What friends are for

ARIA

Three days later, everyone in the pack knew about my upcoming marriage and our alliance with the Blood Shadow Pack. Everyone was eagerly awaiting that day, everyone except for me. My frustration grew by the minute. Blaze set a few wolves to follow wherever I went. He wanted to make sure that I wouldn't try to escape before the wedding. I couldn't even go pee without some bastard mind-linking Blaze about it.

As three more days went by, my surveillance turned almost into a house arrest. But just when I thought that all chances for my plan to succeed were gone, my friends, Damara and Nessa, showed up. Damara and I were in the same class in high school. She was this sexy blond vamp type with blue eyes. She had always been aware that she was attractive, and she made fair use of it, changing her boyfriends every two months. Nessa was a short, brown-haired cutie-pie with cat-like green and grey eyes. Despite her innocent look, Nessa loved to party, drink, and seduce boys. Damara and I met Nessa in a downtown café two years ago, where she made a fatal judgment in choosing her date. I knocked him down, and she called me her personal hero. We had been friends ever since.

"I'm surprised that Blaze let you in," I admitted as they walked into my room.

Nessa threw her hands around my neck and started sobbing. "I'm so happy for you! My friend is going to marry an Alpha!"

Seriously... She seemed genuinely and naively happy. What could I say? Nessa had never been the smartest she-wolf in the pack. I wanted to tell her how I felt about this marriage, but then Damara joined...

"I know that you may not be happy about this marriage, but Aria, you are doing this for the pack," she said, patting my shoulder. Nessa nodded, proving that she completely agreed with Damara's statement.

My jaw dropped. I thought that those two were supposed to be on my side! Didn't they see that it was wrong?!

"I keep hearing that this is for the pack, but I wanted to find my mate," I claimed, frustration filling the sound of my voice. "I wanted to fall in love and wanted to be loved in return. I don't want—"

"Love is overrated." Damara brushed off my feelings with a nonchalant wave of her hand. "Think how powerful you'll become! You will become a Luna! That's the highest position a woman can have!" Her exaggerated enthusiasm did everything but help me improve my mood.

My heart was literally breaking apart. My closest friends were against me. I wanted to argue and tell them how wrong they were, but in all my despair, something completely opposite fell out of my mouth as I opened it...

"You are right. I should be happy." I made the worst false smile ever. "I am simply overwhelmed because it is all happening so fast... and the fact that I will become the Luna of the Blood Shadow Pack…"

Liar. I was the worst liar ever, and the fact that none of my friends cared to notice it broke my heart even more.

"You will be the most beautiful bride ever!" Nessa squealed, jumping and waving her hands like an excited child.

I stretched my lips into a thin smile.

"Today we will help you find the most gorgeous dress and sexy lingerie!" Nessa continued.

My smile turned into an awkward grimace. "Guys, please, just stop—"

"And tomorrow we are taking you to your bachelorette party at the Silver Mist Club!" she exclaimed.

I laughed nervously. "That will never happen. Blaze would never let me go to a club and—"

"He already agreed," Damara said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"We told him that it would be your final day as a single girl in the pack and that he has to let you go," Nessa explained and then whispered, winking at me, "We told him that it would be a girls-only night, but that is not entirely true..."

My eyes opened wide, and the corners of my lips curled into a bright grin. A party at the club where wolves from other packs were coming, and without Blaze's strict surveillance?! This could be my only chance!

"So, Aria, what do you say?" Damara smirked.

I chuckled, feeling hopeful for the first time in six days. "I'm all in."

***

An hour later, we went to the finest shopping street in Silverville to buy my wedding dress. I couldn't care less about the gown I never planned to wear, but I did my best to pretend that I was excited. We went to the most expensive boutiques, where Damara and Nessa made me try dress after dress, commenting on each one. It felt like a nightmare. The plastered smile I kept on my face was getting more and more uncomfortable. I needed to stop this process before I entered too deep into a state of panic.

"Guys!" I called out after taking off my hundred-and-one dress. "I don't care about the freaking lace and gems! Just bring me something simple!"

Nessa blinked her eyes as if she needed time to process my words. "You are right! Your silver hair will shine more than any glittering stones!" she giggled and ran off to find me another gown.

