“Okay, fine. You’re my guy best friend.”
“That’s more like it.” Kai let go. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth.”
Dove’s muscles tensed. Kai’s look brought her back to when the Riddles asked her if she was in love with Damon.
She stepped back.
“Dove, do you ever intend to marry Hunter?”
His words made her itch. Not did she love him. That she could answer. Yes, of course. Would she marry him?
Hunter gave her a promise ring on their one-year dating anniversary, a show of his commitment. She’d accepted it—though she thought of it more as a promise to consider marrying him than a promise to follow through—and wore it daily.
Her last major commitment had been to the Riddles, and that hadn’t gone as planned.
“If the answer is no—” Kai shut his eyes. “—you should leave him.”
Dove turned, hand to her face.
“I can arrange for you to live elsewhere and keep your memories. You don’t have to be with Hunter. I’ll vouch for you.”
“You’d do that if I broke his heart?”
“Yes. I won’t stop being your friend based on who you’re with.”
Hunter still didn’t know about Damon. Kai did. He’d never judged her for loving the enemy.
She nodded. “I really do love Hunter.”
“But you don’t want to marry someone destined to die.”
She froze. “My dream? How?”
“I check on you.” Kai shrugged. “Sometimes you mumble. I don’t know exactly what you dream, but I know it terrifies you.”
“I didn’t want you to know.”
“Death is inevitable.” So true. So harsh. “Come on, Lovey Dovey. No need to be sad.”
“If I marry him and he dies—”
“No, Dove. If you marry him and he lives—that’s what scares you.”
“How can you say that? Of course, I want him to live.”
“Yes, to live, but as your husband?”
“I need to pick up the yard.”
“Hunter might pretend he’s fine with the way things are, but you and I both know he hopes for more. You need to figure out what you want.”
Dove gathered sticks from the driveway like an aerobic exercise.
“I’ll give you the money if you walk away. Gabe would.”
“I don’t care about the money!” She tossed a bundle of sticks in the trash. “I’m glad Gabe left it for me, but the money isn’t a factor.”
Kai helped her with the rest of the driveway. She wanted him to press her more, make her tell him the truth. She couldn’t summon the words on her own, but he said nothing.
Her lips moved, mouth opened and closed. This was part of Kai’s game. His way of getting her to spill the truth. Silence. He’d poked and prodded all he would. She had to do the rest.
“I’m afraid I’ll stop loving him.”
“Nice try, but I’m not buying it.”
She sat on wet grass, leaned back, and watched clouds cover and uncover stars. Kai picked up shingles, waiting. When he finished, he helped her up. Dove stared at the ground. He lifted her chin. “I love you. No matter what you say, that won’t change.” He pressed his palm to her cheek and wiped her tears. “Ever.”
“I’m afraid—” She leaned into his palm, safe. “—Hunter will stop loving me.”
Kai wrapped his arms around her.
“Kai, you’re hugging me.”
“Shh. It’s okay.” He kissed her cheek and stroked her hair. “I’ll send the prince a night walker.”
Kai breaking the rules twice in one night—it made her dizzy.
She squeezed him to her. “Give power to the vamps?”
“It’s worth this.” He kissed her cheek again.
She giggled. “Better than Minerva?”
“Don’t tell Hunter.”
He pulled back and winked.
“Well, if you’re sending fresh blood, might as well even it out.” She bowed. “May I have this dance, dear prince?”
“Why yes, my lady.”
They danced and danced. Two best friends twirling in the night, forgetting death and worry.
∞∞∞
October’s dark-brown skin shimmered in the moonlight when she opened the passenger side door from the inside.
“You gonna get it fixed?”
“Sure. Hand me $200. I’ll get right on it.”
Dove buckled.
October sniffed. “You bathe in skunk this morning?”
Dove lifted her bag. “Shower at your place? I needed out before Hunter woke.”
“So it’s okay if I sacrifice my beauty sleep?”
Dove pointed at October. “I’m trying to bring you down to my level.”
October waved her off. “All right, let’s go.”
She shifted the clutch on her Mazda Miata.
“So, what’s this about a dream?”
The roadster roared, so Dove spoke up.
“I keep seeing Kai and Hunter die. In battle.”
Overwhelmed by Dove’s stench, October lifted the roof. “Girl, that’s easy. You’re just worried.”
“No. This dream is different.” Dove had to yell over the revving engine and cicadas. “It’s recurring. Always the same images, nothing changes. It’s like a premonition.”
October rounded a curve at full speed. “You’ve had them before.”
Dove clutched the door grip. “Sometimes, but they were more figurative than literal.”
Dove’s muscles tensed. Hunter’s driving didn’t make her nervous even though he drove a couple miles over the speed limit. Riding with October made her nauseated. She’d said a protection prayer before getting in.
They parked at the swamp grounds, shrouded in darkness since the electric company hadn’t restored power to these parts. At least the air was cooler now that it had rained, and less sticky than it had been at Dove’s. Dove stepped in mud. “Ew. No rain redirection?”
“I planned to avoid this mess.”
