Animalistic Galley Fin (14 page)

Where is she? She is close and yet I can’t see…

Trent leapt on the stage and followed Arielle’s scent. It was stronger now… He ran into the dressing room. More people screamed at him. Arielle was propped up on a chair, looking as if she were high. She wore skimpy clothes and platform shoes and her makeup was half done. The woman who worked on her had abandoned her attempt and was cowering in the corner.

One of the men shrieked at the other, telling him to shoot. Trent recognized him as Frank Darbo and his instinct kicked in. He leapt through the air and mauled Darbo’s bodyguard before going after Darbo himself. He made sure he didn’t accidentally kill them. When the two were neutralized, he went after the woman. But she had already fainted.

Trent approached Arielle and licked her hand.

She opened her eyes and petted him in the head. “Oh, look a kitty. Oh my, what a big kitty you are. Look at those whiskers. Oh, your fur is so soft. And big eyes. You’re a handsome kitty, you.”

He heard chuckles from behind him. Quinn, Vanessa, and John watched him with big grins on their faces.

“I don’t think you have to worry about her being afraid of you. As you can see, she likes you very much,” said Quinn. “You’d better take her home now. Vanessa, you drive them. John and I will take care of the rest.”

Making sure there was no one else around, Trent shifted to his human form and scooped her into his arms.

Arielle giggled at him and pinched his face, pulling at his cheeks and squishing his nose. “Hey, you’re not furry. Where did the kitty go?”

“I don’t know what they gave you, but you’re tripping,” said Trent.

“I’m not,” she argued.

“You are. I can see you’re high as a kite.”

“Boo! I want kitty back.”

