Bridenapped: The Alpha Chronicles (10 page)

Caitlin felt a wave of gratitude roll over her. They really were the best friends ever.

“Yes, that’s right! And hello, by the way, my goodness, I have not gotten a word in edgewise,” Caitlin said loudly, with a big beaming smile to the dozens of reporters. She shot Elzbetka a look, and then returned her attention to the cameras. “I’m Caitlin Bellefont, and welcome to my bridenapping!”

The reporters ate it up, and Melodee’s expression turned downright sour now that the spotlight was no longer on her.

The reporters began shouting questions at her, but Elzbetka pushed forward, stepping right in front of Caitlin.

“Today is the photo opp,” Elzbetka said loudly. “So, we’ll get some pictures of Caitlin at the table with Melodee, going over the fabric samples, and then you’ll meet outside at the pavilion tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the press conference.”

Caitlin walked over to the table with Melodee, who sat down next to her, and Elzbetka tried to sit on the other side, but Paige elbowed her out of the way and plopped down in the chair to the right of Caitlin. Lottie sat down next to Paige.

Melodee snatched the basket of fabric samples in front of Caitlin, so Caitlin grabbed a book with pictures of floral arrangements.

Caitlin leaned in close to Paige and the two of them began flipping through pages, while the cameras clicked away.

“I can’t believe that anyone even thinks that this is newsworthy,” she whispered to Paige.

“Are you kidding? You’re royalty. I like the pink roses, what do you think?”

“Is my neckline low enough?” Lottie interjected, glancing around the room. 

“Yes, and he’s still looking at you,” Caitlin assured her.

“He is. Oh my God. I don’t know what to say to him. Maybe I shouldn’t even have come.” Lottie stared at the table, blushing. Melodee shot her a look of disgust, and then returned her attention to the fabric samples.

After a few minutes, when Elzbetka realized that everybody was ignoring Melodee and photographing Caitlin and Paige, she started shooing all of the photographers out.  As they left the room, Melodee leaned in to Caitlin and whispered “I know what you did, and you won’t get away with it.  Nobody steals from me.”

Good lord, she actually thought Caitlin WANTED to be bridenapped? “I didn’t steal a damned thing from you.” As if Kristofer had been all ready to marry Melodee and then Caitlin somehow snatched him away, she thought scornfully.

Melodee’s lips peeled back from her big white veneers. “I’m going to make the next month hell on Earth for you.
Fatty
.”

Caitlin involuntarily flinched, and Melodee, with a small self-satisfied smile, got up and made her way over to where Lottie and Alexander were chatting in a corner.  Lottie held a cup of soda in her hand, and Melodee swung by and clipped her with her elbow, and made her spill it all over Alexander.

Caitlin leaped to her feet. “That does it,” she hissed, but Paige grabbed her arm. “The photographers are right out in the hall. You don’t want to make some huge commotion that’s going to be all over the news,” she said in a low, urgent voice. “Don’t worry, she’ll get what’s coming to her.”

Lottie turned and ran out of the room, crying, and Melodee flashed a huge smirk at Caitlin.  Alexander stood there looking bemused and brushing soda off his shirt front.

“Payback’s a bitch, Melodee,” Paige said just loudly enough for Melodee to hear. She hurried after Lottie, leaving Caitlin alone with Melodee, Elzbetka, and the planning committee ladies.

“Goodness, your friend certainly uses some foul language.” Elzbetka’s smile was bright and malicious.

Caitlin ignored her, and stepped closer to Melodee. “Touch my friend again, and the cameras will find out what you look like when you’re swallowing your own teeth,” she snapped, her hands balled into fists.

Melodee just flashed her another smirk, and then exchanged a triumphant glance with Elzbetka before leaving the room.

              Back at the Alpha mansion that afternoon, she waited for Kristofer to return so she could tell him that she was dismissing Elzbetka as her lady in waiting. 

                And she waited. And waited. She went into the kitchen and baked cookies and bread, to take her mind off things. Elzbetka followed her in, ignoring her protest that she didn’t need Elzbetka there.  She just sat there with a little smile on her face, making notes in her notebook.

Throughout the day, servants trooped up to her and made a big show of handing her huge bouquets of flowers with affectionate little notes from Kristofer – and every time they did that, Elzbetka’s smirk grew a little wider.

It was becoming painfully obvious that Kristofer was avoiding her.  And Elzbetka was loving every minute of it.

By the time dinner approached, she was so fed up that she flat out ordered Elzbetka to leave, and then she asked that dinner be delivered to her room.  She wrote “Do Not Disturb” on a big note which she taped on to her door, and ignored the 17 text messages and phone calls from Kristofer that started rolling in around 9 p.m. that evening.

The next morning, she woke up surly and tired.   She hid in her room and ignored Kristofer’s knock.  He called out “Caitlin? Are you in there? Can you come out for a minute?” 

She yelled “Go away!” And then sat there fuming and waited until she heard him leave.

