Page 45 of Ruthless Alpha Beast

The latter seems more likely.

“Okay,” she sighs.

“Yeah, and I’ll make sure that everything is sorted in terms of plans, dresses, etc. I have shifters who can help me with all that. It is short notice, but I’ve seen them pull more important things together before.”

“Well,” Tara says. “I mean, this is theirAlpha’swedding. Should it really be this week? Especially with everything going on with the forest and the monsters…”

She’s right, it is rushed, and with the dead shifter we found in the forest, it certainly isn’t the best of times.

But there’s not much I can do about that; we have to move forward.

The earlier this is done, the better. Both of us, I can tell, are already regretting everything. I don’t want to give us room to go back.

“Timing isn’t ideal,” I tell her, gazing back up at the ceiling. “But the faster we get this done, the better everything will be. Trust me.”

She exhales slowly, as though she’s holding back from saying something.

“Yeah,” she murmurs. “Okay.”

While I’m not looking at her directly, after a few moments, I notice her leave the room.

That was too close; next time, I’ll keep a tighter rein on things.

***

I have to give it to my packmates—the way they’ve decorated the place looks amazing. And on such a tight schedule? They’ve honestly outdone themselves.

I’m not usually into all that sort of aesthetic,flowerytype stuff, but the outdoor events area of our pack has been transformed into a mystical wonderland. Quite literally.

There are vines and flowers twisted and scattered over everything. I’m talking tables, chairs, arches, carpets,plates?!

Upon closer inspection, I realize that the plates have just been painted with floral decor, but still, kudos to them for making everything match.

It’s sunset, and the lighting spreads a balmy pink hue over the tablecloth and everyone’s busy faces. Slow music drifts through the air out from the band’s soft-sounding instruments. Chatter is at a steady pace, neither overly excited nor overly hostile—just calm.

At least not from what I can hear.

Maybe the shifters and witches are pretending, maybe they’re almost as uncomfortable as I’m feeling, but are putting on a good show.

I don’t know.

It’s hard to understand how any of them can be so calm when an Alpha shifter is marrying some random human, so out of the blue like this.

I know my pack is freaking out, but I also know that they wouldn’t let anyone know it. Especially not since it istheirAlpha who is doing the marrying.

“This place looks incredible,” Dylan says, dropping a spicy cocktail sausage into his mouth.

“It does. It came together fast.”

“And it looks like everyone is getting along.”

Shifters and witches are mixing freely, members of my pack are joining in too—you’d have no idea that we have a century’s worth of tension.

But hey, I’m happy to be civil and play along.

Why couldn’t that have just been enough for the coven? No need for a wedding, no need for any of this, I could have just stayed focused on the real problems at hand.

Like those shadow monsters.