The Mating Game: Big Bad Wolf (12 page)

Her mother and Frasier weren’t taking any chances. They scheduled the mating ceremony for that afternoon.

They tossed a big, ugly, white frothy dress in to the room along with a couple of bottles of water. Daisy gulped hers down greedily.

After a couple of hours passed by, Tritan threw the door open and barked at her “Put the dress on.  Wouldn’t want to keep the groom waiting.”

“Kiss my fat ass,” Daisy snapped at him.  He gave a snort of disgust and slammed the door shut again.

“God, this dress is fugly,” Jasmine said as she helped Daisy get dressed.

“And therefore perfectly appropriate for a forced wedding to the world’s biggest barf-bag.” Daisy stared down at the dress with disgust. “There is now a ruffle shortage in the northern hemisphere, and it’s all thanks to me,” she said.

The door flew open and Tritan stood there, glowering. “Don’t try anything,” he snapped at them.

Daisy and Jasmine were led out of the room by half a dozen armed guards, and marched through the woods, towards her pack’s mansion, off in the distance.

“Any time now,” Daisy muttered.

“Don’t worry, they’re coming,” Jasmine whispered to her.

Then she heard it.

The howling.

A lone voice rose, an eerie, portentous sound that made the hair at Daisy’s nape stand on end. Another voice joined it, then another, the song punctuated by the staccato yipping of coyotes.

“What is that?” her mother cried in panic. “I thought he gave up! He said he wasn’t engaged to her anymore!”

Jasmine’s expression should have made her shrivel up on the spot. “Lady, it’s a good thing you’ve got money, because you sure haven’t got brains.”

Before Phyllis could open her mouth to retort, the first of the wolves burst into the clearing, hackles raised, teeth viciously bared. He was a massive beast with thick fur broken above one eye by a pale scar. Daisy knew him at once. He’d come for her.

He was followed by more of his pack…and more…and more. They padded through the trees and poured into the clearing, moving with a single purpose. She saw Harriet, dainty even in her animal form, but snarling perhaps more fiercely even than Ryker. Lem ran beside her, panting, all salt-and-pepper fur, long and lean – almost whippet-like.

The Sheffields and the Bennetts were thrown into confusion. Phyllis turned to run, and a rather ragged-looking wolf pelted after her. It was Jasmine’s grandmother. Daisy didn’t envy her mother. Marta worked twelve-hour shifts dealing with belligerent drunks who’d lost a fight with the pavement. A skinny socialite whose idea of exercise was lifting her pinky finger when she drank her tea didn’t stand a chance.

Cadence ran straight for Larissa, bowling her over before she had a chance to shift and clamping her jaws around her throat, not hard enough to kill her, but hard enough to let her know it was an option. Daisy felt a tiny pang of disappointment that she hadn’t been given the chance to kick the treacherous bitch’s ass herself, but it was quickly lost in a swelling of gratitude that her friend had come to her when she needed her the most.

And she wasn’t the only one. That sleek gray wolf had to be Mrs. Finster, and Frasier’s thug Tritan went down under a ferocious assault by Jorge, Paulo’s father. Jorge certainly wasn’t drunk today – he moved with absolute determination and control. Despite his smaller size, the coyote held his ground, and Tritan showed his yellow streak, submitting almost at once.

Among the throng she spotted her school principal, two or three other teachers from the school, as well as half a dozen older students they obviously hadn’t been able to keep away. It wasn’t the most conventional field trip, but then they weren’t the most conventional kids.

A Bennett wolf turned snarling on a coyote cub. Daisy started to shift even before she’d finished tearing off the ugly frou-frou wedding dress. Seams ripped. Satin tore. Sequins scattered onto the leaf mulch on the forest floor. She threw herself into the fight, releasing the fear and frustration and hopelessness she’d felt while she’d been held captive.

* * * * *

Ryker felt relief flood through him as he saw that Daisy was alive and unharmed. He wanted to stop and shift, scoop her up in his arms, carry her away and keep her safe forever. But he had a score to settle first. A sharp bark caught his attention, and he saw Wynona, heavyset and glossy- furred, bounding after Frasier Sheffield. He was running away from the fight, like the coward he was.

