“So do you.” I turn to him and smooth it down. “You’ll look even better out of this suit tonight.”
“Oh?” He grins. “Be careful, Commander.” His breath is warm against my ear. “Keep talking like that and we’ll end up skipping the ceremony altogether.”
He kisses my cheek.
The sound of measured footsteps draws my attention. Mahal comes to a stop beside us, his dark robes pooling on the stone floor, and inclines his head gracefully.
“It is time.”
The oak doors swing open, and light floods the hall, too bright and radiant for typical nightglow. It’s like the moon herself has decided to come in closer.
I move forward, Ethan at my side, his fingers lacing through mine as we step into the night together. When our hands embrace, his heartbeat registers mine like an echolocation finding its target. Our rhythms differ for just a second. Then, they align, as though they’ve always known their link to each other.
The wash of moonlight swallows us, and for a moment, all I can see is the pale glow in the sky before the world sharpens intofocus. A sea of faces stares up from the benches and the paths and the grass beyond. There are hundreds of them. Every pair of eyes locked on us.
Try not to trip over anything.I wink at Ethan.
Your support is truly touching.He grins back.
Mahal glides to his place at the center back of the landing, his dark robes still against the breeze. Ethan and I stop in front of him, shoulder to shoulder. Thea takes her position at Ethan’s right, one hand resting on her belly, trembling with emotion. Akila flanks my left, standing at attention with a smile on her lips.
A ripple of last-minute murmuring passes through the crowd.
I don’t care.
Ethan and I are bathed in the Moon Goddess’ light. The night air carries the scent of pine resin and torch smoke mingled with the sweet decay of wildflowers crushed underfoot, but beneath all of that is Ethan’s warm, cinnamon musk.Mine.The scent of him wraps around me like an embrace as I breathe it in.
His heartbeat thrums with mine. It’s not pounding. Not desperate. Justthere, steady as gravity, inevitable as the tides.
And I am the happiest I have ever been.
Mahal raises his hands, and the crowd falls silent. He lowers his hands and gestures to us.
“Face one another. Join hands.”
I turn to Ethan as he turns to me. Our already-linked fingers tighten, and I slide my free hand into his open palm. His thumb traces across my knuckle, just once, and his green eyes hold mine.
“We are here to join these two under the light of the Moon Goddess...” Mahal begins.
Ethan smiles. It’s not his usual smirk, but a quiet, intimate expression that belongs only to me.
My wolf rises, not with a possessive urgency, but a calm, watchful certainty that rolls through my chest like the first warm day after a brutal winter.
My heart is full.
I exhale like I’ve been holding my breath for months.
Mahal’s voice carries across the silent crowd. “The vow of the bonding ritual is ancient, a promise spoken between mates since the first wolves walked beneath the Goddess’s light.” His sober gaze settles on Ethan. “The groom will speak first.”
Ethan swallows. He lifts my hand and turns it over, cradling my palm face-up between us. His grip tightens just slightly.
My lips fight to suppress a laugh. The man who can memorize everything at a glance breaks into a sweat when it comes to recalling eleven words we rehearsed a dozen times.
My awareness of the crowd dissolves as I look at him. The torches, the faces, the whispers, Kortan itself — all of it smears into a wash of pale light at the edges of my vision until there is nothing left but Ethan and me.
His fingertip touches the base of my palm.
“You are mine, and I am yours.” He traces a slow line down the center of my palm, his words meant for me even as the crowd strains to hear. Warmth blooms where his skin meets mine. It’s not the same as the burning intensity of passion I’ve felt from him before. It’s a gentler warmth, tender enough to make my chest ache with how much I want to keep it. “From now until eternity.”
