Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

Judging from the small building the wedding was being held at, it was initially meant to be an intimate event. As grandma mentioned earlier, the couple in question had high hopes that a wedding was just what people needed to lift spirits. As it turns out, they were right.

There were cars spilling out of the little parking lot, parked alongside curbs and even up on the flat, grassy areas. Dainty paper lanterns suspended on thin fishing wire were what led guests to the front doors, though many just walked around the building to where the party was overflowing into the grass. A hastily thrown together dance floor had been constructed out back, along with a dozen or so tiki torches and streamers in various shades of violet.

The sign out front read, ‘Chatham Recreational Center.’ The music pouring from within was loud and upbeat, matching the laughter that drifted throughout the air. Children darted in and out, weaving between adults who were either drinking, eating, or dancing.

There was no order to any of it, but the chaos gave it a homey feel that reminded me more of a family reunion rather than a wedding.

“So many children…” Holly said thoughtfully, nervously fidgeting with the hem of the dress I loaned her. She twisted the lace around her fingers only to release it and repeat the motion.

She was lodged in between Tristan and I, sticking close to our shoulders as we maneuvered throughout the crowd. I noted the way her eyes scanned everything with both hesitation and a budding sense of curiosity. It seemed to shake her whenever someone would look her way for too long. They’d hold her gaze until they noticed me standing at her side, then their attention would flit between the two of us until the similarities between Holly and I answered their unvoiced questions.

so she could speak the words in my ear. As two children zoomed by, one covered from head to navel

Further inside I spotted my grandma, who was chatting with Claire and a woman in a sparkling white dress. The veil she wore was thrown back

a guy almost three times

Kendrick! This is the one and only, Luna Lola.” Cassidy said smoothly, tossing her blonde mane of curls over her shoulder. She sauntered over to me and looped her arm through my own, paying no attention to Tristan

her, not wanting to relay the details of what it was I

as the thunderous pop music melted into something soft and slow. “This is the guy I’ve

she’d been more than interested in him up until the events of last night. Emilia’s warning came to mind, and rather than get on Cassidy’s bad side, I said a warm welcome to Kendrick and continued to push things

when telling her why I had to come up with a plan in the first place. She’d been Asher’s best-friend since childhood, and I wasn’t sure

ease my anger but to no avail. Here and there I let a few details slip, little things I happened to see or hear. The music, children laughing, the scent of food hanging in

my plan. Tristan, Holly, and Cassidy ventured inside the Recreational center while I hovered near the doors and waited. A few minutes passed, turning giddiness into budding anxiety, when I began to grow impatient and decided to peek my head inside. Rather than look in the

from a few people here and there, most of the guests had wandered outside to continue partying under the light of the moon. There were a few people perched on bleachers, paper plates on their laps piled with food, but that was it. The lack of people made it all too easy to spot his head of salt and pepper hair, which he seemed to