Chapter Sixteen
“This is the food that the chef is suggesting we serve at your banquet,” Constance said, gesturing at the table in the massive dining room. The hand-carved wooden table was easily twenty feet long. “We’ve got sample platters so that you can select the appetizers, the main courses, and the desserts.”
“Suddenly I love wedding planning,” Mary said, gazing hungrily at the table. Lobsters, prime rib, filet mignon, platters of desserts as far as the eye could see…
“See? Getting married to me isn’t all that bad, is it?” Jarrod winked at Mary as he loaded up a plate, moving down the table.
“The food part is definitely acceptable,” Mary said stubbornly, grabbing a plate and a silver fork. She speared a slice of prime rib and dropped it on the plate.
Jarrod gave her a mock-wounded look. “Is that all that’s acceptable? Are you saying that last night wasn’t acceptable? Because I seem to recall-”
“Everything is amazing!” Mary said, blushing and hurrying away from him. Constance followed her.
“What did you find?” Constance asked her in a low voice.
“Something is off there, with the whole Mage thing, and Petra’s an uptight control freak. Why do you ask?”
“Because I was one of the women who felt that there was something off about the whole birth process. I have a five year old son. I love him, and this makes me sound like a terrible mother, but…” she glanced around. “I can’t even explain it. As soon as they brought him back from the Mage and put him in my arms, I felt like there was something wrong. They did a DNA test on him and it showed that he’s mine, but I swear to God he isn’t the child I gave birth to. It drove me and my husband apart. He told me I was crazy, and he left the pack several years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Mary said, stunned.
“I’ve spoken to other mothers who told me the same thing. Only with their sons, not their daughters. Only with the babies taken to the Mage. When Jarrod officially becomes Alpha, will you keep investigating?”
“Damned straight,” Mary said, also keeping her voice low. Constance shoved a piece of paper into Mary’s pocked. “My cell number,” she said, and then strolled off.
“Hey, can you get married every month?” Angela wandered up to Mary holding a plate of appetizers. “This food is amazing.”
“Let’s be real here, I doubt I’m getting married even once. Anyway. Tell me about Craig,” Mary said. “Do you like him?”
“He was amazing.” Amanda nodded dreamily. “He likes the same bands I do. He likes horror movies and roller coasters. He’s going to take me to a totally crazy amusement park after you guys get married.”
Wow. This has real promise,Mary thought in surprise. Angela was talking about seeing the same guy weeks from now? That was the equivalent of her planning a wedding.
Jarrod, who had wandered up just hten, cleared his throat. “I don’t know. It always starts out well with him,” he said, with a very convincing rendition of a worried frown.
“I like him,” Angela said defiantly.
“Well, you let me know when…— I mean if he gets out of line,” Jarrod said. “I’ll tear him a new one if I have to.”
Mary secretly shot him a look of approval.You’re a genius, she mouthed at him, and he winked at her.
She felt warm all over. The two of them, on the same side, working together. If only this could be her life.
Jarrod’s phone buzzed, and he glanced at it and sighed. “Enforcer Central. I’ll make it quick.” He grabbed a cream cheese stuffed celery stick and shoved it in his mouth as he walked away, answering the phone with his mouth full. “Alpha Regent Jarrod,” he mumbled.
After a minute he glanced up. “Gotta take this. I’ll be back in a few, and we can go over the final choices for the banquet.”
After he left Mary and Angela went to find Regina, who’d avoided the food sampling because there was too much actual food there, and she’d already had her protein shake and salad.
Regina was in her suite, sitting at her desk and tapping away at a laptop. She was wearing headphones and humming the tune of a Britney Spears song. She ignored them as they walked in, so they sat down on Regina’s bed.
“I do like Jarrod,” Angela said approvingly. “You should just go through with it, you know.”
“Baloney. He’s doing this—”
“To get back at his uncle? Are you still on that? Come on. You know he doesn’t pay any attention to what his uncle wants. He would just have flat-out said no to the bridenapping, and not bridenapped anybody,” Angela said.
“But he needs to be married within the next few months because he’s turning thirty. So maybe Jarrod decided to marry me because I was the lesser of two evils.” She glanced at Regina, who still had her headphones on.