Authors: Nicole Bailey
The store and restaurant were closed early the next
afternoon so that everyone could go to the ceremony.
Fridays were good days to get bound in the witch culture. I
helped Nat with her dress and her maman did her hair. By
early evening, the guests started to arrive.
Nick’s entire pack showed up, along with his parents.
The rest of our circle, minus Ky and Marco, were also in
the backyard. Nat and I were talking just outside the
backdoor before things got started.
“Does this feel weird at all to not have Ky here?” I
asked Nat.
“Yeah,” she answered. “But he’s kind of an outcast
now.”
“I know. And most of me hates him. He’s done so much
to try and hurt Nick and I, but the five of us were a circle.
We’ve known each other our entire lives. Besides you, he
was my best friend. I miss him,” I said sadly.
Nat’s eyes went wide and I realized someone must be
listening in. Not just someone, but most likely Nick. I
turned slowly and met his eyes. It was that heartbroken
look all over again. The one he gave me the night he
walked out on Ky kissing me at Spring Fling. His eyes
turned dark, angry, and before I could say anything or even
take a step towards him, he shifted and was gone.
“Ah crap,” Nat said. “This is not good.”
“Oh, Nat. I’m so sorry. Like you need any drama right
now. You’re about to start the ceremony.” Tears filled my
eyes. I didn’t know how to fix this. I didn’t know if
anything I ever said or did would make up for what Nick
just heard me say. I recognized his howl then and my tears
spilled out and down my cheeks.
Nat put her arms around me. “Go fix this,” she said.
“We’ll wait. And stop crying, your mascara will run.”
“No, I’m not ruining the best day of your life. I’ll try to
talk to him later. But, Nat, what if I can’t make it better?”
“You will. Nick loves you more than life,” she tried to
comfort me. I didn’t believe her. He hated Ky more than
anything, had almost killed him once and had punched him
in the face on more than one occasion. Hearing me say that
I missed him would’ve broken him.
Nat’s mom, Adeline walked up, “Êtes-vous prêts?”
“Uh…” Nat hesitated.
“Oui, Adeline. We’re ready,” I answered for her. I was
not about to ruin my best friend’s binding ceremony with
my marriage drama. She deserved a perfect day.
The three of us made our way to the altar where Jack
was already waiting for Nat. He was dressed in black linen
pants and a white button-up shirt. I noticed he was barefoot
like Nat. Everything was set up on the altar—the candles,
paper, athame, and I had the ribbon in my hands ready to
bind their wrists. Nat had asked me to do it rather than her
maman. She told me it was because I was the one who
finally pushed them together.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned
in time to see Nick sliding into a seat at the back. It filled
me with hope that he realized I never meant to hurt him.
Or
maybe he just didn’t want to ruin your friends’ day either,
the realistic side of me thought.
Nat was the one to do the ceremony since females were
the dominant ones in witchcraft. I couldn’t help but get
misty eyed. I thought about my binding to Nick and felt
moisture on my face again. I almost missed my cue to tie
their wrists together.
When I finished the bow, I handed her the lavender I
brought and said, “Blessed be this union with the gifts of
the East. Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the West. Blessed be
this union with the gifts of the North.”
“So mote it be,” the rest of the witches said in unison. I
untied the ribbon and Jack lifted Nat in his arms and kissed
her passionately.
“Hey, get a room,” Dash shouted out. Everyone laughed
and they broke apart. Nat was blushing, but surprisingly
Jack wasn’t.
“Time to par-tay!” Nat shouted.
I saw Nick get up and turn to leave. I tried to push my
way through the crowd that was now surrounding the
newlyweds, but couldn’t get to him in time. I saw a streak
of fur run off into the woods. I was defeated. I made my
way to the dinner table under the twinkle lights and
collapsed in a chair.
I felt someone brush me as they sat down and said,
“Cosa c’è?”
I looked up to Luca and answered, “Nothing’s wrong.
Why do you ask?”
“I’m not stupid, Sof. I know when something’s wrong
with you. You look miserable; I can tell you’re crying and I
just saw Nick take off as a wolf.”
“Is it that obvious?” I asked pathetically.
“Sì,” he smiled.