Ryker join the chase, easily outpacing Wynona, despite the fact that she moved like lightning. She might be Daisy’s aunt, not her mother, but she was powered by the fury of a she-wolf whose cub has been threatened.

He leaped onto Frasier’s back and the two of them went tumbling over and over in the leaves. Ryker pinned his mate’s kidnapper to the ground, and the sniveling little cur exposed his belly, whining. Submitting.

Ryker coughed a bark of agreement and sat back, releasing Frasier. He turned his head to glance back at Wynona, who was trotting back towards the fight, satisfied that Ryker had this covered. And then Frasier lunged at him, snarling, going for his throat.

Just as he’d expected.

With one huge paw, he swatted the other wolf out of the air in mid-leap. Frasier hit the ground hard, skidding through the fallen leaves. He lay there panting, his flanks heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

Ryker prowled over, opened his jaws, and ripped out the bastard’s throat.

* * * * *

The polished, snooty, high society Sheffields and Bennetts had been hopelessly outclassed by Ryker’s pack and the scrappy band of teachers and students. Only a handful were still fighting, and they were tiring fast. There would be no help coming for them – the human police didn’t get involved in pack wars, and anyone with any political clout in the shifter world was either cowering in a group with the other battered socialites or part of the ring of angry wolves and coyotes guarding them.

Ryker came loping up to Daisy, and changed back into human form.

“Where is Jasmine?” Daisy demanded in alarm.

Ryker pointed at a lean brown coyote who was wrestling a member of the Bennett pack to the ground.

“She’ll be fine,” Ryker said to Daisy. “She’s a scrappy one. I’d hate to have her mad at me.”

Then he took her face in his hands. “I hope you know I only told the reporters that our engagement was off so I could fool your mother and Frasier. I wanted their packs to lower their defenses.”

“Jasmine told me that. She said that she’d just come here as an advance scout,” Daisy said. “But I already knew. When I saw that picture of you and your pack, nothing that you said in the story sounded like it came from you.  My mother didn’t take into account how well I know you and your family.  I trust you. I believe in you. And I believe in us.”

One week later, Daisy sat in Ryker’s office at Big Bad Wolf Apparel, holding Ryker’s hand and waiting to hear the news. The day they’d brought Daisy back, they’d announced that they were no longer seeking traditional investments.  Instead, they were taking the company public and using a crowdfunding campaign to finance it. It was an incredibly risky move, and the future of the pack depended on it.

However, there had been an enormous wave of publicity after the Harrison Pack’s rescue of Daisy and Jasmine. It fed into Ryker’s image as a badass; what could be more Alpha than invading another pack’s territory and rescuing your kidnapped mate?

Not only that, but Jasmine had been hired to work for the company as a designer. It gave the company even more street cred to have a teenage graffiti artist designing clothing for them. She was on probation for her revenge graffiti spree, which actually made her even more popular.

They’d done an initial, secret private offering in what was known as “stealth mode” to get feedback from the securities commission and investigate whether an IPO would be viable. Daisy didn’t understand the details and it made her head hurt when Walt kept trying to explain it to her, but if the response was positive, then the company would survive and the pack could keep their land.

Walt walked in the door with a somber look on his face. He cleared his throat and looked sad.

“Well, I’ve got news,” he said, his voice grim.

“What?” Jasmine cried out, looking up from a new jacket design she’d been sketching. “It didn’t work?”

“Oh no,” Daisy said in dismay.

“Cut it out, Walt,” Ryker said in annoyance. He glanced at Daisy. “I know him too well. He’s being a drama queen. If things were really going badly, he’d come in here and try to cheer us up and put a positive spin on things.”

“All right, fine, way to ruin a man’s dramatic moment,” Walt grumbled. Then he grinned at them. “Huge, overwhelming, crazy success. People are throwing money at us. The crowdfunding campaign is going wild, and we’re going to go ahead with the IPO.”

