Pack of Freaks: Beasts Among Us - Book 2

by Jennifer Zamboni

  Evangeline remained silent the entire time, not really paying much attention to what was going on around her.

  “Are you shaved?” Percy asked.

  “I showered as soon as I got home, of course I shaved.” I pulled up my pant leg to prove it.

  “Good. Get dressed, do your makeup, and meet us down in the salon so we can figure out what to do with your hair.” Percy moved towards the door, Evangeline in tow.

  “Uh, we’re just going to the town hall you know.”

  “A bride should have perfect hair,” Percy quipped, then marched out of the room with my protégé.

  “I’ll do your makeup,” Amanda volunteered. “And make sure you put on something sexy underneath for later.”

  “Yeah yeah. Get out, I’ll only be a minute.” I shooed my friend from my closet and shut the door in her wake.

  Something sexy? Hadn’t I done enough sexy dress up in my lifetime? But it was for my wedding night, so I supposed I’d oblige. I went through the underwear drawer in my dresser, pawing around until I found a pair of black ones, the back of which consisted of only crisscrossed strings. Probably something Lacey-Marie had insisted I’d buy from Victoria’s Secret. You know, just in case. I guess she’d been on the right track, even though her mind ran more towards one night stands than marriage. I found a black balconette push-up, with plenty of lace around the edges. I don’t usually wear push-ups, I’ve got enough as it is, but Amanda had insisted on sexy. After a moment of thought, I pulled out a slinky black slip with strings lacing up the sides to put on over it all.

  The dress went on easily enough, even with the zipper up the back. I checked myself out in the mirror and thought it was a little overtly sexy for a wedding, especially a town hall affair.

  “Amanda!” I shouted. “Get your buns in here, you have to pick out my shoes.”

  I knew if I picked them out, my choice would be vetoed.

  Amanda gave me a huge grin when she saw me. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Doug’s gonna drool when he sees you. You’ll be lucky if you make it out of the parking lot before he—”

  “And that’s all that needs to be said about that. Should I change?” I cut her off before she could go into any detail.

  “Absolutely not. You look ravishing. You might want a sweater or something, though. It’s chilly out.”

  I looked down at my long sleeves. “I think I’ll be okay.”

  “How about some nylons?” she eyed my bare legs.

  The skirt was quite short, ending about mid-thigh on me.

  “I’m not cold.”

  “It’s not about cold, it’s about garter belts.”

  “A second ago you were telling me how Doug wasn’t going to be able to wait to pull my clothes off, and now you want to add extras?”

  Amanda’s eyebrows shot up and her hand went to her cocked hip shot me.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll search out a garter belt.”

  “I’ll help you. Do you have black nylons?” she asked, pawing through my delicates drawer.

  “Nope, just Gretchen colored ones.” I dug out a pair and held them up.

  “Garter belt!” She held a red one I’d forgotten about. I hadn’t had much of a reason to wear sexy undies in quite a while.

  I yanked the skirt of my dress up and held it out of the way with my chin while I wrestled with the belt.

  Amanda wolf-whistled, and I rolled my eyes at her as I won the battle.

  “Shoes, chicky, shoes. And quit ogling me.” I let the skirt fall and started rolling the nylons up over my knees.

  I got the front hooks attached with no problem, but I ended up needing Amanda to secure the backs. I bet that moment took our friendship to a whole new level, with her face inches from my bare bum.

  “Thanks,” I remembered to say while straightening my clothes.

  “No problem. Now let’s see about makeup. To the bathroom!” She pulled her knees up in a march, her pointed finger held up in front of her like it was leading her.

  Amanda made me stay away from the mirror until she was finished attacking me with makeup brushes.

  “All right, you can take a peek now,” Amanda said as she guided me over to the mirror.

  I grinned at my reflection for her satisfaction. Really, I couldn’t tell the difference between Amanda’s work and what I would have done for myself. “Thanks!”

  “You’re welcome!” She threw her arms around my neck and squeezed.

  “Okay, okay, you can let go now.” I squirmed away and rolled my shoulders, pretending to get the feeling back into my limbs. In reality, there was no way her puny strength could hurt me.

  “All right then, march down those stairs, and we’ll do something sexy with all that hair.”

  Amanda led the way out of my room, down the hall, and down the grand staircase, into the styling chair at Percy’s station.

  With little fuss, they had my hair braided up the back and pinned into a loose bun on top, leaving my natural curl to do as it pleased. Percy stood back from her work, studying my image in the mirror.

  “Hm . . .” She leaned in and twirled the loose pieces around her finger so they fell in more flattering curls. The joys of natural texture. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

  She disappeared through the back, then reappeared moments later, clutching a white rose. Probably from the arrangement in the kitchen that Hades had bought her the day before.

  It was open the perfect amount, its petals frozen in time. I could tell by looking at it that she’d done something to it. Something magic, to make it last. She tucked it into the side of the bun and secured it with a couple of bobby pins. “Better. What do you think?”

  The style was me at my most natural, and despite the soft look the girls achieved, my most primal. I bet anyone else would have gone with the persona I put forth as a performer with Chaos Theory. But Percy, and even Amanda, knew the real me and chose to set that on display.

