Dreaming of the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf #8)(86)

But Alicia still had little control over her shifting, and she desperately needed to get out of her clothes. Lelandi had explained that stripping out of their clothes in front of other pack members was a natural process, and the shift happened so quickly that no one got much of a look at anyone else anyway. But none of that made it any easier to swallow.

Alicia bolted upright, and immediately Jake stiffened. “What’s wrong, Alicia?”

Peter glanced over the seat at her. Tom looked in the rearview mirror to see what the matter was.

“I’ve got to shift.” She climbed in none too ladylike a way over the back of the seat to get into the rear seat, more hidden from the view of the bucket seats that Tom and Peter were sitting in up front. And then she began stripping out of her clothes.

Darien had tried to convince the Denver police that Alicia had been feeling too poorly to see them right away, due to her pregnancy, but because the police were investigating a murder and had no clues as to who had done the crime, they wouldn’t hear of any delays.

They would treat her with care, they assured Darien. Jake and the rest of the pack hadn’t been worried about her pregnancy but this business with shape-shifting. By the time she got her clothes off, she was shape-shifting.

Jake said, “You’ll be fine when we’re speaking to the police officers, Alicia. You can get it out of your system for now…”

She growled at him. She meant for it to be a grumble, but she wasn’t sure how to make a grumbly wolf sound. It just came out an irritated growl and was a lot harsher to her ears than she had intended. Peter and Tom smiled. Jake reached over the back of his seat and scratched her between the ears.

She bumped his hand with her nose, trying to make up with him, and he smiled. “You’ll be fine,” he repeated, but the undercurrent of tension relayed a promise. The pack would take care of her—and the police officers—if she screwed up.

Chapter 19

Alicia didn’t want to screw up in front of the police. She didn’t want to always be a problem for the pack. Lying in the backseat of the SUV in wolf form, she tried to think of something other than the interrogation that awaited her.

But she was having a difficult time thinking of anything else. This time, like when she’d been questioned about the shootings at the Crestview Motel, she’d have to tell the truth, minus the wolf part of the tale. She’d discussed the wolf business with Jake and his brothers—and Peter because he had the mind of a cop. But she knew from past experience that no matter how prepared she might be to tell the police her story, one little bit of evidence she hadn’t known about, one little thing like an eyewitness account could throw her version of what had happened into the sewer.

Instead, she tried to think about her wedding dress—a cream-colored, A-line gown with a corset-type bodice that had asymmetrical swirls wrapped around it, embellished with lace and pearls in a soft, shimmery satin. The full-pleated skirt that swirled out in full opulence below the slim-fitted bodice cupped her derriere and then extended out into an elegant train. The dress made her feel like a fairy princess, and Jake was definitely her fairy-tale knight.

Some of the younger women had clamored to take part in the wedding and would be wearing violet dresses as bridesmaids. Several girls would participate as flower girls, and Lelandi would be the matron of honor. Because of all the teasing Jake was getting over the whole affair, he had selected Tom, Peter, Sam, and four other men to be his groomsmen, while Tom was the best man. Darien would serve as the father of the bride. Others he had tasked to serve as ushers. Alicia had been amused because although most of the men tried to show they didn’t care for the idea of a wedding, she saw another side of them—a sense of family, of celebration, of belonging—and their enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed.

The men participating would wear black tuxes with gray satin cravats and tuxedo vests. The best part? The woman in charge of the bridal shop said she’d have everything ready to go in a week’s time, which was good because Alicia kept fretting that she might start to show and the gown wouldn’t fit. She groaned. What if she shape-shifted in the middle of the ceremony? First wedding ever for a lupus garou pack and first major disaster. She could see it now. No one would ever allow a wedding ceremony to take place again.

In her wolf form, she lay down on the backseat and closed her eyes. She hadn’t told Lelandi the truth about having had weddings before because she’d been trying to get out of doing anything this formal. But Alicia had never had a wedding dress. Never been married in a church. Never had a bridesmaid or a father to give her away. Just a mother and her boyfriend to serve as her witnesses in front of a judge, twice.

She smiled at the thought of being a beautiful bride for Jake.

Then she sighed. He didn’t want this. He probably wouldn’t be happy with any of it, no matter how nice the ceremony was or how excited the ladies were about having it. She hadn’t been able to read Darien. Apparently, he’d agreed to give her away, but he had seemed distracted, probably over this further police business. She suspected he was worried that she could get all of the pack members who went with her in trouble if she ended up shape-shifting while being questioned. And that’s when she began to worry about the interrogation again.

She must have managed to sleep for a couple of hours. When she finally awoke from a nice wolf nap, she was surprised that her head was in Jake’s lap. When had he climbed into the rear seat with her?