She took her role as bridezilla very seriously.
In fact, she’d had three mental breakdowns just yesterday because the swans weren’t cooperating and letting her walk them down the aisle on crystal leashes (truly shocking).
When she’d waded into the pond and tried to put the chain over their heads, she’d been shocked by how uncooperative the birds were.
After an hour of wrestling with the wildlife—and losing while everyone watched—she’d stomped out of the pond and called the swans “mean sluts who were going to die alone.”
At that point, the swans had taken offense to the slander. They’d removed themselves from the water and chased her across the field with flapping wings.
She’d cried because “the most special day of Aran’s life is now ruined.”
I’d patted her on the back and walked away because she was clearly projecting.
Now she, Jess, and Jala sobbed for different reasons.
Both of us were getting married—together.
It was just a formality, since both of us were already mated.
But it was fun to dress up.
It was fun to put on makeup and pretend that we were two country girls living a provincial non-violent life under the sun.
We were just two ordinary women committing to the loves of our lives. Nothing more, nothing less.
Jinx rolled her eyes as we walked past, and I blew her a kiss. Warren was draped over her shoulder as a ferret scarf, and I gave him the evil eye.
When we got to the end of the aisle, which was a towering ice sculpture covered in flowers that Sadie and I had handpicked, Lothaire took his seat and Sadie and I faced our men together. Four shifters stood in black tuxedos to the left, and my five mates stood to the right in dark-green tuxedos with gold accents (I had a fashion reputation to uphold).
Horse cawed as he took flight and spiraled above.
I laughed when I saw Luka and John wore skull earrings that matched the kings. John smirked and fingered the jewelry.
“Don’t scrape it with your nails,” Scorpius said as he wrapped a possessive hand around the back of John’s neck. “It’s a wedding gift, you’re supposed to cherish it.”
John smiled back at the blind king fondly.
My heart swelled.
I realized everyone was watching us expectantly, and I cleared my throat. “I promise to love you all forever,” I said to the men because we’d all agreed to keep it simple.
They smiled back at me and said the same.
I turned to indicate to Sadie that it was her turn to say vows, but Corvus grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him.
He pulled out a piece of paper with shaking hands.
“Aran,” he said, voice quivering as he began to read.
“Every morning I wake up and thank the sun god that I get to wake up next to you. Every day I watch you fly across the sky like a goddess, and I thank the sun god that I get to spend my days with such a divine creature—every night I hold you in my arms as we watch the stars, and I thank the sun god I get to spend my nights holding you.” His voice broke. “I experienced what this life was like without you in it—and it nearly broke me. It was sheer torment.”
Tears streamed down bronze cheeks.
“Life without you—was no life at all. So thank you for reminding me what it feels like to have a heart, a purpose, a life. You’ve given me everything. My mates. My home.”
His deep voice dropped to a tortured whisper. “You once told me that you were the dragon of the House of Malum, and I want to tell you today that you’re wrong.”
Silver eyes gleamed like starlight.
He pinned me with his gaze.
“Aran, you’re the angel of the House of Malum.” His voice broke.
Scorpius stepped forward beside him, his sharp features complemented by his suit. He looked dashing and dangerous.
The eye tattooed on his neck stared at me as he said, “You’re our angel.”
Orion nodded next to him, his long blond hair plaited back and his golden skin shining in the sun. He was breathtakingly handsome.
“You’re ours forever, sweetheart,” he said at full volume, cherry blossoms blowing around us like in a moment from a fairy tale.
The rest of the wedding was frozen by his voice.
It was just the two of us.
“I love you,” he said, brown eyes wide and full of unspoken emotions.
I smiled back, feeling shy all of a sudden. “I love you too.”
He stepped forward and kissed me, fingers gripping my jaw tightly he devoured me with his mouth.
Corvus abruptly yanked him back and growled “mine” like a wild beast.
There he was.
I sighed, leaned toward my Ignis, and threw my arms around his wide shoulders to calm him. Our faces were close together because of my heels. He trembled in my arms, and my vision misted as he whispered “mine” repeatedly like it was a prayer.
When I went to pull away, he refused to release me.
I patted his back because we all knew when he got like this, all you could do was help him calm down. Eventually he’d come back to reality.
“Three of three,” John whispered as he stared at me, then looked around at the other men.
“Eternally,” Luka whispered.
Their words didn’t make any sense, but their dark eyes shone with moisture like it meant something sacred to them. Crowns of darkness glittered on their heads, and capes hung majestically off their shoulders.
They’d grown out their hair, and what had once been messy was now luscious curls that hung to their shoulders.
They were breathtakingly handsome.
I wasn’t the only one of my mates who’d noticed. Scorpius kept resting his hand on John’s ass and Orion kept sneaking looks at Luka.
Sadie said her vows, but I missed most of them because I was so focused on the warrior trembling in my arms and the men who stood around us.
It hadn’t happened overnight, and at times, it seemed impossible, but somehow the twins, kings, and I had meshed into one unbreakable unit.
Somewhere in the far past, a little girl with blue curls, who’d only known torment from those who were supposed to be closest to her, sobbed with gratitude.
She had a family—a real family.
We both did.
And it was everything.
When Sadie and her mates finished speaking, Cobra’s eyes had transformed, and snakes crawled across his skin and hers.
The sun set in shades of fuchsia and magenta as the ceremony ended.
With teary eyes, we meandered as a group over toward my favorite tree, which was covered in little twinkling fairy lights. Tables of food were spread out and overflowing.
There were chairs to sit in, but everyone chose to eat on the blankets spread out across the lawn.
When the stars twinkled brightly in the sky, the enchanted speaker switched from soft music to a pounding beat.
Vegar grinned as he passed around bottles of expensive demon brew.
A few minutes later, everyone at the party was heavily intoxicated. We sang under the stars and ate the moist lemon cake with our fingers.