“She’s a funny drunk,” said John. “See you guys at home.”

~~~

When she finally came out of her stupor, Arielle felt like she hadn’t slept in weeks. It was hard to keep her eyes open. She drifted in and out from her pleasant little slumbers while she noticed people visited her bed. At one point, she was sure a doctor examined her. She finally forced herself to stay awake and found Trent was sitting at the foot of her bed.

“Trent?” she called.

He startled. “Babe, finally. You want some water?”

Her palate was extremely parched. She let out a tiny nod.

Trent poured some water from a carafe into a glass and helped her drink. The cold, clean-tasting liquid soothed her throat.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“How do you feel?” Trent helped her sit up.

“Sleepy.” Then she noticed her arm was hooked into an IV line. “What’s this?”

“Doctor’s orders. To keep you hydrated and to flush the drugs out of your system.”

“Doctor?” She looked around. It didn’t seem like she was in a hospital room. The bedroom she was in was tastefully decorated by a high end interior designer. “Where am I?”

“Quinn’s place. We called our private physician to take a look at you. Darbo had drugged you.”

“Ah, yeah, that piece of shit. He wanted to take embarrassing pictures of me and blackmail me.”

“We gathered that. Quinn questioned Darbo yesterday. Darbo’s plan was backfiring though. You were too zonked out to even stand up. You had a low tolerance to the drug he gave you.”

“Is that so? I rarely take medication even when I’m sick. What happen to Darbo? How did you find me?”

Trent took her hand and kissed it. He looked as if he’d just taken a shower. His hair was damp and his shirt smelled like fresh laundry. Suddenly, she was overcome with the urge to hug him and bury her face in his chest. Damn, she missed him so much and they were only apart for a few hours.

Wait… did he say Quinn questioned Darbo
yesterday
?

“How long have I been out?” she added.

“About two days. Vanessa helped me locate the pay phone you used to call me. Then, I tracked your scent. It brought us to Darbo’s club. Darbo is in Riker’s now, facing kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. His men, the same. Some were in the hospital. I was a bit too rough on them. Quinn used his connections to keep them from making bail or talking. Darbo will stay locked up until his trial.”

“That’s good news.”

“Now that you’re up, everybody wants to see you. Especially mom. She’s been driving me nuts for not being able to protect you.”

“But that’s not your fault.”

“Tell that to her.” Trent started to get up when she stopped him.

“Wait. Stay with me for a while,” she begged.

Trent abandoned his attempt to leave. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms.
God.
Arielle closed her eyes and held on to him tighter. It felt like home. There was no other person in the world she wanted to be with at this very moment beside him. His scent and warmth and presence comforted her. He was the only man for her. The other part of her soul.

From now until eternity.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Trent kissed the top of her head. “For what?”

“For bailing on you. It was so selfish; after everything you did for me.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m the one who should have told you the truth in the first place.”

She pulled back and smiled. “I can see why you didn’t. I’d have thought you were crazy. I never would have believed shifters were real.”

Trent smiled. He tucked a stray hair from her face behind her ear. His eyes were gentle. Kind. The eyes she often found herself lost in.

“I take it you’re not afraid of me anymore?”

She studied his expression. “I started to see the appeal of a guy with fur. I dig it.”

One of his eyebrows arched high. “You like the furry version of me better. You kept calling me big kitty and complimenting my pretty whiskers.”

“Did I? Ah. Did I say something embarrassing when I was high?”

“Not telling.”

“Trent!”

“You said you love me.”

Oops.
“Did I?”

“You did.”

Whoa. Embarrassing indeed. Her cheeks blushed.

“Well?” Trent prodded her. His emerald eyes glittered.

“I do,” she admitted. “It took some soul searching to realize it, but I do. When I thought there might be a chance I would never see you again, I felt like my heart was breaking. It hurt more than finding my apartment in flames or catching Chris with Sabrina.”

Trent’s expression was priceless. He pulled her against him and kissed her hard. Warmth flooded into her from his lips, cocooning her in a heady, bubbly champagne feeling that she loved so much. He was the first man who made her feel that way.

When he finally let her go, she thought she was high again.

“Well? How about you?” she ventured. She needed to hear it from his lips once again, even though she already knew the answer.

Instead, Trent lavished her with a wicked grin. He twirled a lock of her hair and whispered dangerously, “Let’s go home and I’ll show you how much I love you.”

Epilogue

Three months later…

Autumn in Aspen was spectacular.

It was even prettier than a New England autumn; Arielle had to admit it. The fall foliage had completely changed color into a wide array of yellows and oranges, and yet the leaves still clung to the branches. The weather was lovely, a brisk forty-two degrees, with a chill in the wind that signaled snow was on the way. It was the eve of Halloween and Vanessa and Quinn’s wedding incorporated a spooky theme into it.

She would be wearing white and the bridesmaids would wear cream-colored gowns. The autumn and Halloween themes were infused in flower bouquets and table decorations. Elegant yellow and white roses graced carved pumpkins on the tables. It was an outdoor wedding, and since it was held late in the afternoon, by the time the banquet was served, it was twilight. Hundreds of lantern and candles were lit along with dozens of outdoor fireplaces.

