Saving Grace (18 page)

The meeting with the Chicago pack went smoothly. Nala’s pack had a nice chunk of money to bring with them to the Belfast pack, ensuring they didn’t feel like a huge charity case.

Numerous moving trucks filled the Scottsboro pack’s land. Many of the Belfast pack members came with Grace and Roman to aid in the move, offering manpower and security.

Nala pushed her final box into her truck. “This is it.” She looked at Colin. “It’s funny.”

“What’s that?” he asked with a grin.

“You’re elated to go home and I’m just as elated to get the fuck out of here.” She smiled back. “And I haven’t seen a smile like that out of you since you got here.”

He nodded. “Do I have your permission to kiss you on the cheek when we get there?”

Nala’s face burned red. “Why?”

“A welcome gesture. But I told you I’d ask permission before I ever laid a hand on you. I meant that.”

She nodded. “That would be fine.”

Grace watched the interaction like a voyeur. She was pleased that they seemed to be getting along so well.

“The last truck is being loaded now. We’ll leave in ten minutes.” She announced to Nala.

“Good. I’m ready.” She stretched and gazed at the cabin she was leaving. “More than ready.”

Roman had shifted to his giant wolf form and pulled a large cart with the remainder of one family’s items. When he reached the truck he shifted back and stepped out of the harness.

“Jesus, that safe is heavy.”

“Not too much for my Lycan King though?” Grace asked with a snicker.

He cracked his neck. “Never. An entire safe filled with gold? It’s no match for me.”

Grace and Nala laughed at him.

“Let’s get on the road.”

****

With Nala’s pack moved in and welcomed by the Belfast pack, things were headed in the right direction. Grace and Roman had trepidations about leaving them, but with everything in place, they had little reason to worry.

“This is such a huge step, Grace.” Roman stroked her hair, which spilled out over his chest. “Everything is going to be so different.”

She snugged into him. “Our children’s children will thank us for what we’re doing now. The responsibility of progress lies firmly on our shoulders and if we don’t move forward, who will?”

She listened to his heart beat in his chest. It was strong, even and healthy. She smiled. “I want my daughter to be treated with the same respect as my son.”

She looked up at Roman who was beaming. “Pups? Now that’s something I can wrap my mind around.”

“Not yet, but soon. It’s nice seeing into the past, but I wish we could see into the future, to know if we’re doing the right thing.”

“We are.”

She loved his assurances. He trusted her implicitly. She just wasn’t sure she trusted her instincts as much as he did.

Grace thought about the future, about leaving her pack and joining a new one, with multiple species. She found it odd the other monarchs were willing to let her lead. No one questioned her any more. It just added weight to the pressure she already felt.

Roman did a nice job most times of bringing her back, of reassuring her of herself.

“Nala seems to be settling in nicely.” He changed the subject.

“She does.”

He would remain pack Alpha until she left. For now, Nala was the interim Beta. She was learning every single detail of pack business. It kept her quite busy.

“Think she’s ready for the wedding?” Grace asked.

“No.”

“Yeah, I wonder if it’s a good idea.” She chewed her lip, questioning her judgment once again.

He sat up, forcing her to look at him. “Grace, she would not be marrying Colin if she didn’t want to. Now stop driving yourself mad!” He kissed her forehead.

****

Nala paced in the bathroom. She was about to be bound to a man she had yet to love. She’d agreed to this arrangement. But now, she wondered if it were a wise decision.

She liked Colin. She found him attractive. But was it all necessary? Couldn’t they wait until their mutual respect grew into something more?

A knock at the door made her jump. “Nala. I have your dress.”

“Leave it on the bed.”

She stepped into the shower for a second time to rid herself of sweat.

“Many arranged marriages result in a long lasting love. Find peace. Find your center.”
Her wolf encouraged.

What if he never loves me?

“Then make sure he respects you. That is all we can hope for. Not too many men will want an Alhpa female for a mate. He does. Trust that.”

So she had to accept whomever would take her? That didn’t sit well. She set her jaw, determined to do it and get it over with.
Not very romantic.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she found a woman sitting with a black bag. She had on black motorcycle boots and black spiky hair to match.

“Who are you?”

“Carissa. I’m doing your hair and makeup for the wedding. Have a seat.” She started digging through her bag.

Nala eyed her then cinched her robe a little tighter. “Not a lot of makeup please. I’m not a fan.”

