AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She hiccupped as tears streaked her cheeks. Even though she was crying, she was smiling too. She was brimming with happiness.
“I thought my ex destroyed me. I thought I’d never be worth loving again,” I continued, “but you brought me back to life. I feel good again, and I want to keep that going.”
“I want that too,” she whispered.
I huffed with amusement as a tear escaped my eye. “So, will you marry me? And I can get a ring later? Captain’s promise?”
She giggled while taking my other hand, holding them both, squeezing them so hard that I thought she might break my knuckles. Lord, I didn’t care. I just loved the look of happiness on her face. I adored the way she sparkled with affection for me.
Several seconds of silence passed. I swore she was doing it on purpose to keep the people around us on their toes. We had attracted an audience with our obvious show of affection, and I could tell they were eagerly waiting for her response.
She shook my hands when I thought I would lose my mind waiting. “Yes!”
Applause erupted around us as I scooped her into the air and kissed her. Life renewed inside my mind. My heart healed over completely, those old bruises comforted by her enthusiastic acceptance. I kept my lips firmly to hers while drinking in the excitement that continued around us, the congrats, the offers for drinks. Everything just seemed so far away now that I knew I had her for life.
I never had to worry about her leaving. I never had to think about my ex again.
With her, I had another chance, and I was going to prove to her that I was worth it.
Chapter 24 - Regina
A week after Eric proposed to me in the axe-throwing bar, I stood in the gardens behind Blake’s mansion with the November sky inked with royal purple and lush pink. The sun was setting behind us, Eric and me, as Blake and Troy stood on either side of us. One of the pack elders, Flora, presided over our mating ritual since neither of us had any elders to speak of inside the pack, or out.
Tears stained my cheeks. I hadn’t stopped crying since this morning, my mascara refusing to stay no matter how many times I tried to use magic on it. All my magical trades had been tapped out. It was just me and my regular hands for now, my body totally exhausted from our battle over a week ago.
Flora drew the pack’s symbol for air onto my chest just above the white bow on my long-sleeved white dress. “For swiftness, courage of action.”
She turned to Eric to draw the symbol for earth on his chest between his unbuttoned white shirt. “For grounding, centering.”
The wind picked up, carrying with it the leftover dead leaves that had finally finished their journey to the ground. Dry earth and pine met my nostrils. Sea salt and winter mint came with it as well, a sign of my partner—my mate.
I couldn’t remember when I started to refer to him as that, but it made my heart explode with happiness when I heard him use the same term on me. Now that I had a clean bill of health from the beach witch, I didn’t have to worry about getting sick or getting hit with a bad streak of luck in the future from any latent dark magic in my body.
I was going to be okay. We were going to be okay.
Flora held up her hands. “I’m a long-winded soul.”
Chuckles came from the pack members in attendance.
“But I’m not without my passion,” she continued, “and that comes with a certain responsibility to those passionate for each other.” She smiled at me. “Regina, do you accept Eric as your mate for this life and those beyond your return to the earth?”
I nodded while gazing into Eric’s gorgeous blue eyes. “I do.”
“And Eric, do you accept Regina as your mate for this life and those beyond your return to the earth?”
He beamed. “You damn right I do.”
More chuckles came from our peers. When I turned to look at them, I saw Kiki in the front row next to the ones who helped us down in Athens, Jermaine, and Fred. Their mates were with them as well. Each smile that I saw just made my heart burst with love. I was overflowing at this point, practically drowning in the feeling I couldn’t yet identify.
Flora smiled as she touched our shoulders. “May this union bring peace.”
A chorus of agreement came from our audience. Eric snatched my waist and bent me back, dipping me so he could nuzzle my nose. Approval came from all directions, an incredible sound I didn’t know I had been missing all this time. I was so caught up in my magic, in my father’s death, and in making sure things were handled that I completely forgot what I needed.
Family—I needed family. And that feeling washed over me as Eric pulled me upright to give me an intense kiss.
That consumed me now, that sense of belonging to a group of people who loved and cared for me. It wasn’t just Eric here showing me admiration. It was the rest of his pack as well, and his alphas. We were being embraced left and right, the crowd suddenly seeming to engulf us with enough love to make me sick to my stomach.
But that didn’t happen. A little nausea remained when the crowd broke open, but I felt okay. I grabbed Kiki the moment she stepped up to us. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and hugged her until she patted my arms for me to let her go.
