Dreaming of the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf #8)(84)

“How did they find out about your place?”

Danny didn’t speak for a while, then said, “Hell, I don’t know. Cicero said something about Tony getting my key and making a copy of it. But I didn’t believe it. And anyway, even if Tony did get a copy of my house key, he wouldn’t have known where my house was.”

“Why didn’t you tell me Tony had gotten a copy of your key?”

“I changed the locks. The key wouldn’t have worked even if he had found the house.”

“You should have told me Tony got a copy of the key to your house, Danny. What were you thinking?” Mario watched the oak tree’s leaves flutter in the dry breeze. “All right. So you didn’t have anything in the place that could cause any problems. Right?”

Danny didn’t say anything.

“Right, Danny?”

“The gun I used to whack Missy Greiston and Tony? It’s gone.”

***

When Jake, Alicia, Tom, and Peter arrived at Darien’s house, Lelandi greeted them looking so anxious that Jake was afraid something more was wrong.

But Lelandi quickly asked Alicia, “Are you all right? Peter said you fainted at the bank.”

Jake was glad that was all that was the matter.

“I’m fine.” Alicia explained the situation about her father and the birth certificates, but although Lelandi listened, Jake could tell that wasn’t what was concerning her.

“You look awfully pale,” Lelandi said, and Jake suspected she knew Alicia was pregnant but was trying to prompt her to tell without being asked.

“Jake and I are going to get married,” Alicia said, taking hold of Jake’s hand and pulling him closer. “Right away. We’ll get the justice of the peace to do it.”

Lelandi’s lips parted, but she didn’t say a word, her gaze quickly shifting to Jake.

Jake tried not to react in any way, yet he tensed. He couldn’t help it. His kind just didn’t get married. And he didn’t like the inference that he couldn’t be faithful without a marriage license, although he had to remind himself that probably wasn’t bothering Alicia as much as having a name for the babies. He planned for Alicia to be a Silver anyway. Once she was one of the Silvers, no one would question her about getting a new driver’s license or anything else she might need in her life.

“Marriage? By the judge? No way,” Lelandi said, her red brows furrowed.

Jake wasn’t entirely surprised by her reaction. But he would marry Alicia in the judge’s chambers, no matter what Lelandi or his brother said about it, since that’s what Alicia felt she needed.

“But Jake said he would. And I won’t feel right until it’s done,” Alicia insisted, determination in her voice.

Jake wrapped his arm around her shoulder, but before he could defend their decision, Lelandi raised her brows at Jake, smiled, and patted Alicia on the shoulder. “What I meant to say is that if we’re going to go against tradition, we’re going to do this right. We’ll have a proper wedding.”

Proper wedding?

Jake groaned before he could catch himself. Tom chuckled. Peter grinned but wisely didn’t say anything. Even Alicia didn’t look pleased with the notion.

“First, we need to get you a wedding dress. You’ve been married before, so a cream-colored dress would probably be better. Although, what the heck, since we don’t do weddings, you can wear whatever your heart desires. No sense in sticking to a tradition we don’t even have.”

Lelandi took Alicia’s arm and pulled her away from Jake and headed for the sunroom. “We do have a bridal shop for the humans in town. And the owner is a wolf, of course. She will be ecstatic to be our consultant. Her shop also carries formals for special occasions and Victorian ball gowns for our Victorian festival. The men rarely dress up except for that, so this will be fun.”

“I didn’t want to go through a whole lot of pomp and ceremony,” Alicia said. “I just wanted to make sure we had a marriage license. And I have been married twice already so it’s not like I feel the need to go through any kind of ceremony.”

“Nonsense. It’ll be fun. Silva and I can help you decide about the festivities afterward. Darien can give you away. We’ll have a ball.”

Jake felt for Alicia. She clearly didn’t want to go this far.

Tom shook his head at Jake, his mouth curving in a small smile. “Darien will love to hear he’s been volunteered to serve as the bride’s father in a wedding when we’ve never taken part in one before.”

“I’m not certain Alicia’s any more excited about it than I am.” Jake glanced at Peter, expecting news about the calls he made earlier.

“I called about the autopsy. The report on Ferdinand Massaro’s body showed no signs that he’d had intercourse prior to his death,” Peter said. “In other words, he couldn’t have raped Alicia shortly before he died.”

Jake felt a little light-headed and sat down on one of the couches.

“The triplets are yours,” Tom said, smiling. “Who would have thought you’d find your mate before me, as picky as you’ve always been. And now you have a whole family on its way in record time. You’re the first one to have a wedding, too. I mean, for any members of the pack.”

“They’re mine,” Jake said softly, still not believing it. He glanced up at Peter, who was smiling at him, too. “You’re absolutely sure?”