Chapter 6 - Peter

The old woman is completely fucking batshit crazy.

And not just because she’s suggesting I marry a woman I just met. The way she gallops around, clapping and laughing, makes her look completely unhinged. I only got to sit down with Rider for a grand total of five seconds before she announced I was getting married.

“There must be a mistake,” Lucy says, trying to sound rational and calm but failing. “You’re joking, right?”

“That’s definitely a joke I’d like to pull,” Jen cackles. “But nope. This one’s all legit.”

I grab my beer, pouring it down my throat in one gulp. “I’m going to need something stronger,” I mutter to my brother.

“Me too,” Rider agrees.

“Get something for me, too,” Bae adds. “This morning just took one hell of a turn.”

“I’ll go out the front and see Shelley,” Kyle offers. “I’ll see what drink she recommends for meeting long-lost relatives and sudden, unwilling weddings.”

“I’m sure she’ll have something,” Bae replies, chuckling. “In this town, that particular drink probably has a name.”

“And it might be the most popular drink in town,” Kyle says.

The guys share a little laugh that goes right over my head.

Am I missing something? Is every marriage in this town a shotgun wedding?

Across the room, Lucy is still arguing with Jen. “I’m not marrying him!” she almost shouts. “You’re going to have to come up with something else—anything else!”

“You okay there, good buddy?” Rider asks, clapping me on the shoulder. “You’ve gone a sickly shade of white.”

“She’s… not serious, is she?” I ask.

Rider nods. “I’m afraid so. Jen is very knowledgeable, even if she does seem a bit kooky.”

“And Carson,” Bailey agrees. “He’s never led me wrong—ever.”

“Wait,” I say, shaking my head. “Are you actually suggesting that I do this?”

Rider gives me a long, serious look. I remember it from when we were kids—he looks calm, but his eyes are clouding up like the sky right before a tornado.

“You want to break the tether, right?” he asks me.

“Yes!” I reply. “For fuck’s sake. Of course I do.”

“And you’d try anything?”

“Of course I would.”

“So, why not just have a go? If it doesn’t work, the marriage can get annulled or whatever later.”

I take a deep breath, holding it in before letting it out as a long sigh. My stomach is flipping around like a fish on the bank of a river, and I’m starting to sweat.

“Here we go,” Kyle says as he mercifully returns, placing a tall glass bottle on the table in front of us. He hands out four shot glasses and pours the amber liquid into each one.

“What is it?” I ask, eyeing it suspiciously.

“I don’t know what you’d call it,” Kyle answers. “It’s homemade. Not quite whiskey, but just shy of bourbon? I don’t know. Try it.”

I gulp down a fiery sip and sigh with pleasure as the strong alcohol sends tingles through my body. It’s sharp, sweet, and very strong.

“Excuse me?” Jen appears in front of us, slapping the table so hard, I jump out of my seat. “Did ya get enough glasses for us all?”

“No, ma’am,” Kyle says. “I’ll go get some.”

“See that you do,” she answers, scowling. “I’m not missing out on a fine drop like this, especially since we’re celebrating.”

“Look, lady—” I start, but Jen cuts me off.

“Call me Jen, sonny. I ain’t now nor never been no lady.”

It’s a good thing I’m fluent in hick.

“Okay, Jen,” I say. “You aren’t really suggesting that I marry Lucy, are you?”

“No, of course not,” Jen says, stealing my glass and taking a sip.

“Thank God,” I say, slumping with relief. “You scared me for a second there.”

“I’m not suggesting—I’m downright tellin’ ya.”

“ What ?”

She shrugs, taking another sip. “You do whatever you want to do, sonny. I’m just sayin’, this has worked in the past. If you want to stay within fifty feet of Lucy for the rest of your life, then don’t do the wedding.”

“But if I marry her, we’re still stuck together for life!”

“Only legally,” Jen says, shrugging.

I cover my face with my hands. Rider pats my shoulder.