After breakfast, Elzbetka came in to talk to her, but Caitlin shook her head. “I’m in no mood,” she said irritably. “Go deal with the press or whatever. Make plans with Melodee. I don’t care.”

“As you wish, milady,” Elzbetka said, with that tight little smile that Caitlin was coming to loathe.

Frank stood like a silent shadow by the wall as Elzbetka swept out of the room.

“Do you want to sit down? Drink some coffee?” Caitlin offered. He shook his head, expression solemn.

She leaned back in her chair and surveyed the enormous empty table.  She was waiting for Paige and Lottie to come hang out with her at the press interview, and she was bored.

“We never talk, Frank,” she said, poking at the remains of her waffle with her fork. “Are you sure you’re not hungry? Do you actually eat? I’ve never seen you eat.”

“No, I subsist entirely on oxygen,” Frank said gravely, but she thought she saw a corner of his mouth twitch in amusement.

“Ha! I made you almost-smile! And you told a
joke
! My life is complete!” Caitlin crowed in triumph. Frank nodded politely.

All right, fun time was over. “I’m going to my room until it’s time for the daily makeup and hair torture session,” she said.

The press interview session was scheduled for 1 p.m. that afternoon, and she was not looking forward to it.  However, if she wanted to get that deed back, no matter what her feelings were, she was going to have to put on her happy face and pretend to be the happiest bridenapped human ever.

Paige and Lottie came by a couple hours later and met her in the beauty salon that was located in one of the mansion’s wings. Her own beauty salon. Her own mansion. She tried to summon up some enthusiasm, and failed.

“You don’t look as happy as you did before,” Lottie pointed out. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, same old same old,” she said, as Maureen the hairdresser curled her hair with a hot iron. “Kidnapped, family going broke, and so forth. No biggie.”

“For a minute there, you looked as if you were starting to enjoy it here, though.” Lottie glanced around nervously. “You’re sure Alexander’s not here? I can’t see him again after yesterday.”

“Yes, I made sure he wasn’t here,” Caitlin said. “Although I think you’re over-reacting.”

About halfway through the makeup session, her aunt Maggie called.  Paige handed her the cell phone, as the makeup artist dabbed dark powder on to her eyebrows.

“Maggie. Is everything okay?” Caitlin asked.

“Try not to move your face,” the makeup artist chided her. “Especially your eyebrows. No frowning.”

“We can’t find your mother anywhere,” Maggie said, her voice strained. “We’ve been looking for an hour.”

Alarm shot through Caitlin. An hour? Her mother could be anywhere!

              “How did she get out?” Caitlin demanded.

              “She apparently opened her window and climbed down the eaves.”

              “Why?” Caitlin moaned. “She’s never done anything like that before!’

              “Well, with you not here, she’s just getting more and more agitated.”

              “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

              “It’s not like there’s anything that you can do about it, is there?” Maggie pointed out. “We’ll deal with it. We’ll just have to keep a better eye on her in the future.”

              “Your mom wandered off? I can go look for her,” Paige offered. “She knows me.”

              “I’ve got to go myself,” she said, standing up.

              “Wait! I’m not done!” the makeup artist wailed, flapping her hands.

              “What’s going on? Where are you going?” Frank asked, walking over to them quickly.

              “My mother is missing. I have got to go get her.”

              “You can’t leave the grounds,” he said firmly. “It’s strictly forbidden.  We’ll send people out to find her.”

              “She’s probably wandering around in the woods somewhere. If it’s anyone but me calling for her, she might not come!” She started to head for the door.

              He grabbed her arm. “Think about what you’re doing. If you leave our pack lands, it is considered a rejection of the bridenapping and your entire town will have to pay the price.” He was trying to help, she knew. But her mother’s safety might be at risk.

              “I’ll go!” Paige insisted. “Me and Lottie can go right now.” Lottie nodded, looking concerned.             

              As she stood there, torn in an agony of indecision, her aunt called back.

              “We found her,” she said breathlessly. “Priscilla just called me to tell me. They’re bringing her back to the house now.”

              “Kristofer offered to pay for nurses to help watch her…” she said hesitantly.

              “Never!” Maggie practically spit the words out.  “Rich is going to put in an alarm system that will go off if she opens any windows or doors.”

              “How will you pay for it?”

              “We’re selling off some furniture.”

              “Damned werewolves! Sorry, Frank,” she added glancing over at him. “Not you.” He shrugged. She doubted she’d hurt his feelings. Did he have feelings? It was hard to tell.  “Or you either,” she added to the makeup artist.

              “Curse me out all you want, just don’t frown, milady,” the makeup artist chided her, and Caitlin sank back into her chair.

“I’ve got to go,” Maggie said. “Sorry to bother you. We’ve got it all under control.”

“Do you?” she asked, but her aunt had already hung up.

* * *

              Caitlin tried not to look like a condemned woman walking up to her execution as she headed towards the pavilion outside the rec center. The lawn was crawling with reporters.  She paused self consciously, touching her hair, which had been shellacked into place. She wore a 50’s style red and white flowered dress which flared out at the hips and accentuated her curvy figure.

