living covenant 03 - eternal covenant by Amanda M. Lee Page B

in the same colors. We went with black. I hope that’s okay. We wanted something that we could wear again.”
    “That sounds fine to me,” I offered.
    “That sounds horrible to me,” Pemberley said. “Who wears black to a wedding?”
    I pointed at Aric. “His tux is black.”
    “He’s the groom,” Pemberley argued. “He’s supposed to wear black. Women don’t wear black at weddings. It’s just not done.”
    “But … .”
    “No,” Pemberley said, shaking his head. “We’re going to get someone else in here to fit these two with proper dresses. We talked about it yesterday. I thought you would’ve told your friends before I got here.”
    I narrowed my eyes. “You can’t boss me around on everything.”
    “Take that up with your mother,” Pemberley shot back. “I … huh. No one told me you two had a dog.”
    I stilled, frustrated and confused. “What? We don’t have a dog.”
    “Where did that animal come from then?” Pemberley asked, pointing toward the far end of the yard.
    Aric was instantly on alert, a low growl emanating from his chest as he looked the approaching animal up and down.
    “That looks like a wolf,” Pemberley said, his voice going shrill. “It’s probably rabid. Everyone run for your lives!”
    Only Pemberley ran, the rest of us remaining rooted to our spots as the lone wolf approached. He was smallish for a wolf, which meant he was bitten and not bred. Born wolves grow to be humongous. Aric was a terrifying sight in his wolf form. The wolf bared his teeth as he stalked up the slight incline of our back yard.
    “Aric … .”
    “Wait, Zoe,” Aric ordered, frowning at the sound of Pemberley tripping over his own feet as he scampered toward the stairs that led to the deck. “Don’t kill him in front of Pemberley.”
    The wolf obviously understood what Aric said because he slowed his approach, his eyes darting left and right as he considered his next option.
    “Can’t I just … I don’t know … singe his tail?” I asked.
    Aric rolled his neck until it cracked. “Okay,” he said. “This might be a good exercise in control. Try really hard not to fry him, okay? That will be impossible to explain to Pemberley.”
    “I’ve got it under control,” I said, knitting my eyebrows as I concentrated. I wasn’t great at controlling my powers, and the new ones I acquired a few months earlier made things more difficult. A hint of power licked at the corners of my mind so I mentally grabbed it and tossed it outward.
    Sadly, the power burst didn’t land exactly where I wanted. Instead of setting the wolf’s tail on fire the bolt of orange fire slammed into the animal’s head, causing him to howl and stagger.
    “Holy crap,” Kelsey said, breathing hard. “I … wow. That was pretty good.”
    “You were aiming for his tail, weren’t you?” Aric asked.
    I nodded. “I’m not sure what happened.”
    “Try it again,” Aric prodded. “Really concentrate this time. Tune everyone else out.” He was trying to make his voice even and soothing, but it had the opposite effect. He was talking to me as if I was a child.
    The wolf must have realized what we were planning because the moment he regained his senses he turned and ran into the woods, making a pathetic yipping noise as he disappeared.
    “Man! I didn’t even get a chance to practice,” I complained.
    “That was still good,” Aric said. “You didn’t burn anything down and there are no bodies to get rid of. Everything is perfectly fine. We don’t have to explain a thing.”
    The relief I felt at Aric’s words lasted exactly thirty seconds until Pemberley appeared at the deck railing with Helen and my mother.
    “It was a huge wolf,” Pemberley said. “It walked right up to them like it knew them. I swear I’m not making it up.”
    “Well, we might have one thing to explain,” Aric conceded. “Crap.”
    “Things could be worse,” I said. “He could’ve jumped into your arms and expected you to carry him