by Tina Johnson
Hunter's eyes shined and he took a step towards her. Misty took off running and Hunter leaped across the bed and caught her around the waist, grappling with her on the floor. They landed with a thud and Misty laughed as he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.
"I like the way your mind works," He told her and then ripped her shirt open with his teeth, the buttons flying everywhere.
Chapter 16
As the wedding day approached, Misty grew more nervous. In the morning she'd be putting on the dress, shoes, and the pearl necklace his mom actually found and walk down the field to the pastor. She was sad her father wouldn't be here to see it, or give her away.
She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and forced herself to focus on what was important today. Preparing herself to become Hunter's wife tomorrow morning. With her vet clinic hopping with business, she didn't want to go on a honeymoon quite yet. Hunter had agreed to wait until the holidays and Christmas time. It was just a few months from now, and that would give them time to enjoy some wedded bliss at home before gallivanting off to go see some exotic place.
Misty knew she could do this. She was ready. She was sure she and Hunter would be able to accomplish great things together as a couple. He was supportive, loving, and he let her follow her dreams. His money didn't matter to her. She had her own money, but because he didn't need her money she didn't feel like he was interested in her because of her income. They made a good pair. Neither needed the other, they both wanted each other.
Admitting that wasn't entire true to herself, Misty realized she did need Hunter. Emotionally. He made her happy, he made her laugh, and he completed her. She'd always been raised to be independent and think for herself. Growing up with her dad, she'd also learned not to rely on having emotional support. Learning to rely on Hunter to support her and be there for her had been one of those steps in the relationship that had taken her awhile. She hadn't realized she had trust issues when it came to love and opening up until he started banging on her emotional doors and wanted let in.
Hunter had no real emotional baggage. He just had a tendency to want access to every part of her brain and feelings. It was a little scary sometimes to have such honest transparency and no secrets. He never judged her though, and he gave her the same respect he wanted from her. That made it a little easier overtime to adjust to it.
Misty wondered if she was being a little hard on his mom. The woman really did mean well. Deciding to go apologize for being so stand-offish about the wedding to her, she found his mother outside in the front of the house pulling out rose bushes and other flowers that Hunter had planted. She was putting them in pots.
"Uhm, do I want to know what you are doing?" Misty asked her, wondering if Hunter knew his mom was doing this.
"I didn't want to kill flowers to have them at your wedding, I figured we could decorate using live flowers, then replant them when you're done." She said smiling, wiping a glove across her face smearing dirt on her cheek.
Misty sometimes wondered how such an ancient woman could act like she was a twelve year old at times with her logic. She usually meant well, but it always seemed to have disastrous results.
"Does Hunter know you're uprooting all his flowers?" Misty asked her and was trying not to laugh.
"Well, not yet, but I figured I'd tell him when I got all the flowers ready for tomorrow's wedding. I can replant them afterwards and he'll never know the difference." She said smiling at Misty.
"What happens if the roses and flowers decide they didn't like being dug out of the ground and put into pots?"
The woman's face fell, apparently the thought hadn't occurred to her. "Hmm, I guess I'll owe Hunter some new flowers then."
"I appreciate the effort you are trying to put into our wedding, but don't you think maybe you could just sit back and enjoy it?" Misty asked her quietly, not wanting to offend the woman.
"He's my baby, and the last of my children to be married. I wanted to do something special and you already said no to a big fancy wedding, so this is the way I can help." She said nodding, her attention going back to the flowers in front of her.
Misty decided to drop it and go find Hunter. She was laughing to herself when she found him in his study. He'd repainted the room, and ordered a new laptop for work, but he kept complaining the room didn't feel the same anymore.
Kissing him on the cheek, she smiled at him. "Hi, are you ready for tomorrow?"
"Absolutely, especially since my mother will be leaving after the wedding. I love her, but I'm so ready for her to go." He muttered.
"I suppose I shouldn't warn you not to react when you walk out front then." Misty started to laugh harder now.
Hunter's eyes got big and then narrowed at Misty. "Now what?"
"Your mom has decided to uproot all your flowers to bring them to the wedding so we didn't have to kill flowers for the wedding. She said she's going to replant them afterwards." Misty rubbed her cheek trying not to laugh at Hunter's eyes looking as if they were about to pop out of his head.
"She knows I actually planted almost all of those myself! I put hard work into my flower beds! What in the world is she thinking?" Hunter jumped to his feet and looked ready to storm out there and give his mother a piece of his mind.
Misty grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Hunter, it's just two more days. Breathe. Your mother can't be replaced, but the flowers can. I'll help you. We can do it together if she messes them up, okay? It can be our first project together."
"How did I get so lucky to find a woman who doesn't want to strangle my mother?" Hunter said and kissed her, trying to relax a little and then shook his head. "I want to strangle my mother."
"Well, I didn't say I didn't want to strangle her sometimes, but I can tell she means well. She has a good heart. It's hard to stay mad at someone who has good intentions even if her way of doing things seems to... explode a little." Misty said thinking about the kitchen and the gun powder.
"I should find my mother a husband. One who can keep her out of trouble." He grinned at Misty. "A husband would mellow her out, or at least keep her busy enough she can't blow up anyone else's house."
