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She bu to make up with him, and he smiled "You’ll be fine," he repeated, but the undercurrent of tension relayed a promise The pack would take care of her--and the police officers--if she screwed up

Chapter 19

Alicia didn’t want to screw up in front of the police She didn’t want to always be a proble in the backseat of the SUV in wolf foration that awaited her

But she was having a difficult ti else This tis at the Crestview Motel, she’d have to tell the truth, minus the wolf part of the tale She’d discussed the wolf business with Jake and his brothers--and Peter because he had the mind of a cop But she knew froht be to tell the police her story, one little bit of evidence she hadn’t known about, one little thing like an eyewitness account could throw her version of what had happened into the sewer

Instead, she tried to think about her wedding dress--a creaoith a corset-type bodice that had asymmetrical swirls wrapped around it, embellished with lace and pearls in a soft, shimmery satin The full-pleated skirt that swirled out in full opulence below the slim-fitted bodice cupped her derriere and then extended out into an elegant train The dress made her feel like a fairy princess, and Jake was definitely her fairy-tale knight

Soer wo and would be wearing violet dresses as bridesirls, and Lelandi would be theover the whole affair, he had selected Toroomsmen, while Tom was the best man Darien would serve as the father of the bride Others he had tasked to serve as ushers Alicia had been ah most of the , she saw another side of the--and their enthusias would wear black tuxes with gray satin cravats and tuxedo vests The best part? The wo ready to go in a week’s tiht start to show and the goouldn’t fit She groaned What if she shape-shifted in the arou pack and first major disaster She could see it now No one would ever alloedding cereain

In her wolf form, she lay down on the backseat and closed her eyes She hadn’t told Lelandi the truth about having had weddings before because she’d been trying to get out of doing anything this for dress Never been ive her away Just a mother and her boyfriend to serve as her witnesses in front of a judge, twice

She s a beautiful bride for Jake

Then she sighed He didn’t want this He probably wouldn’t be happy with any of it, no matter how nice the cere it She hadn’t been able to read Darien Apparently, he’d agreed to give her away, but he had seemed distracted, probably over this further police business She suspected he orried that she could get all of the pack members ith her in trouble if she ended up shape-shifting while being questioned And that’s when she began to worry about the interrogation again

She ed to sleep for a couple of hours When she finally awoke from a nice wolf nap, she was surprised that her head was in Jake’s lap When had he cli her back in a soothing way, and when she lifted her head, he said, "We’re almost there But if we have to, we’ll just park somewhere until you can shape-shift We’ll tell the police ere held up because of a flat tire, running out of gas, so"

She closed her eyes, cursed her inability to shift when she needed to, and tried to convince herself it was ti dressed in the rear seat, hoping the tinted ere truly tinted enough so that no one could see into the vehicle while they were parked under a shade tree in a park

Once she was presentable, Peter drove the SUV to Ferdinand Massaro’s condo where the police were supposed to meet them

"We’re here," Peter said quietly a fewnot to upset her and cause her to shift again

She had no idea why the urge to shift ca to do with having not changed in so long since the last ti his hand over her stoht At least I hope I’ll be" But she really wasn’t Every inch of her body was feeling the tension, and she was terrified she’d get their kind into trouble

"Let’s go then," Jake said, sounding like he wanted to get this over in a hurry, just like she did

Her bodyguard detail stayed in the second vehicle, figuring that with the police here, she’d have no trouble Jake took Alicia’s hand and led her to the front door of the brick two-story condo, while Tom and Peter followed An officer let them in while two others watched the room Helm Sanderson was tall and stout and looked down at her like she was in for real trouble John Kohn looked like he’d slept in his clothes, his face wearing a couple of days’ growth of blond stubble, his eyes bloodshot The last detective, Arthur Connelly, was younger than the other two and kept looking at the their cues on what to do

"Have a seat, Miss Greiston," Sanderson said,to the couch where she’d seen Ferdinand’s dead body

If the detectives had wanted to see her reaction, to see if she’d actually witnessed Massaro sitting dead on that couch, they hadn’t needed to do anything further

"I… I don’t feel well," she suddenly said, a cold sweat breaking out across her skin, her vision blurring as a fresh wave of nausea struck She rushed for what she hoped was the kitchen