“Hell no. You have beautiful skin. I would not dream of covering it up.” She started brushing Nala’s damp hair, setting it in large rollers.

“Colin is my uncle,” she said as she brushed. “He’s very sweet.”

Nala didn’t reply. She sat still, watching Carissa carefully.

“You’re not like most brides to be. They usually squirm and fidget. You’re like stone. I dig it. Makes my job easier.” Carissa stuck a pin in the roller, securing it to her head.

Nala remained quiet and still as a knot formed in her throat.

“The whole pack is ready. Wendy has the most beautiful cake made. There’s a hog roasting as we speak, well two to feed this crowd. Oh, and I heard the other Royals are going to be here. You have so much support.” She leaned in and whispered in Nala’s ear. “I’m totally stoked to have a badass bitch as our leader.”

Nala cracked a smile.

“Oh the Gods! You’re gorgeous when you smile. You should do that more often. Then again, so should Colin. Maybe you two will both learn to smile a little more, eh?” Carissa winked.

“That’d be nice.”

“She speaks!” Carissa cheered. “Man, you made me work for it. Brides are usually nervous but damn.” She winked at Nala again.

“Yep. Nerves. An arranged marriage isn’t really a woman’s dream situation.” She bit her tongue, regretting her admission.

“Shit. Most of the brides I do barf beforehand. I constantly have to stop for them to vomit. Especially the arranged ones. Part of you must want this if you’re keeping the contents of your stomach intact.” Carissa pulled a plastic cap over the rolled hair and turned on the little heater that was attached.

“You are correct. Colin is a very sweet and respectful man and I am lucky to be mated with him.” She tried to get a grip.

Carissa pulled up a chair. “Look, no one is going to give you the skinny, so allow me. Colin’s first mate, Kalinda, had a crush on Colin since they were pups. She followed him everywhere. They started dating from the time they hit puberty. They grew up adoring each other.”

“And this is supposed to help me, how?”

Carissa held up her hand. “So when Kalinda died, part of him died with her. He never imagined anyone else because she was there from the start. But she’s gone. Colin has sulked for
years
. I haven’t seen him smile as much as he has since he met you and this arrangement was made. He really looks eager. I’m not saying it’s a match made in heaven, but it is hope for him. He sees something in you that has sparked life into him. So as far as arranged marriages go, I think you’re getting the better end of the stick.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I don’t mean it like that.” Carissa sighed. “What I mean is you can actually look at him and see hope. When I look at you I see dread. I think the dread comes from low self-esteem. You don’t think he’s going to love you. I’m telling you if you allow it to happen, it will.”

Nala’s face relaxed before she started grinning. “You should be a shrink.”

“Shrink, hairdresser, it’s all the same.” She waved her brush in the air.

Nala’s shoulders eased down from her ears. Her stomach relaxed. If Carissa were right, she really was too wound up. But she had so many doubts and yes, she had to agree, her self-esteem had been desecrated by Jagger.

She added a tiny bit of make-up to Nala’s eyes, a bit of blush and a light layer of lip gloss. She slipped the plastic cap off of Nala’s head. “Let the hair cool, then I’ll take it down.”

“Excuse me.” Colin stood at the door.

“Colin!” Carissa scolded. “You can’t see the bride before the wedding.”

He furrowed his brow. “I can’t see the dress before the wedding. Clearly, she’s in a robe. Now, I’d like to talk to my soon-to-be wife.”

She looked down, an obvious sign she still respected his Alpha status, even though he no longer held position. “Five minutes, then I need to finish her hair.”

Nala nearly yelped, realizing he was seeing her with giant rollers on her head.

As soon as Carissa closed the door behind her, Colin sat in a chair by Nala.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She nodded and twisted her fingers. “Nervous.”

He leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees. “I want you to know the ceremony is just making this official. I do not expect you to consummate this tonight. I intend to keep my promise to you. I could care less about tradition. You’ve been forced to do this before and…you need to have, uh, sex again on your own terms. I’m convinced you will hate it unless you have some control.”

“Colin,” she started.

“And I’m not going to push you to do anything, even this marriage. If you’re not ready, I don’t want you to feel pressure from me.”

“Colin?”

“There is so much at stake. So many people counting on us, and I feel the pressure as I’m sure you do as well.”

“Colin!” She yelled. “Shut up for a minute.”

He smiled. “Okay. Shutting up.”

She hadn’t had intimate contact, truly intimate in a long time. She slowly reached over and placed her hand on his. “I am nervous. I’m also eager. You are a very sweet and kind man and I can see that I’m fortunate you’ve agreed to be my mate.”