I wiped at my cheeks. “It’ll be fine. He just overheard
me say something that he didn’t like.”
“Oh no, what’d you say now, bigmouth? You’re too
much like Babbo. You don’t think before the words come
out,” he shook his head at me.
“I was talking to Nat and mentioned that it felt weird
not to have Ky here. I mean even Renata and Enzo came. I
figured they would be keeping their distance since they still
don’t like the wolves.”
“It’s just Nick they don’t like. Because he stole you
away from Ky. And damn sista, I can’t believe you said that
in front of him.”
“Idiota, I didn’t know he was behind me when I said it.
I would never say anything like that with him around. I
know how mad he would be—is.” I put my head in my
hands.
“Unless you want to tell everyone here, you might
wanna buck up little camper. It’s dinner time,” he said
while elbowing me in the side. I wiped at my eyes again
before lifting my face to smile as people started to sit down.
Leave it to Mamma to notice something was off.
“Where is Nico, Piccola?” I was usually quick to come up
with something. I was famous for doing it when I was lying
to Ky, but this time I was blank.
“He said he needed to check on some ‘wolf stuff’ in the
woods,” Luca answered. “He won’t be long.” Aberto
looked over and furrowed his brow, but didn’t comment.
Nick would not have left the party to check on ‘wolf stuff’.
I was grateful to him for not saying anything and gave him
a sad smile.
Adeline, with the help of Jack’s maman, Colette had
created a gigantic four course French meal. I never
understood why the cheese came between dinner and
dessert, but French cheeses were so good that I didn’t care.
“Adeline, this croquembouche is absolutely amazing,”
Dash complimented. The “wedding cake” was a traditional
French dessert. It basically looked like a huge Christmas
tree made of cream puffs, and hers were always the best.
She even made one for my sixteenth birthday.
“DJ Rene in the house!” Dash shouted as he stood up
from the table. Much to my surprise, while Nick and I were
gone in Italy, Rene offered to play some music at the
wedding. He knew only the kids would be dancing, but
thought it would be a fun way to celebrate. He even had his
own equipment.
“How did I not know this about you, Rene?” I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders in response as he went over to
the table where his turntables were set up. As the music
began and the group started to dance, I snuck away to find
Nick. I wasn’t exactly sure where I should look for him. I
didn’t know if he went home or not, so I started in the
woods where he disappeared to.
It wasn’t long before I smelled him. His scent was
slightly different as a wolf, but I knew it well. I couldn’t
see him so I called out, “Nick, where are you? I need to
explain.” He slowly came out from behind a tree. He gave
me a soft bark that I instinctively knew meant that he
wanted me to talk. “I won’t talk to you unless you change.”
He shook his head at me. “Nico Bartolini, I want to talk to
you as a person. Now shift back,” I practically yelled.
He gave in and shifted back to his handsome self. He
was wearing the suit he’d worn to our binding ceremony
and seeing him in it just then tugged at my heart. “What is
there to explain, Sofia? I heard what you said. You miss Ky,
plain and simple. I knew this was all too good to be true.
I’ve always loved you more than you’ve cared about me.”
“Stai zitto! That is not true and you know it. If you
would stop being your stubborn Italian self and listen to me
for five minutes!” I shouted. He shut up, but wouldn’t come
any closer to me, so I went to him. He didn’t move away,
but didn’t put his arms around me either. I wasn’t crying
anymore because now I was mad. Mad that he would think
I didn’t love him. Mad that he thought I would ever leave
him for Ky.
“Talk,” he said gruffly.
I took his face in my hands and stared directly into his
eyes. “I can’t believe you would say something so idiotic,”
I started.
“It’s not idiotic, it’s true,” he said flatly.
“Stop interrupting and let me finish you pig headed
jerk.” He turned his face away from me, but I forced him to
look at me. “I have absolutely no romantic feelings for Ky.”
His chest rumbled, but I didn’t say anything about it for
once. “If you had heard the entire conversation instead of
just the end, you would know that. Nat and I were talking
about how sad it was that he wasn’t there. We’ve known
each other since we were babies and he’s always been a
part of our circle. I meant that I missed the old him. Not the
him in love with me.”