Dove followed October up the wheelchair ramp. The half tourist check-in half October’s log cabin had been Old Lady Jones’s until she’d croaked last summer. Free rent, but October had to respond to any complaints and make sure people stayed off the property at night. Easy to do with her trusty sidekick, Frankie.
Dove slipped, landing on tough hide. It vibrated beneath her hands with a throaty dinosaur rumble.
Power started.
The alligator turned his sharp teeth toward her. She rested her head on its belly. “Thanks, Frankie.”
His jaw grazed her shoulder. He sniffed then scampered away.
“Even he thinks you stink.”
“How bad?”
“Like a football locker room.” October opened her door. “You’re going straight to the shower.”
A pocket of air lifted Dove. She giggled as October shifted the air to the bathroom and used another gust to open the shower curtain and turn the nob. The bubble dissipated. Water soaked Dove and her clothes.
“I couldn’t undress first?”
“I didn’t want you touching anything.”
October closed the curtain and the door.
With all October’s thoughtfulness, she’d neglected to consider Dove’s overnight bag. Before it could get too wet, Dove set it outside the shower and struggled to remove her clothes. In moments like this, she wanted to use water magic to aid her, but she’d given up that life when she left the coven.
∞∞∞
Dove sat on a leather couch with her legs curled at her side.
October snapped and gave her coffee. “You’ll drink this and feel very relaxed.”
Dove recounted the dream, priding herself on not crying like she usually did when thinking about it.
She took another sip of coffee. “October, did you put something in here?”
October grinned. She’d given her a believing potion. Dove would believe whatever October wanted until
she snapped again. She once had two of the potions. The first one she used on her mom after getting caught sneaking in, but her mom was so smart she dosed October’s tea with a truth serum.
October had saved this one for so long she’d even thought about selling it. Believing potions were expensive. Witches could make all the potions they wanted if the fairies gave them the recipe and a drop of their blood.
After centuries of doing the fairies’ work so the fairies could lounge in the Sacred Forest, the witches no longer needed recipes. Fairy blood was harder to come by.
“Thanks. I needed a calming potion.”
“That’s not what it is.”
Dove frowned. “What else would you give me? I only came to get reassurance. I knew you’d tell me I’m being stupid and to marry Hunter.”
“You didn’t come to me to figure out your dream, Dove. You came to me for a solution.”
Dove’s heart rate increased. “What did you do?”
“I gave you what you needed.”
“October?”
Dove took another sip, now conscious of the flavors. Pine needles and elephant’s blood. “You gave me a forgetting potion?”
“That’s what you wanted, right? A guilt-free way to step away from the pain.”
“Not now.”
“Why after he dies? You’d regress to the person you were before his influence. How many memories do you share with him? How has being with him changed you? Better to do it now while the shift won’t be as dramatic.”
“He’s still alive. I don’t want to hurt him. He’ll have to see me.”
“Dove, I can do the same for him and Kai. No one has to hurt. I made it very targeted. You have a few minutes before it kicks in if you want to call him.”
Hunter had been so mad when he thought Kai would turn Dove in. He’d said he’d never forgive Kai. How would he forgive her? And if the roles were reversed and he took the potion—
“I don’t want him to forget me. Not even in death.”
“But you refuse to do the same for him. You’re better off erasing him, right? That’s what’s best for you. It doesn’t matter what he’d want. He’ll be dead.”
Dove stood, throwing the cup against the wall. She’d thought that a thousand times before, but it didn’t give October the right to shove the thoughts she most despised in her face.
“He’ll fade. One memory at a time. Enjoy them as they pass through your mind.”
Enjoy them? It was supposed to be her choice, her escape plan. It’d seemed so reasonable in theory. Now a reality, she couldn’t believe she ever considered it.
It was as October said. Dove saw her and Hunter’s first meeting. Each memory in order, the strange feeling of loss as a new image surfaced.
“He proposed after his father died, but I said no. Selfish. Stupid girl.”
She reached for her friend’s neck, but the coffee table between them stopped her. “How could you?”
“I did what you craved. You love me because I always tell you the truth. You’ll get over this.”
Had she come for this reason? No. Maybe? Not now. She wished to take it back.
“You’re getting drowsy, Dove.”
Her mind woozed.
“Why did you say no?”
Tears spilled over Dove’s cheeks. “I told him he asked because he was hurting, but he’d had the ring since I moved in.” Her words slurred like a drunkard’s. “I’d found it months before, but I didn’t tell him.”
October had her legs crossed, sipping real coffee as if she hadn’t just drugged her friend. “If Hunter wouldn’t die, would you have said yes?”
Dove’s knees gave out. “I don’t know.” She clutched the table, sliding the rest of the way to the floor. “But I would now. You have to help. I don’t want to forget. I love him.”
“Even if he dies. What then?”
Dove yawned. “Fix it.”
“There’s no reversal, Dove. You don’t have to blame yourself. You won’t remember soon. It’s okay to thank me.”
“I could’ve had more time. Gotten married. Had kids. Hunter’s. Oh, Hunter. I was just scared. My heart’s going to break, but I love him. I wanna mar—”
Dove collapsed.
