“You’re early,” I commented as I turned to shake my friend’s hand. There was still at least an hour before the guests would be allowed in. Security at the gates of our community was tight today. Emmie wanted to make sure that our wedding was kept private and quiet, not wanting our big day to be the product of the media circus.

Harper, who worked for American Rocker, was also our photographer today. Emmie had asked her to do a story on it for the magazine so that Demon’s Wings’ fans would get the true story of our wedding day. Harper’s boss was the happiest man in the media world right now. The exclusive was going to mean big things for his magazine.

Axton shrugged his lean shoulders, thrusting his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “Figured I would come and give you guys a hand…” He glanced around the tent. “Where is everyone?”

I grimaced. “She’s not coming man.”

Axton’s jaw clenched. “Who?” he asked the question casually enough, but even now he cast his eyes around for her.

“Dallas. She isn’t coming. Natalie and Linc arrived last night, but Dallas was too busy.”

“What the fuck!” he exploded. “She can’t be bothered to come to her friend’s wedding?”

I sighed. “Axton she’s running on fumes right now. Nursing school is hard shit. From what Emmie and the others tell me, she barely has time to sleep because she’s studying hard.”

My friend frowned. “Nursing school? When did she start nursing school? Fuck, when did she even get accepted?” He whispered the last question, his eyes stormy.

“Last month sometime. I only remember that because Emmie sent her some kind of big basket as a congratulation.” I shrugged. “Apparently getting into the nursing school Dallas got into is a big deal. They only take a perfect score on the entrance exam.”

“That must have been why she came by…” Axton muttered to himself, turning away from me and walking away as if he had completely forgotten I was standing there.

--

With ten minutes to go before Emmie was supposed to walk down the aisle I was starting to shake. My heart was racing, my palms sweating, and my brain tormenting me. Was this what Drake had felt as he had waited to marry Lana back in December?

I was so ready for this thing to be over.

I stood at the back of the tent. After getting ready, I had dressed Mia and then handed her back over to Lana and Harper so that they could fix the little girl’s hair. As efficient as I might have been with dressing my child, I still had no clue how to handle her hair other than brushing it each day.

Nearly every seat in the tent was already occupied. We hadn’t invited more than twenty people that were in our immediate family. The members of OtherWorld were all in attendance. Liam was the only one to bring a guest, other than Devlin, who brought his ten-year-old son Harris that looked just like the long-haired, dark-eyed drummer.

I had always liked Liam’s sister, Marissa. When I had first met her she had been a very sick, very skinny teenager. I couldn’t honestly remember what cancer Marissa had had at the time, but I knew that if Liam hadn’t been able to afford the treatment she needed back then she would have definitely died. To look at her now you would never have known that she had once been so close to death. With her waist-long, dark chestnut hair, that porcelain complexion, and the curves that only a real man could handle, she was like some ancient goddess come to life.

Marissa was the kind of woman a man had to stop and catch his breath when he looked at her. Even women tended to be overcome by her sheer beauty, and not just because of the way she looked. There was something about her that called to others’ souls and made them want to be close to her.

She stood between her bother and Wroth, who was Liam’s cousin—but for some reason not Marissa’s—as she greeted me with a bright smile. “I’m so happy for you and Em!” she exclaimed softly giving me a gentle hug.

I gave her a careful squeeze in return before she pulled back. “Thanks, Rissa.”

She stepped back between her brother and Wroth, who shook my hand. Wroth had a tendency to intimidate everyone around him, even those that knew him better than I did. Having been in the Marines and serving three years in Afghanistan, he had demons that I didn’t think I ever wanted in my head.

“You seem to be doing a lot better than Dray did a few months ago,” Liam observed. I noticed his eyes were glassy and wondered if weed was the only thing he was high on today. Last fall it had been cocaine that he was playing around with.

Of the five members of OtherWorld, Liam was the only one I couldn’t bring myself to like. When Drake had been drinking so much, he and Liam had been friends, if only because they both needed to self-medicate to sleep at night. I couldn’t even stand to be around the man when he was high like he was now.

I grimaced. “I’m shaking in my boots, man. Good thing I’m only ever doing this once. I don’t think I could handle this shit again.”

I talked with them for a few more minutes before my band brothers came out of the house. The three left to find their seats right beside of Lana’s father, Cole Steel. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Lana had been fathered by that particular rocker.

I waited for my brothers to join me. A glance at my watch told me that I had less than five minutes before my life changed forever. Drake reached me first, and gave me a hard hug. He slapped me on the back. I clenched my jaw, determined not to tear up.

Shane was next, squeezing the air out of me before stepping back and giving me a serious look. “You’re one lucky fucker, Nik. She’s so beautiful. Wait until you see her.”

I swallowed hard but didn’t say a word. I wasn’t sure if I could have gotten anything out even if I tried. Jesse stopped beside of me and I expected him to hug me or even punch me. But he just gave me a nod, his throat seeming to work with emotion, and the four of us headed to the front of the tent and the arbor where the minister was waiting on us.

My hands started to tremble and I clenched them into fists at my side. To look at me you would think I was in pain standing there with a grim look on my face that belied my true feelings. “Deep breaths,” Drake muttered beside of me with a hint of a grin. “It helps man. Trust me.”

I nodded, taking his advice as I sucked in a deep calming breath. As I released it, letting go of some of my tension, music began to play. It wasn’t the traditional music that most brides walked down the aisle to, but we weren’t the traditional bride and groom so why should anything else be?