“I’m also fortunate,” he spoke again, “to have a strong and beautiful woman agree to marry me.”

She blushed. “Let’s worry about consummation later. Okay? We will talk about it after the wedding.”

He maintained his smile. “You really are gorgeous.”

He made her blush again. “You’re not so bad yourself. Now get out.”

He laughed as he exited the room.

Roman officiated the wedding. The crowd cheered. The gift table was stacked five feet high with gifts. Grace was pleased to see a smiling bride and a smiling groom.

For all of her concern, things seemed to be coming together. Zoltar, King of the Centaurs and Beauregard, King of the Fae had come together and had the erection of the school already underway. The castle the High Council had used was being disassembled and reassembled at the location of the new University. Xander had filed all of the paperwork to ensure the school was legitimate.

Tiffany was eager to transfer out of the University of Kentucky and into the new Supernatural College, which had the name of McGovern University. She was home for the weekend’s celebration.

“Grace, I can’t believe everything that has changed in the weeks I have been gone. This is nuts!”

“Told you I was going to stir the pot.”

“Stir the pot? You changed the menu entirely. We have a female Alpha, Colin is remarried and you’ve united the Supernatural world. All in a few months’ time. How in the hell?”

She shrugged. “I started the ball rolling. It just spiraled out of control. People are tired of wars, Tiff. They’re tired of fighting and fear. They’re tired of leaders like they suffered in Scottsboro.”

Tiffany smiled and hugged Grace. “What about your mother? How is that going?”

Grace gazed across the room at her mother and Xander. “We’re getting to know one another, but it’s slow. She’s much closer with Xander.”

“Hard to believe you were practicing your little trick with me a few short months ago when you were trying to get Roman to sleep with you. Now your mated, bonded and leader of the shifter world.”

Grace snickered. “Yeah, thanks for being my guinea pig.”

“Any time.” She grabbed Grace’s hand. “Let’s dance.”

*

“Your wife, she is unique.” Gustav appeared next to Roman.

He put his arm around the vampire’s shoulder. “That is an understatement. Welcome, Gustav.”

“I would have been here sooner, but that pesky sun took long to set.”

Roman laughed. “I imagine sunburn wasn’t on your agenda for the day. Come. The doctor managed to acquire some A positive blood for you. The girl that donated was a young virgin, strictly vegetarian who eats organic foods only. This is the cleanest blood we could find.”

Gustav smiled his eerie smile. Roman tried not to shudder.

He handed the bag to Gustav who took a sip. “She had an affinity for citrus fruit.”

Roman gulped.

“It’s delicious, my friend. Thank you.” He leaned back against a chair. “Grace learned to put the wall up, I see.”

“The wall?” Roman asked.

“Yes, I can no longer speak to her telepathically.” Roman looked at Gustav who seemed truly disappointed.

“Well with so many voices, it can get overwhelming at times. She’s trying to keep her sanity in her ever changing sense of self.”

Gustav turned toward Roman. “And you? How are you coping with the changes?”

“With whiplash. I have a wife I have zero control of, and an Alphaship I’m about to abandon after a very short time, a new school and a new pack to run…I’m actually okay.” The vampire seemed a bit sensitive to Roman. He’d never been quite this personal. “How about you? How are you coping with Katarina’s loss?”

Gustav’s mouth turned down. “I lost three progeny inside a week. Before the truce was called and you two started forming alliances, two Fae went on a hunt. They could not have known how deeply it wounded me.”

“So they are like children to you?” Roman understood very little about Vampire culture, only that the Lycans had always treated them with delicacy.

“Indeed. The moment a human tastes my blood, I am bonded to them as their maker. I feel what they feel. I fear what they fear. When Katarina lost her head, she was enraged and determined to single handedly rescue Grace.”

“That was so brave of her.” Roman offered.

“It wasn’t brave. It was foolish and impulsive. But she was in love with your Grace.”

Roman gulped. “In love?”

“Well, not with the woman, with the idea of the woman. Grace really is the spitting image of her great-grandmother, who was Katarina’s lover for over a century.” Gustav cleared his throat. “She was passionate, my child. Too passionate.”

“I’m sorry to have opened the wound, Gustav.”

He waved his hand. “It’s no matter. You are the first person to ask. It was nice to memorialize her in a manner.”

Roman nodded. “I am sorry for your loss.”

