Chapter Twenty-Two
Hema
More than just delivering the flowers for Karissa’s wedding, I did it with the best assistants in the world. But first, we had to get dressed in our finest for this special occasion.
I stood in the downstairs hallway in their home.
I hadn’t officially moved in yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Giving up my apartment was difficult after all I went through to make that my home, my first home really.
I couldn’t call the old lands anything like that when my whole existence there depended on my designation. And I failed that test. In their eyes.
Not in my mates’.
“Fit check!” I yelled, holding up my phone. We’d gone shopping together a few days before mostly because Orin and Sovann didn’t have suits at all, and I didn’t have anything appropriate for a dark-romance wedding.
I’d been in on the secret as to whose wedding this was since shortly after my heat, and as a result had made a few changes in the flowers to suit her taste. Still dark romance, still gorgeous but tweaked slightly for my friend. And maybe added to at no extra cost as well.
Thrilled for her, I’d had to avoid her for a whole week because as it turned out, I probably would have spilled the beans.
Florists often keep secrets, and up until now, I’d done fine with that.
But her pack was doing so much sneaking around, she was getting nosy.
Fortunately, the excuse my pack wouldn’t let me out of bed seemed to work.
And it wasn’t much of a lie. We all worked, ate, did chores around the house, and went to bed together.
Sometimes the chores didn’t get done, but Sovann made sure we always ate.
Since we knew Karissa’s dress was black, we’d gone for maroon.
My dress was trimmed with cream lace, and the guys wore white shirts.
Black shoes for all of us. The trio appeared at the top of the stairs as I’d requested and strolled down together.
So incredible. And mine! All mine. I set the timer on the camera on its tripod and ran up to join them. “Ready?”
They chuckled, but they were good sports and so together, we strolled down the stairs looking as suave as we could manage. Our first wedding together. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
Orin and his staff had pulled out all the stops.
The decorations were mostly my flowers, large urns filled with lilies lining the aisle the bride would be walking down.
There was a buffet along one wall and a tall cake with 3D printed figurines of the bride and her pack on top.
The seating had all been rearranged, and the guests filled the room before Altan answered his phone and yelled, “Lights!” And “Shhh!”
“I don’t know why I we all had to get so dressed up just to come for a drink,” Karissa was protesting as her mates escorted her in. “You guys have been acting so weird. Why is it dark in here?”
The special lighting clicked on, all candlelight effects and lanterns.
It may have been the only time a bridal party and all the guests jumped up and yelled, “Surprise!” at a wedding. But even if it wasn’t, it was certainly one of the most effective. Orin stood at the front of the room waiting as Karissa walked toward him, clearly still unsure of what was going on.
“It’s not my birthday. What is…is that a wedding cake?”
She flipped instantly from demanding to weeping. “What did you do? Is this a wedding? Poe, Vaughn…Holt? What did you?” She threw herself at her mates, sobbing. “You really did hear me. I only mentioned it once, and I never expected to really have a wedding. Look at this place.”
“And look at you.” I stepped forward and turned her to face me. “There will be pictures, and I don’t think you want to look like a raccoon.”
“Help me.”
Tawny and I escorted her to the restroom and did necessary repairs to her face and hair, straightened her dress, and showered her with kisses. Our omega sister’s relationship was being celebrated by her pack. It was something out of a fairy tale.
“We are the luckiest omegas in the whole world, aren’t we?” she sniffled. “I mean, I know it’s my wedding, but…”
“Understood.” Tawny, gorgeous in bronze satin, gave her a hug. “We are the luckiest. Our mates are always finding ways to show their appreciation. Now, ready to marry your mates?”
“So ready.”
We walked down the aisle with her this time, escorting our friend to her mates’ side before heading for our own packs. “Did I ever tell you I was jealous of Altan’s assistant?”
“Marney? She’s twice his age, gay, and has her own all-female pack.”
“Well, I know that now. But he came in and bought her flowers for her birthday, and I had no idea of any of those things.”
“Plus, she’s such a professional even if she was straight and liked him, she’d never say so.”
“I know. But at the time, it made me take a step in the right direction.”
“Then you probably owe her more flowers.”
I sure did. We rejoined our packs and watched our friends exchange the vows they’d written then we all partied the night away. Altan told me while we were dancing that if I wanted a wedding, they’d be glad to do it. Maybe someday. For now, I was content to bask in our friends’ happiness.