Page 13 of A Wulver for the Week (Pine Ridge Universe)

O kay. I’m a selfish brat, but Craig said there would be a surprise today. At least, I think he said that.

But there’s been no surprise. There’s also been no time.

The resort lobby looks like the airport scene from Home Alone, with people rushing everywhere, staff pushing baggage carts, elevators dinging, and my family trying to pack half the breakfast buffet in their purses. There’s weeping, laughing, hugging, and way too many hungover and tired people to navigate. We’re one of the first ones out—and I don’t even want to know what it’ll be like closer to checkout.

Craig keeps his promises. If he hasn’t given you a surprise yet, it’s because there’s been no time.

I swallow a screwdriver (the drink, not the tool), telling myself that the vodka and orange juice cocktail is perfectly acceptable at eight in the morning as we bounce across the choppy waves. It’s a breakfast item, technically. Besides, I need a little hair of the dog because I didn’t get any tongue of the wolfman to settle my pre-flight jitters.

“Here, love. Bagel?” Craig hands me a perfectly crispy bagel with melty cream cheese, still warm as it’s been wrapped in foil.

“Where did you—”

“I made us each one. Thought you could use something in your stomach. And look, I made us a playlist this morning. All videos of beaches in Caithness for next Spring Break. It’s my treat next time,” he murmurs, kissing my ear as we stand along the rail of the deck.

Mirror Key drops away, and the mainland zips closer. I snuggle into Craig’s side, and there’s suddenly a huge lump in my throat that has nothing to do with the too-big bite of bagel I just tried to scarf down.

“What’s wrong, beauty?”

“I love that you call me beauty. And love. And bring me bagels and rub my ankles,” I whisper, huddling in my Team Bride hoodie (part of the lavish set of bridesmaid gifts Gerri gave out during our spa day).

Craig wraps his arm around me and hugs me to his chest, my back to his front. “I have eyes. How could I call you anything but beautiful?” he asks with a nudge of his lips to my temple.

“I don’t want this to end. I want this to be real.” My eyes overflow. I’m not wearing any fancy mascara or makeup today, and Craig still loves me. Hell, he’s seen me sweaty and covered in someone else’s vomit, and he says he’s... He’s loved me from the first day we met. He’s known.

He’s known, and I haven’t.

Maybe he thinks he has to wait until I catch up to ask me?

“Maybe it’s too good to be true. Like a fairytale,” I sniffle and mumble into my chest. Over the roar of the engine and the crash of waves and wind, I doubt Craig or the few members of Barry’s family who are also leaving the resort early can hear.

“I’m a fairytale creature, Minnie, but I’m real enough, aren’t I?”

I smile up at him, a watery, sniffly mess. “Yeah.”

“I’m going to make this real. But it’ll be real in Pine Ridge. No tropical breezes. Twelve-hour shifts. Budget meetings. Date night at one of the handful of restaurants. Dancing under the stars in my back garden, not under palm trees.”

Still sounds like paradise to me.” I turn and snuggle into his arms. “That’s all I want. You. You and me.”

“Oh, you have that, love. You do. You will. Trust me?”

“I do. I will.”

THE FLIGHT IS RELAXED and fun, with first-class tickets and smooth skies calming us both. My playlist of Caithness beaches leads to a full-on vacation buzz, with us planning a Spring Break trip to Caithness next April. We can meet my parents. Walk on the chilly, blustery beaches that won’t be near warm enough to sunbathe on that early in the spring, but Minnie doesn’t care. She just wants to be with me.

But I can’t wait until next year to ask her to be my bride. Hell, I cannae even wait until next week to ask her to marry me. If she wants to wait, I’ll wait, but my heart tells me to act now, like putting a ring on her hand will prevent her from slipping away from me.

Unless you scare her off by asking for marriage too soon, you pillock.

“We’re beginning our descent into Binghamton, folks. Please take a look around you and ensure you have all of your belongings.” The captain’s voice startles me, and I gulp. In a second, they’ll tell us not to use our phones.

A flick of my thumb dispatches the text I’ve been waiting to send to Jan Stilz. “Leave now. Bring ring.”

“Please put your devices away at this time, sir,” a flight attendant says, coming through.

Just in time.

“IS THIS ALL OF IT? My suitcases look swollen.” Minnie drags a bag from the carousel.

“You’ve got an army of bridesmaid’s swag stuffed in there, not to mention all the souvenirs,” I tease.

“Maybe. Let me text my mom that I’m safe on the ground,” she mutters as I deftly take her bags away from her and shoulder my own. “Baby, get a baggage cart.”

“I’m fine, dear.”

“We sound like old marrieds,” Minnie laughs.

“I’m honored,” I quip right back. Normally, when I get off a plane, I’m flooded with relief.

Now, I’m just flooded. Sweat. Liquid tummy. Clammy hands.

What if Jan can’t find my car? What if traffic was bad?

What if everything is perfect and she still says no because no sane man proposes five days after a first “official” date?

“I’ll totally pay half of the airport parking,” Minnie says, walking next to me as she texts.

“You paid for the vacation.”

“I didn’t, the bride and groom’s families did. Let me pay for gas.”

“No!”

“You can’t pay for the Caithness trip, then.”

“That’s blackmail.”

“It’s bargaining.”

“It’s about time!” Jan Stilz emerges from the line of cars in the short-term parking lot, although I told him I was in Row A of the long-term lot. “I couldn’t get into the long-term lot without paying the ticket fee. I love you, buddy, but not that much. Oh, hi. You must be Minnie.”

