Harold stared at his watch impatiently. Ten minutes to go. They weren’t running late, but he was as edgy as if they had been.
He hadn’t managed to make it to the rehearsal dinner at all. According to his mother, Christine had spent the evening looking like a frightened rabbit. Anger stirred inside him. He wished he had been there. It was regrettable, but supposedly it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding – though really, they ought to have met at least once
“Psst!”
Harold looked around. There was no one there, but he scented a young wolf shifter.
“Psssst!”
The noise was coming from behind the pillar.
“Over here!”
Either the talking pillar wanted his attention, or there was a young girl behind it. On inspection, he found a teenage wolf shifter in a yellow dress - obviously a bridesmaid, and therefore, one of Christine’s sisters.
He looked at her bewildered. “Hello?”
“Someone wants to talk to you,” she whispered slowly.
“Who?”
“Shhhhh!”
Harold rolled his eyes and impatiently allowed the young pup to lead him through the hotel to the reading room.
“In there,” she whispered – though why she was still whispering he didn’t know, because there really was no one around to hear them. “But…”
“Oh stop this nonsense,” he growled pushing the door open. “What on earth…”
He paused on seeing the woman in white before him. There was no mistaking what that dress meant, and no mistaking the young woman in it.
“Christine?”
She squinted at him. “Harold?”
Wolf and man stilled. Illuminated by the window, she was a… a vision. An angel. Pale skin glowed while vibrant red hair fell in tendrils around her bare shoulders. The gown was stupendous, acres of white beaded fabric, curling around her curvy body. Though an unexpected surge of lust had him wondering what she would look like without the dress.
The bridesmaid cleared her throat. “I’ll just…”
He closed the door abruptly, shutting out the young girl, and strode towards the woman in white. Not just any woman. His soon to be mate. Christine.
He had seen a few pictures of her, but they hadn’t been particularly clear - they were taken by his investigator from afar. They didn’t do her justice.
She stared up at him with clear blue eyes. On closer inspection he found her skin was dappled by freckles, they smattered across her chest and arms like cinnamon. Very fitting considering she smelled as delicious as a pumpkin latte – one of the few pleasures he allowed himself. The freckles were not something he had noted on her parents; both had been tanned, with almost leathery skin – as though they had spent far too many hours in the sun. Christine looked much more delicate, much finer than both of them.
As his eyes wandered over her, he froze in noting that she was doing the same to him. Would she find him wanting? He was not a handsome man like his brothers Jonathan and Arthur, but in as far as looks, he had only ever cared how he dressed – wanting to make sure that people saw him as a successful businessman. His looks were of no matter. Not usually, anyway. None of his female friends had ever cared about them. They had only cared about the perks of being on the arm of the future alpha. The fact that she wouldn’t find him as instantly attractive as he found her irritated and angered him.
“What is it?” he asked a little more forcefully than necessary.
She blinked at him in surprise but didn’t seem upset. “I thought we should meet.” Her lips curled slightly into a smile. “Given that we are about to spend the rest of our lives together.”
Were they, though? He could safely say he would never hurt her, never give her a reason to force a divorce, but that wouldn’t stop her from leaving him or maybe cheating on him.
She laughed slightly nervously and held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Christine, but people call me Christy. It’s nice to meet you.”
For once he was speechless. For a few moments at least.
He grasped her small hand and shook it. “Harold Buchanan. Pleasure.”
She cocked an eyebrow at his tone and no wonder. He was talking to her like she was a member of the board.
Say something. “How was your flight?” he asked lamely.
“Good. The guy next to me was watching porn on his laptop the whole time, and the kid behind me kept kicking my chair. There’s nothing like air travel.” She rolled her eyes but still smiled at him.
Crap. He hadn’t thought. Hadn’t given her much thought at all other than in an abstract way.
“I’m sorry, I should have had you upgraded to first class.”
Damnit. He would have to talk to his assistant about that. He would make sure his assistant was aware of his wife’s movements in future so he could do his utmost to make her life easier.
His wife…
Christine waved her free hand. “Please. I’m a terrible flier. The awful passengers give me something to concentrate on – without them I’d probably go nuts.”
He nodded, uncertain what to say. Her voice had a gentle twang to it; the soft cadences were quite soothing to his ears.
“But I guess that’s because I haven’t flown much. My dad always says that if you can’t get it in Texas, then it ain’t worth getting! I’ve barely left the state.”
“Indeed?”
