Page 46 of The Fates We Tame

He kisses me softly, his touch reassuring. “This good?” he asks.

“Very. It’s not a hardship kissing you.”

“The crush, huh?” Theo teases.

“A very minor one that I’m sure would have gone away the next time you annoyed me.”

He slips his arm around my waist, holding our bodies closer. It’s a strain to look straight up at him; I’ve never been quite so aware of our height difference.

“Eventually I’m gonna kiss you when we have a little more time and nobody chasing us.”

“Do you think they are?”

Theo shrugs. “I don’t know, but I’ll feel better once we’re married.”

Registering takes us about an hour. There’s a line, then paperwork. My biggest fear, that they wouldn’t accept my license, is quickly put to rest. We choose the self-officiatingoption, so we don’t have to wait a moment longer than we need to.

By the time we make it back to the rest of the Outlaws and tell them what is happening, there are already bags and boxes.

“Are you okay?” Catalina asks as she follows me into the bathroom to change.

“Today has been a lot.”

She hangs the bag over the cubicle door, then takes both my hands. “Close your eyes for a minute. Take a deep breath or two.”

I do as she says. I flex my toes in my shoes and deliberately plant them down again to ground myself. When I open my eyes, I feel a little steadier.

“King asked me to double-check you are here because you want to be.”

“I am. I…it’s just…” I blow out a breath. “It’s complicated.”

Catalina nods. “Iris has this thing she always says. It’s hard to be in this life because it’s always the women who get hurt.”

I run my fingertip over my scar and eye patch. “I can attest to that.”

“Here.” Catalina offers me a garment bag and a shoe box. “Start getting changed. Was your family really going to marry you to a stranger?”

I step into a cubicle and do as Cat says. “We overheard my brothers discussing it. I have no idea why. Honestly, I don’t even remember my family. So, who they are, what they do, and how they do it are a mystery to me. But they seemed to suggest it was some big ‘bringing two families together’ kind of thing.”

The dress is red. A beautiful, stunning deep red. With thin straps and a corseted top and tea-length full skirt, it’s a piece of art.

And it will show most of my scars.

I don’t know much, but I’m pretty certain a bride should feel beautiful on her wedding day, and I already feel brittle at the idea that I’m getting ready in a government building’s bathroom.

“Fucking men,” Catalina says. “And they wonder why we pick the bear.”

I slip out of my clothes. “The bear?”

“It’s a thing. Would you rather be stuck alone in the woods with a man or a bear? And women always pick the bear. You know, like, at least everyone would believe you if a bear attacked you. Or, if you were attacked by a bear, no one would ask you what you were wearing. Only men would come up with the idea of marrying off a female family member to secure power.”

She’s right. A bear wouldn’t give a shit who I married.

With resolve, I pull on the dress and shoes, stuff my clothes and boots into the garment bag, and step out.

“You look hot,” Cat says. “When I left the house with Niro, I didn’t know we’d be doing wedding chic, but you can borrow my comb, my lipstick, and any jewelry I’m wearing. And I’m sorry. I was an ass, thinking only about the club, earlier. There are times I’m more like the men than I am proud of or want to admit.”

I put the things I’m carrying on a length of counter near the sinks. “I don’t have any strong female friendships that I can remember, but I’m open to making new ones. Apology accepted.”