Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 12

Graciela was not in the mood for a wedding.

She'd attended many weddings in the past for her parents' friends. Her siblings had all been waiting to marry, and she imagined that if they were still here, she would have been attending back-to-back weddings where she was the maid of honor or simply a bridesmaid for all of them.

Each time wedding talk came up, she could already feel the exhaustion that would settle in at the very end of it. The ache of the heels, the uncomfortable feeling of a tight dress.

She still felt pain, despite her injuries being healed. She felt sadness, knowing Jackson was marrying someone who didn't fully love him, and that Hayley was feeling as though she had to make a sacrifice to protect her daughter. She was angry that there wasn't some other way to unify the pack. And relieved that it wasn't her wedding in any sense.

Rebekah had selected a comfortable dress for her (A/N: Reference 'Moira Floral Embroidered Dress in Navy), and a set of heels that didn't make her feet ache too much right away. She was thankful of being liberated from the task of picking herself an outfit. But it didn't make her dread the wedding any less. What if it didn't work? What if something went wrong? What if Hope and Cami weren't safe, being back in this city?

She put on a brave face. She thanked Rebekah, taking the dress and heels to her room, and returning downstairs in sweatpants and a t-shirt to help the servants set up for the wedding. They were decorating the ballroom, filling it with flowers and ribbons. She helped to set out the chairs on both sides, and fastened flowers onto the seats at each end. A white carpet was rolled out, and atop it between the two staircases leading up to the second story balcony, they placed some candle stands. Graciela carefully lit them, then went out into the courtyard to string up some lights for the reception.

About three hours before the wedding, she went upstairs to get ready. She showered, dried her hair, sat in front of the dresser and did her makeup. She sat for a while on her phone, trying to decide if she wanted to curl her hair, straighten it, or leave it with gentle waves. She opted to straighten it because it was easier.

Before putting on the dress and heels, she went in her bathrobe to check on Hayley, who was slipping into a white lace wedding dress.

"Oh, that's so beautiful," said Graciela, smiling at Hope, who was on a playmat behind Hayley.

"Rebekah got it for me," said Hayley, smoothing her hands down the skirt. "She won't be able to attend the wedding. Seems Kol has a life-or-death problem."

"That sucks," said Graciela. "I'm sure she would have loved to see it. Will she be arriving in time for the party?"

"I'm not sure. But I hope so." She looked down at her daughter, who squealed when she heard her name. "Cami will watch her. I was wondering..." she wrung her hands together, "Would you be willing to play a song at the party? For Jackson and I's first dance?"

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, sure..." she opened her hands to accept the sheet music Hayley handed her. "Hmm... I think it would benefit from adding a cello for a duet. Or do you only want it to be a piano piece? Klaus told me he's hiring an orchestra, maybe one of them can join me on the other instrument."

"There should be a cellist there, maybe you play piano and they play cello?"

"Sure, that would be nice," she said. "I should probably go ask Klaus where I can find that person, so we can coordinate."

"One more thing," said Hayley. "So, we don't know how this blessing will affect you, given you haven't triggered your curse. Out of all the untriggered wolves— who are mostly kids around Hope's age, like Henry— you and Lauren are the oldest. Jack thinks that your first turn will likely still happen as a rite of passage, but that after that, you'll be like the rest of us, able to control your turning."