*Sasha*
Gasping, I woke up and sat bolt upright. Images of a magical orb artifact still floated in my mind from the dream I was having.
For several nights in a row, I was plagued with dreams of that sa orb. It was magical sohow, but I couldn’t rember the details.
Groaning, I leaned forward and rubbed my temples. A shadow figure of a man swirled in front of my eyes. He was in the dream too. Sotis, he was holding the orb out to . Other tis, he was just moving on the edge of my vision.
I never got a clear look at his face, but sothing in my heart told I could trust him.
He was just a shadow, and the orb was just a dream.
Sighing, I dropped my hands and looked around my room. My wedding dress hung on the back of my closet door, still safe in its dress bag. My bachelorette party dress was draped over my desk chair across from my bed.
So shoes and other odds and ends I needed for the upcoming wedding were scattered around, along with the magazines I’d been using to plan the wedding.
“You up yet, Sasha?” Donovan poked his head in.
I glanced up and nodded, smiling.
“Great. I was hoping you could make so breakfast before I go to work.”
“Oh... yeah.” I put my legs over the side of the bed and grabbed my robe.
“Thanks. I’ve got to leave in about ten minutes, so, hurry, hurry.” Donovan blew a kiss and left the room.
I stared after him for a mont. Yeah, that was the guy I was marrying. So days, it seed like the best decision in the world. Other days, it felt like this, like I was so live-in servant.
I threw my hair up and headed to the kitchen. Donovan drank his coffee and read the morning paper while I threw together an olet for him.
“You rember that my bachelorette party is tonight, right?” I set the plate in front of him.
He didn’t even look up at . “Yeah, I know. You’ll have a good ti.”
“I plan to.”
“Good, good.” He still didn’t look at , or thank , as he dug into his olet.
Sighing, I went back to the stove and started making my own breakfast.
After a few minutes, Donovan ca up behind . He kissed my cheek.
“Are you ready to get married?”
I nodded.
“Good, because I’ve been looking forward to this for a long ti.” He kissed my cheek again and left. He never told to have a good day or that he couldn’t wait to see at the end of the day.
When I went to eat my own breakfast, I noticed that he left all his dishes on the table, one with a half-eaten olet.
My shoulders sagged and I shook my head.
Well, this was the life I signed up for. I’d agreed to marry him, and it was too late to turn back now.
I cleaned up the kitchen, humming to myself. The whole ti, I kept thinking of that stunning erald I’d seen at the jewelry store a few days before. I walked past it almost every day while I was finishing up wedding plans. It seed so familiar, and there was a part of that didn’t feel like my wedding would be complete without it.
I did a little more tidying around the house before I headed into town to pick up the printed schedules for the day of the wedding. They listed mbers of the wedding party, the officiant, and a general schedule of when the ceremony would start and the reception.
On my way back ho, I stopped at the jewelry store again. The little erald pendant still sat in the window. This ti, instead of staring at it all day, I went inside. There was just sothing about the pendant and the closer the wedding got, the stronger my desire to touch it and wear it beca.
The store was filled with glass cases that showed off all kinds of jewelry–rings, pendants, earrings, and bracelets. They all had different kinds of gemstones of varying levels of rarity and purity. Everything sparkled as I walked through the aisles.
“Can I help you?” the jeweler asked.
“There’s an erald in the window that I’d like to take a look at.”
He nodded and went to the window. When he returned, he had the erald pendant. He set it on the counter in front of and pulled out a matching chain from another jewelry case.
“This is truly a lovely piece. And this chain matches it perfectly. Do you have a special vacation you’re considering it for?”
“Well, I’m getting married in a few days.”
“This erald would truly make you into a princess bride.”
The jeweler slipped the erald on the chain. He walked behind and looped it around my neck. There was a mirror behind the counter and I saw my reflection with the gorgeous pendant.
I touched the pendant, holding it between my fingers. I couldn’t explain it, but it felt like it belonged to . I never wanted to take it off.
“I love it. I’ll take it.”
The jeweler packed it into a little box for but as soon as I was outside, I put it back around my neck.
That’s much better, I thought.
When the sun went down, I t my bridesmaids at the bar. They were so happy and excited about the wedding. I put on a big smile and joked with them, but I wasn’t feeling the sa levels of excitent.
