Althena Book 2

95. Edited

Conner and I wake up at 8. Sounds like someone is doing construction on the house. I would tease him, but I'm more concerned about the sounds coming through the walls.

He must be too. He throws on his pants and leaves.

I jump in the shower. Feels like I haven't had one in forever. I get my hair washed and he joins me. He washes my back. "They are building the wedding arch outside. We'll have to go there soon."

"You are perfect."

"You're the perfect one, woman." He leads me to breakfast.

The dining room is set up like a buffet restaurant. That's a little concerning, but I guess it works since we seem to be getting up at different times.

Millie pokes her head in while we're eating. "Thena, when you're done eating, they need you to decorate the arch."

Chris sits with us. He's on his phone. "Yes, I have that already. I'm trying to track down the ring. Yes. Great. No, bring it to the dining room."

I smile. "Good morning."

"Yea, it's not so bad. I feel like we're getting better at this. You forgot Cyrus's ring in the first one. I had to tear the room apart to find it. I got there in time though."

"I wondered what the hell happened to you. You were gone so quickly."

Conner laughs. "I wondered that too. Then, when Clayton was holding the ornament, her face nearly turned green when she thought she had lost it."

Chris smiles. "I have that already. Everything is going to plan. This is going to go much smoother."

"Here's his ring, Chris."

"Beautiful." Chris pulls it out and checks the engraving. Then he puts it back. "Perfection. Thank you, Lila."

"Of course."

Chris answers his phone. "Yes. What?... What?... ARE YOU f*****g JOKING? WHAT THE f**k?" He runs out.

Lila shrugs her shoulders. "He's very dramatic sometimes. Millie gave us a house to get you ready in. The girls will be in yours. The boys have one too. It's right next door. She was worried about too many people roaming through the pack house. She said it'll be quieter. You're supposed to go there at 11. Hair and nails and things."

"What time is the wedding?"

"Max said 3:30, but if it starts by 4 he'd consider it on time. I think most of the pack wants to see it, and they're making dinner for after. So, it'll work out well. Then you and Mike can hide for a night."

"That sounds perfect."

Chris runs in and grabs Lila. He drags her out.

Conner rolls his eyes. "Let's get you out there to decorate."

We step out, and my mouth hits the ground. This is something out of a fairy tale. There are a bunch of seats set up. At least 200. They have full white covers with white bows on the back. An aisle runs down the middle of them. Inside the aisle is a 3-foot tall white pillar beside each row of chairs. White fabric hangs from one pillar to the next. I think that's to keep people out of the aisle. On top of each pillar is a crystal bowl. It holds white floating candles.

"That goes here, Bill."

Bill puts the arch at the beginning of the aisle. Very close to the back door.

Conner leans in, "There's more than 1 arch, baby."

I guess that makes sense.

Mike kisses my gloved hand and walks me to the first arch. "This is the first one you'll walk under, baby. It's not the wedding arch. But I'm going to hang the candle holders. You hang the crystal strands please. We'll separate it that way."

"No flowers?"

"They have white roses somewhere. They're still being edited."

"How do you edit a flower?"

"Trimmed. Sorry, woman. My brain is about done. They're cutting all the green and stems off. My mother made everything white and crystal only."

I pick up a clear crystal strand. Some of them are pretty long. But they all sparkle like crazy and have a crystal snowflake at the end. They'll look amazing when all the candles are lit. "She made everything pretty."

"Yea, I told her to set up something for us and family. I guess she thought we needed a lot of decorations. And family means -pack- to her. So, I should have guessed that part."

Conner cracks up laughing. "Even the arches are pure white. What did she do? Order spray paint and spray on snow to make it stick?"

Mike nods. "That's exactly what she did. The tree limbs are from the woods though. She saved money on that part. But yes, if it didn't have snow on it, she sprayed it with fake snow and made it stick."

