Bridenapped: The Alpha Chronicles (9 page)

“So he didn’t even come to dinner tonight. I ate by myself. I mean, I ate with the bodyguard watching me and Elzbetka glaring at me,” Caitlin said to Paige.  She was sitting on the balcony of her room, which overlooked the broad sweep of the forest behind the property.  “Which is weird, considering how he was pretending to be all loving and romance-y this afternoon.”

And how passionate he’d been the night before.

“What makes you think he was pretending, oh paranoid one?”

“Well…you’ve got to admit that it’s pretty unlikely that someone like him would want someone like me. Unless he thought he could get something out of it.”

Paige let out a groan of annoyance. “Oh, I swear to God, if I were there I’d slap you for talking about yourself like that.  Remember, I was there at the Welcome To The Alpha event. I saw the look on his face. He’s wanted you from the moment he first set eyes on you. And as a matter of fact, you being totally broke now is proof that he wants you for you. I mean, before you were this rich heiress chick with all this land and your family business, and now you’re an office drone, and he still wants you.”

“But now it seems like he’s avoiding me. He sent a message telling Elzbetka to tell me that he wouldn’t be back till late. He JUST bridenapped me, and now he doesn’t even want dinner with me?   Why would he suddenly vanish after wooing me all afternoon?” She cringed as she realized how whiney she sounded. “Not that I care, since I hate him and all that,” she added quickly. “I’m just curious.”

“He’s an Alpha. They’re busy. Running a pack is probably like running a corporation. Every time my husband is prepping for trial I barely see him for days at a time, but it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love me. He worships me like a Goddess, which I of course am.”

              Caitlin wished she shared Paige’s self-confidence. Then again, Paige hadn’t endured years of relentless mockery in high school.

              “What did William say about the mayor having the deed?” she asked.

              “There’s not much that can be done about it now, since it’s his word against yours. It’s not actually legal for you to record him without his consent.  It’s a good tactic to use to make sure he keeps his promise and has to return the deed, because it would hurt him politically if you release that recording, but it can’t be used in a court of law.  What you really need is the physical copy of the deed.”

              “My aunt and uncle were furious when I told them,” Caitlin said. “They’re dying to figure out how to do something about it, but so far I can’t think of anything other than going along with his whole publicity scheme. And I hate to do that, since I’m going to have to dump Kristofer the day after the wedding, which is starting to make me feel like a real bitch, believe me.”

              “Do you really have to?” Paige asked. “You’ve been hot for him from the day you met him. I can tell he’s crazy about you, and you know me, I’d tell if you I thought he was leading you on. I’m brutally honest.”

              “No kidding. Sometimes a little too honest. There’s this word called tact, it’s in the dictionary under the letter T.”

“I don’t believe you, I think you just made that word up. And I think you should stay with him.  I mean I’ll support whatever you decide, but if you can get the deed back from the mayor and your family has their land back…”

“I can’t be sure that the mayor is going to return the deed to us.  And as long as the Verhold Pack has our land, I can’t stay with Kristofer, no matter how much I want to. I mean, I’m not saying that I actually do want to stay. Damn it, I have no idea what I’m trying to say.” She buried her face in her hands. “How did my life get so complicated?”

“You may be making it more complicated then you need to. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Paige said, and hung up.

Caitlin headed off to her bedroom to get some reading done.

She heard Kristofer come in minutes later – right before moonrise. Was that a deliberate choice? He came in right when he knew she wouldn’t be able to come anywhere near him?

Well, that’s fine by me
, she thought, and she went and locked her door.

              The next morning, when she left her bedchamber, she came out to find that Kristofer had already gone. He’d left a bouquet of flowers sitting on the floor outside of her door, with a note. “Good morning, gorgeous. I’ve got some urgent pack business that I must attend to, but I’ll see you later today.”

              A little while later, her phone rang, but she ignored it. If he couldn’t even be bothered to come talk to her before he left, she certainly wasn’t going to take his phone calls.

              A strange, uneasy feeling twisted inside her as she sat at her table eating breakfast, and she couldn’t help but notice that Elzbetka had a faint smirk on her pretty face, and a malicious gleam in her eye. Did she know something that Caitlin didn’t?

              As if reading her thoughts, Elzbetka said “Kristofer called me to say that he won’t be able to make it to the planning meeting this morning. It appears as if Kristofer may not be participating in the wedding planning at all.  We’ll have to make do without him. I can meet up with him myself to ensure that he’s properly fitted for the tux, and other than that, it would be best not to bother him with the details. He’s a busy man.”

              Caitlin felt a sharp twang at the thought of Elzbetka meeting up with Kristofer. Would she be measuring him personally? Exactly where would she go with that measuring tape?

             
Not my concern
, she told herself firmly. She should be relieved that Kristofer was pulling a disappearing act. Maybe he’d been turned off when she pushed too hard on how the different clans were treated. If he got sick of her and asked her to leave, that would solve her problem.  From what Paige had told her, the Alpha was allowed to back out of the bridenapping if he changed his mind. The human female was the one who had no choice in the matter.

              “Whatever,” she shrugged. “I’m off to meet the hair and makeup crew.” She stood up.  Elzbetka looked as if she were about to follow her, so she added “I don’t need you there for that. I guess I’ll see you later at the rec center, although you really don’t have to be there for that either.”

              “Oh, I’ll be there. Milady.” Elzbetka was smiling when she said it, but she still managed to make it sound vaguely like a threat.

Caitlin did her best to shrug it off.  She went back to her room and was met by the hair and makeup crew. Then she sat through two hours of women hovering over her, scribbling on her face and ironing, yanking and tugging on her hair – all so that she could go waltz up to the reporters at the rec center, pretending she always looked like that.

