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I frowned. “Wait, you weren’t a shifter before then?”
“I was the King of Hell. My magic was so vast and different from anything that there were no terms to define what I was—what I am. I simply existed. I had no need to take on a wolf’s shape until I saw her do so. After that, it became part of me. Shifters didn’t exist back then as they did now; the world was different. Magic wasn’t constrained to the rigid rules and roles of today. The contracts of the universe were still being written.”
Sometimes I thought I was beginning to understand the world I’d entered; then Cole said things like that and I realized he had lived through a lot more than I could ever have conceived of.
“For six months, I followed her. First, she did everything in her power to escape me. Then, in time, she either respected my tenacity or took pity on my obsession. She didn’t let me catch her, but she did permit me to begin to show her the realm. It seemed to change as we went through; the sky turned from the red you know today to the same blue of the sky in your realm. The violence that simmered beneath the service cooled, as if pleased to have two creatures such as us instead of one. It was no longer Hell as I’d known it for countless years. After half a year, she finally relented, and I captured her. She became my wife that night.”
I arched a brow. “Did you ask her as nicely as you did me?”
He chuckled. “As you may recall, I’m not one for asking. But she became my wife of her own free will. Our wedding took place on the night of the new moon, in an orchard she had tended to for hundreds of years. It was important to me that we married in the realm where she was strongest, where she could walk away. The six months had taught me much of her nature, even if we’d never said a word, and my feelings had grown from obsession into love. There were no others present, but our vows were sacred all the same. She wore a shroud of white, and I, black.” He looked us up and down in the mirror as if imagining that now.
“And then she just moved to Hell with you?”
He sighed. “Were it only so simple. Her time gone from the realm of the living had left a vacuum. When she finally gave up her life above to remain with me, other ambitious powers attempted to claim therealm. Our years were not peaceful, but we survived.”
His voice trailed off. They’d survived, until they hadn’t.
“Now, enough stories, little wolf. I’d like to marry the woman who captured my heart in two lifetimes.”
Chapter XVI
The ceremony was splitinto two parts. As eager as Cole was to make me his wife, it was more important to him to first see me crowned queen. The realm was ruled by a king and queen, as Hecate had explained, and though they didn’t need to be wed, many still expected it, especially given the past precedent. He wanted it to be clear to the entire realm that I was worthy of the crown, not because I was his wife, but because I was a crazy powerful woman in my own right. And though he repeated on the way down that I didn’t have to become queen if I didn’t want to—it became clear the cold feet he expected were about becoming his queen, not his wife—I reminded him I’d already claimed the mantle. This was just a formality.
He eventually relented. For a male who so clearly wanted me tied to him in every way, he constantly tried to give me reasons not to.
Too bad I was already all in.
The ballroom was packed. I’d thought I’d seen it full before, but every inch of the place was crammed full. Beings with animal heads, beings with horns, beings no bigger than my pinky, and several feet taller than me.
I wanted to teleport us straight to the dais that had been brought into the very center of the room. Instead, we moved slowly through the crowd. They parted immediately upon seeing us, calling out inapproval.
Cole didn’t offer me a hand up the steps. I understood why. I was a queen; I would walk on my own two feet.
The ceremony was brief. Cole led it, making it clear he was only a vessel for the realm. It wasn’t like the lake of lava was going to make a guest appearance and crown me. I dipped my head, and he placed the crown of the Queen of Hell on me. Twin to his, it was made of white gold with spires topped in opal that reflected a dozen different colors. I lifted my head and turned to the crowd.
As one, they knelt, fists crossed over their chests in respect. Thousands of eyes stared at me, waiting for my guidance. Unlike when I’d taken on the mantle, I didn’t feel any different magically. Instead, I looked into the eyes of everyone before me and recalled my promise to the realm. I would guide these people. I would lead them into war, and I would eliminate the threat. I would eliminate any threat to them.
The wedding ceremony took place on the same platform. Hecate joined us, wielding twin rings the size of our crowns tied together with a string.
Everyone around us disappeared. All I could see was Cole. Not the King of Hell, not the warrior who made everyone quake in terror. I just saw him. The male who had coaxed me out of my shell, who had made me believe I could be strong. The one who made me laugh and held me when I cried. The one I would go to the pits to be with a thousand times over.
“The bonds of marriage are not a simple thing,” she intoned. “One may go their entire life without pledging themselves to another. It is a choice made but once, and it cannot be broken like you would a simple shackle. These ties go back to our furthest tradition. Do you,my queen, wish to wed this man?”
“I do,” I said. Tears pricked at my eyes. “I want to be your wife. I want to be the person you look at in the morning and confide in at night. I want to protect this kingdom with you and all the people we love. You’re my pack, Cole. You’re a better person than I could have ever hoped to call my own, and I am proud to have you as my husband.”
Cole’s gaze lit with emotion. He held my hands in his, his body turned to face mine as if nothing else mattered.
“And do you, my king, wish to wed this woman?”
“More than anything.” His voice grew thick with emotion. “When I was in the depths of the pits, in a realm of unending, eternal torture, when I could no longer remember my own name or who I was, you were the only thing that kept me sane. I held on to every piece of you I could and now that I have you in my arms again, I will never let you go. Avery Ward, you are my soul, my sanity, my queen. We are eternal. There is no title I have ever craved more than that of your husband. I vow I will honor you. I vow I will protect you. And I vow I will love you as no other has or ever will.”
Hecate lifted the rings above our heads and passed them back and forth. “Then let it be so. I pronounce you two wed.”
A cheer erupted through the crowd. Cole clasped my face with both hands and pulled me towards him, and I welcomed him with a smile. He dipped me low, and the cheers grew louder.Husband. He was my husband.
When we broke apart, he smiled at me. The easiest, happiest smile I’d ever seen on his face.
Unable to resist, I kissed him again, then turned to face our people.
