Chapter 201

YENA

Nolan took one look at me, as I stepped out into the surprisingly bright morning light, and placed a hand flat on his chest. His mouth dropped open, releasing a sigh.

I watched as his keen eyes roved the entire length of my body, taking in every detail. From the clear glass peep-toe high heels on my feet, to the dress, the earrings, the hair, and… the finishing touch: my golden laurel leaf crown. The one Nolan gave me the first time we married, which marked me as his Luna.

I had to stop in my tracks and catch my breath, myself. This, I realized as I took everything in, was the wedding of my dreams.

To my surprise, our friend Cindy was standing under the very center of the vine-laced archway – she was clearly all set up to be the officiant for our ceremony. She grinned and winked at me when our eyes met, as if to say, Surprise!

The King and Queen stood to one side of the aisle, eyes on me as I walked down with my parents, each with approving expressions and slight smiles. At Nolan’s side stood my wonderful brother, who gazed at me proudly. And Lucy stood on the other end of the arch, looking like an absolute bombshell in her sparkly gold dress, flushed with cheer as always.

And Nolan…

He looked gorgeous in his tux, with the soft bowtie and pocket square that matched the pale green lace of my gown, and the ombre pink-and-cream rose boutonniere on his jacket that matched the dozen I had bunched in my own hands.

I freaking loved seeing him with a beard. He was absolute perfection standing there at the end of the aisle. Tall and broad and dark and handsome, rugged and strong and sophisticated all at once, and looking down at me with pure love in his emerald eyes.

Peter, Tina and I were just a few feet from the archway when a very faint, distant rumble of thunder sounded way off in the distance.

Cindy went, “Ooh.” Lucy did a little gasp. Tina said, “Uh-oh.” And I glimpsed Nolan’s mother looking down anxiously at her own silk gown.

I registered all these reactions in my periphery. My own eyes remained locked on Nolan’s, and his on mine. He and I could not have cared less about a little rain.

I handed my bouquet to Lucy. And then promptly set to work perfecting the knot of Nolan’s bowtie, which was not done quite right. He beamed at me as I did this.

Then he conspicuously flicked his eyes up to the golden crown on my head. It was a silent communication, an acknowledgement of how much it meant to him that I’d worn it. His eyes looked glazed and sparkly when they returned to mine.

Peter and Tina took their seats, and the Alpha King and Luna Queen did the same in their matching chairs across the aisle.

Finally, Cindy got us started.

“Well,” she said loudly, in that confident way I’d heard her command a room full of wild children. “Dearly beloved family and friends, we are gathered here today for what I hope will be a very quick ceremony.”

She chuckled and glanced, anxiously, skyward.

“We are here to celebrate Yena and Nolan, two people I have come to love and cherish like family myself. Two incredible people who I am lucky to have in my life, and who I know both feel lucky, themselves, to have found each other.”

Nolan squeezed my hands, pumping warmth into them. I was smiling so hard, my cheeks were starting to hurt.

“I’ve been told,” Cindy said, “that the two of you have prepared renewed vows. Yena, will you please start?”

Lucy handed me a folded slip of paper. I’d asked her to do this; I didn’t know if I would be able to remember the vows I’d written. But I did. I shook my head at her and she slipped the paper back under the strap of her dress.

“Nolan,” I started, clutching his hands. “There was a time when I thought I needed to go far away to find my purpose in life. I was always looking for the next challenge, yearning for dreams and fantasies. But my purpose wasn’t ‘out there’ somewhere in the distance. I can see now that it’s right here in front of me.”

I took a little break to swallow and breathe. I wasn’t nervous, just full of emotion.

“Nolan, you are my soul mate. You are my home. Fate brought us together, and I never want to be apart again. Thank you for choosing me, and thank you for waiting for me. I love you. I want to be with you forever, and I’ll never let you go again.”

I heard the quiet sounds of Peter shushing Tina, who had been sniffling all through my vows.

Cindy muttered, “Oh, my…” under her breath when she determined I was finished.

I darted my eyes over and saw she was patting her cheeks with a little white handkerchief.

“Wow,” she said, in a louder but still less than confident voice. “That was beautiful, Yena.” She cleared her throat. “Nolan, your turn.”

Nolan chuckled once at Cindy, then gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face.

“Yena,” he began, “I have loved you the since the night we met. And I have only loved you more every day since then. I was lucky, the first time you married me. Lucky I got to take you away and make you mine, even though I didn’t deserve you then…

“Since then, you have taught me what it means to care for another person. You have made me a better man. And I’ll never stop being grateful for all you have done for me and all you continue to do. You are my world, Princess… I love you, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as you make me. I am yours forever.”

A little more thunder rumbled, and this time it was louder. Closer.

Then a big gust of wind swept through the courtyard, putting everything on an angle for a long moment. Rose petals levitated off the ground and started dancing in the air like dandelion fluff. My hair would have been flying around like crazy too, had it not been held perfectly in place by my heavy gold crown.

“As our Bride and Groom,” Cindy said, raising her voice above the sounds of the swelling storm, “have already exchanged their rings, all that’s left to do is… kiss!!!”

I stood on my tiptoes and reached up to circle Nolan’s neck with my wrists. He embraced me, lifted me off my feet, and bent his face to meet mine.

The second that our lips touched, a tremendous clap of thunder boomed right overhead.

We couldn’t help but react. Everyone, including me and Nolan, jerked our heads up to look at the sky right as a purple streak of lightning shot straight across it.

But while the others continued to watch in wonder, Nolan pulled me close and kissed me again.

The gentle but firm touch of my mate’s lips and tongue on mine, as always, had me slipping helplessly into a love haze, a spiral of all sorts of good feelings.

The rain came on all at once – a sudden, heavy downpour. I felt it before I saw it, because my eyes had been closed.

It seemed like only two or three seconds had gone by.

But by the time we wrenched our mouths apart, both panting to catch our breath, Nolan and I turned to find that the rest of our wedding party was gone, having fled for cover.

I only caught sight of Lucy’s brown hair and sparkly gold dress as she ran inside the nearest door – she was the last of the bunch to slip away. And then Nolan and I were alone.

Suddenly, he swept me up into his arms and cradled my body. I took hold of his neck again and drew his face to mine, and kissed him desperately. He kissed me back with what felt like full attention, and also started walking at the same time.

I wasn’t sure how he was doing both at once, but I didn’t care. I let myself linger in the delicious oblivion of his kiss and kept my own eyes closed. I didn’t need to watch where Nolan was going. I trusted him completely.

THE END