Then kissed her again, like it was the very first time... and he hoped there would never be a last.
It was wedding day, and Jared was concerned his mother might actually die from happiness overload. Not that he could blame her. All three of her sons were getting married. It was insane and awesome and, in his wildest dreams, he never thought something like this could happen. Especially for him.
Mama River was running around, ostensibly fine-tuning all the details, but she had done nothing for the last two weeks but set up things for this day. He didn’t know what could possibly be left to do.
The wedding was at the River family estate, of course. The reception would be in the main house, which was already overloaded with white decor of every kind, from some kind of wispy fabric thing that traced a line throughout the house, to the twinkling white lights hanging everywhere, to the heaping bouquets of white flowers perfuming the air. It was like a fairyland florist shop in there.
His mother seemed to think that going overboard wasn’t possible when three sons were marrying at once.
The ceremony itself would take place out back, near the cabins that each of the brothers had remodeled for their new mates. All three of them had apartments in the city, but those seemed to be forgotten, at least for the moment. Jared heard Olivia had some kind of rat-trap apartment that Jaxson wouldn’t even allow her to return to, except to gather up her things. Jace and Piper both had apartments in the city, but neither seemed in a hurry to leave the estate. There was lots of talk of nieces and nephews, and Jace had already outfitted their cabin with a small nursery tucked in the corner. Apparently, babies were on the agenda, and they were getting right on it. Which made Jared bust out with a smile. They might have little pups running around the family estate soon.
So much life. So much joy. His heart felt like it was bursting all the time now.
And for him and Grace, well, there was no going back to her father’s house, of course. Jared could move her into his tiny apartment in the city, but that didn’t feel like home. And she’d never been around wolves or a pack, and there was so much he still wanted to show her, even outside the bedroom. The family estate just seemed like the right place to be.
Besides, Grace was so busy with the campaign—and would be for some time—that he was treasuring every second they had in their blissful little haven. Soon enough, she would be Washington’s newest Representative to the House, and then she would be traveling all the time. His heart clenched, but he figured she would need a full-time bodyguard now, and there was no one else he would allow to have the job.
Jared strolled past the stables, heading toward the ceremony, and even here, Mama River had decked the place out. White papier-mâché wedding bells hung from the stable entrances, and bouquets of tiny white flowers were randomly tucked everywhere you might imagine. And some places you wouldn’t. He passed the horses and the rows of cabins, finally arriving at the staging area where everyone had started to gather for the outdoor ceremony. There had to be over a hundred wolves in attendance, even though they were trying to keep it small. Nearly half that number actually lived at the estate right now—mostly the Wildings and the other wolves they had rescued. They were still hanging out, even though Agent Smith was dead, the Senator was shut down, and as far as they knew, his secret government program had been destroyed along with the hard drives. Or at least the parts of them that could be used for research. Grace had insisted that they preserve everything that showed what had happened—for history and for leverage against her father, in case he decided to cause problems for her. Or shifters in general. The Senator had slunk off after announcing he wasn’t running for reelection, and as far as Jared knew, the man was hiding out in his Senate office in Washington DC, avoiding the press.
The wolves gathered for the wedding were milling around the seats—they were set up in rows on a giant white tarp his mother had acquired from somewhere. At the front was a white wooden arch decked out with more of that filmy white fabric, as well as dozens of white roses. The mountains rose in the background, and Seattle had decided to give them a perfectly clear blue-sky day in celebration. The soon-to-be brides were nowhere to be seen, but his brothers were gathered at the front, along with Owen, Jace’s best man. Owen was Jace’s brother-in-arms from Afghanistan and had been imprisoned by Agent Smith for over a year. Jared couldn’t think of a better pick in that regard, either—Owen had been through hell and back, worse than any of them, and still came out of it with a smile on his face.
Jared hurried up to join them.