“I do.”
“Kiya Marie, do you promise to honor and obey this man and no other all the days of your life?”
She stared at her father, silently begging him to end this before it was too late. He stared back at her, a silent warning in his eyes, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
Kay yearned to say no, would have said no but for the sure knowledge that defying her Alpha now would be the last thing she ever did.
His eyes narrowed ominously at her silence. “Daughter?”
His power rolled over her. When she spoke, the words that passed her lips were a barely audible “I do.”
Her father smiled faintly. “By my authority, I now pronounce you, Kiya Marie Alissano and Victor Rinaldi, life-mated.” His smile widened. “Victor, you may kiss your bride.”
With a triumphant grin, Victor pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his lips grinding into hers.
“As is our custom,” Russell said, “the pack will celebrate this union with a hunt as soon as the moon rises. Until then, help yourselves to food and drink.”
As a dutiful husband, Victor brought Kay a plate and a glass of wine even though she had no appetite for either.
For the next three hours, Kay pasted a smile on her face and pretended she was having a good time. She endured the hugs of her pack mates. She accepted gifts and good wishes and bawdy advice. She dutifully danced with her father, then with Victor, then with Victor’s father, and Greta’s husband.
She listened to one story after another about the joys of wedded life and what to expect on her wedding night. Considering that she had already been married, she thought giving her marital advice was beyond peculiar, but no one mentioned her former marriage.
When the sun began to set, the guests departed to their own homes to get ready for the coming hunt.
Kay glared at Victor when he followed her to her room. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“You’re my wife now,” he said smugly. “Where you go, I go.”
“Not until our marriage is consummated,” she reminded him, and shut the door in his face.
No sooner had she done so than she heard Gideon’s voice in her mind.
Are you all right?
Yes, for now.
A pause. Has he … have the two of you … ?
Not yet. It’s customary for newlyweds to break off from the others during the hunt, and … and … you know.
In wolf form?
Yes, the first time. She frowned when Gideon withdrew from her.
He returned a moment later. If you can get away from him, I’ll meet you in the woods.
I’ll try, but I don’t think they’ll leave me alone. I’ve got to go. My mother’s calling.
Look for me.
“Kiya?”
“Come in.”
Dorothy entered the room. “Your father sent me to look for you. Everyone is ready to go. I thought maybe …” She glanced around the room. “Where’s Victor?”
“I sent him away so I could get changed.”
“You sent him away?” Dorothy frowned.
“Yes.” Kay turned her back to her mother. “Could you help me out of this dress?”
“Of course, but … Kiya, you’re married now. Victor should be doing this.”
“I’m not comfortable with him.”
With a sigh of exasperation, Dorothy unfastened the long row of buttons.
Kay let the gown fall to the floor, then stepped out of it. She quickly removed her shoes and underwear and then, before her mother could ask any more questions she didn’t want to answer, she shifted into her wolf form and padded out of the room.
The pack was gathered on the patio. In spite of the fact that her father had forced her into a marriage she didn’t want, Kay couldn’t deny the heady rush of excitement at the thought of running through the woods with the pack.
Her exhilaration faded when Victor trotted up to stand beside her.
Kay glanced at her mother, who was standing in the patio doorway. What did her mother think when the pack went hunting and she was left home alone? Was she happy to have a few hours to herself? Or envious because she couldn’t join them?
The pack waited restlessly for her father to give the signal. Sensing their eagerness to run, he lifted his head and let out a howl, then loped across the yard and jumped effortlessly over the fence.
The pack followed hard on his heels, their yips and barks of excitement filling the air as they followed their Alpha.
Kay hung back, hoping Victor would go on without her. She should have known better. He stuck to her side like a dark shadow, while her aunt brought up the rear.
Sailing over the fence, Kay forgot, momentarily, how unhappy she was, forgot everything but the damp feel of the earth beneath her feet, the touch of the wind in her face, the myriad scents that assailed her nostrils as she ran. It was always a bit of a surprise, how much she loved being in her wolf form, how different the world looked through her wolf eyes. Everything was magnified. She tasted the wind on her tongue, smelled a rabbit cowering in its hole, heard a deer bounding through the underbrush, the fluttering of an owl’s wings as it hunted prey of its own. Was it this way for Gideon, too? Did he revel in his power?