Daisy fell into Ryker’s arms as a wave of relief rushed through her. She’d been petrified that all the controversy surrounding her would be the pack’s downfall.

The factory could expand and they could hire more people.  The rec center would be funded.  The pack would be able to stay on their land, and pay it off so they’d never be at risk for losing their homes again.

“So does this mean that I’ll get my own office?” Jasmine asked.

“Yes, but you still have to go to school in the morning and you’ll be working for us twenty hours a week during the school year,” Daisy said.

“Aww, man.” Jasmine looked at her with dismay. “I risked my furry hide for you! And I still have to go to school?”

“Boo hoo. Yes, until you are sixteen, it’s the law. You can work here full time over the summer,” Daisy said. “Just be happy your salary is good enough to get you and your grandmother a nicer place, and she doesn’t have to go back to work.”

“Fine,” Jasmine muttered with a shrug.

“Hey, what’s she doing?” Ryker asked. “Is she carving a likeness of you with devil horns into my desk?”

“Let it be,” Daisy advised him. “It’s a Jkat original. Someday it will be worth millions.”

* * * * *

It was crisp and clear on the day of Ryker and Daisy’s wedding, which took place in the clearing by the swimming hole, with the whole pack and most of Daisy’s coworkers in attendance. Cadence and Wynona were her maids of honor.  News helicopters buzzed overhead. 

Daisy’s wedding dress was sleek ivory silk, with nary a ruffle in sight. Ryker looked splendid in an matching tuxedo.

They were taking a ten day honeymoon, and when they came back, the rec center would be finished.  Ryker had handed the reins as CEO of his company over to his uncle, and had joined the board of directors for the rec center.  He was drawing up plans for an extension of the rec center to be built on pack property, along with a summer camp, for at-risk students.  Ryker would teach them horseback riding and farming, and provide summer jobs for them.

After the wedding ceremony, Harriet bawled like a baby as she watched Daisy and Ryker walking hand in hand through the clearing towards the dirt road where Ryker’s pickup truck was parked. The fact that Daisy had worn the wedding dress sewn for her by Harriet and Marge meant more to her than she could ever express.

Of course, Ryker had threatened Harriet with actual violence if she didn’t stop demanding a specific date that she could expect cubs.

Harriet had ignored him.

“Give me your kerchief,” she sniveled to Lem as they trailed behind the happy couple.

“I’m using it,” he said, dabbing at his eyes. “My allergies.”

“Oh, you big baby.” But then she grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. “Aren’t they the most gorgeous couple?”

“Sure are,” Lem said, and honked into his kerchief.

As the wedding party walked up to the road, Cadence, who was Daisy’s bridesmaid, let out a cry of alarm.

“Oh, my God, your car has been vandalized!” she said.

Daisy peered at the truck. She recognized the style of graffiti. “Nope, that’s just spray-paint by Jasmine. That must be her wedding present to us.”

“Are you kidding?” Jkat called out from the crowd of shifters. “I’m sending you a bill! That’s a Jkat original!”

Daisy flashed her a grin.

“Goodbye, everybody! Thank you for the best day of my life!” she called out to them, and Ryker did a deep, dramatic bow to the crowd before opening Daisy’s door for her and helping her climb in to the truck.

As they drove away, she stuck her hands out the window and waved at the crowd behind them.

“I’m surprised your mother isn’t following us,” Daisy said, glancing in the rearview mirror to make sure.

Ryker laughed. “Are you kidding? Of course she is, she’s just too cagey to let you spot her,” he said. “To spare her the trouble, I quote unquote left out our vacation itinerary for her to find. She’s just planning on meeting us there.”

“She
what
?” Daisy cried out in dismay.

Ryker snorted. “Come on, Daisy, you think I didn’t anticipate this? I booked a second destination for us under a fake name. We’ve got ten parent-free days ahead of us.”

“Oh, thank God.” Daisy slumped back in her seat in relief.

“I love you, Mrs. Ryker Harrison,” he added, stroking her knee.

“Mrs. Ryker Harrison,” she mused dreamily. “It has a very nice ring to it.”

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THE END