His chest got louder. “But the Ky that was my best
friend. The six year old boy who put rubber cement on my
seat the first day of Kindergarten. The twelve year old that
picked me up off the ground when I slipped on the ice in
front of my house and split my lip open. That’s the guy I
miss. I’ve never been in love with him, nor will I ever be.
You are my true mate.” His face softened at my use of the
wolf term. “You are my other half. My love, my life, my
best friend. I bound myself to you for all of those reasons
and more. And there is no way that you love me more.”
He leaned in and kissed me then. Like really kissed me.
It was exactly like the very first kiss we ever had. Hungry,
passionate, desperate. It was amazing. We stood there like
that for several minutes before he pulled back to look at
me. “It just hurt so bad,” he whispered.
“I’m so sorry. I truly didn’t mean anything hurtful by it.
Imagine if you lost one of your pack. It would be a little
upsetting, no?” I asked. He just nodded. “Please don’t ever
doubt me again. Nothing could ever change my love for
you.”
I kissed him then and he backed me into a tree. Both of
us were breathing hard. My hands were tangled in his hair,
his lips moved down my neck to my bare shoulder as his
hands started to move up my thigh. I heard someone clear
their throat and we jumped apart like we’d just been caught
when we were secretly dating.
“Dude, I’m so sorry,” Tristan started. “Aberto sent me
to come look for you, Nick. He was worried since Luca
made up some story about why you left. Is everything good
here? What am I saying, of course it is. Sorry again,” he
rambled on and practically ran from us.
We both burst out laughing. “That was slightly
awkward,” I said as Nick wrapped me in his arms.
“What was he talking about anyway?”
“Oh, Luca found me moping at the dinner table and I
told him what happened. So when everyone came over to
eat and Mamma asked where you were, Luca told her you
had to go do some ‘wolf stuff’.” He laughed so hard I could
feel him shaking as he held me tight.
“Classic Luca. What does my dad have to do with
anything?”
“Oh, I caught him looking at me funny like he knew
that’s not why you left,” I answered. “By the way, you
missed the most amazing dinner. And there might not be
any left with all those werewolves there. You guys are kind
of pigs.”
“I am pretty hungry. Let’s go check. We’ll finish this
business later,” he grinned wickedly as he playfully bit my
neck.
Back at the party, the music was loud and our friends
were all dancing. Ky’s parents were gone, but the other
adults were visiting at the table. “Finally,” Mamma
practically shouted as we walked up to them. She blushed,
but I couldn’t figure out why. I didn’t think Tristan would
have told on us.
There wasn’t any food left so Nick and I went over to
where the others were dancing. When Nat saw me, she
smiled and said, “You’ve got a little somethin’ somethin’
right about here.” She pointed to my neck.
“Oh crap, no wonder Mamma blushed. What is it?” I
moved my hair all the way off my neck and Nick inspected
it.
“Oops, my bad,” he grinned sheepishly.
“What already?” I yelled.
Right then, Dash walked up. “Nice hickey, Sof,” he said
as he fist bumped Nick.
“Are you freakin’ kidding me?” I turned and faced
Nick. He shook his head. “That is so gross.”
“What happened, Sof? Were you attacked by the big
bad wolf in the woods?” Luca teased as he joined in. I
pulled my hair back so that it wrapped all the way around
my neck. I was the one blushing now.
“Are we done dancing yet?” Jack whined as he came
over. He wrapped his arms around Nat’s waist and kissed
her cheek.
“Hells yeah,” she spun around to face him. “Let’s get
the rock outta here!”
Nick raised his eyebrows at me and I announced that
we were leaving as well. “I guess the party’s over,” Dash
yelled to Rene over the music.
“Thanks again, Rene,” Nat yelled as Jack picked her up
and threw her over his shoulder.
The next week came and went without anything
spectacular happening. Mamma gave Nat the entire week
off so she and Jack could spend some time hibernating
since they didn’t have enough money saved yet to go
anywhere for a honeymoon. They thought of going back to
Mexico, but decided to save up for France instead.
Nick worked all day at the restaurant, I helped at the
store everyday to help Mamma. Nick patrolled most nights.