“Yoo hoo, anyone here? Wow, you look stunning,” Lottie called out. Caitlin twisted around to see Paige and Lottie walking in.

“Hold still! One more bobby pin, milady. There, we’ve got it,” Maureen the hairstylist said, stepping back and looking her up and down with satisfaction.

She wore a pale yellow wrap dress and matching shoes, and carried a straw purse embroidered with daisies.  She had to admit that her team had outdone themselves; she looked like polished perfection today.  Cat-eye liner and glossy red lipstick gave her the air of a sultry sex goddess. Looking in the mirror, she could almost see what Kristofer saw in her.

Or had seen in her. Maybe he didn’t any more.

“You’re a champ,” she told Maureen.

Maureen lit up with a huge smile. “Oh, thank you, milady. It’s a pleasure working with you.”

“The journalists are all waiting at the rec center for you,” Paige said. “Are you ready for your close-up?”

Paige stood up and grabbed her purse. “No, not that it matters. Do I look okay? Because I’ve got on so much foundation I can barely move my face.”

“Quit stalling and let’s go,” Paige urged her. With a sigh, she followed them out the door, and they headed for the path that led to the rec center.

Caitlin noticed that Lottie had dressed up too – she was wearing a black silk tank top, white silk pants, and strappy sandals. 

“Yes, Lottie, Alexander will be there at the rec center, I requested that he be there on security detail,” Caitlin said to Lottie as they headed out with Frank trailing silently behind her. Sometimes Caitlin forgot he was even there.

“Oh, Alexander? Barely thought about him. Do I look okay? I took the morning off from work and had my makeup and hair done. Not for any particular reason. What about my perfume? Too much? Not enough?”

“She’s been driving me insane the whole ride here,” Paige added. “Please tell her she’s gorgeous so she’ll shut up.”

“You’re stunning. You smell like a flower garden. Settle down, I’m the one who should be freaking out here. Look at those vampires out for blood.”

Reporters were lined up on either side of the front door of the rec center.  She’d never seen so many cameras before, all pointing at her. She paused on the sidewalk, a momentary feeling of panic strangling her. It felt like facing a firing squad. She’d never liked having her picture taken. She’d never felt pretty. For one night, with Kristofer, she’d felt beautiful – but then even he had run off in horror, apparently. 

“The sooner you go in there, the sooner they’ll leave,” Paige said. “Do what I do when I’m facing off against someone in mock trial. Imagine they’re all standing there in their tighty whities.”

“Tighty whities!” Lottie giggled. “Come on, Caitlin, you look
hawt
. You always do.”

“All righty then, let’s
do
this!”

Caitlin smiled and marched up the steps, waving at the reporters. They walked inside, with Frank, as usual, trailing after them.

Elzbetka was waiting just inside the front door.  She wore typical werewolf formal wear, a white lace trimmed empire style gown that made her look slim as a wand.  She gave a quick annoyed glance at Paige and Lottie, and then led them all to a meeting room where a dozen women, dressed similarly to her, were gathered at a long table.  There were big bound books on the table, and baskets filled with sample swatches of cloth.  There was a buffet table with food and drinks off to the side. Alexander and three other members of the pack patrol stood there in their blue uniforms with the pack insignia of a howling wolf on the shoulder. 

“He looked at you,” Caitlin whispered to Lottie.

“Are you sure?” Lottie’s voice rose two full octaves.

“Excuse me,
milady
, if we can focus on what’s important. You’ll be selecting color schemes and floral arrangements today, as well as discussing the menu,” Elzbetka said to Caitlin, who shrugged.  She was just going through the motions here.

As the reporters filed in after them, Caitlin was dismayed to see that the mayor was there, standing on a small elevated stage at the back of the room – and Melodee was with him.  She knew why he was there – the man never missed a photo op – but why had he brought his daughter?

They were talking to her boss Alberto. Caitlin had agreed to let him photograph the wedding, as long as he gave Lottie all the time off that she needed to come hang out with Caitlin on pack property and assist with the wedding planning. He lit up in a big fake smile when he saw Caitlin, gave her an exaggerated wave, and then returned to fawning on the mayor and Melodee.

Melodee flicked a disgusted look at Caitlin before resuming her brilliant beauty queen smile and waving at the photographers.  Elzbetka climbed onto the stage to stand next to them and also waved.

“What is she doing here? I hate that bitch,” Paige whispered to Caitlin.

“I don’t know, but I’d bet money that Elzbetka has something to do with it,” Caitlin whispered back.

              Elzbetka waved at Caitlin impatiently, gesturing at her to come join her.  Gritting her teeth, she walked up to the front of the room, leaving Lottie and Paige behind. She stood next to Elzbetka and hoped that her smile was still screwed on tight.

              “Good morning, everyone!” Elzbetka called out to the photographers. “Welcome to the Verhold Pack! As you know, today is a photo op only, and tomorrow the bride will be doing interviews.  The bride will be working with her lady in waiting, that’s me, throughout the whole process. And…” she cranked up her smile… “I have an exciting announcement!”

              She gestured at Melodee.

“This is Melodee Klinghoffer, daughter of the mayor of Lakeville, and a very accomplished party planner. She’ll be going to be doing
all
of the wedding planning,” Elzbetka said, flashing a look of gloating triumph at Caitlin. Melodee stepped forward and did her little beauty queen wave, and the cameras went mad for her.

Caitlin felt as if she were going to be ill. Dealing with Melodee every single day, for weeks on end? It would be like high school hell all over again.

Paige muscled her way through the crowd, dragging Lottie with her, and they climbed up on to the stage stood next to Caitlin. “Actually, it’s going to be a joint operation! Best friends of the bride here,” she called out loudly, and the photographers turned their attention to her, with a fresh burst of flashbulb explosions. Melodee’s smile slipped and her lip curled a little.