Free Saving Scarlett by R. E. Butler Page A

trade her like she was currency.  That little bundle growing inside their mate needed protection as much as Scarlett did.  If that meant staying in King for a while and then setting up a meeting in Ashland with the pride at their backs, then that was what they’d do, and they’d convince Scarlett it was the right plan.
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
    Monday afternoon, Scarlett ran a cloth with wood polish across the mantel in the living room.  The house was very clean, but it was important to her and her mates that everything sparkled in the room they were going to have their mating ceremony in.  In wolf packs, the mating ceremony was presided over by the alpha, and he would ask the mates if they vowed themselves to each other.  Her father would have asked if the male he had chosen for her would honor and protect her and their cubs, and the male would have answered yes, even if he was a total bastard and would treat her like crap.
    Wes put the glass cleaner on the windowsill and dropped the paper towel, coming to stand next to her.  “What’s wrong, love?”
    “I was just thinking about our ceremony and what mine would have been like if you hadn’t saved me.”
    Wes slipped his arms around her.  She rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes.  “The pride males mark their females privately.  The ceremony they have in front of the pride is really a marriage ceremony with mating vows mixed in.  Ours will be unique, but we’re a unique trio.  When we get married eventually, your family can come.”
    She peered up at him.  “I’d like that.”
    “I’m glad our dad and our uncle can be here for us, but I’m sure you miss your mom and your brothers.”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’m sorry, love.”
    “Don’t be.”  She straightened and smiled, forcing away the sad feelings.  “This is a better life than I could have ever hoped for.  You and Ray are mine and you love me.”
    “And you’re having our baby,” he said, grinning.
    Ray had brought back a pregnancy test after breakfast the day before and although she was certain she was pregnant, she had taken the test anyway and it had turned positive immediately.
    “That, too.  If I could have chosen my future, it would have been this.  To be with someone I loved forever was never supposed to be in the cards for me.”
    The front door opened and Ray walked in.  He’d been gone for over an hour on an errand that he wouldn’t explain.  Wes had also disappeared after lunch for an errand.  She had a feeling they were getting things for the ceremony, but they both appeared to come back empty-handed.
    “You know what I just realized?” she asked as she kissed Ray hello.
    “What, sweetheart?”  Ray asked.
    “I don’t have a dress to wear for the ceremony.”
    “Our dad has that figured out, love.  Don’t worry,” Wes said.
    “Oh?”  She raised a brow.
    Ray chuckled.  “Trust us.”
    “I do.”
    Ray disappeared and Scarlett and Wes went back to cleaning.  The day passed quickly as they cleaned every inch of the large living room and Ray and Wes moved the furniture out of it and brought in a few items.  A white rectangular rug was placed in front of the window, the curtains drawn back so the full view of the woods was visible.  A small table held four candles.  Three of the candles were thin tapers in different shades of blue, and the fourth was a thick white pillar candle.  Of the human ceremonies she’d researched since they began planning their ceremony, the candle-lighting portion had held her interest the most and Ray and Wes thought it was a fitting addition.
    After dinner, there was a knock at the front door.  Miles left them in the family room where they’d been watching a rerun of a sitcom, and returned a few moments later with a male and a female.  The female held several garment bags over one arm.
    “Scarlett, these are our friends, Tom and Dana Charming.  They run the Charming Bed & Breakfast here in town.