Chapter 481

Olivia

“Hmm… I don’t know, Liv. It just doesn’t feel like… me, you know?”

Angela stood ahead of me on the fitting room pedestal, turning this way and that in front of the mirror. The beads on her white dress caught the light emanating from the delicate crystal chandelier overhead, and the sound of soft classical music played on the speakers.

The whole wedding gown parlor smelled like vanilla and daisies.

I took a sip of my complimentary tea as I looked up at her. “It’s a beautiful dress,” I said, “but I think the whole ball gown look isn’t really your style.”

Angela nodded matter-of-factly and turned to look at the stylist. “Could I try out some of those mermaid dresses?” she asked. “Something off-the-shoulder, too, I think.”

“Of course.” The stylist smiled and walked away to pull out some more options for the blushing bride-to-be. Now that Angela and I were alone, she sighed and hiked up the massive skirt of the ball gown as she stepped down from the pedestal.

“This is way more stressful than I expected,” she admitted, sinking down into the open spot next to me on the plush couch. “You made it look so easy when you and Nathan got married.”

“It’s your special day,” I said, patting her hand. “It’s okay to feel stressed over wanting the perfect dress.”

Angela rolled her eyes. “It’s not even really the dress that’s stressing me out.” She leaned forward and grabbed one of the little tea cakes off of the silver tray. “You know I haven’t even picked out the table settings yet? Or the color of the damn streamers? I’ve been puzzling over eggshell white and cream for days now.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yep, that was me a few months ago,” I said. “It took me three weeks to decide whether I wanted blush pink floral arrangements for the tables or—”

“Baby blue. Yeah, I remember,” Angela said with a laugh of her own. “I guess I forgot because you and Nathan wound up getting married at the festival. It all happened so quickly.”

She turned to me then and wrung her hands a bit. “Can I ask you something, Liv?”

“Anything.”

Angela took a deep breath, her cheeks tinging a slight shade of red. She seemed almost embarrassed. “Do you ever… regret how your wedding turned out?” she asked; her voice was almost a whisper. “I mean, do you ever wish you hadn’t gotten married at the festival, or anything like that?”

I paused for a long moment, thinking. Angela watched me with a look of nervousness in her eyes, but her question didn’t bother me in the slightest.

“You know what?” I finally said. “Sometimes, yeah.”

Angela’s eyes shot wide open. “You do?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and leaned forward to set my teacup down on the coffee table. “There will always be regrets in life, especially over big stuff like that. Maybe I wish I had actually picked blush pink flowers instead of baby blue. Maybe I wish that I had waited instead of holding such an impromptu wedding. But…”

“But…?” Angela watched me intently.

I let out a soft sigh, and as I did so, a slight smile began to spread across my lips. “I would have married Nathan in a gas station during a hurricane,” I said softly. “I would have married him in a courthouse, or in the middle of our living room in our pajamas. I love him so much, I’m just happy that we finally had our special moment.”

As I spoke, tears of happiness began to mist over my eyes. I quickly blinked them away, but when I turned to look at my friend, tears were in her eyes as well.

“I feel that way about Levi,” she whispered. “I love him so much, Liv. And sometimes… sometimes, all of this feels so silly, because at the end of the day, I just want to say ‘I do’.”

I couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped my lips as I leaned forward and captured my dear friend’s face in my hands. “Then that’s all that matters, isn’t it?” I whispered. “Well… that, and the perfect dress.”

Angela giggled too and stood now that the stylist had returned. “Yes,” she said. “I can’t get married without the perfect dress.”

…

I rubbed my sore back as I walked in the front door of the villa, kicking my shoes off in the foyer. After a long day of picking out wedding gowns and other wedding preparations with Angela, my feet were killing me.

“Nathan?” I called out. “I brought dinner…”

As I walked into the dining room, though, there was no response. I let out a soft sigh as I set down the take-out food I had picked up on the way home, too tired to cook dinner tonight.

“Nathan…?”

Still no answer. I furrowed my brow as I peered into the living room; the twins were in their playpen, both passed out on their blankets, no doubt from their own long day of playing. But where was their father?

But then, I heard voices; not just Nathan’s voice, but another. I blinked as I slowly approached his study, and as I did, the voices became clearer.

“I only—”

“I know what the implications of your statement were, Nathan.”

I felt my stomach twist at the sound of that voice. Dan. What was he doing here? More importantly, why hadn’t Nathan told me that Dan was coming? And even more importantly than that, did Nathan even expect Dan to come, or had Dan just… shown up?

Frowning, I silently stepped forward and pressed my ear against the door to get a bitter listen.

“Forgive me, but it’s a perfectly reasonable question,” Nathan replied calmly, although I could sense the undercurrent of anxiety beneath his voice. “It’s not—”

“Enough.” Dan’s voice sliced through the air like a knife, making me even jump a bit from where I stood. “I will have no more of this insolence, youngling.”

“But—”

“I said, enough.” That last word came out even sharper than before. Dan’s voice was calm and collected, even polite, but something in his tone… something about it made my heart race. He frightened me. Was Nathan frightened, too?

Then, footsteps approached the door. I quickly jumped away, bolting over to the playpen to feign interest in the twins—just in time before the door swung open and Dan stepped out.

“I understand your curiosity, but sometimes it is best to keep your nose to yourself, Nathan,” he said coolly, smoothing down his jacket. “Your seat on the council is paramount to your pack’s wellbeing, after all—”

Dan’s voice trailed off then when he saw me crouching there by the twins’ playpen. I blinked up at him, faking cluelessness, as he smoothed down his jacket for the second time and cleared his throat.

“Ah. Miss Olivia,” he said with a polite nod. “Lovely to see you.”

“You as well, Alpha Dan,” I replied with more confidence than I really felt.

There was a slight pause, an uncomfortable silence that seemed to stretch on for eternity. I didn’t know what to say, or whether Dan knew that I had heard that strange conversation.

And although part of me wanted to ask why he was speaking to my husband in such a way, the more logical part of me knew it was best to stay out of it—for now.

Finally, Dan cleared his throat once again and offered me a stiff smile. “Well then. I was just seeing myself out.”