“When I snap, you’ll wake up and remember how it felt to think you were losing your memories of Hunter. Your love for Hunter will surpass your fear of losing him. And you’ll thank me for showing you reason.”
She snapped.
Chapter 4
Believe In Love
Hunter woke to a note on his door.
I can’t go with you today. Kai’s suggestion has me thinking, and I need space to figure out what I wanna do.
Hunter curled his fists.
Kai snored.
Hunter jerked Kai’s door open and yanked him from bed.
Kai threw weak punches, eyes still closed. “Go away, shark.”
“Wake up!”
Kai wacked Hunter’s cheekbone. They both yelped. Hunter let him go.
Kai stretched himself alert. “I’m not responsible. I was half-conscious. But you’re gonna need ice.”
Kai looked around. “You pulled me out of bed? Is there a fire?”
He grabbed a shirt from his closet and tugged on a pair of tennis shoes though he was still in boxers.
Hunter thrusted the note at him. “Dove left me this.”
“Okay, so she’s trying to figure out if she’s ready to get married. What’s wrong with that?”
“She needs alone time to see if she can break up with me.”
Kai yawned. About an hour after she’d left with October, Dove sent him a text he deleted before going back to bed. “She loves you.”
“She’s said no before.”
“That was six months ago. Y’all were still getting used to living together and mourning Gabe. It wasn’t the right time.”
“But last night. She said who says we want to. I don’t think she does.”
Kai gripped Hunter’s shoulders. “She didn’t want to pressure you into asking again. She was playing it cool. You know how it was in high school.”
Kai was getting good at lying, which would disturb him if it weren’t for a good cause.
“We’re not teenagers.”
“Might as well be.”
Hunter scratched his back. “She’s not breaking up with me?”
“No, man. The note should give you more reason to ask for the lover’s license. Like now, before someone else snatches it.” He held back a grin. He should go to a casino after this.
“Meet me at Spooky Subs at noon. I’ll need your signature.”
They bro hugged, Kai smacking Hunter’s back. “I better be your best man.”
“Yep.”
They broke apart.
“But only if you get your hair fixed. What did Dove do to you?”
“Asian hair doesn’t bleach well.”
“Did she still make you pay?”
“Yep.”
“My girl.”
Kai smacked Hunter’s butt. “Go get her, tiger.”
Lunch would be interesting.
∞∞∞
“What do you mean there’s no license? Kai told me there was one available last night.”
Alrik, the pack Alpha, shoved his jar of mints toward Hunter.
“I don’t want candy. I want a lover’s license.”
“I signed the last one first thing this morning, before sunrise. The couple is VERY eager.”
“I was visiting my father’s grave.”
“I’m sorry, Hunter.”
“Can you send for a new one?”
Alrik frowned. “Prince Mavrick has the flu. If he hadn’t sworn it wasn’t a balance issue, we’d have suspended all licenses. For now, we’re focused on not adding to his pain. Kai even sent him a night walker to restore his strength.”
“Screw Mavrick. I want a wife.”
Minerva, the pack secretary, knocked on Alrik’s office door.
He stood, shari
ng a meaningful look with her.
Hunter gawked. “No. This is not happening! Mom?”
“Yes, dear?”
Heat entered Hunter’s tone. “You are not dating Alrik.”
Alrik and Minerva laughed.
Alrik handed Hunter a peppermint. “Please, son.”
“Oh no you don’t. Gabe’s my father, and I’m not in need of a new daddy.”
“Hunter.” Minerva touched his shoulder. “We’re not together.”
Alrik cleared his throat. “Actually, Minerva, I’ve been meaning to ask you out.”
She blushed.
Hunter paced the room, rubbing his forehead.
“Yes,” Minerva said. “Tomorrow at 6?”
Another laugh between them.
“Mom!”
“Honey, Gabe would want me to date. We discussed it in his military days. We both agreed that if either of us died, we’d like the living one to remarry. Besides, it’s just a date, not a marriage proposal.”
“Fine. Just, no shacking up.”
Alrik handed him another mint.
Hunter glared at him, then ate it. “Can you tell me who got the lover’s license? I’d like to congratulate them.”
Alrik escorted Hunter from his office while Minerva organized Alrik’s desk. “If you knew the person, you wouldn’t be so eager to talk them out of it.”
“No fooling you, huh?”
“Nope.”
Alrik opened the front door. Hunter made his way down the concrete steps.
“And Hunter?”
“Yes?”
“No one could ever replace Gabe; but having no children of my own, I’ve always considered you a son. I hope that’s okay.”
Hunter relaxed. “To be honest, I’ve thought of you as a second dad. You’ve really been here for my mom and me. If someone is going to date her, I’m glad it’s you. I just wish there was another lover’s license.”
“Try to be patient. You’ll marry soon enough.”
“Still have to get her to say yes.”
“I’m confident that won’t be an issue.”
“You and Kai both.”
Chapter 5
Hello Heartbreak
The skatepark looked like a tub of ice cream with scoops missing and tiny ants sliding down the craters. Dove sat a few feet from the edge with her table of prank peanuts. She counted money.
Werewolf Wedding (Generation Wars Book 1) Page 3
