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1241 Words
CHAPTER 6
NICHOLAS
"W
here are we on the plans with the wedding?"
"We have a venue already. The backyard is wide enough to house over one hundred and fifty people and the decorators can do some work on the flowers to get everything just right."
"And the caterers?" Ryland asked the wedding planner, a red-headed woman in her mid-thirties with a slight Scottish accent. She walked and talked like she could not remain still, and I had forgotten her name, but Ryland insisted she had come highly recommended.
"They're working on the menu as we speak," she answered quickly,
Apparently, they were planning the wedding of the season even though the bride had not yet said yes to the groom. But nobody knew that yet. Only Prairie and I.
It was two days since I'd last seen her in the kitchen, dressed in a nightgown that had driven me crazy. So much so that I'd forced myself to remain in the hallway lest I did something stupid.
Two days and I'd been unable to get her out of my head no matter how much I tried.
Meetings, seminars, and distance had done nothing to cure this mindless craving to see her.
Even as I stood at the back of the reservation and forced myself to listen to the wedding plans Ryland was making, she was still present in my thoughts. Had she dreamed of wearing a wedding dress with a man at her side when she was a girl, I wondered?
"Nicholas, Nick! Are you even listening to anything I say?" Ryland asked in irritation.
"You do know I could be doing literally anything else and not planning your wedding, right? Your bride-to-be should be doing this. Where is she anyway?"
"I don't know," I said to him and started walking away
"I get that you don't want this, but you yourself agreed that it's for the best. All you've ever wanted was to unite the factions and the neighboring packs. This is a step in that direction."
I knew all of that and what I hated to admit to myself, least of all to my best friend, was that I did not think marrying Prairie was such a bad idea.
The marriage might be in name only, but what if it could be more? Maybe one day she would let me rest my head on her chest?
I had to stop thinking like this.
"I know," I said. The look he gave me told me that he was not convinced.
"Well?" he asked. I didn't respond. He sighed and walked back toward the wedding planner.
I made my way out of the reservation to the backyard and was surprised when I found Douglas standing alone and staring into space. He turned to me and bowed before I closed the distance between us.
"Alpha," he said by way of greeting. It would take some getting used to having Douglas defer to me. He'd been somewhat of a guardian to me all my life.
"Douglas."
We both turned to stare out at the greenery that had been Alexander Lonsdale's home. Past the perfectly mowed lawn, there was a small artificial pond, and past that were the woods. The same woods we'd been able to sneak through in a surprise attack on Alexander Lonsdale.
I had men sprawling through those same woods at all hours of the day in search of intruders. I was not arrogant enough to believe that my position could not be threatened at any moment.
"No one has seen your bride-to-be since she accepted your proposal," Douglas said. I was almost certain he knew I had been lying about Prairie accepting my proposal.
"I'm starting to suspect you killed her," he said, and I heard the mirth in his voice. I realized then he did not know.
"I haven’t," I replied, and I felt his eyes on me, but I kept my gaze forward. "She hasn't accepted my proposal yet. She says she would rather die than marry the man who murdered her father." I fessed up knowing there was no point in lying to Douglas.
"Well, she's not as smart as I gave her credit for then. If she's half as smart as Alexander was before the madness took over, she would know that this alliance would benefit her as much as it would benefit you."
"How?" I turned to him genuinely curious. She had every reason to hate me and refuse to marry me. Even though I was assuring her peace and unity through our marriage, in reality, things might get much more dangerous for her.
I had enemies on a lot of fronts now. People who would not hesitate to use her to get to me and not just the enemies on our outbound borders. There were enemies right here. People hated her because of who her father was and what he had done. Hell, I'd hated her, but I knew in our brief interactions I did not any longer.
"How would it benefit her, we're practically forcing her to marry a man she hates. I don't see how that would benefit her."
Douglas gave me a long look I could not decipher. I knew he was trying to get into my head, to read my emotions like he used to when I was younger. I looked away.
" Stop trying to get into my head." I snapped, he did not so much as flinch.
"I'm sorry. I'm just surprised," he said. .” I have to confess I am a bit nervous.”
"About what?"
" I never thought you would feel empathy for her, let alone compassion," he said. I had no idea what to say to that. He continued,
"It only reinforces my conviction that you will make the greatest Alpha the Chandra pack has ever seen. You are the man who was prophesied would end Alexander Lonsdale's tyranny and lead Chandra into a time of peace. You can do anything you set your mind to."
I walked into the house with Douglas' words in my head dwelling on the prophecy I'd heard all my life. The same one that had destroyed my family and had me run all my life. My father had died in battle, and so had my sister. And my mother…
Killed by the same man whose daughter I was to marry. Or, try to convince her to marry me.
I loved the family I'd built for myself. I knew Ryland would die for me without a second thought. I knew Fiona would protect Lucas with her life. I knew Douglas and the men who had fought bravely with me would give their lives a thousand times over to save me and I would do the same for them.
They deserved my sacrifice. It was why I put my own pride and feelings aside and sought out Prairie Lonsdale. The door to her bedroom was closed and there were no men at her door.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and took a step inside. I was shocked when the door slammed shut with a bang. I was slammed back against it so hard that I lost my breath.
Prairie Lonsdale had her face in mine in the next instant, her frown deeper than ever and looking like she was a hair's breadth away from killing me.
"What do you know about my mother?" she hissed.
- Writer
