“Me too. I promise all those things to you.”

“I promise too.” She looked down. “It says we are to swear to make the other happy and always be truthful and honest to one another.”

“We can do that.”

She held his gaze. “Yes, we can.”

He focused on the paper and lifted the pen, signing the line above where his name was printed in ink. He winked, holding out the pen. “Your turn. You won’t regret this, love.”

“I know.” She took the pen and signed her name on the line above where her name was printed. Her heart swelled when she was done, staring at both their signatures on the paper.

“I will take this to the office tomorrow and they will make a copy for the official files. We get to keep this one. Justice said it’s customary to put it in a frame with glass to protect it from damage and hang it on a wall in a room that we spend a lot of time in.”

Beauty pondered that for all of two seconds. “The bedroom.”

“That’s what I was thinking too.” He took the pen, placed it next to their mate paper, and pulled her onto his lap. “I love you, Beauty.”

“I love you too. Can you believe this? We’re really happy.”

“Yes. We are. We’re going to stay that way. I will make sure of that.”

“Do you have to leave me?” The thought left her cold.

“I just swore I wouldn’t.”

“You want to go after…” She hesitated, not wanting to bring the ugliness of her past into such an important moment.

“You’re my priority.” He understood what she hadn’t said. “Others will take care of that. He can’t hurt you anymore. All we need to do is move into our new home once they prepare it for us and enjoy sharing a life.”

“I’m going to be a great mate. I’ll cook you dinner and keep a good home but I want to also do something to help our society. I want to teach other Gift Females to embrace life so they know it’s possible to have what we do, Shadow.”

“I know you will.” He brushed a kiss on her lips. “I will make you laugh and always be happy to come home to you after I finish my work shifts.”

“It sounds wonderful. Thank you, Shadow.”

“For what? I want you as my mate. I should be thanking you for agreeing.”

“For giving me a real life and making it wonderful.”

Shadow felt humbled. He couldn’t believe he had a mate. Beauty was more than he deserved, more than he’d ever hoped to have, and she’d changed his life.

“I’m the one who is thankful,” he admitted. “I’ll never see lightning again without smiling. It showed you to me and made me give chase.”

She laughed. “No more running during storms. I have no reason to do something like that again to feel alive. I just have to touch you.”

They’d be doing a lot of that. He couldn’t imagine keeping his hands off her and never planned to stop. He’d once been broken but she’d fixed him with her smiles, her courage, and her trust. He snuggled her closer, just holding her, and closed his eyes. For the first time, everything was perfect. He looked forward to whatever they would face because they’d do it together. She was his heart.