What seemed like Aric’s entire Pack appeared in front of us, shielding us from the encroaching supernatural elite. I thought Aric’s growl had summoned them, but it wasn’t until Martin stepped forward that I realized it had been him. “You know Celia speaks the truth—you can scent it, you can feel it. And now that you know you may evacuate our premises.”

Everyone piled out slowly, leaving only my closest allies in the spacious foyer. I exchanged brief glances with my sisters. Their shattered expressions and silence demonstrated their pain. They were seconds from breaking down, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to spare them from their misery.

Aric escorted me into a small parlor when he sensed my rising anger. He knew damn well that after everything that happened, and all that my sisters and I had discovered, my tigress and I needed space to keep from attacking Uri, that witch, and anyone else who had the nerve to question my loyalty.

He shut the door for privacy and led me across the room and out to a small terrace. “It’s okay, sweetness. They’re just angry because they never had the opportunity to use Shah for their own selfish gains.” His deep timbre remained calm, yet I could sense his angered beast looming within.

I knew he was right, but his warmth and support did little to settle the frustration tearing its way through me. I was about to ask him to take us home when someone entered the room.

Makawee carefully shut the door behind her and walked toward us, her steps causing only a whisper of sound. She stopped just in front of me, the edges of her deep brown eyes crinkling when her thin lips curved into a smile. “What did you wish for?” she asked me quietly.

Her question surprised me. “Makawee, I’m telling the truth, I didn’t ask Shah for anything.”

Her stare traveled down the length of my body before returning to fix on my face. “May I?” she asked, extending her hand.

I hesitated before nodding, unclear and wary of her intentions. She placed her hand tenderly over my belly, barely grazing the surface of my blouse. Her gentle smile widened the longer her hand remained in place. “You may not have asked him, Celia, but in exchange for showing Shah kindness, he gave you what you most wanted.”

Aric’s grip to my hip tightened, otherwise he failed to move. I couldn’t move at all.

Makawee nodded. “You’re pregnant, Celia. You’re carrying Aric’s child.”

Epilogue

The feel of the powdered sand between my toes brought me a sense of calm, as did the aroma of the salty sea air and the spray of roses and Fijian flowers that made up my bouquet. “It’s time, Ceel,” Shayna said, her eyes and those of my sisters shiny with tears.

When Bren began to thrum the first chords of “Into the Mystic” on his guitar, I knew she was right. One by one, my sisters left me to walk down our makeshift aisle, looking stunning in their simple slip dresses that matched the turquoise ocean water.

In the bright clear sky, werehawks and wereeagles patrolled, beating their powerful wings against the current in a majestic aerial dance. Heidi was in charge of security and had arranged to have weredolphins and weresharks patrol the waters. I never knew any sort of were marine life existed. And although I found it bizarre, I refused to complain. If it took Flipper the Dolphin and friends to ensure that Aric and I could exchange vows without chaos and bloodshed, I’d gladly accept their help.

My hand stroked my belly. I thought the simple appliqué of rosettes cascading from the bodice and to the A-line skirt of my strapless wedding gown would camouflage my pregnancy, but although I was certain that I wasn’t far along, my scars had vanished and I’d begun to show.

Only two weeks had passed since learning that Aric and I had conceived, but he refused to wait any longer to marry me and that was fine by me.

Bren’s deep voice reached a crescendo, my cue to step out from the small stand of palm trees and onto the beach. The small group assembled rose, temporarily obstructing my view of the groomsmen: Bren, Danny, Koda, and Gemini, the best man. But as much as I adored them, there was one wolf in particular I couldn’t wait to see.

The breeze swept my long hair and my cathedral-length veil behind me in time for me to catch my first view of my groom.

Aric wore light tan tuxedo pants with a crisp white shirt and nothing else. He didn’t need anything else. I didn’t think it was possible for any male to look more spectacular. His eyes were smoldering, his body strong, his face handsome.

And he had chosen to be mine.

As I smiled at my mate, all the fierceness he normally carried as a Leader of his kind couldn’t compare to how he watched me then. He held my gaze as if my life and that of our child depended on it. I wanted to run into his arms and never release him.

Aric was my destiny; more than ever, I was sure of it then.

He bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as I neared. When he looked up at me again, a single tear streaked down his face. I smiled through my own tears when I reached him.

“Hi, sweetness,” he said quietly.

“Hi, wolf.”

I passed my flowers to Taran, allowing Aric to take my hands in his.

Makawee stepped forward. “You may begin your vows,” she said.

Aric grinned, the gesture lighting his magnificent eyes. “The first words I ever spoke to you were in the form of a question. I asked you what you were.” He laughed. “You growled at me and made it clear that you didn’t owe me an explanation.”

Those in attendance busted out laughing. “Not my Celia,” Bren muttered.

My cheeks reddened, although I held on to my smile as he continued. “What you should have told me was that you were my sun that rises in the morning and the moon that makes me howl at night. That you were more than I ever wanted, needed, or desired in a mate.” His deep voice lowered. “That you would take my heart every time you’d leave my side, and that your smile would bring me to my knees. That’s what you should have told me, because that’s precisely what I’ve known from the first moment I saw your beautiful face. I love you, Celia. And I will love you for eternity.”

Tears slid down Aric’s face. He’d stolen my breath with his words, but somehow I managed to speak from my heart.

“You weren’t supposed to love me,” I told him, my voice shaking. “You were never supposed to come into my life. Demons, weres, vampires, and traitors aside, you have turned my world upside down from the first moment I met your gaze.” I tried to steady my breath. “You catch me when I fall, and have risen with me from the ashes of death and despair. With a touch of your fingers, the scent of your being, a look from your eyes, I am whole. You weren’t supposed to love me,” I said again, my own tears falling. “But I am blessed because you do. I love you, Aric, and I will love you for eternity.”