Chapter 40
Almara
After my impromptu nap, I was discharged from the hospital with strict instructions to drink plenty of water and get lots of rest. The first one was easy, the second one not so much.
Arthur had been on the phone making wedding plans. He’d delegated tasks to pretty much every single member of the pack. Everyone had a job to get done. I was almost afraid there wouldn’t be anything left for me to do.
I jumped as he slammed his phone down on the seat of the car. A muscle in his jaw ticked as he gritted his teeth. When he caught me looking at him, he gave me a small smile.
“Everything is okay. Don’t worry. But we do have to wait three months before we can have the wedding. Apparently being the alpha of the strongest pack doesn’t get me everything I want,” he said tartly, but I could tell he was making fun of himself. Sort of.
“Three months isn’t a lot of time,” I said, my eyebrows rising. I mean, I knew he had an entire pack at his disposal, but still. Most wedding planning took at least a year, if not years. Especially the wedding of an alpha.
“Three months is too much time,” Arthur corrected and I had to laugh. He was being cute again.
“Is there anything that I can do?” I asked tentatively. From Arthur’s behavior at the hospital following the news, he’d treated me like I was made of glass. I wasn’t sure if he’d even let me continue working at this point.
“No, little wolf. You heard the doctor. You need to rest as much as possible. Let me handle the wedding planning.”
I frowned. “It’s still my wedding, too.”
Arthur frowned back at me. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
I gave him my best smirk and his eyes narrowed. He gave a frustrated sigh and ran his hand over his face. He muttered something that I couldn’t catch before looking at me again.
“Fine. If you insist on helping then you can design our wedding attire. I’ll have them send your designs to the best seamstresses. Do you think you can handle that?”
My eyes widened. While fashion designing was technically an art, I had never done anything like it before. My paintings were largely based on my feelings and none of them focused on clothes. Maybe I should rescind my offer?
You shall do no such thing, Lily growled and I squared my shoulders. She was right. I could do this. I had taught myself to paint and I could teach myself to design Arthur’s suit and my wedding dress.
“Yeah, I can handle it,” I answered and really hoped that I could. I didn’t want to disappoint him.
Arthur leaned in and splayed his hand over my stomach. “Just take care of yourself and our little one. If anything becomes too hard, let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
My breathing quickened. I had been able to distract myself from the truth while listening to Arthur on the phone. I had focused solely on the wedding ever since we left the hospital, but I couldn’t do that anymore.
Not when Arthur bent down and buried his nose where his hand had been. He breathed in deep, taking in my scent. As the mother, I couldn’t detect any changes, but he could.
I watched as he mumbled something low, talking to the baby. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I had to admit it was a wonderful sight. Still, the thought of leaving it all behind was sobering, the fairy tale ending before it could even begin.
He smiled up at me before claiming my lips in a kiss that sent my mind reeling. It wasn’t like any of our other kisses. Those had all been fire, spurred on by lust and desire. This one was as sweet as honey.
His hand went to the back of my head as he deepened the kiss. I moaned into his mouth, his tongue stroking mine languidly. I arched into him and he pulled back, giving me a cat-that-got-the-canary grin.
“What was that for?” I asked breathlessly and he grabbed my hand, bringing it to his lips.
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
When we got home, Dana had been waiting for us in Arthur’s office. She had given me some sort of concoction that Arthur explained was to mask my scent. I’d have to drink it every day in order for it to work.
It tasted terrible. Like a mix of fresh onions mixed with banana. I’m honestly surprised that I hadn’t thrown it up immediately. And the fact that I had to drink it every day was going to suck.
But now I was in my art studio, watching videos on how to design clothes. It seemed simple enough. Even if I just ended up with rough drafts, the seamstresses would be able to mesh out the final details.
I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil. I would work on my dress first. I would need to have a thorough conversation with Arthur to understand what he expected. I didn’t want to just go in blind.
I, however, knew exactly what I wanted in a dress. I had been dreaming about my wedding since I was a little girl. Of course, I had thought I would be marrying Robert, but that’s a moot point.
I had decided on a simple A-line gown. I didn’t want anything too flashy. Ball gowns were meant for princesses, not for me. I also didn’t want any sparkles.
As the dress began to take shape, I decided to add sleeves with a draping that started at the forearm. I definitely wanted it to be modest as well so I made sure to cover my chest and shoulders. The bodice, the sleeves and the top would all be lace.
I wanted the bodice lace to drip down in varying lengths so that it looked like raindrops rolling down. The details for that were a little hard to pin down so I made a note on the side that the lace should be shaped like leaves.
I added a tulle overlay to the dress from the skirt down. The tulle was longer than the under skirt, fanning out behind it like a train. I pushed a piece of hair behind my ear, satisfied with what I had so far.
It was definitely a work in progress, but it was a good start. I glanced at the clock, surprised to see how late it was. I should probably get to bed. I was kind of surprised Arthur hadn’t come barging in demanding that I rest.
No sooner than I had the thought, Arthur did come barging in. “You’ve been in here for hours, little wolf. It’s time for bed.”
Before I could protest, he lifted me up and carried me out of the room. I wiggled in his arms. “I can walk just fine, you know!”
Arthur scoffed. “Why would you walk when I’m perfectly capable of carrying you?”
How was I supposed to argue with that?
