ROMANCE: Awakened by the Alpha Bear (Werebear Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Bear Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Short Stories)) (37 page)

Reginald leaned against the
wall outside of the room. He shouldn’t have gone to see her again. He didn’t
know why he couldn’t just stay away from her.  He couldn’t believe she had
noticed that all of the photographs in that room were of him. It had been a
dumb move on his part. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t taken them down before she
arrived. The spare room had been a place for him to reflect on his past and all
he had been through. The photographs were gentle reminders of his now more than
one hundred years lifespan. He had come up with the resemblance excuse quickly,
hoping she would believe it. He thought she did. He hoped she did. Somehow, he
already loved her. Keeping his secret was no longer about keeping his identity
clean and private. Now, it truly was about keeping this irreplaceable woman
safe.

He roughly pulled himself away
from the wall. He could feel his back rippling. It was a feeling that still
made him shudder after all of these years. It was a horrible, wrenching pain
that would continue to grow until he would lose control in time. He pulled his
cell phone from his pocket, sending a quick text message to Erick and a few other
house staff members. “It’s time. I will meet you there.”

The guest suite that Melania
had settled into for the night was larger than her entire apartment back in
Italy. There was even a small kitchen off of a sitting area that had been
stocked with snacks. Melania was pretty sure she wasn’t meant to leave this
area any more for the night. With this thought and a feeling of uncontainable
energy filling the mansion, Melania was feeling uneasy. If she was completely
silent, she felt like she could hear screams coming from another part of the
house as well. She was sure it was her imagination running wild, though.
There’s no way anything evil could really be happening in such a beautiful
place.

She remembered Reginald saying
that he had rules because he wanted to protect her and to protect himself. She
wished she knew what he meant by that. All she knew is that there was something
major going on in this house that turned Reginald into an unkind, maniacal
person and she intended to find out what it was. She wanted to fix things.
Despite any rationalization, there was something about Reginald that she loved.
This feeling now well overweighed her fears of him. She wanted a perfect life
with this man, and she was going to find a way to achieve just that. She stared
out the window that would normally be illuminated, so she could see the
grounds. The clouds covered the brightness. There was nothing but darkness.

The next morning arrived,
filling Melania’s current bedroom with a glow of sunshine. She pulled the covers
over her head. If she was going to have to stay in this room once a month or
so, she was going to have to get better curtains. The light from a full moon
once it was uncovered had kept her up most of the night.

She shot up into a sitting
position in the bed. “A full moon,” she questioned, out loud to herself. “Could
it be—no, that’s impossible.”

Lying back down on the bed, she
laughed to herself. She had evidently watched too many scary movies in her
life. She shook her head, unable to believe that she had actually temporarily
questioned if her future husband could be a werewolf.

Still laughing, she snuggled
back down under the covers and returned to sleep.

Reginald was batting a
horrendous headache. He always did the morning after his change. Other than
carrying a huge secret with him daily, he felt these headaches were the worst
part of it all. As he pulled a mug out of a cabinet and poured himself a cup of
coffee his chef had prepared, he began thinking of Melania and the fact that he
wanted to marry her today. He wanted to forget about the big wedding that had
been discussed by his PR team and just have a sweet affair with her and his
house staff. His secret wasn’t going to change, so he just wanted to get on
with his life with Melania and just work every day to protect her.

“You want to marry today?”
Melania stared at Reginald, a shocked look on her face. He had blurted out his
news as soon as she had walked into the kitchen.

Reginald was smiling at her
with such a wonderful smile that she felt herself getting excited, with
butterflies dancing in her stomach.

“Yes!” He proclaimed, pulling
her into his arms, “Why not? We know we’re getting married. Why wait?”

“But, I don’t have a wedding
dress,” Melania said, still somewhat baffled. “I know that is silly, but I want
to wear a beautiful dress. And, I thought you mentioned on the phone that you
wanted a big wedding. A publicity wedding, you said. What about that?”

Reginald shook his head with
determination. “No need for the big wedding. As long as I announce my marriage,
that will be plenty of great publicity. Also, I haven’t forgotten about the
dress. I was thinking…well, I have my mother’s wedding dress. It’s an older
dress, of course. But, I think it is beautiful. I thought maybe you could wear
it.”

Melania hesitated. “Could I see
it first? I don’t mean to be particular, but I have always dreamed of a perfect
dress. Of course, I will wear it if that is what you desire for me to do.”

Reginald took her by the hand
like a school child and led her out of the kitchen. “I had Rosita lay it out in
our bedroom. I will take you see it now.”