  “It’s perfect, you guys, thank you.” I was truly touched, and in a rare moment of softness, I gave them each a hug. “I’m so glad you’re both going to be there.”

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” claimed Amanda. “The untamable Gretchen is getting hitched.”

  We all stood studying our reflection in the big mirror, the moment broke when the guys made their appearance.

  “Day-am,” said Hades in a very Amanda-like manner.

  “Agreed,” said Doug, a sexy, predatory grin spreading over his lips. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded and headed for the door, my heart going from a flutter to beating double time. This was real. I was doing this, and I couldn’t be happier.

  “Just you wait for one moment, young lady.” Percy halted me. “First—” she came up to me and gave me a good coating of hairspray. “And second, you are not going to get on that bike of yours. You head straight out to my car. And when we get back here, we’re taking pictures, and then you two can take off on the bikes, if you wish.”

  “Don’t think that will be an option,” I muttered. As nice as going on a real honeymoon would be in theory, it couldn’t be a reality. Can’t have wolves attacking vacationers at a resort, now can we?

  I obediently headed for the car and slid into the passenger seat, letting Doug drive. Percy, Hades, Amanda, and Evangeline all piled into Hades’s car to follow us to the town hall.

  As soon as we started down the driveway, I started talking. “I hope you don’t have any dreams of a honeymoon.”

  “Why not?” Doug asked, crestfallen, which told me that he had been planning something.

  “Think about it, babe. How did this whole mating thing start?”

  I let him mull that over, and I watched as the blood drained from his face.

  “You mean every time we—We’ll turn into—every time?” he glanced over at me, looking absolutely horrified.

  “Yes, every time we have sex, we’ll wolf out. It’s brought on by adrenaline surges.”

  “But what if we take
things slow?”

  I shook my head. “As soon as your pulse picks up, you start changing.”

  “Every time?”

  “Except for those three days around the new moon where we’re fully human.”

  “I guess we should have planned this better.” He brought his eyes back to the road.

  “Well, at least we’ll have something to look forward to. But any time you want to get any, we have to stay in the kennel.” I pressed my lips into a grim line. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted our marriage life to carry on, but there really was no other choice.

  “Shit,” he muttered.

  Shit, indeed.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to wait until the new moon? We’re not that far away.”

  “I don’t think our wolves will stand for it. Besides, this isn’t my first rodeo.”

  “You mean you’ve been mated befo—oh, you were a . . .” his voice trailed off as his fingers tightened around the steering wheel.

  “Yes. I was. But I’m not anymore.”

  “I know that,” he glanced over at me again, his eyes holding sadness that I’d never seen there before. Sadness for me.

  “Do you?” I asked, wondering if he’d actually reconciled that in his head. I looked down at my hands clenched in my lap.

  He nodded. “I was just hoping. I’m . . . before you . . .” he trailed off again as he kept glancing between me and the road.

  “Are you saying I was your first?” And the poor guy didn’t even remember it.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.” I reached a hand over to rub the back of his neck.

  He squirmed away from my touch.

  “We’ll get away during the new moon, all right? It’ll be—” I searched for a word, “—magic.”

  He grinned at that. “All right, that sounds good.”

  “Good. It’s a date then.” And a good thing we got that straightened out, because we were about to turn into the town hall. After he parked, I took his hand. “Are you ready for this?”

  He touched his forehead to mine, and his breath hitched. “I’ve been ready for you since I first laid eyes on you, Gretchen.”

  I smiled and turned to get out so he couldn’t see me giggle at his sappy comment. I appreciated it, it just seemed funny to me for some reason.

  He waited for me, around the back of the car, and held out his elbow, which I took like the lady I had never been.

  Our friends followed us inside, including the sullen pup, where we filled out paperwork, said our vows, and then Doug leaned in to kiss me.

  I stood stock-still, trying to will my pulse to stay steady and slow. In spite of my efforts, I could feel it speed slightly, and my contacts tear a bit, as our lips connected. Doug sucked in a deep breath at the touch, and his hands clenched at my waist.

  Reluctantly, we broke the kiss.

  I heard Percy asking if there was anything else that needed to be done. As soon as I heard that we were officially hitched, I took Doug’s hand and tugged him towards the door before anyone could get a good look at us.

  Outside, I sucked in lungfuls of air, slowly and methodically, with my eyes closed.

  Doug came up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, massaging. Slowly, I relaxed and opened my eyes.

  “Thanks,” I said, heading towards the car.

  “No problem. Now we have to go take pictures.” Doug eased himself back into the driver’s side.

  Great.

  At home, I stood and smiled like a good little girl in the face of flashing lights, ate dinner, then made my escape to the kennel with Doug.

  Once the door shut behind us, the awkwardness set in.

  “So. Now what?” Doug stood awkwardly, his face and scent bright with desire.

  “Well, if you don’t want your clothes shredded, we’ve got to leave them here in the changing room, then we lock ourselves in, as usual.”

  “And if I don’t care?” he asked, his awkwardness melting away as he stepped towards me.

  “Then I don’t care either.” I opened the kennel door and handed Doug the key. “You can lock it behind us.”

