Page 4 of Bullied Pregnant Mate (Silver Meadows Wolves #7)

She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

While I wait by the podium with Carson and Bae, I think about how long these words have been the ultimate truth for me. Probably since the very first day I saw her way back in middle school, when she wore big, heavy glasses and blue braces.

As we got older, Alisa only grew more beautiful. But every passing year also heightened the strange, ethereal look to her that made her so different than everyone else. There wasn’t a single boy in school who had a crush on her, unless they were all hiding it.

Just like I was.

Alisa approaches us with her head high and back straight, staring right at me with her glittering blue eyes. They are so pale, they seem more silver than blue, crystal prisms that flicker like cut diamonds.

Her steady gaze and slow tilt of her head enhance the otherworldly air she carries with her everywhere she goes. It’s as if she’s completely out of place, not living in the same reality as the rest of us.

A magical creature who fell through a rabbit hole to land in our stupid, material world, ever in awe of our clumsy society and the ridiculous ways we spend our lives.

The mid-morning sunlight streams down on us, catching on the silver threads of her dress. The inner sheath is a crisp, shimmering white, hugging her curves and leaving her arms and legs bare. Over the top, a long-sleeved, full-length gown wraps around her, cascading in waves of glittering silver filigree.

I clear my throat, trying to catch my breath, but then an icy breeze trickles down from the mountains, brushes by me, and stirs around Alisa. She smiles as the chill settles on her skin and the flowing skirts of silver whip against her legs. The long, pale blond hair that trails down her back is flung out in a wide, shimmering curtain.

Jesus. Save me.

Inside, a cacophony of emotions is clamoring. I’m being hammered with memories from school, the shock of seeing her last night, and the unbelievable wave of happiness that is surging through me right now.

She’s going to be mine!

As Alisa steps up to the podium, she takes my hands. A shock rushes through me, and I tighten my fingers on hers. She just gives me a serene look, her expression light and untroubled.

Her eyes, though… there’s a storm brewing there. A cyclone that could tear the whole world apart.

As if the touch of her hand has unlocked my mind, more memories from school flick through my head. Taunting her at lunch. Making jokes about her in class. Calling her names in the hall. The laughter of my buddies as they cheered me on is only horrifying background noise behind the years of torture.

She’s so fucking weird, man. She deserves it.

Have you seen her just staring out into space? She’s dumb as a post.

A space cadet.

Pale as a ghost.

Dull as an old blade.

No one would ever go out with someone that weird, even if she was hot—but she’s not!

Holding her hands gently, looking deep into her eyes, I want to scream, “I’m sorry!” I want to howl it into the sky, shake the mountain peaks with my voice and the force of my apology.

She looks so unmoved by this. Does she even recognize me?

Suddenly, Carson announces that it’s time to kiss the bride, and I realize I just missed my own wedding ceremony. Alisa leans forward, her slight smile still locked on her face, her eyes still and pale like frozen pools.

I lean forward, too, and something takes hold of me. Before I even realize what I’ve done, my arms are around her and I’m pulling her close to me, pressing my lips against hers.

She feels like an ice sculpture in my hands. A frozen beauty, ice-cold and calm. But her mouth is hot. Burning, like there is raging fire inside her.

When I pull back, her cheeks are flushed pink and her lips glow deep red. Instead of looking like ice frozen across a lake, her eyes look like lightning flashing across a clouded sky.

“Hello, Alisa,” I say, my voice very soft.

“Hello, Jenks,” she whispers.

There is a brief moment when we smile at each other and I feel like everything is going to be okay. As if she knows without being told that I was just a stupid kid who did ugly things I now regret.

Then she pulls away from me, and her shields slam down. I can feel it in my heart as well as see it—a wall of ice surrounding her heart and chasing the warmth from her eyes.

I’m sorry!

Bae claps me on the shoulder, grinning and congratulating me. Other guests hurry over to us, the girls crowding around Alisa, moving her away from me. Reluctantly, I go with Bae and the others, throwing lingering glances across the deck to look at my wife.

Wife. That’s going to take some getting used to.

“Well done, old buddy,” Jack says, giving my arm a tap with his fist. “You won’t regret this!”

“No,” I mutter, barely listening to him.

“I want to thank you for stepping up,” Bae says. “I’ve worried about you for a while now. You’ve never been interested in pack business, and it’s not good for you. Rogues don’t survive, Jenks, you know that.”

“I know,” I answer, nodding as I look at the ground. “You can count on me, Bae. I want to help as much as I can.”

“Good,” Bailey says, smiling. “Pulling together is the best thing we can do to keep the pack strong.”

While Bae’s talking, my eyes begin to slide back to Alisa. The sound of Bae’s voice fades.

“Check out this boy,” Kyle quips. “He’s elf-struck.”

“Elf-struck?” Bae asks, pouring all of us a drink.

“It’s when a human gets so badly enchanted by a magical creature, he forgets everything else in his life to follow and serve her. It’s a fairy tale thing.”