“Are you planning to leave town?” he asks.

“No,” I answer, shaking my head. “I wanted to check out your pack, your new home. I wasn’t going to run off so fast.”

“Then, my advice is that you just do the ceremony—”

“No!”

“Listen! Do the ceremony. See if it works. If it does, you can go wherever you want. If it doesn’t, the marriage is only a formality. It can be dissolved later.”

“But I’ll still be stuck with Lucy!”

“You’re already stuck with Lucy,” he points out, shrugging. “And is that such a bad thing? She’s been checking you out. I’m sure of it.”

Despite myself, I pause. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Well… no, wait! It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to marry her!”

“So, don’t,” Rider says simply, sitting back in his chair. “We’ll all just sit here and argue all day, then.”

Kyle has returned with more glasses and hands them out to everyone. Lucy takes a shot, gulping it straight down. She’s watching me nervously, her eyes wide.

“Okay, y’all,” Jen announces, going to the front of the room. “Now that we’ve all had a little liquid courage, I think we should start the ceremony.”

“I agree.” Carson goes up to stand beside her. “The words of the elders are binding to wolves and most magical creatures, so that’s all we’ll need. We have plenty of witnesses, including friends, pack alphas, and blood relatives. All the elements are here.”

Lucy shakes her head. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” Jen says firmly, her eyes giving that mischievous glint. “If you two want to just keep on doing fuck-all about the situation, then by all means, do. Otherwise, get over here, and let’s get this done.”

The tone of her voice has an effect on me. I’m compelled to obey her, and drawn towards her like a magnet. Lucy stands in front of them with her head bowed, and I join her while the others form a little ring around us.

Fiona rubs Lucy’s arm, trying to comfort her. Lucy just stares at the floor, tears gathering at the edges of her eyes.

It’s hard to admit, but now I really do feel sorry for her. I don’t like seeing her this miserable. Even if she did literally enchant me, her tears still hurt me.

I reach out and take her hand. She jumps a little, looking up at me in shock. We look into each other’s eyes for a moment, and I feel that strange sense of intimacy again.

Lucy tightens her hand on mine a little and turns back to Jen. The older woman smiles, reaching out to touch our joined hands.

“By witness of earth and sky, I bind thee, Peter and Lucy, wolf and witch. May the mountains always welcome you, and the old spirits protect you. This bond now joins you, and in doing so, grants you the freedom you most desire. From this moment on, you are no longer two but one, united in the sacred rite of marriage.”

As Jen speaks, tears flow freely down Lucy’s cheeks. She doesn’t look at anyone, just keeps her eyes focused on the floor. I feel a strange tingling sensation rush through me, from my skin right through to my bones.

“We added a few extra words,” Carson says. “Love frees the heart from fear. That’s how this is supposed to work.”

“Did it break the spell?” Fiona asks.

“I’ll check,” I answer, hurrying out the back door. I jog for quite a while, feeling excited as the air doesn’t thicken against me. After a minute, I start to feel uncomfortable. Anxious, even. When my heart starts pounding like crazy and cold sweat trickles down my sides, I decide to turn back.

The forced teleport is fucking uncomfortable at best. Better not push it.

I jog back to the bar to find a ring of hopeful faces checking me out.

“Didn’t work,” I say, shaking my head. “I got a bit further than usual, but still tethered.”

Lucy’s face falls, and she covers her mouth with her hands. Fiona hugs her, stroking her back.

“We should celebrate!” Jen announces.

Lucy moans softly, shaking her head.

“Not really in the mood to celebrate,” I mutter bitterly.

“Me neither,” Lucy mutters.

“Though I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you for a bit,” Rider says to me, glancing over at Lucy, “maybe you two should just go home.”

“What?” I bark. “What do you mean, home?”

Rider shrugs. “You’ll have to stay at her place, obviously. Where else can you go?”