Arielle had to hand it to Savannah for picking up such a lovely spot to host a grand wedding. The event was held on the Alexander family estate in Aspen, Colorado with an extensive guest list of extended family from both sides, friends and acquaintances – more than nine hundred people were invited to the ceremony. Arielle suspected that half of them weren’t even human. They were so good at blending in, she couldn’t tell who was shifter and who was human.

After she was enlightened about the existence of others, she devoted her time to assimilating and studying shifters. She learned that some people could change into species other than tigers, like wolves, lions, ravens, and even bears. Trent and his family introduced her to the underground world of shape shifters living among humans in New York. They were not much different than normal humans. They faced the same problems, normal people did and Arielle found that very fascinating.

About two weeks ago, Arielle quit her job at the firm to work pro bono with a local legal defense office that specialized in helping shifters with legal problems. Trent supported her decision and was proud of her, while she was happy she was able to practice law once again. If she liked how things turned out, she wanted to start her own firm specializing in helping supernatural clients.

Trent touched her shoulder. “We’re ready to start.”

Arielle smiled. “I’ll tell them.” She hurried to the main house where the bride and the rest of the wedding party anxiously waited for the ceremony. Vanessa looked so gorgeous in her wedding dress, a beautiful Vera Wang bespoke gown, and Savannah had also flown in a makeup artist and hair stylist from LA. When they finished their magic, Vanessa was transformed into a perfect magazine bride.

The doting mothers went first to take their place in the pew. Then the bridesmaids lined up behind the bride. Two adorable flower girls walked down the aisle before Vanessa.

A live string quartet played “Here Comes the Bride,” as Vanessa’s dad took her hand and walked into the garden, where the groom awaited. As if the weather had conspired with the wedding planners, the moment Vanessa’s dad handed his daughter to a beaming Quinn, a soft breeze swept past them, swirling golden leaves into the air, making the atmosphere most enchanting. Arielle felt like she was witnessing a fairytale wedding.

It was magical.

The bride and groom exchanged vows. Trent was the best man, and he handed them the rings. Then the priest declared Quinn and Vanessa to be husband and wife. When Quinn lifted his wife’s veil to kiss her, elation filled his handsome face. Their kiss beat any Hollywood movie’s romantic kiss.

Arielle didn’t realize she was crying until Trent handed her some tissues. It was a beautiful ceremony and she was happy for Quinn and Vanessa. They were a beautiful couple and very much in love with each other.

As the photographer snapped pictures of the bride and groom with the bridesmaids and family, the guests were escorted to the banquet tables. When the photo session was finished, Vanessa pulled Arielle aside and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you so much for helping me plan this wedding and for keeping my mother and sisters out of my hair,” she said as she pulled at the bodice of her dress. “I hate wearing dresses, but hey, at least I look awesome, right?”

“What you talking about? You looked absolutely breathtaking,” said Arielle. “Didn’t you see Quinn’s face earlier? He could eat you up in one bite.”

“Ah, I know that look very well. That means I won’t be getting much sleep tonight.”

The two laughed together. During the past three months, she and Vanessa had become close friends. As humans in a shifter family, they stuck together. And it turned out that they had a lot in common since Vanessa wasn’t getting along that well with her own sisters.
I love them
, Vanessa had once said,
but I don’t like them. If we were running away from a horde of zombies, I’d have no qualms about tripping them.

“You’re terrible,” said Arielle, still chuckling.

“I know, right? I can’t wait to help you plan your wedding. It’s next spring, right?”

Arielle smiled. She unconsciously rubbed the engagement ring that Trent had given her last weekend. He had asked her to marry him and she had said yes. The ring was an Alexander family heirloom and had once belonged to Trent’s grandmother. It was a three carat blue diamond with a ruby set on either side. She didn’t want to think about how much it was actually worth. The rock was insured by Lloyds of London for a pretty penny. Because of that, she only wore it to formal functions. She wished that her mom could see it. Her parents would adore Trent. “We haven’t set the date yet, but we want a small, intimate ceremony. We even think about Vegas sometimes.”

Vanessa widened her eyes. “Don’t you dare go elope to Vegas. If I had to suffer through this, then you should too, as a fellow daughter-in-law in the Alexander house.”

“You call this wedding torture?”

Vanessa managed to look sheepish. “If it were up to me, I would get married in jeans and eat pizza and beer afterward. But I think my mom and Savannah had a great time, don’t you? This party is more for them than it is for me.”

Arielle nodded in agreement. “The things we do for love.”

It was time for the bride to toss her bouquet. Stacy, Vanessa’s middle sister, was a bit wild to get the bouquet. She lurched toward it like a quarterback bulldozing his opponents for a glorious touchdown. Actually, it was kind of embarrassing to witness. Stacy caught the bouquet and danced like a maniac before she finally sobered. Arielle guessed that Stacy really wanted to get hitched soon.

At the banquet, Trent gave a speech and roasted Quinn in the toast. Then there was the feast, the cutting of the cake, and the bride and groom’s first dance. There was no DJ playing obnoxiously loud music. A string quartet played dozens of songs throughout the evening. Savannah wanted to keep it classy and it worked. The wedding of Quinn and Vanessa was one of the most memorable events in Arielle’s life.

Once the party was over and the guests had left, they retired to the house, and Vanessa’s family drove back to their hotel. Quinn and Vanessa would leave tomorrow morning for Paris; they were going to go for a two week honeymoon across Europe.