WILD WOLF: Werewolves of Montana Book 12

by Vanak, Bonnie

  She forced her voice to remain steady. “I, Jordan Baxter, take you Nolan Mitchell, of my own free will, as my mate. I promise to honor and respect you, to love and cherish you with my body and my spirit, to stand by your side as our alpha leader and support you above all others, and to be yours, forever.”

  Please mean the same thing, she silently pleaded with Nolan as he wet his lips, preparing to recite his own vows. Please don’t hate me.

  Nolan stared into her eyes. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

  “I, Nolan Mitchell, alpha of the Mitchell Tennessee pack, take you Jordan Baxter of own free will, as my mate. I promise to honor and respect you, to love and cherish you with my body and my spirit, to stand by your side as my alpha female and support you above all others, and to be yours, forever.”

  His gaze remained steady. “I promise to protect you with my body, your honor with my spirit, and defend you to the last drop of my blood.”

  To the last drop of his blood. It wasn’t a vow made lightly, and far as she knew, only alphas fully committed to their mates uttered it at the ceremony.

  Guilt wrestled with joy. Nolan was a male of worth, of honor. He deserved a mate equally so. She could not speak, only close her eyes as he kissed her, his mouth firm, warm, and authoritative.

  The kiss did not last. Tristan touched their hands and their wounds immediately healed. “Congratulations.”

  Nolan gazed at him with respect. “Will you stay and have supper with us?”

  “I’m afraid I cannot. But thank you.”

  Before she could thank him, the wizard vanished.

  They headed across the meadow, where tables and chairs had been set up beneath an enormous white tent. Nolan stated he was fully committed to her. She said the same, but did he really mean it?

  Her new mate guided her to the head table, decorated with freesia and roses grown in the gardens near the vineyards. A cool wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves, raising gooseflesh on her bare arms. The thousands of tiny blue-white bulbs strung on the tent ceiling sparkled like fairy light. It gave the tent a mystical, ethereal touch.

  Covered with white tablecloths, each table bore a vase of pink roses, white hyacinth, and honeysuckle. Nolan sat and then pulled Jordan onto his lap to feed her the ceremonial first bite of their wedding dinner.

  Jordan parted her lips and Nolan slid a grape between them, reminding her of another time they’d eaten grapes off the vine.

  That night they had made love in the barn.

  “So you may never go hungry. I will always keep you satisfied, in every way possible,” he murmured as she ate it.

  Their hands still tied together, Jordan lifted the silver cup filled with costly white wine to his Nolan's mouth, trying to control her shaking hand. Sweat trickled down her back. With every ounce of her strength, she controlled her nervousness.

  “So you may never thirst for another’s touch except mine. I will always quench your spirit,” she told him in the traditional vow.

  He kissed her then, his mouth moving over hers, but then Nolan pulled away, as if he didn’t want the kiss to linger. Cheers and applause sounded.

  Then they untied the leather cord and settled in for the wedding feast. Jordan tried to keep her spirits up.

  Judging from Nolan’s physical reaction, he wasn’t thrilled about this union. She picked up her wineglass, downed a large gulp. Chardonnay. Good, more dry than sweet. Her palate tingled.

  Nolan gave her an odd look.

  On her right side, Nia sipped her wine. “At least you can skip the wedding night consummation in front of the entire pack, Jordan.”

  Jordan stared at her. “You did that?”

  “Rules of the Mating Challenge Aiden undertook to win my hand.”

  Aiden leaned forward. “I don’t recall any complaints from you, my love.”

  “It was special,” Nia countered.

  Aiden laughed. “I certainly enjoyed it,” he murmured.

  Passion flickered in Nia’s eyes. “Don’t get so confident, Mitchell. Just because we have a babysitter and privacy this weekend doesn’t mean I’m easy.”

  “Maybe not but I’m hard when you get me,” Aiden said, and laughed again.

  The tender look the couple exchanged, and the heated desire in their eyes made Jordan feel lonelier than ever. She gave Nolan a sideways look. He sipped his wine, seemed more interested in his prime rib than her.

