Marked Book 3

It had been almost two months since I had told Shay about the deal with Harvey.

He had been surprisingly understanding about it. Apparently, he had been talking with Harvey behind the scenes before he got to know me.

They had been discussing Icarus’s position and the possibility of letting him loose in a controlled environment so that Harvey could deal with him.

Nothing had happened since Shay didn’t believe that it had been his rightful place to make that decision. But if I was sure that it was the right thing to do, he would be with me through it all.

The rest of the months had been all about getting to know my primal side. We had done it everywhere ever since that day. And I mean everywhere. Even in his office.

I was almost certain that I had tried every position in the book, but boy did Everly prove me wrong… Just the thought made my legs shiver.

The weather was looking good and warm. It was finally possible for us to walk around outside without a warm jacket and not alerting every human in the city that something wasn’t right.

The season was over in just a few weeks, and I was starting to feel the butterflies in my stomach.

Caleb and Everly had decided on a date for their Mating Ceremony, and it could keep my mind off of things. The twenty-fifth of June. A summer wedding, just as Everly had always talked about.

We were having brunch today, just Everly and me. We were supposed to discuss the details of her Mating Ceremony.

Over the years, we had found our favorite café, our favorite restaurants, and our favorite brunch place.

An amazing little place, full of paintings and plants. It was like entering a completely different world when we came here.

I was there half an hour early and ordered a cup of Thai tea. I grabbed the sketchbook from my bag and started drawing.

This place had always given me so much inspiration, and I could feel the ideas flying around in my head.

Everly had been my best friend ever since kindergarten. I knew her better than I knew myself. Apart from the fact that half a year ago I didn’t know that she was a werewolf. But I knew her personality.

She wanted a magical Mating Ceremony, and what I always liked the most about weddings was the dress. I wanted to design her magical dress.

I knew how to draw and design, and Everly knew how to sew. We were quite the team.

I knew that she wanted her dress to be completely white, but I couldn’t help myself and drew a little golden something in there as well. Just to stir up the magic.

The time went by so fast that it only felt like five minutes had passed when Everly entered the place.

“You’re already here?! And I thought I was early.” She laughed. “What are you doing?”

I could feel a big smile on my face, and I couldn’t hold it back. “I’m designing your dress.”

I was pretty happy with the design already, even if it was just a sketch.

“Really!?” She threw her handbag on the table and pushed her chair next to mine. “It’s beautiful, Rieka!”

“I know that you said completely white or cream, but you also wanted some magic…”

“Sure, sure, sure, sure.” She wasn’t listening. Her eyes were glued to my drawing.

I had made the top tight, stopping halfway over the butt. A little like the dress she had been wearing to their bonding. The dress then transformed into a ball gown.

The tulle skirt was supposed to consist of at least six layers to make it look big.

As a finishing touch to the skirt, I had drawn orbs of gold to make it look like fireflies. In my head, they should be able to glow in the dark, but I had no idea how to make that a reality.

I had added some messy, thin lines in gold to the top to match the messiness of the skirt.

The neckline was an off-the-shoulder neckline, where I had placed flowers to incorporate her love for nature. With a little gold as well. Not much, but just enough to see it around the edges.

The white was still dominating, but the hints of gold here and there were enough to make the dress a bit interesting.

“What do you think?” I asked. “I know that it’s just a sketch, but I hope that you understand what I’m trying to do.”

“It’s gorgeous, Rieka… I really mean it, and I can’t wait to get started on it!” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

“Are you girls ready to order?” A waiter came over and interrupted us, but I was in a good mood.

“We’ll have the deluxe brunch, please,” I said kindly.

“Two deluxe brunch plates. Anything else?”

I looked at Everly. We both started smiling as we knew exactly what we were going to get. The same as always.

“Two mango smoothies,” we said unanimously and started laughing.

We talked and laughed for the rest of the morning. Mostly about shoes, jewelry, and hairstyles. It was nice, being able to walk around the city without having to look over my shoulder.

Harvey had certainly been living up to his end of the deal. I hadn’t seen Archer anywhere around. I hadn’t even been able to smell or sense him ever since Harvey cornered me in the car.

We asked for the bill after sitting there for almost three hours.

Just as we were about to go outside in the rain, my phone started buzzing. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the screen.

Unknown caller? Who could that be? I pressed accept and moved the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I said, and a deep, recognizable voice answered me.

“It’s time.”