              Elzbetka up and joined her and Paige and Lottie.

              “You look rather serious. Do try to smile for the cameras,” she said with a disapproving frown.

              “Do try to shove it up your ass,” Paige snapped at her.

“What she said,” Caitlin nodded. Elzbetka responded with a look of disgust, and turned away.

Would Kristofer even be there, or had he given up all pretense? Caitlin wondered as they walked towards the pavilion.

              Melodee was standing there by the pavilion next to her father, and she gave Elzbetka a wave and a smile, and then flashed a malicious smirk at Caitlin.

              Kristofer hurried up, wearing a black hand tailored suit and shiny black shoes. Handmade, for sure.

              “Excuse me just a moment, ladies, I’d like to borrow my bride to be,” he said.

              He gently put his hand on Caitlin’s arm, and led her away from Paige and Lottie.

              “Is everything all right?” he asked her.  “Why haven’t you been answering my calls and texts? Why wouldn’t you let me in when I knocked?” He glanced over at Melodee. “And what is she doing here?”

              Caitlin saw the look of distaste on his face, and was shamefully gratified.

              Before she could answer, Elzbetka marched up to them. “What a wonderful turnout we have, sir!”

              Caitlin pasted a smile on her face as she let Kristofer lead her up the steps to the pavilion. A million thoughts were racing through her head. What the hell did Kristofer really want from her? What if she never got the deed back? Why was this dress so damn tight? Was her entire face full of makeup going to slide off onto her lap in front of millions of people?

              And why were there three chairs set up on the pavilion? She saw Kristofer look at the chairs in confusion too.

              Melodee marched up and plopped down in the chair in the middle, flashing a huge smile at Kristofer as they walked up.  She patted the seat to her right invitingly, all but drooling as she blinked her eyes at Kristofer.

              He just looked at her. “Move,” he said curtly. “I want to sit next to Caitlin.”

              “Of course!” she smiled even harder and slid over one seat. He seized Caitlin’s hand, and they sat down next to each other.

              Paige and Lottie stood on the pavilion, on the sidelines, waving supportively.

              As soon as the cameras went live Melodee twisted to face Kristofer and made a big show of fussing with his hair. Caitlin felt a killing rage burning through her; it was all she could do not to lunge at Melodee. Kristofer jerked his head away, leaning in to kiss Caitlin on the cheek.

              Taddeus strode up to the pavilion, as stone-faced as ever, and launched into a speech about this historic moment, in which a time honored werewolf tradition was revived, the melding of the human world and the werewolf, and on and on. He managed to phrase it in a way that patronized humans and indicated that Caitlin should feel lucky and honored to be allowed to be part of the werewolf world. The reporters were starting to shift where they stood, looking both bored and insulted.

              Kristofer cleared his throat loudly and cut Taddeus off.  Ignoring Taddeus’s look of anger, he quickly managed to turn things back around, praising the melding of the two cultures which allowed the werewolf race to continue. He was all charm and grace, and the female reporters positively simpered over him. So did a few of the male reporters, Caitlin noticed.

Taddeus stalked off the stage and went to stand with a small group of older werewolves, all in their 40s or 50s, all looking at Kristofer and Caitlin with open disapproval. Some of them were the clan Chieftains that she’d met on her first day, she realized. Word of her hanging out with Twyla – a cleaner, of all things! – and her casual approach to the Alpha Queen position, was spreading, she knew.

              “So, Kristofer, tell us about what inspired you to bridenap Caitlin!” one of the female reporters gushed.

              “Well, just look at her. Who wouldn’t want to bridenap her?” Kristofer beamed at Caitlin, who pasted on a big, bright smile in response. Despite her anger at him, his charming smile was working its magic, and she could feel herself starting to thaw.

              “And what was your reaction to this bridenapping?” the reporter asked.

              “Well, of course I was completely shocked,” Caitlin said truthfully. “I just did not see that coming. Never in a million years. I didn’t even know that he liked me until I got the invitation to my own wedding.”

              “And once the shock wore off?” the reporter asked eagerly.

              Oh, God. Here it came.

              “Well,” she said, gazing at him. “He’s the handsomest man I’ve ever seen in my life.  He is incredibly chivalrous and romantic. He’s done everything possible to make sure that I enjoy every minute of my day here.” She had to admit to herself, every word she’d just said was true.

              And she knew damned well she hadn’t answered the question, really, but it seemed to satisfy the reporter.

              “He sounds like a dream come true! So tell me about what life is like here in the werewolf village,” the reporter continued.

              “Oh, I’m sure she’d much rather talk about the wedding planning!” Melodee interrupted. “You know, originally she was going to try to plan it herself, but then she came to me and admitted she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She said she felt like a complete
idiot
and she knew she’d screw everything up horribly if she even tried. She
begged
me to help her, and I had to drop everything and rearrange my schedule completely, but of course I did. This is an incredibly important event for our town, and I couldn’t possibly leave it in her hands. It has to be done right.”