“What do you mean?”
“Look, Nash, I don’t want to be up in your business, but I think things have been a lot harder on Red than you know.”
“Scarlett’s strong,” I protest. “She can get through anything.”
“I don’t doubt she’s strong, Nash, but the single females have really bonded against her in many ways. Some of them are coming around, but a lot of them hate her guts.”
“Why?” The thought infuriates me. “Because she’s human?”
“Because she’s your human. Surely you know how handsome you are, big guy.”
“I know no such thing.”
“Yeah, right. I remember all the girls in the pack when you hit your teenage years and had your first shift.”
“They did go a little crazy, I suppose.”
“A little?” He raises his eyebrows. “Allison Martin told her grandmother she was going to marry you the second you came of age.”
“She did, didn’t she?” I laugh at the memory. “Yeah, I suppose a lot of them wanted to get with me. You too, though, if I remember correctly.”
“Nash,” Ryder says seriously. “What if those desires didn’t stop when we came of age?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if those same unmated females still want you? Do you really think they’d let a little thing like your chosen mate get in the way?”
The thought makes my blood run cold.
Six
Red
“What’s wrong?” I ask when I step into Aunt Germaine’s room, but she’s shaking her head, staring at a pile of fabric. I was supposed to meet her here for a final fitting for my dress, but I can tell right away that there’s a problem.
That’s when it hits me.
It’s not a pile of fabric she’s staring at: it’s the remains of my dress. I walk forward slowly, not wanting to believe what I’m seeing. It looks like someone took a knife – or their claws – to my dress. What was once a beautiful gown is now nothing but a pile of scraps. Blue and white lace is piled up on the table and she begins trying to sort the pieces of fabric, but I can already tell it’s too late.
There’s no saving the dress.
“It’s okay,” I place a gentle hand on her shoulder. When Germaine turns around, her eyes are full of unshed tears. They shoot straight to my heart, making me wish I could take this pain away from her, making me wish I could somehow make her not feel so sad, so hurt.
“It’s not okay, honey. None of this is okay.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.” She looks confused as she stares at the dress, and I wonder who could have done this. Who would want to ruin my wedding day? Tessa has backed off and hasn’t given me a hard time in weeks. None of the other wolves have, either. In fact, they seem to be purposely keeping their distance from me, which I don’t mind.
“Who would do this? Is there any chance it was an accident?”
“There’s no chance of that, honey. Look at this.” She holds up a piece of the lace the runs her finger down a jagged tear. “Claws. Someone came in here with their claws out and wanted to send a real message.”
“They don’t want me marrying their Alpha,” I say dryly.
It’s the understatement of the century. No matter what I do, I’m never going to be a wolf. Even though the last few weeks have been fine, that’s all they’ve been: fine. No one has given me a hard time, but no one has really talked to me, either.
Most of the wolves simply ignore me.