She was… not how he expected. She was the daughter of the alpha, and he had expected her to be like the higher-level women in his pack. Like his mother, or grandmother, or even Sabrina. They were all charming women, but their charm was cultivated and clever. Christine seemed to be charming through her warmth, and that seemed as natural and unaffected as her bright eyes and sweet smile.
“We shall have to remedy that.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I am partial to skiing. Have you ever…”
“Nope. I’m not much for sports, but I like horse riding. I’ve always wanted to try skiing.”
“Good. Then we shall have to go.”
“For our honeymoon?”
He hesitated. “I’m afraid I cannot take time away directly after the wedding, but I’m sure something can be arranged.”
Her smile dimmed slightly, and he felt a pang of annoyance that he caused that.
“It’s fine; I suppose I’m going to need a little time to settle in any way.”
Her smile completely vanished. No wonder. She was giving up her whole life to come here and be his wife. He imagined he was a poor consolation prize.
“Yes, have you seen our house?”
She shook her head, but disappointingly didn’t say anything. Which was a shame, her voice was pleasant to his ear.
“After tonight… ah… are you aware of the arrangements?”
“Yes, we’re staying here tonight in the honeymoon suite, right?”
She stared at him, deliberately not breaking eye contact. He expected her to be a little shy, to blush at that but she wasn’t. She was showing him how brave she was, that she wasn’t about to back down and he admired that.
“Yes. Tomorrow I will take you to the house, and you can settle in.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, bro, what is taking so…”
His younger brother, Jonathan burst through the door and Harold let out a loud growl. Jonathan froze blinking at him in surprise. Sure Harold was a wolf shifter, but he was hardly given to outward animal displays. Usually, he kept his beast locked firmly away. But he had let out a rare flash of anger on seeing Jonathan - for disturbing the moment between him and Christine.
Christine didn’t seem put out either by his display or by their interruption. Perhaps he had imagined it, but he thought there might have been some kind of spark between them – albeit a tiny, distant one, but maybe he imagined it. He’d never felt anything instantaneous with any other woman. Nothing like the lust he had immediately felt for Christine. Perhaps he was deluding himself into thinking there was more because he wanted there to be more – given that they would be together forever. That wasn’t a bad thing really.
“You must be the bride,” Jonathan smirked at Christine, and Harold’s wolf snarled at his younger brother.
Jonathan was barely twenty but already a ladies man of the highest degree. His looks and easy charm saw to that.
“What gave me away?” asked Christine archly.
Jonathan gave her a killer smile, and Harold had the urge to pound his brother. He felt a little flustered. Lust and desire for violence all within ten minutes – what on earth was happening to him?
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” prompted Jonathan.
Harold scowled at him. He supposed she would see a lot of Jonathan after they were married. Though not too much. He would discourage his brother from visiting his house and his mate.
“Christine, this is my little brother, Jonathan. Jonathan, my mate, Christine.”
Christine blinked at him in surprise at the word ‘mate’ but just smiled at Jonathan.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said politely. “You can call me Christy.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Christy,” grinned Jonathan, his eyes swimming with amber. “You look absolutely…”
“That’s enough,” snapped Harold. “Wait outside.”
Jonathan waggled his eyebrows and did as he was told.
“Your brother,” murmured Christine, looking a little flustered. “I didn’t realize you had more than one brother.”
“I have four, and a sister.”
“They weren’t at the engagement party; I met Arthur...”
“Yes, I understand my youngest brothers and sister had school commitments, and as for Jonathan, I could not say where he goes or what he does.”
Her eyes widened, and a touch of panic hit her.
“You just realized you’re about to tie yourself to a man you know nothing about.”
She nodded helplessly. “Of course, I’ve known that for the last three weeks, but meeting your brother… it really hit home. Hell, I’ve never even slept with a guy before dating him for at least four months, and now… and now…”
His wolf had an unexpected urge to hunt down any man who had been with her and rip their heads off. Harold quickly squashed that thought.
“What can I do to make this easier on you?”
The words were out before he could stop them, and they surprised him. Since when did he care about making anyone else’s life easier? Sure, he was devoted to his pack, devoted to succeeding, but personal feelings were unimportant – irrelevant to the bigger picture. Of course, she had known she was marrying someone she didn’t know – why was she suddenly shocked by it? The impatient part of him wanted to snap that at her, but he held back. She would be his mate. He didn’t want her to be upset.