  A band played as the guests danced. Pack members stomped with enthusiasm to a lively country tune. The celebratory feeling in the air lifted her sagging spirits. Certainly the pack enjoyed the wedding.

  She and Nolan got up to greet their guests and accept congratulations from each member of the pack. Another tradition Nolan honored. Everyone seemed delighted by their union, but when she reached Erica and Shirl’s table, where they sat with their siblings and parents, her old friends barely offered congratulations.

  Jordan gestured to Nolan. “I know you need to spend a little time with some of your senior staff, so I’ll stay here and catch up.”

  Nolan’s smile was warm, and he bent down and kissed her. “Don’t take too long.”

  She glanced up to see Erica and Shirl glaring at her. Jordan’s stomach lurched. She gave a bright smile. “So how have you two been? Seeing anyone special?”

  “Special? The only special one is Nolan, and now you have him.” Shirl sulked.

  “Nice of you to get mated. You leave here, and come back and everyone treats you like a queen.” Erica refused to meet her gaze. “And we’re here, working the vineyard and winery, and there’s no appreciation for us.”

  Jordan wished she were anywhere but this table. “Have you talked with Nolan about what you want?”

  Shirl laughed. “He only has eyes for the vineyard, and the winery. And now you.”

  Her old friends turned to each other, talking about running with the moon last month, cutting her off.

  Okay, she could take a hint. Jordan rejoined Nolan, but the encounter with her old friends deeply bothered her. Come to think of it, they hadn’t been truly friendly since…

  That night.

  Don’t think of that night. Make every moment from today on count.

  How she wished she could forget about the past and truly begin to live. Well, she’d try hard.

  Suddenly she felt a shift in the air pressure, a heaviness that hinted of powerful magick. Jordan turned and saw several shining lights like twinkling fireflies. The lights floated in the air and danced around her. She laughed with delight, but the other Lupines at the table leaned back, fear tightening their expressions.

  The Fae came to the wedding after all.

  A glowing pink and white light the size of a volleyball drifted toward her, accompanied by two smaller globes of light. The globes ball materialized into Selene, the queen of the Fae colony. Two tall, slender Fae, with silver hair spilling down the backsides, stood at her side. They did not smile, but Selene did.

  Jordan curtseyed as the other Lupines bowed their head in respect.

  “Jordan. Rise child.” The queen touched her shoulder and Jordan’s skin tingled pleasantly.

  She did, and slid her hand into Nolan’s palm as her mate bowed his head in respect to Selene.

  The Fae queen gave him a long look. “I am pleased with your bride, Nolan. You have done well.”

  “Your Majesty.” Nolan did not return the queen’s smile. “You didn’t give me much of a choice.”

  Confusion filled her as she glanced at Nolan. Now was not the time to ask, however.

  “Sometimes we must be forced into choices that are the right ones for us,” the queen said softly.

  The Fae queen indicated her attendants. “My attendant, Risa,” she said, gesturing to the shorter Fae, “And her sister, Elaine. Perhaps you remember them from your previous time here, Jordan.”

  Jordan nodded. “My pleasure.”

  The sisters did not smile back. Rather, they stared at Nolan like lovestruck teenagers. The
thought amused Jordan. Both “girls” had to be well over one hundred. Selene herself seemed ancient.

  Ageless.

  The Fae queen touched Jordan’s shoulder again, and a faint tingling shot through her. It felt like a surge of power, but more familiar. “I bless your union and all the offspring that will result in it.”

  Selene’s voice dropped to a whisper. “And I give you a gift. When you need to find the power within yourself, use your voice. It is a true gift bestowed on you.”

  She puzzled over this. But this was not the venue to question the powerful Fae queen.

  “Thank you. Will you stay and dine with us?” Jordan asked, wanting to spend more time with this magick creature she had seldom seen in her years with the pack.

  Selene gazed around at the fearful faces. “I think not. But thank you, child, for asking. You honor us.”

  With a nod at Nolan, she morphed into a ball of pink and white light again. Risa and Elaine stared longingly at Nolan.

  “Good-bye, alpha,” Elaine said in her high-clear voice. “If you need us, call upon us.”

