Baehrly Alive Read Free Page B

lips.
    Kodi grinned. “All we need to do now is set the date. I was thinking… June?”
    I thought about that for a moment. I wanted to get married as soon as possible, but I also wanted Kodi to have the wedding of his dreams. “Is that enough time to get everything done?”
    He nodded enthusiastically, grabbing me up in his arms to swing me around. “It will be perfect, you’ll see! I’m assuming you want chocolate cake?”
    I winced. Of course, I couldn’t expect Kodi to remember that my sister, Cindy, was currently missing and had been ever since the Council of Magic decided that she’d had ‘criminal contact with Faerie’. I’d always planned on her making my wedding cake, but now it looked like she wouldn’t be making it to my wedding at all.
    Having anyone else make my cake felt like a betrayal.
    Kodi hugged me tightly. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I forgot about Cindy. I’m sure she’s all right.”
    I nodded, even though I could barely move with my face smothered in his chest like that. Kodi had a pleasant scent about him—something piney and wild that clung to him whether he was in his human or bear form. I breathed in the aroma of his skin and tried to let it relax me.
    This was Kodi—the man I had loved for the better part of three years.
    I just wished I could bring myself to be more enthusiastic about marrying him.
    Marrying Kodi was the right choice. I knew it with every logical part of me—and it helped that my heart and bear generally enthusiastically agreed.
    Kodi was a part of the Magical world. If anyone could understand everything I was, and what I was fighting every night, it was Kodi. He had grown up around were bears and witches and vampires… he could face all of that with his eyes open.
    I needed that right now.
    If anything happened to me, Kodi would be able to pick up the pieces and take care of my family—both human and the furry or scaly kind.
    Kodi was my rock, my anchor.
    My smiling knight in furry armor.
    “I love you,” I whispered, rubbing my face against the front of his shirt.
    His arms tightened around me. I could feel the warmth of his smile, even with my eyes closed. “I love you, too. This is going to be wonderful, Goldie. We’re going to be so happy.”
    I nodded again.
    I knew we would be.
    If we ever had the chance.
    And if I felt any reservations, well that was only natural. Kodi had blithely ignored any of the signs that I wasn't ready. I wasn't sure I would ever be ready to marry him. I wasn't sure if he was just oblivious. I'd tried to hide the panic I felt when I thought about getting married, but Kodi knew me better than to buy into my smiles and lukewarm enthusiasm.
    I tried to ignore the voice deep inside of my head that tried to remind me of how I felt about Donovan.
    It was too late. I had made my decision. This was better for all of us. Donovan had no idea what was happening to me. He couldn’t understand. He didn’t know enough about Magic to be able to handle what was to come.
    I needed that knowledge now. I needed someone who could pick up the pieces when I finally cracked.
    And that was Kodi.
    Wasn’t it?

 
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    “Easy,” I murmured to the unicorn colt in front of me. The halter he had come to the preserve in was dangling dangerously over one eye.
    I’d worked with unicorns before, but those had been domesticated unicorns. The herd I was currently dealing with was a feral band that had been found up in the mountains around Waterton, Alberta.
    Despite the beliefs of most Ordinaries, unicorns didn’t look all that equine-like. They had beautiful faces, like Arabian horses, but they also had cloven hooves like mountain goats and a single curly horn in the center of their foreheads. Even the youngest unicorns sported what I had to call ‘goatees’ and very long, thick manes and tails.
    The effect was breathtaking and an indescribable combination of some sort of gazelle crossed with an Arabian horse with the hair of