“C’mon, let’s go!” called Jonathan, banging on the door.
“In a minute,” roared Harold, glaring at the door.
When he turned back, it was to find Christine with tears brimming in her eyes. Would marriage to him really be so bad? He found himself disappointed that she would think so. Perhaps she would have preferred to marry Jonathan a bitter voice told himself.
“Christine…”
“I’m fine, but thank you for asking.” She gave him a watery smile. “I know this is tough on both of us, but, we can make the best of it, right?”
“Of course.”
Jonathan banged again.
“I should go.”
“Yep, see you at the altar.” She giggled, verging on hysterically.
“Yes, you will,” he told her a tad fiercely. He had a sudden worry that she was going to turn tail and run, but his wolf wouldn’t allow that. He’d chase her, bring her to back to him. Mine.
“I’ll need my hand back.”
“Ah.”
He hadn’t realized he had been clinging to it. He dropped it, and she smoothed out her skirt.
“I will see you soon,” he muttered and strode away, elated and irritated in equal measure.
He had expected a woman like Sabrina - someone compact and reserved, someone who would just fit into his life. Someone he wouldn’t have to make many changes for. But he doubted Christine would be that. No, he had a feeling she would cause him more trouble than he ever expected.
*
Christine leaned heavily on her father as he led her down the aisle. He wouldn’t even look her in the eye as he lifted her veil and kissed her cheek.
He was ashamed; embarrassed it had come to this. He shouldn’t be. She didn’t blame him. They had setbacks in the business, and unfortunately, he had to make a pact with this snooty pack to make it right. She could have said no, but she couldn’t live with herself if her pack mates lost their jobs. Or her father lost his position – he was their alpha; he needed to stay strong. Giving away his only daughter only made him look stronger.
She didn’t feel very strong at that moment. She thought meeting Harold would help. It only made her more confused.
She had expected the male to be like her - nervous, uncertain and in agreement that the whole arrangement was insane. But Harold was nothing like that. He was sharp, and sure and had such an intense look that it made her quiver. She was a little intimidated by him. Her own father had always been an open, easygoing guy, and she had always dated men that were a lot like her father. Friendly and well liked. Though perhaps Roark wasn't quite as friendly as she had once thought.
Harold seemed like the complete opposite of them. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. She liked him. In his own detached way, he had been keen to put her at ease, to make this easier on her, and there was the disappointment. She had wanted him to agree that this was madness, that they couldn’t possibly go through with this and they should tell their families together.
But no, he was already planning vacations for them. He seemed certain that marrying her was the right thing; he almost seemed impatient for them to get hitched.
Now, she wasn’t sure what to think.
Her father took her hand and placed it in Harold’s. Her future husband gave her the same intense look again, his green eyes boring into hers.
The ceremony passed in a blur. Harold didn’t take his eyes off her. Perhaps he was worried she was going to bolt. The thought occurred to her, but she couldn’t get her legs to move. She was rooted to the spot, caught in his gaze, still surprised that she was actually getting married.
“I do,” he said calmly and clearly.
After a few more mumbles from the minister, Harold looked at her expectantly and squeezed her hand.
“I do,” she murmured automatically.
The minister asked if anyone had any objections. Harold cut an irritated look at him, and he quickly coughed and continued, declaring them man and wife.
Harold dropped her hand, sliding one arm around her waist and placed a finger under her chin, raising her to where he wanted her. Her hands pressed against his chest as he dipped to brush his lips against hers. The movement was fast – too fast for a real kiss. She gave better kisses to her cat.
He pulled back slightly, and Christine pressed forward, pushing her lips to his. He stiffened slightly before relaxing into the kiss. It was noting x-rated – no tongue – she would die before she would do that in front of her family, but it was nice. Gentle. Warm.
His arm tightened around her waist, and his hand moved to cup the back of her head.
“Get a room!” a voice shouted – Jonathan she thought – and Harold withdrew from her, glaring at his brother.
Everyone started cheering and whooping, and that was it, they were married. Christine tried to peek at him – her husband, but he was too busy accepting congratulations from various members of his pack.
Her own father swept her into a hug. “I’m sorry, sweetie,” he murmured almost tearfully.
“It’s okay, Daddy,” she replied automatically.
She managed to catch Harold, in between backslaps, staring at her, and for a second, she thought she saw uncertainty in his eyes. Uncertainty about her? She doubted he would tell her even if she asked. She really had no idea what life with him would be like, but she was about to find out.