“I don’t think it’s just a tale,” Jack says, nudging me. “Are you still with us?”

“Yeah,” I answer, not listening at all. My attention is fully on Alisa as she laughs and talks with the other girls, the light seeming to get caught in the glowing threads of her gown and shimmering hair.

“My point is self-evident,” Kyle says.

“Hmm?” I ask, trying to come back to reality. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bae says, shaking his head and laughing. “All I can say is, these things always go the right way. If your reaction is anything to go by, this looks like a match well-made.”

“Excuse me,” I say, putting my untouched drink on the table. “I have to go.”

As I turn and stride towards Alisa, I hear the guys chuckling behind me, but I don’t connect it with myself. All I can see is her beauty, her intrinsic strangeness. The biggest reason I fell for her.

And also, the reason I had to hide it.

She’s talking to Lucy and one of the other witches, smiling and laughing, but carrying that air of stillness to her.

It’s as if she moves outside of time. A being of pure magic.

As I get closer, my stomach twists, and it’s not all from guilt. She really does make me uncomfortable, I can’t deny that. Of all the witches, she’s the only one who truly unnerves me. And I know a lot of other people feel the same way about her.

I’ve never trusted witches. They think they have power above everyone else. They aren’t bound by werewolf laws.

Still, it wasn’t enough of a reason to torture her.

Pressing my lips together, I shake my head a little, wondering if I’ll ever be free of my guilt.

No, I tortured her because I knew I was in love with her, that she was the only mate for me in this world, and I refused to admit it.

I stop just outside the circle of girls, wondering how to break into the conversation gracefully. I have to get her alone and talk. Try to apologize, if I can.

It seems so ridiculous to me now that I couldn’t admit my feelings just because I had to be the big man at school. The coolest, funniest, and most popular guy.

I’m no jock. I couldn’t win popularity with sports like Bae and the others. I had so much shit going on at home, I couldn’t cope with taking a hit at school. So I made Alisa pay for all of my problems.

I’m just about to push through the girls when Carson appears at my shoulder.

“Good!” he exclaims. “You’re both here. It’s time for a wedding dance, you two.”

“What?” I ask, turning to Carson.

“We’ve got some tunes ready to go,” he says. “And everyone wants to see you guys take a twirl around before the rest of us join in. Come on, Alisa.”

Carson steps forward and takes her hand, getting her to step forward so he can reach for me and almost forcefully join our hands. The others pull away, and the music starts. There’s nothing else to do except wrap my hands around her waist and start to move.

With a slight frown, she reaches for one of my hands and links our fingers together, putting her other hand on my shoulder. As we spin, she puts a bit of space between us and squeezes me a little, like a warning.

“Aren’t I supposed to lead?” I ask.

“You certainly can,” she answers, her voice smooth and cold. “But you have to dance with me like a gentleman instead of getting your hands all over me.”

“I didn’t—”

“Oh, come on, Jenks,” she scoffs, shaking her head. “You think I don’t know your reputation? I know exactly who you are. You pull me in for a big, deep kiss on the altar, then your hands are all over me when we start dancing—”

“Okay,” I say firmly. “I understand, truly. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. I just got carried away.”

“Like I said,” she answers, glaring at me with her beautiful, crystal eyes, “I know exactly who you are and what you get up to. Do you think I’ve forgotten a single second of high school?”

My guts drop, making my feet falter. Alisa grips my hand and shoulder, shoving us into another spin so I don’t fall over my own feet.

“I was wondering about that,” I whisper, my voice thick with shame. “Honestly, I really want to talk to you about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she says calmly. “Let’s just do our duty here, okay?”

“No, I’m serious,” I answer, pulling us into another spin so I can tug her closer to me. “I really need to say sorry. There’s so much to apologize for—”

“Jenkins Holt,” she hisses. “You will not bring this up right now in front of my coven and your pack. While it’s admirable that you show remorse, I’m not sure the feeling behind it is genuine or just one of your classic party tricks.”

I want to speak, but I don’t have any words. It feels like my tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth.

“You might be just saving face in front of everyone,” she muses. “You might be making a huge joke of me just like you always have. Or you might just be trying to get into my pants.”

Her hand tightens on mine, and her eyes flick away. I can’t help it—a bolt of excitement stabs through me, so powerful that I feel weak at the knees.

“Alisa,” I say, forcing my voice to stay even and calm, “I assure you, my apology comes straight from the heart and I mean you no harm. I never did, not really. I mean, I know what I said, and did. But, well, it’s difficult to explain, and—”

“Jenks!” she snaps, cutting off my string of nonsense with a single word.

“What?”

“You’re rambling. If it’s a tactic, nicely played, but I’m not willing to talk about this now. We have the rest of our wedding reception to get through. I’ll try and listen to you with an open mind later, but I can’t promise I’ll believe you.”

“Okay,” I answer, snapping my teeth shut so I don’t start rambling again.

This is not the shy little girl I knew in high school. This is a grown woman, a powerful witch. She’s not going to take any of my shit.

And I think I like it.