Chapter 2
Breathlessly, Alise snagged a glass of champagne off a passing tray and flashed a smile at the suit-clad waiter. Turning, she took a sip as she eyed the reception area. She was proud of how beautifully everything had turned out. The soft glow of string lights and candles illuminated the space, and the sunset backdrop was perfect. Music played softly in the background, and the wedding guests had mostly all arrived. A round of applause went up, and she turned just in time to see her best friend, Alex, and her new Skin Walker husband, Recker, enter the reception area.
Mate, she corrected inwardly. Skin Walkers considered themselves mated instead of married. Granted they both meant the same thing, but Alise wanted to get the terminology right so as not to offend.
Lowering her glass, Alise beamed at Alex and Recker. Cindy and Stoney, the other two bridesmaids, had stayed behind at the ballroom with Alex to get her prepped for the reception while Alise had raced down to make sure everything was perfect. Now, watching Cindy and Stoney flank Alex, Alise tilted her head and wondered if one of them would be replacing her as Alex’s best friend. It made sense. The two women both lived here at StoneCrow Estates, just like Alex would after today. Alise though would be heading back to the city first thing in the morning. The thought sent a pang of loneliness ripping through her. She forced it back and plastered on a fake smile when Alex’s eyes landed on her. Lifting her glass in a silent salute, she was relieved when one of the kitchen staff blocked her from Alex’s view to ask her about the h’orderves. Following to the food table, she was glad for the distraction. She didn’t want her own self-pity ruining Alex’s day. They were so close that she knew Alex would be able to tell something was off if Alise didn’t pull it together. So she did.
She busied herself with helping the staff with plating and then checked on the bartender to see if he needed anything. She checked on tables and re-lit several candles that had blown out. She flitted around the reception area like a busy little bee, and it worked. She was helping Alex on her special day instead of ruining it, and it felt good.
Still, busy as she was, she couldn’t ignore the chills that kept blasting up her spine or the goosebumps that periodically kept rising all along her arms. It wasn’t from the cold. She felt odd like she was being watched, but every time she looked around, the only one staring at her was James.
James was a Skin Walker Sentry like Recker. Alex had been spending a lot of time with him lately. He was Recker’s best friend and the thought of dating the handsome young Walker had butterflies flitting around Alise’s belly like drunk little hellions.
Another wave of unease hit her just as she tore her eyes from James and it didn’t make sense. If he was the only one watching her then why was she feeling so…so…watched?
***
Three shots of whiskey and two beers deep, Chief set up camp at one of the stone picnic tables just outside of the patio area. Distanced from the lit-up pergola and candle strew tables, he sat in darkness—now that the sun had fully set. The dark suited him just fine. It made it easier to watch her!
The woman was a beautiful little thing. She was wearing a pretty green dress and had her long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail that showed off the graceful arc of her neck. Her lips were bright red and kept drawing Chief’s attention, almost as much as the one shoulder that was exposed by her dress. There was a tattoo on it of a large blackbird whose wing swept down just beneath her collarbone and across what he could see of her chest.
Elbows on his knees, he leaned a little closer to study her more intently and almost fell off where he was perched with his ass on the table and his booted feet on the bench seat.
“Goddamn it,” he snarled quietly and righted himself before his eyes found the woman again. He couldn’t stop staring at her, and he knew she could feel his eyes on her because she kept looking around trying to find the source of her discomfort. That was revealing too because her eyes kept tracking back to James. He knew the Skin Walker Sentry from previous meetings. The guy was okay, a jokester, which Chief never understood, but still okay. Still, his familiarity with the Sentry didn’t stop Chief from shooting James a dark look. It didn’t last long though because his wolf dragged his attention back to her. Watching her wasn’t enough though. Both beast and man wanted a closer look, so Chief shoved up off the table and made his way to one of the empty tables near the bar.
Taking a seat, he kicked one leg out in front of him in a relaxed pose that belied the tumultuous emotions roiling inside him.
“Chieftain.” James greeted as he slowly turned from the bar. Facing Chief with a cold beer in his hand he asked, “What’s up, man?”
The greeting was irksome. They weren’t friends. Chief didn’t have any, and he sure as shit didn’t let people call him Chieftain.
Chief didn’t even bother tearing his eyes from the woman as he asked, “The woman in green, who is she?”
“Green?” James asked. “Would we call that green? Seems more like turquoise or no, wait! Amanda calls it teal. It’s her favorite color.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the color,” Chief snapped. “The woman! Who the fuck is she?” He wanted to ask more specifically what she was to James, but he didn’t. Skin Walkers were just as territorial with their mates as shifters were, but a little hope flared when Chief’s eyes dipped back to the satiny column of the woman’s throat and noted it was absent of halo. She belonged to no Skin Walker, at least not yet anyway.
“Alise,” James answered gruffly. “She’s Alex’s friend. She’s friends with Stoney and Cindy too, so I’d stop mad-dogging her if I were you.”
Chief’s expression didn’t falter, his eyes didn’t waver. “Cut the shit. I mean who is she?”
“What does that even mean? I told you, her name’s Alise. She’s Alex’s friend. She’s the best maid, or honorary bride, or bride fuck friend, or whatever the shit they call it!”
A pang of disappointment shot through Chief. “She’s human?”
Beside him, James stilled with his beer raised halfway to his lips. “What does that matter?”
“It matters.” Chief shoved up from where he’d been sitting. He felt James’ angry eyes on him, but he didn’t give a fuck. James wasn’t important. She was.
“Look, Alise is here with me.”
Chief could scent James’ lie instantly. He didn’t comment on it even as James continued, “And I’d appreciate it if…”
James’ voice faded into background noise as the woman, Alise, turned from the people she’d been speaking with. Radiant smile beaming from those sexy red lips, her thick, sooty lashes rested on her pale cheeks for just the briefest of moments as she glanced down at the glass of wine in her hands before her eyes slowly lifted. Alise’s gaze landed on James and Chief’s lip ticked up in a snarl when he heard James inhale audibly like her gaze was a caress. Beside him, James started breathing hard before lifting a hand and waving like a dorky fuck face.
Chief was going to say something, chastise the guy for being uncool, but Alise slid her bright golden gaze from James to him. Before their eyes even locked every hair on Chief’s body was standing on end. Electrified! Then it happened.
Their eyes collided and Chief went down like he’d been donkey kicked in the nuts.
Fffffuck! It hurt! Everything hurt! As soon as the searing pain seized him, his incisors punched through his gums of their own volition and flooded his mouth with blood. Still, he kept his head up even as one hand clamped over his abdomen and his breathing turned ragged. The pain was dizzying in its intensity, but he couldn’t focus on himself right now because, across the reception area, Alise went down too. The glass of wine slipped from her hand, and they both dropped together. She must have had the same agony shooting through her too because a pained scream left her parted lips before she even hit the ground.
Chief’s eyes were locked on where Alise’s supple body arched violently on the ground. Feral possessiveness and a visceral demand for him to protect her tore through him so violently that even through his pain, he shoved up off the ground. Another wave of agony wracked his body, but he pushed through it. He had to because two Sentries dared to touch Alise and she loosed another anguished scream.
A female voice yelled for everyone to get back and to not touch Alise, but it didn’t soothe Chief’s beast one fucking bit. He needed to get to her, needed his hands on her!
Just as he took his first steps toward Alise, Chief heard that fucker Monroe—the Dominant Skin Walker—snort, “Hmph. Not what I expected, but it’ll do.”