Gustav disappeared.

When Roman searched for his mate again, he found her with Nala and Colin. As he was making his way to them, he felt a pinching between his shoulders.

“Roman!” The female voice behind him made him stop in his tracks.

“Stephany?” His sister had married into the Chicago pack. He hadn’t seen her in nearly a decade. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s not a very nice hello!” She wrapped her arms around him.

He squeezed her back. He did miss Stephany. But after a decade, he’d let her go.

“I’ve migrated to Scottsboro. That place is such a mess. Anyway,” she waved her hand, “I thought I’d come for a visit.”

He eyed her. She always had an agenda. He just had to read between the lines. “Would you like to meet my mate?”

She screeched. “Yes!”

Roman led her over to Grace. “Grace,” When she looked up he thumbed toward his sister. “This is my sister, Stephany.”

Grace’s mouth fell open for a moment. Roman had never told her about his sister and right now, he felt like an ass.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She shook Stephany’s hand. Grace scowled. “But please stop trying to get into my head.”

Roman growled.

Stephany laughed a very forced laugh. “Oh I was just reading your energy, dear. No harm.”

“Not at all,” Grace looked at Roman. “
What the hell?”

I’m sorry. She’s been gone a long time. Before you ask, no, you should not trust her.

“Fantastic.”

“Stephany has moved to Scottsboro with a portion of the Chicago pack.”

She beamed, “That’s right.” She tucked her black hair behind her ear. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

Thank the Gods we’re moving.

“Yes. Indeed.”
Grace shot Roman a look.

“This is Nala. She’s the new Alpha here, so be sure to pay her the respect she deserves.” Grace’s eyes flashed violet.

Stephany gasped. “It’s true.”

Nala stood. “It is true. I’m the Alpha.”

“Nobody cares, dear. I was talking about our Queen.”

“Would you dance with me?” Colin asked his new bride, potentially out of fear she’d rip Stephanie to bits.

“Yes,” she agreed through clenched teeth.

“Making friends everywhere you go?” Roman jabbed at her.

“So that makes you, what, the King?” She rolled her eyes..

He flashed his eyes at her. Her hands shot up and covered her mouth. “Yes, and you will show Nala more respect next time you speak with her. Am I clear?”

Stephanie looked at Grace, then back to Roman. “Um, yeah. I can do that.” She took a step back. “I think I’ll go get a drink.” She turned on her heel and hurried toward the bar.

“Wow. Your sister is a real piece of work.” Grace said shaking her head. “You two couldn’t be any different if you tried.”

Roman took her hand and led her to the dance floor. “It’s hard to believe she’s even a Lycan. She wouldn’t want to scrap with Nala for fear of breaking a nail. I’m actually surprised she agreed to go to Scottsboro.”

Grace put her head on Roman’s chest. “Why is that?”

“The Chicago pack is an urban pack. Socialites. Scottsboro is really very rural. Steph is in a for a huge surprise.”

Grace smiled into her mate’s chest. “I love you, Roman.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Grace.”

He looked over to see Nala and Colin smiling at each other while dancing.

“There’s hope for them. He is smiling again.”

“I heard that,” Colin called out.

“You were supposed to,” Grace answered.

Nala laughed.

“Switch partners?” Colin said as he took a few dance steps in their direction.

“Absolutely!” Roman released Grace.

Nala spun in and took Roman’s place, holding Grace. “Ha!”

Roman and Colin looked at each other, bewildered. Then they both shrugged and started dancing together, Colin’s hand around Roman’s waist.

“Keep it respectful, mister! I’m not a piece of meat!” Roman lifted his chin.

Laughter erupted around the dance floor.

“Thank you for everything, Grace.” Nala whispered in her ear. “I couldn’t have defeated Jagger without you.”

“Yes, you could have. You just might have died doing it.” She cleared her throat. “But that will be our little secret.”

Nala nodded.

“You are a strong Lycan Alpha female, Nala. You have earned your position and you have the support of the pack, of the vampires and most importantly, of your spouse and your friends.”

Colin dipped Roman back. “Make us proud.” He laughed.

Nala stopped moving and threw her arms around Grace’s neck. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Let’s go grab a drink.” The two headed for the bar, arm in arm, leaving Roman and Colin behind.

Colin let go of Roman since now the two of them dancing together looked ridiculous. “Man, your wife just absconded with my wife.”

He shrugged. “I told you she has a way about her.”

“Let’s go get a drink.”