“Are you sure I can’t get some of that magic?”
“Ariane,” I warn her. My mate would take every ounce of magic someone would offer her. She’s already one of the most powerful paranormals on the planet. In all the realms even.
She turns to me. “You’re no fun.”
I lean in and brush my lips against hers. In her mind I say, “Wait until later. You’ll see just how much fun I can be.” I allow my wolf to rise to the surface and my eyes to flash green for a brief moment to drive home my point. Ari shivers.
“Can’t wait.”
Once we make the rounds and find a table to sit at so we can eat, I have my fork in hand, but before I can even bring it to my mouth, Ford stands and clinks his knife gently on his glass.
“I’d like to say a few words.”
“That’s not fair!” Sol interjects and jumps to his feet. “If he gets to say something, so do I.”
“Honestly, brother, it’s like you haven’t been alive the past fifteen hundred years. You know as well as I do that not everyone gets to make a toast at a human wedding.”
“But this isn’t a human wedding! It’s a paranormal one!”
“Would you stop making a scene?” Ford hisses.
“If you want me to make a scene, then I will.” Sol parts his lips to let his fangs descend and gets right in Ford’s personal space. “Care to rumble, brother?”
“Oh, for fate’s sake!” Wake yells and gets up. Within a few steps he’s standing between them, shouldering them apart. “Sol, take a seat. And Ford, give your toast. You two can’t even behave properly at a wedding.”
Ford gasps. “I didn’t do anything wrong. It was all Sol! How dare you lump me into this with him. I was standing here, ready to give a toast, and now it’s ruined. And you’re scolding me like a child!”
“If you didn’t act like a child, I wouldn’t have to reprimand you,” Wake growls.
Ari leans her head on my shoulder. “This is nice. Ford is arguing with Sol. Wake got involved. How long do you think it will be before Dante i
nserts himself?”
“Oh, I don’t know, little mouse. Maybe another min—”
“Would you idiots shut up?” Dante yells from his table. The pack’s beta isn’t one to mess with. Well, unless you’re one of the pack or a friend of the pack. He wouldn’t murder any of us. It’s very easy to get him riled up and so many of the wolves love to do just that.
“You got a problem over there?” Ford asks, jutting his chin toward Dante.
Dante stands, all of his big self rising to his full height. His dark hair is neatly pulled back at the nape of his neck. “You want to tangle, vampire?”
Ford puts his glass down along with his knife, speech abandoned, and strides over to Dante with Sol hot on his heels. Solomon bounces as he walks, like this is the most exciting thing he’s done all week.
“You really think you can take me, wolf?” Ford inquires.
Dante’s eyes glow green. “Why don’t I shift and we’ll find out.”
“All right, that’s enough.” Dante’s mate, Mira, tosses her napkin onto the table and stands up beside him. She pushes him back so she can stand in front of him. While not nearly as intimidating as Dante, Mira can certainly hold her own, even though she’s human. With no powers of her own, she has learned to exude confidence and be one of the most assertive females in the pack. “Everyone sit the hell down. I’m so over this stuff. Every event. Every holiday. There’s always some commotion. If it’s not one challenging the other to a fight, it’s Carter and Cash shifting into their wolves and running amok.”
“Hey!” Carter shouts from two tables away. “That’s not very nice!”
“Oh, bite me. You and everyone else here knows it’s true. Now, can we all get back to our dinner, or do I need to find a pair of magical handcuffs and render some of you useless?”
“That’s not very nice at all,” Sol mutters.
“Way to kill our fun, Mira,” Ford adds in a dejected tone.
“This is better than going out,” Ari says. “We get dinner and a show, right on the pack property. I will never get tired of this.”