  “Yes,” her sister echoed. “We shall always be here for you.”

  Ignoring Jordan, they dematerialized into glowing balls of light. The sprites dancing around Jordan followed as the queen and her attendants floated away, back into the forest.

  Jordan and Nolan walked back to their table. When they sat, she leaned close so no one else could hear.

  “You were forced into marrying me? By Selene?”

  Nolan’s mouth flattened. “No one forces me into anything. She gave me an ultimatum to find a mate. I chose you. End of story.”

  The tiny hope that Nolan wanted to marry her died. Like her, he had not been granted much choice in the matter.

  Swallowing her pride, and her hurt, she shrugged. “Guess we are both stuck with each other.”

  Nolan didn’t answer, but gave her a long look. “Stuck isn’t the way I’d look at it, pixie.”

  The familiar nickname renewed her tiny hope. Ruthlessly Jordan quashed it. If she kept hoping this marriage of convenience would turn into something richer and more meaningful, she’d be wasting her time.

  Better that she make the best of it, and try to make it work. It was the least she could do.

  And marriage to Nolan was better than prison. She snuck a covert glance at him as he turned to chat with Aiden. Nolan was an alpha Lupine, without a spare inch of fat on him. Remembering the pleasure he’d given her their first night as lovers, she felt a rush of sweet anticipation. At least that side of the marriage should be exciting.

  It was the times when Nolan was out of bed that worried her.

  “Queen Selene’s attendants seemed enchanted with you,” she told Nolan. “Maybe you should have married one of them.”

  “I don’t date older women, especially ones well over a hundred. Cramps my style.”

  She laughed and then sipped her wine, relishing the tingle of it against her tongue. A glass filled with green liquid sat by her plate, along with a slotted silver spoon and a bowl filled with sugar cubes. She would not drink the absinthe, the traditional mating drink of Lupines. It made females amorous, but also dulled their wits. Jordan wanted to be fully aware and awake for their wedding night. She remembered the passion Nolan had awakened in her.

  Would it be the same? Certainly she had never felt anything like it since.

  Nolan glanced at her. “Excuse me a moment. I must talk with Aiden in private.”

  Jordan watched the two powerful alpha Lupines leave. She made small talk with Nia as she toyed with her food, but the beef didn’t appeal to her.

  Instead, she devoured the green vegetables and the fruit cup.

  Shortly after they left, Nolan and Aiden returned. Her new mate ignored the bowing and forehead touching gestures of respect shown alphas as he passed. Nolan wore a well-tailored black silk tuxedo, which looked elegant on him. He was so handsome, whether in evening clothes or in dusty blue jeans.

  Or naked.

  She remembered that as well.

  He looked at her plate and the untouched beef. She shrugged. “I’m not that hungry.”

  Jordan tapped her foot beneath the table and hummed to the band. Suddenly Aiden stood and pulled Nia to her feet as the band played a slow song. She went into his arms and everyone respectfully walked to the side to give them the entire dance floor.

  Closing her eyes, she rested her head on his broad shoulder, moving against him in time to the music. Aiden held her close, humming along.

  A lump formed in Jordan’s throat. She wished she and Nolan could share that closeness. Once they had, dancing in this same meadow beneath the stars, their music the hum of cicadas, the lights fireflies twinkling in the grass.

  Jordan nodded at the dance floor. “Shall we?”

  Nolan gave her a heavy-lidded gaze. “I have business to attend to. Excuse me.”

  He pushed back from the table, went to another table where a few other Lupines sat. Recognizing the outsiders who attended, Jordan felt a chill race down her spine.

  Was this her marriage, mated to a male who ignored her all the time?

  Nolan returned and held out his hand. “Come with me.”

  Jordan wanted to tell him to brush off, but she took his hand.

  He brought her over to the two strangers. Dim recognition flickered and she stifled a gasp.

  Brandon Harlow and his beta. Hope filled her. Could the long feud finally be ending with this gesture?

  “Brandon, Adam, this is my mate, Jordan.” Nolan brought her forward.