Gia was still seeing Rene and we went out with them and
Dash and Helene one night. I told Luca to back off because
of what I suspected about Gia.
Surprisingly, he didn’t stick up for her, but agreed with
me. “I trust your instincts. You knew something special was
going on with you and Nick and you always seem to know
the right spells to use,” he said one night. Babbo was home
for once in the evening and we had a big family dinner.
I still wouldn’t share any of my suspicions about Gia
with Mamma. She always wanted to see the good in people.
I never saw Ky around town and assumed he had finally
given up on me and decided to keep his distance. I hoped
he was afraid of Nick at last.
Marco came in to the store one day for a new athame. I
conveniently had to do something in the office while he
was there. I was a little surprised that Mamma would still
serve him, but when I asked her about it, she said,
“Business is business. Where else will they get their
supplies?”
When Nat and Jack finally left their apartment, we all
went to dinner one night at Monte’s. Luca wasn’t working
because he had started taking some night classes for his
photography.
“So… how was the honeymoon?” Dash grinned,
turning to Jack.
“Even
you
can’t ruin the high I’m on,” Jack replied.
The rest of us laughed.
“You never told me about your honeymoon,” Gia said
to me. “Did you visit your nonna?”
“Of course. We also visited my cousins, Nick’s aunt and
Nat’s grandparents,” I answered.
“Any new spells or prophecies from Rosaria the rest of
us should know about?” she asked as she stared only at
Nick.
He actually noticed and squirmed in his seat a little.
“Uh, no,” I said. I wasn’t about to tell her about the
prophecy I found in Nonna’s book.
“Did she ever tell you why your parents all moved
here?” she asked again.
“Why do you want to know?” Nat asked suspiciously.
“That’s really not your business now, is it?”
“Well, I was just curious,” she replied innocently.
“Have any of you talked with Ky lately?”
Nick actually growled out loud and said, “Do not ever
say that name again. Capisci?”
“Sì, I understand. Mi dispiace.”
Dinner was pretty much silent after that. Nick was
angry, I was grumpy. The four of us that rode together left
everyone else and went to our apartment to watch a movie.
“I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her,” Nat turned
to me on the couch as Nick made popcorn in the kitchen.
“Me neither,” Jack added. I was a little taken aback that
he was even participating in the conversation. It wasn’t like
him to gossip with us. Nat looked at him in surprise.
“What? I’m starting to see what you ladies were talking
about,” he shrugged. Nat and I both laughed as he called us
ladies.
“I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t see her for the rest of
the summer,” Nick said, sitting down on the couch on my
other side.
“Did you see the way she was checking Nick out?” I
fumed.
“It gave me the creeps,” Nick admitted. “What do you
think she’s planning with all that stuff she got at the store?”
“I think she’s going to spell one of the guys for sure,”
Nat answered. “What I can’t figure out, is who.”
“Well, she seems to have her eye on half the guys in our
group, so who knows. But I’m keeping a closer eye on
her,” I said.
We dropped the subject for the time being and watched
our movie. We chose a classic 80’s film so the guys
wouldn’t complain about a romantic comedy.
“I will never get tired of watching that,” Nat said as she
stood to leave. The rest of us agreed and they left for their
apartment next door. It was fun having them so close and
Nat and I rode to work together on the days we both went
in.
The following week, I walked through the front door of
the apartment after work. I heard noises in the bedroom.
From the sound of it, Nick wasn’t alone. I had an ache in
the pit of my stomach. Something was not right. I
practically ran down the hall. I flung the door open and
there she was—Gia.
She was straddling Nick on the bed in nothing but her
underwear, kissing him. Nick was lying there bare-chested.
“What the hell is going on here? Nico?” I looked to him for
an answer.
Nick was silent. To say I was pissed would be a major
understatement. Gia looked over at me and smiled
wickedly. Before I had time to think, she threw a spell at
me that knocked me back on my butt.
I recovered quickly, but she had her hand raised to
throw another one. I was ready this time and blocked it
easily, but I had to think fast or I would be on the defensive
the entire time.
Nick stayed completely frozen. He was in a daze. I
couldn’t tell if it was because he couldn’t believe what was
going down in front of him, or because he was under Gia’s
spell.