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“Hell yeah,”I answer.

“You look beautiful.” I turn to my doorway to find my very pregnant best friend and little sister. Liz is wearing a yellow flowery dress with a shawl over her arms. Marley has on a burgundy knee length baby doll dress.

“You know,” Liz says, walking into the bathroom with me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in white.”

“Trust me,” Marley adds. “You haven’t.”

“And you never will again,” I tell them both.

Liz laughs as she walks over to my side. She tugs at the arm of my dress, adjusting the way it lays off my shoulder.

“Are you nervous?” she asks.

I shake my head. “No. This is all for show. It isn’t real.”

“It could be.”

I laugh at the hopefulness in her tone. She’s just as bad as Marley. My friend was still hoping for one of those situations where best friends marry best friends. I hated disappointing her. This was not that. Enzo was not interested in me in the least.

“What are you going to do when the parasite tries to sleep with you again?”

“Hopefully she will drug me again, so I don’t know what’s happening.”

The conversation he had with his friend two days ago plays back in my mind. Those words hurt me. They reminded me of my many years of never being enough. The unwanted and unlovable child.

I quickly reminded myself that Enzo wasn’t mine and I shouldn’t care about what he says. It helped me to move on. But I won’t pretend as if I’m unaffected.

“So, what can I expect tonight?” I ask Liz, taking my mind off those words.

She sighs, leaning her back against the sink. “You’re lucky. You’ve already done the mating part, so you don’t have to worry about having to get dicked down with a bunch of wolves outside your tent listening.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Marley says walking into the bathroom and taking a seat on the side of the tub.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“You also don’t have to worry about the blood gifts. That’s only for Alphas. Although now that I think about it, you might’ve liked them.” She bumps my shoulder with hers.

For as long as I’ve been with the pack, Liz has not mentioned or asked me about my feeding or blood. She seemed to stay away from that topic. I guess she’s finally warming up to it.

“Chayton told me you will state your vows. The pack will either accept or deny you. Because Enzo is a Beta and second in command, the pack has to accept this union.”

That will be the hard part. I’m still not sure they will agree to this.

“Once they’ve accepted you,” Liz goes on to say. “Enzo will present you with a special present. Something he has made by hand.” She clears her throat, letting me know the next thing out of her mouth she's uncomfortable with or thinks I will be uncomfortable with.

“The pack has requested that you two redo your mating marks. They, ummm… want to make sure everything was done right.”

What she really means is they want to make sure I’m not playing tricks on them and that their goddess actually blessed this union. But I don’t point that out to her.

“Wait,” Marley says, getting our attention. “They have to mark each other again? But Michaela—”

“It’s fine, Marley.” I cut her off before she can say anything.

I know she’s concerned about me transferring energy so soon after I’ve just done it. Plus, we’ve been hard pressed to find any deer around here lately. I haven’t fed since the mating bond. But it’s alright. I’ll go to Lexington soon and feed.

“Oh crap,” Liz says. I turn toward her. “I didn’t even think to ask if you guys had any traditions. What do vampire marriages look like?”

“Expensive,” Marley says rolling her eyes. “They’re elaborate celebrations that last weeks. The groom has to pay a dowry to the bride’s family. He also has to present the bride’s first meal after the vows are exchanged.”