With Everything I Am (The Three #2)(174)

Callum stared down at his wife for half a second before he growled then he growled down her throat because he was kissing her.

Then he pulled away, got to his feet, lifted his wife in his arms and carried her to their bed thinking, f**k it.

If it was true, this human nonsense of bad luck, so be it.

They already had bad luck. The worst there was.

And he wasn’t going to lose a moment of Sonia that he didn’t have to lose.

She wanted him.

She had him.

As always.

As it would always be.

Until that dreaded day she no longer was.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Mating

“Um… don’t you think it’s a bit much, Mara?” Sonia asked hesitantly as Maraleena moved around the back of her, aiming a mirror at Sonia’s hair while Sonia held a mirror in front of her face, taking in the complicated, but artful and lovely, twists and curls that Mara had pinned in a thick, wide bunch at the nape of her neck.

“No, Sonny! Absolutely not! Today’s a big day and there will be pictures of you and Cal in every wolf newspaper in the world. It has to be perfect!”

The butterflies in Sonia’s stomach, already out-of-control, went into overdrive.

She’d found a pretty, but simple, ivory dress on-line and had it delivered. It was definitely more than what Mara and Callie had described a she-wolf would wear at her Mating but far less than any self-respecting human bride (unless she was a hippie or just not that into dressing up) would wear. Sonia thought it was a happy medium although she had to admit, if only to herself, that she would have preferred the pomp and circumstance. A dress encrusted with lace and pearls, her hair just as it was, fabulous shoes and all the trimmings of a wedding.

Actually, a Royal Wedding.

She was queen, it had been a bumpy ride, it would have been nice if she’d had something amazing to remind her how glorious it was and would always be.

Until she was no longer.

She pulled in breath through her nose, hiding the fact she was doing it and deciding it was good she wouldn’t have pomp and circumstance.

It would always be a happy memory for her.

For Callum, once she was gone, it would be a tortuous one.

So this was good. Simple. Fast. Then a big party.

“You look lovely,” Regan whispered from close and Sonia’s eyes slid to the side to see her mother-in-law standing there, tears shimmering in her eyes which made wet hit Sonia’s. “Or, more lovely than you usually do,” she corrected.

“Thank you, Regan,” Sonia whispered back.

“Lassiter and Cherise,” she pulled in breath, Sonia did the same and Regan continued, her voice husky, “they would be very proud.”

“Thank you,” Sonia said softly, lowering the mirror to her lap.

Regan reached out and pulled it from her hand then she set it aside, pushed her hand into the pocket of her smart trousers and pulled out something that glinted but Sonia couldn’t see it. Regan’s hand curled around Sonia’s and she pulled it to her, pressing out Sonia’s pinkie finger, she slid a thin, gold, antique-looking band with a small, yellow diamond in it on her pinkie.

Sonia stared at the ring and her startled eyes went to Regan when she stated, “Your mother’s mother gave that to her when she was a girl. Your mother gave it to me for safekeeping to give to you today.”

Sonia drew in a shocked, painful, joyous breath as her fingers curled tight around Regan’s and tears flooded her eyes.

“Oh Sonny!” Mara cried. “Your makeup!”

“Let her cry,” Sonia heard Callie say quietly. “We’ll fix it.”

“I –” Sonia began.

“Say nothing,” Regan cut her off then finished on a whisper. “I know. What you need to know is that Cherise knew, Lassiter knew, they knew you loved them just as much as they loved you.”

Her lips quivering, she could hold them back no more and Sonia whimpered as Regan pulled her into her arms and held her close.

“I’ll get the makeup again,” Mara muttered from behind them as Sonia held on tight.

And she kept doing it for a long time.

Regan returned the favor.

* * * * *

Sonia stared at herself in the full-length mirror that had been brought up to her and Callum’s room.

Her hair was not right and her makeup, again fixed after crying in Regan’s arms, was also too much for her dress.

Way too much.

Way, way, way too much.

Her eyes flew to the clock on Callum’s nightstand. They had thirty minutes until she had to be in the SUV with Gregor and Regan who were taking her to meet Callum at The Lodge.

“Um… maybe we should –” she began but stopped because she heard and smelled him.

She also heard something else and smelled it too, the scent familiar and her heart started beating hard as she turned and trained her eyes on the door.

Seconds later, Callum, so handsome he hurt her eyes wearing a well-cut, beautifully tailored tux, strolled through carrying an enormous white garment bag over his forearm.

Sonia stopped breathing even as her mouth dropped open.

Callum looked at her from head-to-toe then caught her eyes, grinned his sexy grin and declared, “Baby doll, that’s pretty but it just won’t do.”

He then turned to the bed, threw the garment bag on it and strolled out of the room, Kerry and Mabel streaming by him on their way in as he made his way out.