"Whatever you say, Hunter," Misty said and put her hand on his chest, eyeing the desk behind him. Licking her lips she fingered one of the buttons on his shirt, making her intentions clear.
"No more talking about my mom," Hunter said as he grabbed Misty around the waist and carried her over to the desk and set her on it.
"Kiss me." Misty told him and tipped her head back.
Hunter lowered his head until he was right above her mouth. "Gladly."
Chapter 17
"You look beautiful Misty." Hunter's mother, Susie, told her as she finished pinning the flowers in her hair and planned on driving her to the field were they planned on getting married. "I'm sorry if I made things so difficult for you while I was here. I didn't mean too."
"I like you, Susie. I do, please don't think I'm unhappy with you. I just know that Hunter likes his house a certain way and you're a walking disaster. Just a tiny bit." Misty said and then hugged her, to try to soften her words.
"I know, I can't help it." Susie said looking kind of sad. "His father wasn't my soul mate, so I've been alone for a very long time. I don't mean to make a mess. I'll go away after the wedding, I promise."
"Oh, Susie, you don't need to go away completely, a short visit occasionally is more than welcome. I just know Hunter likes his flowers, and had no plans on remodeling his kitchen until you blew it up." Misty started to laugh, unable to stop herself. "I will admit, the gunpowder in the oven is a first for me. You're a very creative woman."
"Well, sometimes my experiments turn out well, and sometimes they have disastrous results. I admit that I probably should stick to experimenting in my own kitchen." She laughed with Misty, not offended.
"Thank you for all your help. I know you wanted a bigger wedding, and I appreciate that you were able to let me have the wedding I wanted without hard feelings. A lot of mother-in-l
aws would be a little more monstrous than that. " Misty told her, hoping she was saying it right.
"Well, I'm already a dragon. As mother-in-laws go, that's sort of up there on the monster scale. But I understand what you mean. Thank you. I want my son happy. You make him happy, which means your happiness will be important to me too. I hope you know that." Susie told her and patted her on the shoulder. "Are you ready to go marry my son?"
"Absolutely. I just need to find my shoes." Misty said, looking confused.
"Oh, my goodness. I knew I forgot something." Susie said looking sheepish.
"You didn't get the shoes?" Misty asked shock rolling over her face, and then she started to shake her head. "It's okay. Honestly, pinchy shoes really aren't my thing. I'll go barefoot. It's in a field full of beautiful green grass and flowers. I'll be okay."
"Your ability to adapt to situations is pretty amazing Misty. Hunter's always been set in his ways, I think you'll be good for him." Escorting Misty out to the car she'd rented, she helped her into the passenger side so she could drive her out to meet Hunter and get the wedding show on the road.
"I'll admit I'm a little nervous about being a wife. To a dragon no less. I'm just a human. I can't ever shift, and our kids could be dragons, right?" Misty hadn't thought to ask Hunter before.
"Yes, your kids will most likely be shifters. It's a dominant gene. You either have it or you don't. It's not like other races where you're half human. You can't be half dragon. You are either dragon, or not dragon." She smiled at her and took the steep curves going down the mountain to the valley a little sharper than Misty was comfortable with.
"So there's a chance our kids might just be human?" Misty asked her, trying to distract herself from the woman's crazy driving. She had her fingers digging into the side of the car door hanging on for dear life.
"Unlikely, but I suppose it's possible. We see it every now and then, but it's pretty rare." She told her and finally entered the flat area of the valley, making Misty sigh in relief. She finished driving to the field where Misty and Hunter were to be married and stopped with the line of cars that were already there.
It was a small gathering, and it was in the middle of the field. Hunter was already there, along with everything else waiting for Misty. She felt uncomfortable when all eyes turned to face her and Hunter's mother helped her out of the car.
"You're going to do fine. Just go and marry my son, make him happy." She gave Misty a quick hug and wiped a small tear from her eyes as Misty nodded at her.
Misty turned to walk to Hunter, the flowers in her hand when the unthinkable happened.
A man walked up to Hunter and pushed him. The pastor jumped back out of the way as the two men started to argue. Misty watched the fight break out in slow motion and just stared. She was confused at what was going on. Exchanging glances with Hunter's mom she gave her a look hoping she'd explain to her what was going on.
"That would be Hunter's cousin. The one I was worried about. Looks like we're in for an epic dragon battle. He's going to challenge Hunter for your hand in marriage. The idiot." She scoffed. "Hunter's going to stomp his face into the ground."
"Are there any humans in the wedding guests?" Misty whispered, worried about it.
"The pastor, but he's been to dragon weddings before, so he's seen it happen in the past. If there are any other humans here, they know about dragons and will keep their mouths shut, or are mates or family members. It's going to be okay. Hunter won't shift if there was risk of anyone else finding out. Besides, cell phones and video cameras weren't allowed. Guests were frisked before they came. It might seem like it was a little over protective, but we weren't sure if he'd show his face here or not and didn't want to take the risk even still. It's easy enough to deny a witness account by mouth, a video is an entirely different thing."