Melania had never seen a more
stunning dress in her life. When Reginald held it up to her, she had literally
stopped breathing for a second. She had found out on their walk to the bedroom
that his mother had passed away soon after his birth. She knew that her wearing
this dress was special to him, so she had been nervous to see it when he had
brought it out of the bag. It turned out there was no need for worry. The dress
was an eggshell shade, being a length that she knew would fall just at her
knees. It was made of an immaculate silk, with a matching eyelet lace covering
the silk. There were small capped sleeves that were only made of the lace, and
the neckline was slightly plunging without being distasteful. Small shimmering
beads were woven into the fabric of the lace in such a way that the dress
looked like it sparkled when Reginald moved it.

Along with the dress, Reginald
had produced a small fastener hat from the bag. Melania adored this fashion of
hats, and she was excited to see that it was a veil, with sheer fabric
embroidered with lace coming off one side. She had never seen a hat so
exquisite, even on all the royalty in Europe.  She couldn’t even imagine how
much this hat alone might have cost. She didn’t even want to consider how much
the dress was worth. Melania realized at this moment that Reginald wasn’t a
self-made billionaire; he must be from what was considered old money.

“It’s absolutely perfect,”
Melania gushed to Reginald, touching the fabric so lightly, as if she were
afraid she would crush it if she applied pressure. “Oh, Reginald!”

Reginald whooped with joy,
tossing the dress on the bed. He grabbed Melania and kissed her. “Wonderful!
So, shall we marry today, my beautiful bride?”

With only slight hesitation in
her mind, Melania nodded her head. “Yes, Reginald! Let’s marry today!”

Reginald didn’t think he had
ever been so happy in his life. When he had started to have the idea of a mail
order bride, he had originally thought he might be losing his mind. However,
seeing Melania yesterday and presenting his beloved mother’s dress to her had
been the best experience, better than he could have dreamed. He had no doubt
that this woman was meant for him and he for her. It was fast and completely
unexplainable, but he had always felt like true love couldn’t be explained. He
knew that he didn’t know her as well as most who marry do, but he knew he would
have the rest of their lives to discover each other. He knew the feelings in
his heart were feelings that weren’t fabricated or lust driven. Of course, he
was incredibly attracted to her and he couldn’t wait for the moment he could
have his way with her, but that was only part of his attraction to her. He felt
like her heart was so pure and innocent that he had been given a gift. 

Over the course of their phone
calls to one another, he had learned of the incredible loss she had experienced
at a young age; she had been very upfront and honest with him in regards to her
past. Reginald planned to spend the rest of her life trying to ease her pain
and show her that, despite circumstances, happiness can exist. He had had
plenty of years to learn this for himself, and it was now time to make sure she
felt the same way.

Reginald was whistling to
himself when Erick popped his head into his office. “Sir?”

Turning, Reginald smiled.
“Erick! My mate! My best friend! My best man, I hope! Come on in!”

Erick stepped into the office,
a concerned look on his face. “So, it’s true? You’re going to marry this
complete stranger today?”

“Stranger? Erick, this is what
she came for. She came to be my wife. You knew this. You were the first person
I told. Why are you so surprised?”

Erick sat down on the couch
opposite Reginald’s desk, and then stood again in frustration.

 “Because I thought you would
wait and get to know her! You need to make sure she doesn’t snoop around! You
need to make sure that your secret will be kept safe! You don’t know anything
about her! What if she exposes you? What if everything you ever worked for and
improved on in your family’s business is flushed down the drain because you
just want the opportunity to have that girl as your trophy wife? I get that
she’s beautiful, man. I get that! Hell, I even called you from the airport to
tell you that! But, is beauty worth losing everything?”

Reginald stood from his desk
and crossed over to be face to face with Erick so quickly that Erick didn’t
truly see him move. “A trophy wife,” he exploded, almost nose to nose with his
chauffeur. “Do you really think that is all I care about? Do you really think
that is all that matters? I thought you knew me better than that! I already
love her, Erick. Yes, that is absolutely insane! Yes, I am terrified about my
secret coming out. But, you know what terrifies me more? Losing her. That
terrifies me more than anything ever could. I need her by my side. She is my
missing link. She is already making the cursed world I have to live in more
worth it! I have to protect her! And, in order to protect her, I need her to
love me and trust me! You just have to believe that my secret will stay a
secret. I will find a way. Somehow, I will find a way to protect her!”

Erick sat down on the couch and
leaned back, exhaling slowly. “Reginald, I just don’t know. I mean, man, it
sure seems like you might actually love her. And, I’m happy for you. But,
you’ve worked so hard with keeping who you are secret.”

“Who I am now Erick is a man in
love,” Reginald responded, sitting down next to his friend. “I need you to be
my best man. Will you do that?”

Erick nodded. “I will. Of
course I will. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I do. For the first time in a
long time, I do. Who I am is no longer defined by who I become each month. Who
I am will now become her husband. Just not for one night a month. That’s all.”

