Misty couldn’t believe it would be that simple to solve the issue between them. She started to laugh. “Is that it?” She beamed at Dio. “But we did!”
Dio seemed surprised. “You did?”
“Domenico told me people would ask about it but I never thought you’d care to ask.”
“Because we’re estranged?” he snapped.
“We’ve mated,” she said diplomatically instead. “Does that mean you’ll accept me then?” Privately she wondered how he could even think Domenico and she wouldn’t mate, considering how sexual his son was.
He looked at her thoughtfully. “I thought you wouldn’t be here for good.”
“I’ll be here as long as Domenico wants me to.”
“Do you truly love my son?”
Misty said simply, “Yes.”
Dio’s eyes misted, surprising her.
“Sir!”
He smiled at her, the first he had given her in all the time she had known him.
It made her cry, too.
“I had been so afraid you were yet another choice he made to spite me,” Dio confessed.
“Even if it was,” she said gently, “We fell in love with each other. The past doesn’t matter then – as it shouldn’t between the two of you.”
Dio’s training for Misty to take her rightful place as the next pack leader’s wife began the next day. It involved lessons on physical defense and the social arts of being Lyccan. When it was the full moon, Dio promised, they would try transformation. But at the moment, it was better if they didn’t try since she seemed too weak.
Misty didn’t say anything but she was privately surprised to realize that she had been turned without knowing it. But she didn’t mind. She liked the fact that she and Domenico would have another thing in common.
“Tomorrow is Foundation Day of the Lyccans,” Dio told her. “It’s the day that all packs had made a vow to unite for the defense of our race. I want you to accompany me so that I may properly introduce you as my son’s wife.”
“Are you sure I’m ready?” she asked doubtfully.
“I trained you, did I not?”
“Now I know where Domenico got his arrogance from,” she teased.
The moon was blood red the following night, which had the entire Moretti brood almost skittish. “I thought that was a good sign,” she ventured.
Alessandro shook his head. “It’s the opposite. The very worst omen, like seeing a black cat cross under the ladder while a mirror crashes into pieces and all that,” he said darkly.
She squeezed his arm. “Nothing will happen.”
When they arrived at Lyccan Hall, Misty tried to pretend she didn’t see the speculative looks going her way.
“You look beautiful tonight, daughter,” Dio murmured gruffly.
“Thank you. You’re looking great at well.”” She beamed at him. She had selected the black gown, with its heart-shaped bodice and full skirt that fell just below her knees, specifically to please Domenico, knowing it was his favorite color. But she was glad that she was able to do Dio proud as well.
“Good to see that you’re in good terms with your daughter-in-law contrary to the rumors I’ve been hearing,” Aurelius remarked as he appeared at their side and shook hands with Dio.
“You know rumors.” Dio ignored Misty’s pointed look.
“Glad to know it wasn’t true. They worried me for a while, especially when I heard that Domenico has been seen with the Hernandez princess.”
Misty stiffened.
Dio glared. “That was in the past.”
“O-of course,” Aurelius said hastily. “You know how senile we old people can be.”
Excusing herself, she headed for the restroom, saw Matilda, and made a quick detour.
“Hey, Mist---”
“I need to talk you,” Misty mumbled, dragging her friend outside the Hall and all the way to a private corner at the back. Looking straight into her friend’s eyes, she said, “Tell me the truth, Matilda. Have you been hearing rumors that my husband has been recently seen with the woman he was supposed to marry before?”
Matilda avoided her gaze. “Honey, it’s not---”
“No lies, Matilda.” Misty shook her head and her friend fell silent.
The other woman looked as beautiful and feisty as ever, in a cocktail dress that was just an inch away from looking more like a sexy lingerie piece. Matilda was notorious for her lack of tact and the fact that she was trying to spare Misty’s feelings was more worrying than reassuring.
She said shakily, “Please, Matilda, the truth.”
Matilda sighed. “Yes. I have heard rumors about your husband and Rafaella being seen together but they were just that – rumors. If it is true, it’s only because her father has long been a Moretti ally and I’ve heard that they’re the two leading our defense against the vampires.”
Misty slowly made herself relax. Matilda was right. The Hernandez and Moretti packs were long-time allies so it wouldn’t be unsurprising if people did spot Domenico and the Hernandez princess together. She had to trust Domenico for what was love without trust?
~~~
“Are you heading home straight away?” Ricardo asked as their plane landed.
Domenico nodded. “I miss my wife,” he admitted.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to miss her a bit more,” Rafaella said, joining them in a nude-colored one-shoulder gown that emphasized her slim figure to perfection. “Today is Foundation Day. Have you forgotten? We’ve promised other pack leaders to report our findings.”
Domenico frowned because he had forgotten about it.
Rafaella laughed when she saw the expression on his face even though inside, she was incensed at the thought that Domenico was so affected by the time he had spent apart from his wife he had forgotten the most important occasion in Lyccan history. How could he bear to choose an inconsequential human – and a poor and unrefined one at that – when he could have her, whose lineage was as pure as his?
“Has marriage changed and weakened you so much that you’ve gone back to who you were before? Does duty mean nothing anymore?” Rafaella taunted, knowing that the words would remind Domenico of how his father had once taunted him similarly as well.
“Rafaella!” Ricardo growled.
He stiffened. “Foundation Day has slipped my mind but now that you’ve informed me, I will, of course, drop by Lyccan Hall first.”