  I led the way and listened as Doug moved the key in the lock, then felt him stalk up behind me. I felt his warm breath on the side of my neck as he gently touched his lips to my skin. I focused on breathing calmly, wanting both of us to remember as much of this as possible. I tilted my head to the side and back, leaning against his shoulder as his lips worked. His arms encircled my waist, warm and strong, and I fit my spine into his torso. My arm snaked up so my hand could caress his face as he kissed me.

  His hands moved, becoming more insistent, exploring me. I turned in his arms, and kissed him back, twining my arms around his neck. The sensation of his heart beating against mine was new, special.

  Our breaths synced and became harsher as the kissed deepened. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I didn’t even feel the first snaps and cracks of the change, and in a few moments, when the pain usually came, it didn’t matter, my mind had other things to focus on, and I knew no more.

  I was running late for my girl-date with the Russian. I had to keep reminding myself that there were speed limits for a purpose, even if I couldn’t even hazard a guess as to what that purpose might be.

  My french braid streamed out behind me, and I’m sure the silly grin on my face was something akin to a dog with its head out a car window. I loved breezing through all the scents in rapid succession

  Natasha and I were meeting up at a local coffee shop to talk, and I even came prepared with the sad little scarf I was working on.

  I found a space out front, that while not technically a real parking spot, didn’t expressly forbid parking either.

  “I smell leather and dog. Hello, Gretchen.” Natasha stood from her window-aimed table and motioned me to sit.

  “Hello,” I said as I stashed my bag under the table.

  “And how are you this fine day, Madam Wolf?” she asked, regaining her seat.

  “Good good. Got married, been obedience training, and look,” I dug around in my bag until I came up with the visceral red monstrosity I was calling a scarf.

  Natasha took my work from me as she laughed. “I love how the most important thing in that string of news was this.” She held the piece up and inspected each stitch.

  I watched with furrowed brows, hoping my work was passable.

  “Well, it looks like you’ve got the garter stitch pretty well down, I think it’s time to learn something new. Oh, and next time you make a scarf, you may want to make it a bit narrower.”

  I had dropped some stitches once, without realizing it, so had to start all over again, and had gotten carried away with my cast on.

  I took my scarf back. “So, should I start with new yarn?”

  “No need, you can build right onto that. Okay, work,” she glanced at my scarf again, “six stitches in knit stitch.”

  She waited as I did so.

  “All right, now you’re going to purl through to the end. So to purl, bring the yarn forward, and come forward through the back of the stitch, wrap the yarn around, and pull it through as usual.”

  She watched as I carefully followed her instructions. “Good, continue with that until you get to the last six, then go back to knit stitch, then you go back across the other side all in knit. So how’s the sex?”

  “Natasha!” I laughed, attempting to sound shocked.

  “What? Can’t a girl be curious?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. We . . . haven’t had a new moon yet.”

  “Well, that sucks,” she said.

  “Yes, it does. I’m gonna get something to drink, want anything?”

  “I’m good,” she held up a steaming mug of coffee.

  “Be right back then.” I went and came back with a mug of herbal tea. Funny enough, they didn’t have anything with lavender in it.

  “It’s coming up soon, isn’t it?”

  “What is?” I asked.

  “Ne
w moon, aka, sexy time,” she supplied, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Got any plans?”

  “Not really. I’ve gotta make it something special though, it’ll be the first time Doug will ever remember being with a woman.”

  “Are you serious? You stole the man’s V-card?”

  I snorted through my laughter, managing to spit my mouthful of tea back into the mug, instead of into Natasha’s face. I couldn’t believe she used such modern lingo. “Yup. Apparently, most women aren’t turned on by the extra hairy types.”

  “So what’ll it be? Candles? Wine? Chocolates on the pillow?”

  “I’m his wife, not a hotel.” I reacted to the last suggestion with a raised eyebrow.

  “Close enough. You provide maid service and personal pleasure. You’re a hotel.” She leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her coffee.

  I rolled my eyes. I don’t actually provide maid service. I have never ever cleaned up after him. Percy’s staff, or the house, supplies that function. It was one of the perks of being loaded and having a goddess for a roommate. Something that Doug was having a hard time adjusting to.

  “So how’s it going with the pup?” Natasha changed the subject

  “Awful. She’s still not calling me by name. How’d you find out about her?”

  “Percy.”

  Ah, of course. “She seems to like Doug, though. He’s been working on homeschooling her. She’s had no education whatsoever. Honestly, I don’t know how to help the kid.”

  Evangeline was every bit as volatile as her alpha had claimed. Twice I’d had to change and put her in her place, despite the fact that she was still in her two-legged form. Even that way, she was dangerous. It was a miracle that we’d gotten her all the way to Maine on the back of Doug’s bike. The rest of the time, I just pulled rank on her. None of it helped me get onto Evangeline’s very short favorite person list.

  I set my knitting aside and wrapped my hands around my mug of tea.

  “All right, back to the other subject, because I’m able to be away from the pup for a while, and I’m enjoying it.”

  “The other subject being your sex life?” Natasha asked a little too loudly. A couple of guys in their early twenties turned around to stare at us with interest.