Lucy wipes her tears, clearing her throat. “I have to get out of here,” she says, her voice wavering. “At least if we go home, I can have some privacy in my room. I have spare bedrooms—Caleb’s old room, and Fiona’s. Peter can pick one of those to stay in. The house is fairly big.”

“Okay,” Fiona says, hugging her again. “Just get some rest, okay? We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Jen says. “You two go home and spend some time together.”

Rider groans. “You aren’t helping, Jen.”

“What?” she asks, blinking innocently. “I can think of a number of times this worked wonderfully. One situation was very recent, in fact.”

Fiona rolls her eyes and pokes Jen playfully in the ribs.

“Okay,” Lucy says firmly. “Thank you, everyone, for trying to help. I really appreciate it. I have to go… I need to rest. This has all been too much. I might be able to find help somewhere else, maybe with my old coven. Until then, we’ll just have to deal with it.”

We say our goodbyes to the group. It seems to drag out a little. My anxiety rises steadily as I think about being trapped in Lucy’s house with her all night.

She’s right. It’s a big house. We don’t have to be stuck together the whole time.

Maybe that’s the problem.

I could handle getting stuck to her if we don’t have to talk.

Even right now, I can’t help noticing how beautiful she is. Part of me, deep down, is singing with giddy triumph that I married this woman and now she’s mine.

Neither of us says a word as we leave the bar. We stay silent all the way home. Every second, the tension rises until it feels like a tightly pulled bowstring.

Any second now, there’s going to be an explosion.

We go inside, and after Lucy shuts the front door, she turns to me and takes my hand. “Maybe we should talk,” she says nervously.

“About what?” I keep my voice flat, even though my emotions are churning.

“Well, we’re married now. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Her words barely register. I’m too caught up looking at her. We’re facing each other just inside the front door. Both of us are in shadow, except for a beam of light from a high window that traces her in silver, making her look ethereal.

“No,” I mutter. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Her face is very close to mine now. I don’t know if she stepped forward or I did. The pale blue of her eyes has darkened like a deep ocean whirlpool dragging me under. I can feel the heat of her body and her soft breath on my cheek.

I want to grab her and kiss her so hard, I’ll bruise us both.

“Peter,” she whispers.

The tension in the air reaches an impossible pitch. I stumble backwards, shoving her away.

“For fuck’s sake, woman!” I shout. “What is there to talk about? We’re stuck together in a sham marriage. It sucks. What else is there to say?”

Her bottom lip trembles, but her words come out steady. “I meant we should talk about house rules. Like sharing the bathroom, kitchen, and TV. Do you know how to clean and do laundry? I’m not doing all your work for you, even if we are married.”

I laugh so hard, I’m almost doubled over. “I don’t have any clothes! What the fuck are you talking about, laundry? Are you suggesting I wash your undergarments?”

She blushes, two red spots appearing on her cheeks. “No, you jerk! That was unnecessary!”

“It’s more than unnecessary for you to suddenly start telling me what to do. In fact, it’s downright rude!”

“Rude! I only wanted to establish some boundaries so we could both be more comfortable.”

“Comfortable!” I yell. “How is any of this comfortable? Besides, didn’t you just ask me if this marriage meant something?”

My heart leaps a little in my chest. I didn’t mean to take it that far, and now that I’m neck-deep in this, I realize I actually care about her answer.

She crosses her arms across her chest and glares at me. “I only meant that we should learn to compromise the way all married couples do. I wasn’t talking about lovey-dovey stuff.”

“Good,” I snap. “Because I’m not a romantic. I did want to double-check you weren’t talking about consummating, though.”

She blinks. “What?”

“Isn’t it customary? It’s our wedding night, after all.”

“Go and consummate yourself, you fucking jerk!” she yells. “I’m going to my room, and I don’t want to be disturbed!”

She turns and storms down the hallway, leaving me feeling like the survivor of a shipwreck. Shaken, cold and confused, sitting on the shore, wondering where I am, and how I even got here.