Aurora snarled. “Who do you think you are, to speak to me this way, you mangy cat? Do you know who I am?”
“I’m the visitor who actually spoke to the Cypress Woods Witch, and she didn’t say a damn thing about calling off the wedding. You might want to verify your facts before you run around spouting crazy gossip. She said beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and there would be a dark cloud. She actually told me I’d be going to the wedding. She didn’t say it should be called off.”
Aurora stood perfectly still for a moment, raw fury radiating off her in waves. Then she shot a dirty look at Loch. “Go ahead and hold the wedding, and put everyone’s lives in peril. We’ll still attend. Perhaps we’ll be able to save some of the lives that you put in danger with your foolishness.”
Then the Sinclairs turned and walked away.
Loch hugged Ginger, who was shaking.
“Ginger, she’s just a crazy, power-hungry bitch,” Marigold said. “Don’t let her get to you. Your wedding day will be beautiful. You’re marrying Mr. Hot Stuff here. How could your wedding be anything less than awesome?”
Ginger took a deep breath and then let it out. “I’m fine,” she said, with the slightest quaver in her voice. “I guess it wouldn’t be Blue Moon Junction without drama, would it?”
*
The wedding was being held at the Beaudreau mansion, a nineteenth-century Georgian Revival building which sprawled over a huge estate on the north end of Blue Moon Junction, right outside the city limits. The wedding itself would take place in the main building, and the reception was being held in one of the other houses on the property, a mansion in its own right which had belonged to the Beaudreau family’s daughter.
“It’s lovely,” Lainey said, staring at the massive red-brick home with two-story-high white Corinthian columns framing the enormous front double doors. The doors were topped with an ornate triangular pediment with little carved wooden cupids in it. “Good lord, you could drive a horse and carriage through those doors.”
“I know, right? Alpha weddings are so over the top. I’m glad my fiancé’s a beta.” Marigold turned back to Lainey. “You should walk around and get to know everybody while you do your sketches. Your fated mate could be here now.”
“Alright, already. You can’t follow me around, though. You’re making me nervous.”
Marigold shrugged and walked over to Ginger, who’d just arrived with Loch.
The grounds were huge, and there were crews of men all over the place. Electricians, landscapers, handymen…
This is ridiculous. How would I figure out if any of these men were my fated mate, if such a thing even exists? I’ll just walk around and check out the scenery for a while, and tell Marigold I gave it my best shot.
She wandered around the outside of the main mansion, admiring the landscaping. Hundreds of flowers sat out in little round plastic pots, ready to be planted around a gazebo that was under construction.
Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, grimacing. She really should have left the phone back at the hotel instead of bringing it with her.
A message flashed across the screen. “Your brother has been badly hurt! We’ve been trying to call you!”
Her heart sped up with panic. Her older brother, Donavan, had struggled for years with substance abuse issues. In trouble with the law, running with a horrible crowd, in and out of expensive rehab centers…
It seemed like he’d finally straightened out his life, married a sweet bobcat shifter, quit working for their parents’ construction company and found a job in another city, which was the healthiest thing he could possibly have done. What could have happened to him? Had he relapsed? Gotten in an accident?
I am a horrible person for not having called my parents back. Donny’s probably lying in a hospital bed somewhere, wondering why I’m not there. I don’t deserve a fated mate; I don’t deserve any kind of mate.
She frantically punched in her mother’s number.
Her mother answered on the first ring. “Well, there you are,” her mother said irritably. She didn’t sound anywhere near as upset as she should be. Maternal warmth had never been her strong suit.
“What happened to Donny?” Lainey demanded. “How bad is it?”
“First, you need to tell us where you are.” Frost rimmed her mother’s words.
“This is simply not acceptable,” her father chimed in. “You’re making us look like fools in front of our friends. Nobody cancels a wedding that has been announced in the paper. You simply carry on. That’s what your mother and I do.”
Her mother and father couldn’t stand each other and slept in rooms at opposite ends of their very large house.
“Since the wedding was based on a lie created by both of you, I certainly can, and did, cancel it. Tell me what happened to Donny.” She bit the words out, simmering with frustration.