For so reason, whenever I touched the pendant, I thought about the dreams I was having, about the orb and the mysterious man. My mind kept wandering despite being surrounded by my friends.
I looked around the bar and saw a man close by staring at . Sothing was familiar about him, and I absently touched the erald again.
“Co dance with us,” one of my bridesmaids begged.
I had that nagging feeling that I forgot sothing, like I’d left the oven on before leaving the house. I knew it was a reaction to that guy.
“Go on without . I’ll catch up.”
The man ca closer. He gave a friendly smile and held his hand out to . Suddenly, I got a flash of the mysterious man from my dream.
“Sasha.”
“Who are you?” I took a step back.
“My na is Lucas. I know you don’t rember, but we know each other pretty well.”
I creased my brow. Suddenly, I felt like this guy was not soone who I wanted to talk to. He was already talking crazy.
“I don’t think so.”
“Really, Sasha, I promise you.” He looked at with pleading eyes, his hand still outstretched.
I bit my lower lip and eyed his hand. There was a large part of that wanted to believe him and trust him.
My heart urged to do it. But the nagging in my brain held back. Sothing about him was so familiar and... uncomfortable.
“We really know each other? You know that sounds a little crazy, right?”
“I wish I didn’t have to spring this on you, Sasha. But we need to act fast. Ti is running out.”
“Ti? What are you talking—No, you know what, I don’t want to know.” I shook my head and crossed my arms.
The man, Lucas, sighed and dropped his hand. His expression changed and suddenly, I knew him....
“You!” I snapped, pointing a finger in his face.
Lucas stared at , startled. “Um....”
“I rember you! You’re nothing but a bully! You bullied when I was a kid. You broke my bracelet.”
He gave a sheepish look and glanced from side to side. “Oh... so that did happen here, too.”
“Whatever. You’re Lucas Black, a nace to from my childhood. What the hell are you doing here and why are you talking to like we’re old friends?”
“It’s a lot to explain and I wish I had the ti to tell you everything, but we should get out of here before anything bad happens.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. In fact, this is my party, and I think you should leave.”
“Sasha, please.” He gave a gentle, pleading look.
I licked my lips and hesitated. There was still a part of that wanted to believe him. He sounded so sincere, and I couldn’t help but feel so kind of kindness toward him.
I reached toward him and paused. My mories of the day he’d snatched my necklace and stomped on it, smashing it into the ground, surfaced suddenly and I gasped, pulling away from him.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I’m here to celebrate my wedding and you... you’re not a part of my life.”
I turned to join my friends on the dance floor.
“Sasha, wait.” Lucas grabbed my arm.
“No!”
I spun around and punched him in the face.
Lucas reeled back. He grinned and laughed uncontrollably for a mont. He rubbed his chin.
I shook my hand, my knuckles a little bruised from the hit.
“You know, I’ve got to admire how so things stay the sa.” He shook his head and chuckled again.
I had no idea what he ant by that but I wasn’t about to ask. At least he wasn’t holding my arm anymore. Absently, I grabbed the erald pendant again.
Lucas pointed at the erald. I recognized familiarity in his eyes. He knew sothing about the necklace.
My curiosity about it montarily curbed my anger. The necklace had called to , picked , and I had no idea why. If Lucas knew anything about it, I wanted to know too.
“Do you know sothing about this necklace?” I asked. I pulled my fingers away and let the low light of the bar strike the gemstone.
“I’m intimately familiar with it,” Lucas said, smirking. He reached out and plucked the pendant from my skin.
A shiver ran through as the tips of his fingers barely grazed my skin. I swallowed my unexpected gasp.
“This is a very special necklace. I’m surprised you have it in this reality since you don’t rember much about .”
His statent brought more questions to my mind. He was talking about realities and making references to things that I didn’t understand. My natural curiosity had chomping at the bit to ask, but I refrained.
The erald was the one thing I wanted to know about most.
“Why is it so special?” I asked, my voice very breathy... too breathy, I realized.
My cheeks ward, and I wished Lucas would release the pendant and step back, despite the fact that I seed to be enjoying his closeness.
As was my wolf, but I couldn’t figure out why.
“I bought this necklace for you.”
Lucas smirked again.
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