Page 30 of Game of Destiny

“Honestly, the two of them are treating this as just another party. In my days, the day you married your husband was the most important day of your life,” she huffed as she showed us the apartment.

At least the apartment had changed since I saw it last. It was now decorated in an idyllic countryside chick.

“I hope everything is to your liking. You know where to find me if you need me. I will let you get settled in and… sleep.”

‘No one is buying the friends act,’ Martin mindlinked me as we said goodbye to Mrs Andersen.

‘Apparently not. We are lucky we didn’t decide to pretend to be dating.

They would have made tomorrow into a double wedding,’ I told him and I could see him snickering.

We got ready for bed. Martin offered to sleep on the floor, which I refused.

We were all adults and I trusted him. The bed was big enough for the two of us to sleep in without it being awkward.

Before we went to bed, I called Finlay and Martin called Sam.

Everything was going well at the meeting of the packs, according to Finlay.

But I heard how tired he sounded and I knew something was up.

But it wasn’t the time to talk about it.

If he told me everything was fine, whatever it was that bothered him didn’t have an impact on the pack.

So it could wait until we all were back home again.

The day of the wedding we had breakfast with the sisters. The ceremony would take place in the afternoon out on Jessie's farm and the reception was to take place in the barn.

“Who has heard of getting married outside? On a farm?” Mrs Andersen huffed. “It’s only proper to have the ceremony in the church.”

“Honestly Amanda, you sound like a bitter old prune. You need to get with the times. People are getting married in all kinds of exciting places nowadays. I read about a couple who did it in a hot-air balloon,” Mrs Jones told her sister.

“Heathens the lot of them,” Mrs Andersen said. Martin and I listened while the sisters continued their bickering.

‘I wonder what she would think about our mating ceremonies,’ Martin mindlinked me.

I almost choked on my coffee picturing Mrs Andersen in her Sunday best hiking out into the middle of the woods, listening to vows being said in honour of the moon and then watching how everyone shifted into wolves.

I tried hard not to laugh and gave him an accusing look.

‘Are you trying to kill me?’ I linked him back.

He just gave me an innocent smile, which I didn’t buy for a moment.

After breakfast I took Martin on a walk around the town to show him around.

It didn’t take long, as there really wasn’t much to show.

But it was nostalgic for me. Martin was sweet about it and listened to me rambling on about the place.

We got a lot of attention, mostly from the single women in town.

I found it hilarious watching them flirt with Martin, who categorically turned them down.

It led to them giving me the stink eye, as if I was the reason he turned them down.

We headed back to eat lunch at the diner and then got ready for the wedding. I used the same dress I had worn on my bloodening. Martin dressed in a granite-grey suit.

“You look good,” I told him.

“Thank you. You look beautiful as always,” he said.

We drove out to the farm. CeCe and Jessie had hired the entire senior highschool class to act as sober drivers.

It meant people didn’t need to skip the alcohol.

The ceremony was beautiful. CeCe was dressed in a long, lace gown that moved in the wind.

Jessie looked at her with so much love it had me in tears.

Martin held out his handkerchief and I smiled as I took it.

‘Thank you,’ I mindlinked him.

‘No problem. They make a beautiful couple and it’s easy to see how much they love each other,’ he linked back.

‘It is. I’m happy they finally took the leap.

’ He gave me a look I pretended not to see.

We joined in with the other guests and cheered as CeCe and Jessie said ‘I do’ and then kissed.

The party that followed was in true CeCe and Jessie spirit.

The barn was decorated with lace fabric and hay bales.

The tables were scattered throughout the open space and were decorated with wildflowers and fairy lights.

Outside there was a fleet of BBQs set up, the diner had a table with side dishes and the local bar had an open bar for the guests.

Martin and I made our way to the bride and groom.

I hugged them both and Martin shook their hands.

“Congratulations! It was an amazing ceremony,” I told them.

“Thank you. I still can’t believe we actually did it,” CeCe giggled. “Is that the dress I forced you to buy? It looks amazing on you.”

“It is, and thank you.”

“Make sure you eat and drink and have a lot of fun,” Jessie told us.

“We will do our best,” Martin promised before we moved on to let others congratulate them. “You heard the man, time to have some fun,” Martin told me and wiggled his eyebrows. I laughed as we headed to get some food.

Both Martin and I had surprisingly much fun at the party.

After we both had refused a couple of offers to dance, people got the picture and we spent most of the time chatting with people.

Martin asked me to dance and he was a good dancer.

Neither of us had been drinking and as evening turned to night and the party got a little wilder, we decided to head back to town.

CeCe and Jessy had left at one point and we just waved to the sisters and some of the guests as we left.

“That was a nice wedding. I was afraid it would feel stiff as I didn’t know anyone but you,” Martin said as we were in the car.

“CeCe and Jamie are easy going. I’m not surprised they had an easy going wedding. It suited them,” I told him. We parked on the back of the coffeeshop. “Want to take a walk before we turn in?” I asked.

“Sure.” We walked along the lake and ended up on the same picnic table where Finlay and I had sat when we first met. The night was quiet, as most people in the town were at the wedding.

“What about you?” I asked.

“What about me, what?” Martin tried to evade.

“Are you looking for your true mate?” I asked, not letting him get away.

“Yeah. I can’t see myself settling down with anyone else, always wondering who is out there and if she is waiting for me.

I’m not saying I don’t scratch the itch once in a while,” he told me and gave me a grin.

“But it’s always with someone who knows it’s just for the night.

We have a night of fun and everyone is happy. ”

“Sounds like a good deal.”

“I’m not going to offer it to you,” he said.

“I hope not. I would hate to have to beat you up,” I told him. We looked at each other and laughed. We texted Sam and Finlay while we sat looking out over the lake. Then we headed back to sleep.