The bubbly sweetness of champagne and orange juice was exactly what I needed. One more reason I was happy to not be pregnant.
“So…” Michelle leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Tell me about your mother-in-law. Is she an absolute nightmare?”
I eyed my bodyguard, who was standing a few feet away from our booth with his arms folded. It didn’t ~seem~ like he was listening to us.
“Yeah, Charlotte’s literally the worst. She told me straight to my face that she thinks I’m too young and immature to be with her son. But who is she to judge? She basically abandoned Aiden for ten years.”
“And you said they’re staying with you?”
“Yep. In the guest house, although I doubt they’re going to keep to themselves.”
“What about Aiden’s dad?”
“He’s not as nasty as his mom, but he seems just as narrow-minded.”
“Jeez, remind me to give Josh’s mom a big hug when I see her. The worst thing Nancy has ever done was tell me she thought my potatoes could use more salt.”
“I don’t even want to go home. It’s that bad, Michelle. Charlotte’s passive-aggressive comments are so vicious, I think she might just be ~aggressive~-aggressive.”
“Why don’t we get the gals together and go on a trip this weekend? That would keep you out of the house.”
I shook my head. “The Fertility Festival starts tomorrow, and I have to be here for Aiden.
“I’m still not a hundred percent sure I can go through with the ritual, but if I just left, it would look like I’m running away. I can’t give Charlotte that kind of ammunition.”
“Have you tried talking to him about it again?”
“Not since his parents arrived.”
“Sienna, babe, you need to talk to him,” Michelle said, then downed the rest of her glass.
“I know, I know,” I replied, pouring myself another mimosa. “And that’s not the only thing we need to talk about. He’s anxious to start our family, but I don’t feel ready yet. And with the haze about to start…
“I just need it to hold off for a few more days.”
“Speak for yourself,” Michelle said as she buttered a scone. “I can’t wait for my first season with Josh. I have all sorts of sexy surprises planned out for him. Poor boy is barely going to have time to sleep.”
“Oh my God, Michelle, stop,” I said, giggling. “I don’t want that in my head.”
“Who knows, you might learn a thing or two.” She winked at me and took a seductive bite out of the scone.
I was having fun with Michelle, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel like I was spending the whole morning proving Charlotte right.
A strong woman wouldn’t get brunch and dish to avoid her problems. A strong woman would face them head-on.
Just then, the door to the café opened, and Josh walked in, a thunderous expression on his face.
What ~now~?
***
When the car pulled up to the pack house, I hopped out and marched straight to Aiden’s office. It felt like I was reporting to the principal for skipping class, and I didn’t like being made to feel that way.
First his mother, and now him.
I opened the door without knocking. “Have a minute for your mate?”
“I think I can spare two or three, actually,” he replied, setting aside the papers he was working on.
“Enough of the banter, Aiden.” I crossed my arms. “Why didn’t you come with Josh to pick us up?”
“I didn’t see the need.”
“I’m ~your~ mate. I don’t need you to send someone to scold me for screwing up.”
Josh had dropped Michelle off and then lectured me the whole ride here about thinking before I acted and not playing into the media’s hands. Acted all pompous and smug. Like ~he~ hadn’t screwed up big time last year.
Aiden cocked his head to the side. “So you agree that returning to the ‘scene of the crime’ was a screw-up?”
Damn it. I walked right into that. That was what I got for letting my temper take over.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Actually, yes. I do. I was so focused on the bodyguard issue, the optics of the brunch itself didn’t even occur to me. But after the last couple days, I just needed my friend.”
When his face remained impassive, I felt my anger rise again. “Look, I don’t think you understand everything I’ve given up to be with you, Aiden. When we were mated, your life didn’t change. You kept on being the alpha.
“But mine was turned upside down. Suddenly, everyone cared about what I wore, how I spoke. I had bodyguards following me around whenever I left the house.
“I’ve had to give up being a normal person. And in case you haven’t noticed, normal people go to brunch with their friends. They even drink ~mimosas~.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not someone who likes the spotlight. You know this, Aiden. This new life is really hard for me. And when you dismiss my objections to the ritual and pressure me about starting a family, well…I need time to adjust.”
A muscle pulsed in his jaw. “You’ve had a year, Sienna. How much longer do you need?”
He put his hands on his desk and leaned forward, looking me right in the eye. “Do you have any idea what I was dealing with while you were off having your pity party with Michelle?”
~Pity party?~ He had to be joking.
“My parents decided to stop by for a little ‘chat’ and informed me that it’s my duty to get you in line before you destroy the East Coast Pack and tarnish the Norwood name. I stuck up for you. I told them you were a grown woman and didn’t need to be babied.
“But it sounds like I might have been wrong.”
~Ouch.~
“Do you really think that?”
He sat down and rubbed a hand over his face. “I think that if you truly cared about me you would know that my life is the pack, so when you disrespect the traditions it’s built upon, you disrespect me.”
This had to be the result of whatever conversation he’d had with his parents this morning.
“Sienna, are you even listening to me?”
“Yes. I heard every word, Aiden.”
“This isn’t a game, Sienna. The pack needs to know it can count on us. It also needs an heir.”
I raised my eyes to meet his. “Is that you talking or your mother?”
“Hey, I don’t like the way she’s treated you either, but she has a point. They may be tactless in how they make it, but it’s coming from a place of sincerity. They only want what’s best.”
“For us or for the pack?”
“That’s what you don’t understand, Sienna. They’re the same thing.”
I turned and started to walk out the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going back to our home. I promised your father I’d try his Manhattans.”
^THE NEXT DAY^
After I put on the festival dress—a simple loose garment that tied in the front and would be easy to slip off—I looked at myself in the mirror and thought about all the alpha’s mates who’d endured this before me.
~Did they feel as nervous as I do?~
~As disgusted?~
I reminded myself of Aiden’s words:
“~We’ll be shifted for less than a minute.”~
“~Forget the pack. Do it for me.~”
A person can withstand anything for under a minute. Especially for someone they love.
Right?
Our relationship had so many strains on it right now, what with the paparazzi following me around, his parents showing up, and the pressure to start our family.
If my participation in this ritual would show him I was serious about our future together and restore his faith in me, maybe it was worth it.
It might even buy me some time.
Maybe a little room to breathe was all I needed to calm my fears.
***
The festival stage was in a clearing in the forest. Giant trees had been hewn and their bodies bound together to create the gigantic platform where Aiden and I now stood.
Behind us was the rest of the council and a surprise VIP, Raphael Fernández, the Alpha of the Millennium.
All around us, looking up with excitement, was what seemed like the entire East Coast Pack. I flashed back to my daydream at the café and shuddered.
For just a moment, I thought I saw a pair of purple eyes. But after scanning the crowd, I decided it must’ve been my imagination.
I hadn’t seen Eve since she’d stopped by my gallery almost a year ago. Nor had I gotten any clarity on her vague insinuations about my birth parents.
If my parents really ~had~ been alphas, did they have to participate in this horrid ritual too?
As the opening declarations were made, my heart started pounding. I couldn’t believe I was really going to do this.
I’d run through it dozens of times in my head as we drove to the festival, but it didn’t seem to be helping at all.
Aiden grabbed my hand and squeezed it in reassurance, then stepped forward and shed his robe.