The boys laugh and I hang up my crystals. Then we move to the wedding arch. I do crystal strands on that too. Some of those are 3 feet long, but they look amazing. Mike hangs crystal tealight holders with white candles in them. The whole place is stunning and... white. Clear crystals and white. This is a lot for my eyeballs.

Conner walks me to the house I'm getting ready in. The 4 girls from the palace are there already. They tell me to take a shower. So, that's exactly what I do.

When I get out, they start doing my hair.

Lila sits by me, and they do her hair too. "Turns out I'm in your wedding. I'm the maid of honor."

"Thank you. I don't know what you do."

"Me either. Chris told me to come here and get dressed."

The girls laugh. "She'll stand near you and hold the ring and adornment. If your dress ever wrinkles or gets messed up, she can fix it. She'll also hold your bouquet for the painting."

I put an eyebrow up. "Good luck holding all that."

"Thank you. Sounds like I'm gonna need it."

We get white tipped nails. The makeup is perfection for both of us. Her hair is pulled up into a fancy bun with curls hanging down. She has crystal snowflakes in it. The front of my hair is pulled back. Diamond and crystal hair pieces are placed in it. I have dangly diamond snowflake earrings. They match the necklace, bracelets, and hair pieces. Her stuff is similar to mine, but less fancy.

Her dress is fit and flare style. It's silk and chiffon. It has a small train. The top of it is covered in diamonds and crystals. The shoes are, of course, white and crystal too. At this point, there is nothing else.

They bring out my dress and I nearly fall over. It's a full princess ballgown. Strapless. No sleeves. Tons of crystals and diamonds. The train is huge, it's covered in everything too. I have never seen a dress this fancy or sparkly.

They get it on me and my brain goes blank. This is something...

Granny comes in, smiling. "Time to go. You two are perfect."

The girls carry the train, and we get to the pack house. Nobody is in it. I sneak over to the window, and they have some kind of tulle wall set up around the seats. I can't see through it.

"I'm going to take my seat now. They'll tell you when to go. You're beautiful."

"Thank you, granny."

Clayton comes in and freezes.

Lila looks at us. "Yea, we make prom look like a backyard barbeque."

The girls and Clayton laugh. Then he comes closer to me. "This is insane."

"I know. I've never been this fancy, ever. You even look fancy."

"Mom made me get a hair cut. You'll be fine. It's just a dress... and some other things. The wedding part will be about the same."

"Good to know. I feel like we're getting better at this."

"Yea. This is easier." He fixes the button on his sleeve. "Last chance to sneak out the front door."

"This is a pretty remote area, Clayton. I don't think we should try that."

He teases. "Nobody said we. I'm not freezing to death out there."

Lila puts an eyebrow up. "The big bad alpha is afraid of a little snow."

Clayton grumbles and I lose it. "She got you on that one."

"Yea, she did... Fine. We can run away. But I'm being a wolf the whole time."

I nod. "Yea, that's the only way to do it. Until we find civilization anyway. And heat."

Chris comes in carrying a bunch of s**t. "Everything is perfect. We have some extra people, but that doesn't matter. Lila, here is the ring, adornment, and your bouquet."

"Even the bouquet has diamonds." She spins it around.

"Yes. You have 3 things. You can go now. They'll open the curtain for you to walk through. You're going to stand beside Thena. Look at where Miles is in relation to Mike and aim to stand there at Thena's side. I will adjust you if I need to. Go there now."

"Ok."

"Clayton, your part was perfect last time. Thena, bouquet."

He hands me the biggest bouquet. The white roses are silk. The stems are white. Diamonds and crystals cover it. In the center of each rose is a crystal snowflake. Crystal and diamond flowers fill in the space between the roses. Diamond strands hang out of it. A silk ribbon ties the stems together. The more I look at it, the more I see.

"Hey. You're both spacing out staring at it. Rings, and you're ready."

I grumble and hand them over.

"Go, give her away, Clayton."

"My pleasure."

"Hey."

We laugh. Then he leads me out the door.