Minnie looks at the guy who looks like a pirate and a poet had a male model love child, then back at me. “Hi. Craig, I’m confused.”

“Don’t be,” Jan says, striding up and sliding a sealed manila envelope in my sweatshirt’s pouch pocket. “I had to drop off some... spare keys. Here, Craig. Don’t worry, I watered your begonias and brought in your mail.” Jan grins, pats my chest, and waves to Minnie, leaving before I can even say thanks.

“Thank you!” I call. He just keeps walking and waving, his long, glossy brown hair billowing in the cold March breeze, reminding me we’re back near the mountains now.

Well. I’ll thank him properly later.

“Wait. What? I thought you said your neighbors, Calder and Janet, were going to water the planets. Was that Calder? Why wouldn’t they just leave the spare keys in the mailbox or slip them under the door or something?”

“Oh, no, that was... About something else. Ooh, quick, there’s the shuttle bus. Let’s take it to the long-term lot.”

CRAIG IS ACTING FUNNY , and my eyes are acting funny, too. I guess the closer we get to Pine Ridge (which is apparently a haven for magical and mythical types), the more non-humans I should expect to see. I swear I just saw the Pine Ridge lumberjacks getting off their team bus, and one of them is green. Another one looks like the abominable snowman! “I guess they’re flying out for a game. How do thousands of people who watch them in the stadiums around the country not see them for what they are?” I demand, helping Craig load our bags into the car.

“I’m sure the odd one does, but what will they say about it? ‘Mummy, Mummy, the hockey player is a big green Orc!’ Mum will roll her eyes and say, ‘What an imagination you have, precious.’”

“I guess you’re right. I guess— Oh, God! Craig?”

Craig is down. I slam the rear passenger door after throwing my garment bags inside and run to the trunk (which he calls the boot). “Are you lightheaded? Does your chest hurt?” I demand, racing to the man I love, the man who is on his knees, clutching at his midriff. I’m fumbling for my phone while I fall beside him, nurse’s training kicking in while panic tries to push its way to the front.

Pulmonary embolism after flying.

Vomiting and loss of balance from eustachian tube dysfunction?

Or... sneak attack?

Craig is fine. Well, not fine, but he’s not sick. His face is tense, and his hands uncurl from his middle to reveal a black satin box.

A ring box.

“Surprise?” he whispers.

“Oh, Craig,” I breathe out, hands covering my mouth.

“You don’t have to say yes, but I want to ask right now.” His voice is shaky, and his accent is the thickest I’ve ever heard it. He pulls the box open on its hinge, and I can see his fingers trembling as he reveals two bands, one with a single diamond and a smaller one set with sparkling blue stones.

“I want to say yes right now!” I screech.

“You do?”

“I do!”

“You will?”

“I will!” I hold out my hand, flapping it at him. He pulls me up and pushes the engagement ring on, laughing this startled, happy laugh that infuses the air with pure joy. “I will!” I repeat.

“To be clear, I mean, you will marry me?”

“Yes!!” I crow, leaping into his arms as we both get to our feet. “Oh, sweetie, we can get married in Caithness with your family next March! We could—”

“Get married much sooner and take that cruise from New York to Florida as our honeymoon,” he interrupts. “I vote for sooner because I cannot wait to spend eternity with you.” Craig plucks the sapphire band from the box and holds it up. “This is an eternity band. Usually, people wait a year or two to give them to their brides, but I don’t want to wait. I want forever with you, and I want to promise it to you, starting today, starting with these little circles—little loops that never end.”

I know it’s one of the most romantic things I’ve ever heard, and I know Craig means it. I know that this is how he talks because this is how he feels. For someone who looks like he stepped out of a fantasy book, he is the most genuine person I know.

His words are true. Our love is real. “I love you,” I burst out. Those are the only words that make sense.

“I love you!”

A kiss. A squeal. People stare at us as we act like idiots, hopping up and down in front of a car with its door hanging open.

“This wasn’t the most romantic spot to ask you.” Craig suddenly seems to realize, looking around as engines rev and car radios blare to life after weeks and days of silence.

“I think it was perfect. You surprised me, and you made me realize you love me in the real world, not just on vacation. Okay, let’s get in the car. I have to call my parents, and you do have to let me pay for parking now.”

“What? I do not!”

“You do so! You gave me these gorgeous rings, and they must cost—”

“Hush, pet!”

“I will not!”

“Minerva, darling—”

“Craig, honey!”

We stop and laugh. “Happy wife, happy life,” I say in a sing-song voice, pulling out my phone.

Craig groans, but he’s laughing. He kisses the back of my hand and sighs heavily. “Of course, dear. Whatever you say.”

“Good. Now, drive us home. I don’t have to be back at work until Sunday, and you owe me at least two trips to heaven and back.”

Craig puts the car in reverse and screeches out of the lot at a top speed. “Yes, love. And you owe me a fashion show. You, in my bed, wearing those rings and nothing else.”

I shiver at the hungry tone and the way his hand grips my knee. It’s my turn to smile and lean on his shoulder, whispering, “Yes, honey. Whatever you say.”

READY FOR MORE MONSTER romance from Pine Ridge...Check out the next new releases, Princess Seeks Dragon,coming in May, 2025 and The Golem’s Bride , arriving in June 2025!