Nat fidgeted with the skirt of her gown, the simple pink fabric draping her legs beautifully as she sat in the limo beside Preston. Caleb sat across from her, his gorgeous body filling out the rented tuxedo with his thick muscles, his eyes running down her body. Warm. Possessive.
A small sound came from her throat, and she turned to look out the window with anxious eyes. Why had she let him talk her into this!
Preston was worse than she was, staring pointedly out his own window, his arms crossed, and ignoring Ethan frowning at him from the seat across from them.
Pushy. Wolves were pushy! All of them! Well, it’s not like she knew any wolves other than Caleb and Ethan—and Vick if you could count their brief encounter—but she knew it wasn’t Preston’s idea to be coming out at prom. Not that he had admitted he was with Ethan even to her, but it had grown kind of hard not to notice in the past few months.
Vick had completely disappeared after a short text to Ethan’s father. She thankfully hadn’t mentioned finding Caleb, and Ethan had somehow managed to keep it hidden from his father as well, in spite of his fears that he wouldn’t be capable of it, so life had returned to normal for her and Caleb.
Well. A new normal. One where she could seldom walk comfortably. He was just so big! No matter how often he was inside her, she was always sore after. Not that she was complaining…
A blush crept over her, and Caleb reached a hand out to cup the back of her knee, stroking softly while he watched her, and she turned back to meet his heavy lidded gaze. Her heart quickened and her blush deepened at the unmistakable bulge growing between his legs. Nervous hands flew to her cheeks, the chill from her fingers cooling her growing heat.
At least they hadn’t had to worry about any pregnancy scares. She’d been concerned at first, but a chat with Ethan revealed that his sister had thoroughly tested sex with humans and it seemed they were incompatible. Caleb had been deeply disappointed, and if she were honest, a part of her had been as well. It’s not like they were ready for a child, of course, but one day she might have liked to have one.
Still. They could always adopt! Maybe they could even be foster parents one day. There were so many kids out there who needed adults that would actually care about them. Protect them. And who better to protect them than a wolf?
A wolf who was staring at her with eyes she knew were mentally undressing her right now piece by piece. She kicked his leg, and he grinned. Cocky as ever. God she loved him.
The limo pulled up to the curb and the driver exited to open the door beside her. Fuck. This was it. Were they just going to saunter inside like it was no big deal? What would everyone think!
Caleb didn’t let her dwell on it, climbing out only to turn and scoop her into his arms, ignoring her tiny shriek with a very wolfish grin, and stalking toward the building. Oh god.
“Caleb,” she said in a strangled whisper. “We can’t just barge in with you holding me this way!”
“We can,” he murmured against her hair, his pace not slowing.
“The teachers will throw us out! Or try to have us arrested or something!”
“Let them try,” he growled. “We are getting our senior prom. And I want to dance with you.”
She groaned into him when they reached the open door, tightening her arms around his neck and hiding her face.
Cool air brushed across her exposed shoulders as they stepped inside, the sounds of music and laughter and excited chatter wrapping around them. Nat peeked out to see a swathe of brightly colored dresses and black tuxes, with most students completely caught up in each other and not noticing them at all. At first.
Caleb joined the line of students waiting to get their prom pictures, and the couple in front of them glanced back. Nat squeezed her eyes shut once more when she saw their double-take.
And moment by moment, sound by sound, the area around them grew silent. A few hushed whispers floated above the music that swelled from the room beyond, and she felt Caleb draw a deep breath.
“I have an announcement!” He held her closer when she cringed into him. “We’re in love.”
Nat jerked up, coughing to the point of choking in her effort to clarify quickly only to see Caleb grinning at her.
“And we’re not brother and sister! Or related! At all!” she cried out in a panic, but beginning to glare at him. He did that on purpose.
A few of the students near them looked around.
“Well, um, yeah. I mean, we kind of figured that out.”
Nat frowned as she looked around at the general agreement that began murmuring around the room, and Caleb smiled down at her happily.
“See? All that fuss for nothing.”
She could see they hadn’t been very good at hiding anything at all, evidently. Although she did think some of the expressions she saw seemed to be going along with the crowd’s I knew it all along perspective more than might have been justified. But altogether, she really might have been making a fuss for nothing.
Her lashes lifted to Caleb. And she smiled happily, too. Until one of the chaperoning teachers approached, telling Caleb he couldn’t hold her except on the dance floor.
Nat stopped him before he growled at the woman, but when he refused to put her down, an older man with a spark of humor in his eyes approached. Nat thought he looked a bit familiar but couldn’t place him at first.
“I know it must seem like a dumb rule to you kids, but you have to think about old folks like us, trying to make sure you young ones don’t get too crazy. Believe me, it’s no fun being a rule enforcer.”
That’s where she’d seen him. The county sheriff. She’d seen his picture on the wall at the police station years ago when she’d run to them for help. And they’d returned her to the creep.
“Rules like giving a kid back to their mom’s boyfriend and ignoring them telling you he was an abusive asshole?”
Caleb and the two chaperones looked at her in shock, and Nat forced her rapid breathing to calm down, her own anger taking her by surprise. Caleb recovered quickly, clenching her more tightly and turning cold eyes back to the man now staring at her with brows drawn in concern.
“No, I would never support a rule like that.”
