Mated To An Enemy

“The cliff is meant to symbolize the unknown danger you will face together,” Landon said, sipping his glass. “If you cannot overcome your basic fears together, how can the bond survive the harshness of life?”

“Yes, thank you, I am aware… NOW….” Clara sighed, rolling her eyes and giving Nessa an irritated look.

Nessa chuckled and took Clara’s hand in hers. She brought it to her lips and gently kissed Clara’s knuckles.

“What matters is that we got through it,” she said, “together.”

Clara smiled and looked at Nessa, giving her an affectionate nod.

“Wait,” Ashleigh said, looking at Clara with furrowed brows. “You two got married?”

Around the table, there was an uncomfortable silence. Caleb noticed how some turned their gaze to their plate or cleared their throats.

“Uhm, yeah,” Clara chuckled awkwardly. She looked across the table at Ashleigh, giving her a sympathetic smile. “We, uhm, we got married about two years ago.”

“Oh,” Ashleigh replied quietly.

She lowered her gaze and smiled.

“Congratulations,” she said. “Sorry, it’s so delayed.”

“Thanks,” Clara replied softly.

Silence hung in the air. Caleb knew that Ashleigh felt uncomfortable, as did Clara.

“So… Clara, does that mean you’ve joined Broken Crag? Or has Nessa officially joined Summer?” he asked.

Clara perked up at his question and glanced at Nessa with a bright smile.

“Neither, actually,” she said. “We both remained in our own packs and split our time between them both.”

Nessa nodded, smiling at her wife.

“It’s been much easier to maintain than I expected,” Clara continued. “We spent so much time traveling between all the different packs to upgrade their systems and install new tech that it hasn’t been a problem. Of course, these days, we don’t do that so much anymore.”

“Why not?” Caleb asked.

“Because now, we mostly work for Alice,” Clara said brightly.

“I see,” Caleb smiled, nodding proudly.

Galen scoffed and rolled his eyes at the sight.

“Your proud papa look is still as disgusting as ever,” he sighed.

Caleb gave a soft growl.

“What is that about?” Nessa asked, looking between the two men.

“Nothing,” Galen said, “just that Caleb specifically picked Clara out to be trained in strategic planning. So now, hearing that she’s working for Alice, the queen of strategy, he’s feeling pretty good about himself.”

“There is nothing wrong with being able to identify talent early,” Caleb replied.

Galen rolled his eyes while the others laughed.

They chatted more about what Clara and Nessa had done over the last several years. Bell also updated Caleb on many changes she had made within the hospital of Summer and the research she had introduced. He found himself comforted by the excitement in her voice as she talked about the plans she had.

Somehow, the conversation returned to the subject of weddings. Caleb looked over at Ashleigh, but she no longer seemed upset.

“All I’m saying is that it would have been nice if the Alpha of Winter had actually gotten married in Winter…” Corrine sighed.

Caleb turned back to the conversation, unsure of what he had missed.

“We had a reception in Winter,” Axel replied irritatedly.

“Wait,” Caleb interrupted, “what did I miss?”

He turned to Axel.

“Your wedding wasn’t held in Winter?” he asked.

Axel sighed.

“It wasn’t held in the territories at all,” Corrine said, not holding back her irritation.

Caleb furrowed his brow and turned to Corrine.

“What does that mean?”

“Alice and I decided that we—” Axel began.

“It means,” Corrine interrupted, “that they had false identities created to be legally married as humans.”

Caleb’s eyes widened. He looked at Axel, who sighed and nodded.

“Not only that, Myka was their only witness,” Corrine added. “At a courthouse.”

“Wow… did not expect that…” Caleb said.

“Nor did I,” Corrine huffed.

“Mom, it’s been three years. When are you going to let this go?” Axel asked.

“When one of your children runs off and has a secret wedding without you, and you can finally understand how I feel, I will let it go.”

Axel chuckled and said, “If one of ours manages to keep a secret from Alice, I’ll be too impressed to feel hurt.”

Corrine rolled her eyes and sighed.

Caleb turned to Alice. She sat quietly, a gentle smile on her lips.

“So,” he said, “what was the reason?”

Alice lifted one brow with a questioning look.

“You don’t do anything without a reason,” Caleb smiled. “So there had to be something special about having your wedding like that.”

Alice smiled and lowered her gaze. She cleared her throat and then looked back up at Caleb.

“As wolves, our marriage vows under the full moon, with a witness, is all we need,” Alice began. “Humans require a legal document to be married. On that legal document, the bride and groom's parents are also listed.”

Alice took a breath and smiled.

“It was a way to include my mother in my life.”

Caleb smiled and nodded.

“How surprisingly sentimental of you,” he said gently.

Alice said nothing, only giving him a playful grin before turning to Corrine.

“You should know Axel wanted a formal ceremony in Winter,” she said. “But since we had confirmed our mate bond long before we married, I didn’t think it was right to do so, based on Winter’s customs.”

Corrine took a deep breath and sighed.

“I can see why you would think that,” she said, “and I can understand now why you wanted to be married as a human.”

Corrine reached out and hugged Alice close.

“I’m sorry for getting upset and never actually asking why,” she whispered.

“It’s okay,” Alice said, hugging Corrine.

Corrine turned to look at Axel as she and Alice pulled away with warm smiles. Her smile fell, and her expression changed to irritation.

“But you should have told me much sooner instead of keeping quiet and telling me it wasn’t a big deal,” she growled.

Axel opened his mouth to defend himself, but instead, he sighed heavily and turned to Caleb.

“This would be a great time to go ahead and change the subject.”

Caleb laughed but turned to Peter and Myka.

“So, what about you two? Are you married now?” he asked.

Chuckles and covered, knowing smiles spread out across the table.

“What a great, great question, Caleb,” Myka said, a wide grin spreading over his face as he turned to Peter. “Isn’t that a great question, Peter?”