Reginald’s mother’s wedding
dress fit Melania as if it had been made for her exclusively.  Even in
Melania’s eyes, it made her look more beautiful than she had ever looked before.
Rosita, the Andrews’ residence housekeeper, who had been so generous and
friendly to Melania since her arrival, had tears in her eyes as Melania twirled
around the guest bedroom. Melania was getting ready there, as dozens of workers
set up the backyard into a woodland wonderland for the wedding. Melania had
been staring out the window, amazed by how quickly everything was coming
together, and how detailed everything was despite the fact that it would just
be her, Reginald, and the staff attending. Rosita had come in and pulled her
away from the window moments earlier, shutting the shades and politely
demanding she needed to start dressing.

“Rosita,” Melania started,
taking the hands of the middle aged woman in front of her. “I know that
Reginald has asked Erick to be his best man. I was wondering if you would be my
matron of honor. You have been so sweet to me since I arrived, and I would love
for you to stand next to me.”

Rosita blushed. “You are such a
sweet darling girl. Why would you want an old woman by your side to sully your
gorgeous day? You’re silly!”

“No,” Melania disagreed, “Not
silly Rosita. I am lucky and grateful. I’m lucky to be marrying a man like
Reginald and lucky to have already made a friend like you. Please say you
will.”

Rosita smiled, shaking her head
in disbelief. “Well, of course I will, lady. I still don’t think I’m worth it,
but I would love to.”

Melania smiled and hugged her
new friend. She really did feel like the luckiest girl in the word. A feeling
in the back of her mind was still nagging at her. She had honestly had that
delusion that something very strange was going on with her husband to be more
than once since that morning, and she couldn’t understand why. The full moon
and his strange antics had her thinking once more of werewolves. She didn’t
even think she believed in werewolves, but she knew there was something strange
going on with Reginald. She was ready to marry him because she loved him, but
also get to the bottom of the secret that was obviously eating away at the man
she wanted to spend her life with. Plus, Melania thought, laughing to herself,
she needed to know the truth, so she could stop having werewolf thoughts.

The enormous backyard of
Reginald’s compound was breathtaking without any decorations. It was one of
Reginald’s favorite places on his estate, now even more so. Melania had
mentioned that morning that she had always wanted a wedding reminiscent of a
fairy tale. They had spent the morning talking, laughing, and realizing more
and more that they were meant to be together.  Reginald had remembered Melania
mention in passing on the phone that her favorite movie was Snow White and the
Seven Dwarves, so he had requested a woodland theme for the wedding for her.
There were trees everywhere in the yard, with twinkling lights, and if you
looked closely, you could see stuffed creatures that looked real. There were
wooden chairs lined up for the thirty or so staff, and the arch that he and
Melania would stand under was covered in wildflowers, lights, and lace that would
perfectly complement his mother’s dress. Reginald loved it and prayed that his
soon-to-be wife would, as well.

As he walked up the aisle to
the arch, Reginald realized his jaw actually hurt from smiling. For decades, he
had just gone through the motions of life, never truly happy. He would spend
most of his days dreading the one day each month that the monster inside of him
would arise and take over any quality of life he led. He didn’t think he would
ever be happy again, but here he was on his wedding day. He knew this day would
come when he signed up on the mail order bride site, but he assumed this day
would be full of trepidation and uncertainty, all surrounding the keeping of
his darkest side. But, he was wrong. His secret nagged at him, as always, but
it was pushed down now by joy, all because of a woman he knew he was destined
to meet and love for all time.

He took his place at the front
of the seating arrangement, under one side of the beautiful wooded arch and
smiled at Erick, who had just joined him. In the distance, he could see the
patio doors open. Out came Rosita, in a dress that made her look younger and
radiant, but Reginald couldn’t focus on her. He could only see Melania, who had
stepped out beside her. Reginald could only think of how he was looking at the
most perfect and ethereal creature on earth and beyond.

Melania had stepped out of the
house just as it turned twilight. The twinkling lights in the trees outside
made for the most amazing backdrop she had ever seen. She knew immediately that
Reginald had remembered her favorite movie and had recreated it just for her.
Tears threatened to escape her eyes as she realized that this man truly
listened to her and loved her.

Drawing her attention away from
the scenery, the tears did escape when she saw Reginald standing under the
arch, patiently waiting for her. He was in a long-tailed tuxedo and looked like
a god. Had she not been holding a small bouquet of wildflowers, she might have
actually pinched her arm to see if she was dreaming or not.

This was it. This was a moment
she never dreamed would arrive, but had and had done so much quicker than she
anticipated. She was okay with this. She was happy, in love, and ready to spend
the rest of her life with this mysterious man.