"I disagree." Damara looked me up and down and crossed her arms over her chest. "You are the pack's precious princess, and that will be your final day in our pack. You should shine the best way you can."

"Precious princess, my ass..." I muttered angrily.

I wanted this whole shopping spree to be over already. I grabbed another gown that Nessa brought for me and prayed that it was the last one. Once I put it on me, it didn't seem that bad. It was a simple, silk dress with a deep neckline and a trumpet-shaped skirt.

"I love this one!" I exclaimed after carefully correcting my smile. "I think it looks gorgeous."

Nessa narrowed her eyes, examining the gown as I made a slow turn, and then gave me a wry smile. "Well... I don't know. Maybe it's a little too simple."

I forced myself to widen my grin. "This is the one I want!"

After arguing for another ten minutes, Damara and Nessa finally let me leave the boutique with the simplest dress this shop had to offer. I sighed in relief, thinking the torture was over, but I was wrong…

"The lingerie shop is over there!" Nessa called out merrily, pointing at another boutique at the end of the block.

"Goddess have mercy..." I mumbled in frustration.

Damara chuckled and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the shop. "Let's go, bride-to-be. You need something sexy to wear for your wedding night."

I flinched at the mere thought of being touched by a man who was nearly three times my age. But then I thought that I actually should buy new lingerie; I would need it for the night I was going to lose my virginity.

I kept my confidence until I saw all the lace bras and panties that consisted of a few straps and a hole in the middle. Ninety percent of the collection screamed, "I'm a slut." I wasn't a prude, but even the thought of wearing anything like that made me uncomfortable.

"Here, try this. It would wrap your big boobs nicely." Nessa stepped toward me and pressed a red lace bra to my shirt.

I held it against my chest and looked into the mirror. It was see-through with delicate rose flowers in the nipple areas. I kept staring at my reflection while Nessa and Damara became busy looking for the new sets for themselves. I definitely was the only one who felt out of place there. I sighed heavily and turned my head toward the window. There was a gas station across the street with a red pickup truck parked by the dispenser. I couldn't tell why, but I walked closer to the window, staring at the car. A minute later, three tall and strong-built guys walked out of the gas station store and stopped by that truck. My heart started to race. They were definitely not from our pack, and all three of them looked sexy as hell!

The tallest one had long straight brown hair tied in a ponytail. He had a fierce look, emphasized by thick eyebrows and a sharply shaved beard. The second one was blond-haired and blue-eyed with a boyish look. He seemed cute, but my eyes locked on the third one—the ultimate level of sex-on-legs.

The way he combed his brown hair with his fingers made my heart skip a beat. Everything about him, from his dark-chocolate irises, sharp jaw, and defined cheekbones to each chiseled muscle, perfectly visibly underlined by the tight T-shirt he was wearing, was like the very definition of hot. The sight of him was absolutely mouthwatering. I was staring at him, watching him standing by the pickup and discussing something with those two other guys he came with. He had the most delicious and heart-stoppingly dangerous aura around him. It literally screamed "Alpha" and made me uncontrollably clench my thighs. Goddess! My wolf started to whimper as she saw him, and I could hardly restrain my urge to do the same.

Suddenly, he stopped talking with his friends, and his eyes shifted my way. I froze and might have stopped breathing. He was looking straight into my eyes while his lips produced the smuggest smile I had ever seen. I needed to swallow the excess saliva; my mouth was watering way too fast. Then his eyes went to my chest and the smile turned into a wide grin. Only when I followed his line of sight did I realize that I was still holding the damn red lace bra pressed to my chest! I blushed and hurriedly tossed it away.

"I thought I would buy that bra. It would really look good on you." I heard Nessa's voice behind my back.

I turned around, smiling nervously, and picked up the lace lingerie from the floor. "I-I think I will buy it," I said.

"You should." She grinned happily and went to the counter to pay for the few items she picked for herself.

I turned back around, looking for Mr. Irresistible, but he was already gone, and so was the red pickup truck. I sighed heavily, foolishly hoping that I would find a guy looking just as hot at my bachelorette party...