"So you don't entirely trust humans that know about dragons either, then?" Misty asked her, watching the two men shove each other back and forth and yell at each other. She felt like turning around and walking away from such childish behavior. "Why does he have to ruin my wedding? I knew I should have eloped."
"It will be over pretty fast, once they get naked and shift, the fight will be quick." Hunter's mom reassured her and patted her on the shoulder. "Just stay back and let them finish this."
"This is stupid." Misty said and stormed across the field until she reached the two men. "Knock this off right now. You, go stand by the pastor so we can get married."
Hunter stared at her, his lip was bleeding and his eye was starting to bruise where his cousin had punched him. His cousin wasn't in much better shape.
"And you, you can leave." Misty said, staring at Hunter's cousin. When the cousin sneered at her she reacted without thinking. She hit him with her flowers. "That is for coming to my wedding uninvited."
Hitting him again, she glared at him. "And this is for ruining Hunter's pretty face for our after wedding pictures, and THIS is for making me ruin my flowers because you two are such idiots."
She whacked him for each statement of fact with her flowers until the man was backing up putting his hands up in front of his face, with a shocked expression on his face.
"Even if you were to win, which you won't, I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth. You need to grow the hell up and find your own mate instead of ruining the weddings of other people. You can either sit down in a chair quietly, and shut up, or you can leave. If you choose to stay, you best be on your very most perfect behavior, or you'll regret it. Am I clear?" Misty snarled at him and pointed her now wilted and broken flowers at Hunter's cousin and stood toe to toe with him. Her eye twitched in anger and she really just wanted to keep beating him over the head with her flowers.
"Yes, Ma`am." He gulped and backed up.
Hunter burst out laughing, and then gathered Misty in his arms and hugged her. "I really didn't want to shift in front of everyone. Thank you for rescuing me."
"Don't make a habit of it." She told him and then softened her gaze when she saw his lip was swollen and his eye was half shut. "You're poor face, should I go hit him more with the flowers?"
"No, I think you scared him pretty effectively. I don't think he's ever had a bride at a wedding stand up to him before." Hunter started to laugh louder and then walked Misty over to the pastor. "Are you ready to get married?"
"Yes, but I still want to strangle your cousin." She muttered as she refused to get rid of her flowers and held the bouquet in front of her, broken and ripped apart as they were, she held them to her chest.
Ignoring the murmurs from her little outburst and breaking up the two dragons, she focused on the pastor, who she gave a hard look before ordering him to start the ceremony.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...." The pastor started to say. The crowd settled down, and soon Hunter and his cousin were forgotten. At least she'd prevented them from shifting in front of anyone who might have freaked out. She would have freaked out she realized when she was thinking about it. She didn't want dragons fighting over her, one dragon was enough for her.
She focused on getting married to the man she loved. Today, this was about them. She wanted Hunter to know she loved him, would stand by his side, and even if she didn't always agree with his opinions or his ways of doing things, she would support him. She'd have his back and stick up for him. Even if that meant yelling at his family herself when needed to get them to stop being so ridiculous.
"Do you, Misty, take Hunter to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The pastor finally got to the part she'd been waiting for. He prattled on for a few more minutes and she had to repeat all the words, and say "I do" for him to ask Hunter a similar question.
Eventually, he announced that Hunter could kiss his bride. Turning to look down at Misty, Hunter smiled big at her with a goofy grin that her almost forgetting about all the drama leading up to their wedding.
He kissed her and she didn't even notice the applause. When his mouth pressed against hers, nothing else exis
ted but the two of them. She dropped the already destroyed flowers from her hands and wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him. She wanted to leave and go away with him right now. She didn't want to mingle or socialize, she just wanted to be left alone with Hunter. All that mattered to her at this point was him.
She'd dealt with the death of her father, finished school, and opened up her own vet clinic. Hunter was the missing piece to complete her life. She knew things wouldn't always be easy. They'd have to learn to communicate and work as a team over the years, but she just knew he was the right man for her. Dragon, man, whatever. Smiling into his mouth at the thought of his dragon form it caused Hunter to pull back and look at her.
"What are you thinking about?" He whispered to her and touched her cheek softly.
"You, being a dragon, a man, us... I was just amused. I feel sometimes like this is a little too good to be true. Then I remember your mom blowing up your kitchen, and your cousin trying to start a fight at our wedding and it brings me right back down to reality." Misty told him.
"How about I promise that if we ever have family vacations, they don't happen at our house with my mom?" He whispered to her and then kissed her forehead and grabbed her hand and turned towards the guests. Many were whistling and clapping, even a couple of catcalls were yelled that had Misty blushing slightly. She leaned against Hunter's shoulder and felt like nothing could ruin her happiness.
They were meant to be.
Chapter 18
"Mom, you said you were leaving when the wedding was over?" Hunter said, sighing in frustration. It was his wedding night, and his mother had helped get everyone home and everything taken care of. Except now she was standing in his living room, not allowing Hunter to take his new wife to bed.
"I know, but I just wanted a chance to say goodbye to you two personally, before I left." She said and leaned over to hug Hunter. Misty was already upstairs waiting for him. "I also wanted to let you know she's pregnant. I can smell it on her."
