~ CARA ~Rig was at my side, both of us leaned back against the kitchen counter eating pizza off paper plates. He’d held me so tightly when I got back with Natalie, for a minute I’d been worried. But he was smiling when he pulled back to check if I was okay, and he hadn’t left my side since.Even now, he stood right against me, our arms brushing every time we moved.We were all gathered in the kitchen, two massive pizzas and a slightly wilted salad scattered on the table. Everyone was sitting on the stools or standing around while Rig filled us in.“We’ll leave first thing, but we’ll make a performance of it, right? Bags in the back of the Jeep, everyone tired but excited, talking about it. After the ceremony it’ll take hours to g

~ CARA ~When the door to Rig’s room flew open, startling me out of sleep, I groaned.“Get up! Get up!” Natalie sang.I groaned again and threw a pillow at her, rolling over to bury my face in Rig’s neck. I didn’t know how long we’d been asleep, but I knew it wasn’t very long. We were all still up and making plans, Rig assigning instructions and explaining the risks he was trying to avoid at three that morning.We’d fallen into bed and into each other’s arms at some time before dawn, but there’d been an unspoken agreement that we would wait… so, with barely time to breathe each other’s scents, we’d fallen asleep almost as soon as we’d laid down.

  ~ CARA ~   Natalie called Tessa twice for advice on my make up. I’d told her in no uncertain terms I wanted to look as natural as I could.   When she was finished on my face, I found myself blinking into the mirror and stunned… because I still looked like me. Just better.   “Wow.”   Natalie smiled as she tugged a brush through my hair and got started with a hot curling iron. “That’s what he’ll say,” she quipped.   I snorted, my cheeks flushing, though the makeup hid a lot of it.   My head was swimming. Natalie had admitted she was teasing a little bit about the claiming, but she had explained—a wolf mar

~ CARA ~I had been so impatient, rushing through Natalie fixing my hair and touching up my makeup, I hadn't even taken the time to really look at the house or anything on our way through it. There was a humming, driving tension in my body. I needed to be close to Rig. I could feel him nearby, but it wasn't enough. So when Natalie finally put the comb away and smiled at me, "Okay… time for the dress," I froze.How had I forgotten about the dress? We'd gone shopping the day before and after the first two hours, I had despaired. Every little boutique Natalie dragged me to, every tiny hidden designer corner was full of stunning dresses that I could have seen Natalie carrying off any day of the week. But every sparkle and seam made me feel like the dress was wearing me, instead of the other way around.Even when my fr

 ~ RIG ~ ‘We’re coming down,’ Natalie’s voice was surprisingly thrilled in our heads. Me and Mack looked at each other, then hurried out onto the deck where John was organizing his papers. He’d worn a simple, gray suit as I’d asked him to, which was a relief. Mack and I had opened the broad, French doors that led from the living area out to the wide deck at the back, so when Cara came down the stairs she’d see all the way through the stone-walled cottage and out… The doorway and exterior roof outside dangling tendrils of ivy. Thick, gray beams of the deck.