him in greater depth and with fewer clothes in the way. “I can’t believe you brought another human here,” she said softly, her eyes following Suzanne’s trajectory through the hall. “What if she’s a spy, hmm?”

Darion chuckled. “She’s your oldest friend. It wouldn’t have been right, not having her here.”

“So you’re okay with her knowing about shifters too? How did she react when you told her?”

“Oh, that’s the other part of the gift.” Darion’s eyes gleamed. “She doesn’t know yet.”

Claire closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. When she opened them again, Darion was looking down at her with faint concern on that absurdly handsome face. “I can’t believe how perfect you are,” she said. “I can’t believe how happy I am. I mean, I’ve always been an optimist, but this is just ridiculous.”

Darion leaned down to kiss her, his lips lingering longer than either of them had intended, and when he finally broke away her stomach was fluttering just like it had the first time he’d touched her, and every time since. Claire stood with the love of her life, watching her best friend meeting her newly adopted family, and reflected that when it came to writing, she might need to retire from romance novels for good.

How could she ever hope to invent a happily-ever-after that was as good as the one she was living?

*****

THE END

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