Game of Destiny Chapter 30

We arrived in the town in the afternoon and I guided Martin to the diner. I had barely got out of the car when I found myself in a hug. CeCe squealed as she hugged me. I laughed and hugged her back. 

“You look amazing!” she told me.

“Look who’s talking. You are radiating,” I said to her. She giggled.

“I am annoyingly happy,” she confessed, making me laugh.

“As you should be. Come and meet my friend,” I said and pulled her over to where Martin stood with an amused smile. “CeCe this is Martin, Martin this is CeCe, the bride to be,” I introduced them.

“Hello, and congratulations,” he said. 

“Thank you and welcome to the metropolitan we call home.” CeCe leaned in to me. “That’s not the man you left with,” she whispered. Martin could hear her with his improved hearing, and he had to fight not to laugh. 

“I know,” I whispered back. 

“Where is the other one? Did you dump him?” she continued our whispered conversation. 

“I told you, me and Finlay are just friends. He had to go on a business trip,” I explained.

“And you just had a spare hunk lying around? What is this place you have moved to and can I come as well?” she asked. Martin had to pretend to look for something in the back of his car. But my hearing and the slight shaking of his shoulders told me he was laughing. 

“CeCe!” I pretended to be shocked. “You are getting married tomorrow.”

“I know. But I mean,” she said, doing a small gesture behind Marin’s back, indicating his ass. I laughed. 

“I’m happy you haven’t changed,” I told her. She sighed and shook her head. 

“I have strict orders to escort you to the diner and then we will go to the coffeeshop. Mrs Andersen has turned the apartment over her shop into an Air BnB. Me and Jessie rented it for you.”

“CeCe! You didn’t have to. We could have stayed in the motel,” I said. 

“Ew, nasty. You are our only out of town guests. It’s only right that we put you up. But, there is only one bed,” CeCe said.

“That won’t be a problem, we will manage,” Martin told her as he reached for my overnight bag as well as his own. CeCe poked her elbow into my side. 

“Just friends, huh?” she remarked. I just rolled my eyes as we walked to the diner. It was nice to see everyone again. Mrs Jones gave me a tight hug and ushered Martin and me to a table and insisted on feeding us before we headed to her sister’s. CeCe and Jessie joined us. They both looked relaxed for a couple who had a wedding the next day. Very little had changed in town and the diner was still a meeting hub, the locals had heard about my return and many came by to say ‘hi’ and talk a little. Martin kept his word and made sure men kept a distance from me. CeCe and Mrs Jones gave me amused looks and I figured they didn’t buy my ‘just friends’ explanation. After eating and talking for a couple of hours, CeCe and Jessie took us over to the coffeeshop and Mrs Andersen gave me a tight hug before she shooed the bride and groom away. 

“Honestly, the two of them are treating this as just another party. In my days, the day you married your husband was the most important day of your life,” she huffed as she showed us the apartment. At least the apartment had changed since I saw it last. It was now decorated in an idyllic countryside chick. “I hope everything is to your liking. You know where to find me if you need me. I will let you get settled in and… sleep.” 

‘No one is buying the friends act,’ Martin mind linked me as we said goodbye to Mrs Andersen.

‘Apparently not. We are lucky we didn’t decide to pretend to be dating. They would have made tomorrow into a double wedding,’ I told him and I could see him snickering. We got ready for bed. Martin offered to sleep on the floor, which I refused. We were all adults and I trusted him. The bed was big enough for the two of us to sleep in without it being awkward. Before we went to bed, I called Finlay and Martin called Sam. Everything was going well at the meeting of the packs, according to Finlay. But I heard how tired he sounded and I knew something was up. But it wasn’t the time to talk about it. If he told me everything was fine, whatever it was that bothered him didn’t have an impact on the pack. So it could wait until we all were back home again. 

***

The day of the wedding we had breakfast with the sisters. The ceremony would take place in the afternoon out on Jessie's farm and the reception was to take place in the barn. 

“Who has heard of getting married outside? On a farm?” Mrs Andresen huffed. “It’s only proper to have the ceremony in the church.”

“Honestly Amanda, you sound like a bitter old prune. You need to get with the times. People are getting married in all kinds of exciting places nowadays. I read about a couple who did it in a hot-air balloon,” Mrs Jones told her sister. 

“Heathens the lot of them,” Mrs Andersen said. Martin and I listened while the sisters continued their bickering. 

‘I wonder what she would think about our mating ceremonies,’ Martin mindlinked me. I almost choked on my coffee picturing Mrs Andersen in her Sunday best hiking out into the middle of the woods, listening to vows being said in honour of the moon and then watching how everyone shifted into wolves. I tried hard not to laugh and gave him an accusing look.

‘Are you trying to kill me?’ I linked him back. He just gave me an innocent smile, which I didn’t buy for a moment. After breakfast I took Martin on a walk around the town to show him around. It didn’t take long, as there really wasn’t much to show. But it was nostalgic for me. Martin was sweet about it and listened to me rambling on about the place. We got a lot of attention, mostly from the single women in town. I found it hilarious watching them flirting with Martin, who categorically turned them down. It led to them giving me the stink eye, as if I was the reason he turned them down. 

We headed back to eat lunch at the diner and then got ready for the wedding. I used the same dress I had worn on my bloodening. Martin dressed in a granite-grey suit.

“You look good,” I told him.

“Thank you. You look beautiful as always,” he said. We drove out to the farm. CeCe and Jessie had hired the entire senior highschool class to act as sober drivers. It meant people didn’t need to skip the alcohol. The ceremony was beautiful. CeCe was dressed in a long, lace gown that moved in the wind. Jessie looked at her with so much love it had me in tears. Marin held out his handkerchief and I smiled as I took it.

‘Thank you,’ I mindlinked him.

‘No problem. They make a beautiful couple and it’s easy to see how much they love each other,’ he linked back. 

‘It is. I’m happy they finally took the leap.’ He gave me a look I pretended not to see. We joined in with the other guests and cheered as CeCe and Jessie said ‘I do’ and then kissed. The party that followed was in true CeCe and Jessie spirit. The barn was decorated with lace fabric and hay bales. The tables were scattered throughout the open space and were decorated with wildflowers and fairy lights. Outside there was a fleet of BBQs set up, the diner had a table with side dishes and the local bar had an open bar for the guests. Martin and I made our way to the bride and groom. I hugged them both and Marin shook their hands. 

“Congratulations! It was an amazing ceremony,” I told them. 

“Thank you. I still can’t believe we actually did it,” CeCe giggled. “Is that the dress I forced you to buy? It looks amazing on you.”

“It is, and thank you.”

“Make sure you eat and drink and have a lot of fun,” Jessie told us. 

“We will do our best,” Martin promised before we moved on to let others congratulate them. “You heard the man, time to have some fun,” Martin told me and wiggled his eyebrows. I laughed as we headed to get some food.