“Sheriff Douglas was an amazing sheriff, young lady, and if you—“
He halted the woman’s tirade before the tension in Caleb’s body snapped, still looking at Nat with deep, serious eyes.
“I’ve got things here,” he said gently. After a brief exchange, and further reassurance from the sheriff, the woman hastened away.
He turned back to Nat, his tone grave.
“I retired five years ago. Did this happen under my watch?”
The anger that had flared up in her fizzed out instantly, leaving extreme awkwardness in its wake.
“Oh. No, I guess it would have been right after. Sorry…”
Caleb looked down at her in worry, but the sheriff shook his head, his lips drawn in a thin line.
“I know things were a bit chaotic for a while after I left. I didn’t think they would have ever been that bad, though. To put a child in danger. That should never have happened. I may not be in office any longer, but I still have some sway. If you’ll tell me more, I’ll make sure those responsible are held accountable.”
Nat swallowed. That would mean telling who the man was, the man whose body had been torn apart, which had thankfully been dismissed as an animal attack. And here she was, stirring things up again.
Ethan and Preston had wandered in at last, walking over to stand beside them, holding hands with their fingers interlaced and Preston looking everywhere but at Ethan.
“It was a long time ago.” She tapped on Caleb to put her down, just wanting the sheriff to go away now. When he just tightened his grip, she shot him a pleading look, and he relented with a sigh, setting her on her feet. “Anyhow, we’ll wait for the dance floor so…” Go away.
The sheriff was opening his mouth to answer when Caleb and Ethan’s heads snapped toward the door, and they shoved Nat and Preston behind them.
“What the fuck are you doing,” Preston hissed, trying to get back around, only for Ethan to hold him back. Preston smacked his hand over his face peeking out around him from between his fingers.
Nat swallowed, the sheriff forgotten as she stared at the front door. And a moment later the ebony haired bombshell she’d hoped was gone for good stepped through the door. Wearing oversized sweats and what appeared to be men’s slippers.
Vick tensed at the sight of the group of them staring at her, Nat’s mouth agape, before gritting her jaw and stalking over.
The sheriff turned his gaze at last, and his eyes widened when Vick grabbed his wrist and slammed something in his hand.
“I counted,” she bit out, looking up into his shocked face with fierce eyes and ignoring the rest of them.
They stared at each other a long moment before his eyes softened, and he gave a small nod.
“Now,” she added, her eyes narrowing. His brows lifted with a helpless look, but he sighed with a slight curve of his lips. Glancing back at Nat, he hesitated, but turned to walk away at last when she avoided his gaze.
Vick’s eyes followed him across the room before turning back slowly to them.
No one said a word.
“I’m not here to break up your little soirée.” A delicate sneer touched her lips.
Ethan’s brow was pulled together in intense confusion, his eyes wide on her clothes.
“If my clothes are bothering you, baby brother, I can take them off,” she smiled slowly, her hands sliding to the hem of her shirt.
“Get out of here.”
Caleb’s voice was low. Guttural. And if Nat hadn’t been watching so intently she might have missed the flash of fear in Vick’s eyes. Fear or…was that hurt?
Nat hugged Caleb to her.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said softly. Hesitantly. Caleb didn’t take his eyes off Vick and kept Nat firmly behind him.
Vick curled her lip.
“Save your concern for someone who needs it. I have no interest in wasting my time at a children’s party.”
She turned quickly, no less graceful or beautiful in her odd attire. But she stopped abruptly, her hands clenching at her sides, before she turned her head to the side, her eyes down.
“You won’t tell dad you saw me.”
Tension held her body rigid as she waited for an answer.
“I…won’t,” Ethan agreed, his voice as confused as his eyes.
She didn’t respond, but her body relaxed slightly. Her eyes lifted to look across the room for a brief moment, in time to see the sheriff walking back, and she clenched her hands again before moving in long strides toward the door. And then she was gone.
The four of them turned to look at each other.
“Can you let me go now?” Preston hissed, and Ethan finally let him move, frowning and lifting sad eyes when he jerked his hand away. “What? You said five minutes. It was five minutes!”
Caleb pulled Nat out of line and toward the dance floor, glowering at everyone who got in his way.
“I thought we were getting pictures?” Nat said a bit breathlessly when he pulled her into his arms.
“Later,” he growled, pressing her to him. “I need to hold you…”
She sank into his arms, all the tumult settling as the tension melted away, and felt him start to stir against her. And she blinked. Blinked again.
“Caleb,” she gasped, pulling back. “You’re not hard!”
“I will be in a minute,” he murmured, pulling her back and giving her a small glare when she smacked at him. Before going completely still. He stared down at her, their eyes mirror images of stunned relief.
“I’m not hard,” he whispered before repeating it with a groan. “I’m not hard…”
And pulling her back, he began growing very, very hard.
“Fuck…I love you, Nat.”
Letting herself melt into him completely, she closed her eyes, every last fear drifting away. College lay ahead, with all its new challenges. Marriage one day. Maybe they’d adopt or foster children. Or maybe they’d find careers they actually liked. She didn’t know. She only knew they’d be together.
Fate might have had a different plan for them, but when she thought about what had been in store for each of them if they hadn’t fought so hard to change it… Honestly.
Fuck fate.