  Jordan said hello to Adam and offered her hand to Brandon. Instead of shaking it, he gave her a courtly, brief kiss on her knuckles. The alpha had dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes and he was handsome, hardly the villain of her pack’s nightmares. His smile was kind.

  “Pleasure, my lady.”

  Jordan placed her other hand over his. “I’m so glad you came to honor us on our special day. Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Brandon looked at Nolan and nodded. “You made a wise choice for a mate, Mitchell. This little redhead is charming.”

  “I may be a redhead, but I fall a little short in the charm department,” she said ruefully. “The red hair comes with a temper to match.”

  Brandon laughed. “Best kind of mate. Spirited.” His expression fell. “Just like my Trixie. I miss her.”

  Sympathy filled her. The Harlows might have once been their bitter enemies, but they were Lupines, too. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Nolan thanked them for coming again, and then excused himself to dance with her.

  Stiff in his arms, she danced.

  He no longer loved her, could never love her and this was a match of convenience. Gazing around, she saw satisfied smiles that told her several Lupines thought she was smitten with Nolan and he had her wrapped around his finger.

  Still, the fact that he’d invited the Harlows made her wonder of his motivations. “Why did you invite Brandon? For years your father considered him an enemy,” she whispered into his ear.

  Nolan bent his head to her, his warm breath feathering over her suddenly cool skin. “My grandmother had a saying.”

  “Oh?”

  “Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.” Nolan grinned. “And your bride closest of all – because your enemies make for poor bed partners.”

  She laughed, glad for the ice broken between them.

  “That stupid feud. Didn’t help that Brandon’s mate, Trixie, get caught in the crossfire when your father and Brandon were fighting over land rights.”

  Nolan sighed. “My father felt guilty for years afterward. Brandon never forgave him for Trixie’s death. My grandmother tried to get them both to make peace, but the best she could do was force a truce they both broke from time to time.”

  “I miss MeeMaw,” she told him. “Is your granny still around?”

  Nolan swung her around, expertly cutting a turn. “She’s at her cabin, and my mom
is tending to her. It’s hard for my mother to leave. After Dad died, she left the pack to care for MeeMaw. Didn’t want to get in my way of leading.”

  “Can we go visit?” Jordan always admired MeeMaw, and his mother Sue had a gentle way about her.

  Nolan nodded, looking pleased. “They both were hoping you would in a couple of days. I’ll arrange it.”

  “Will the bride sing for us?” a drunk yelled out as the dance ended. “I hear she has a beautiful voice!”

  “Oh, our alpha will make her sing later when he beds her,” someone added, snickering.

  Nolan’s mouth twitched in a smile. Jordan smiled as well. She knew how to deal with asshole Lupines.

  Jordan tugged free of Nolan’s clasp and walked over to the Lupine who’d made the comment about Nolan bedding her.

  Instead of sarcasm, she opted for something else.

  Jordan opened her mouth and began to sing a tune she remembered from childhood about the forest and the wolf. It was an ancient, lovely melody she’d always enjoyed.

  The band stopped playing.

  Everyone went still.

  Nolan’s eyes widened and his breath hitched.

  When she finished, silence draped the crowd. Then Nolan applauded and the guests did as well.

  Nolan picked up her hand, kissed it. “I forgot what a beautiful voice you have,” he said, his voice husky.

  Jordan leaned close. “And I forgot how sexy you are.” She glanced at the offending Lupine, who had turned red-faced. “Perhaps I’ll be the one to make you howl in our bed later, Nolan. You certainly do have the stamina for it.”

  Nolan laughed, and there were more smiles all around, except from the embarrassed Lupine.

  When they returned to their seats, Nolan picked up his glass of absinthe.

  “A toast to my mate,” he murmured, and swallowed the entire glass without diluting it.

  “Whoa,” someone said.

  Aiden laughed again. “That’s a Mitchell for you.” He downed his glass as well without diluting it.

  If she didn’t follow suit, they’d think her meek and submissive. Jordan picked up a cube of sugar to place on the slotted spoon, put the spoon over the glass and then reached for the nearby pitcher of ice water to dilute the mixture.