“I remember you collected them down by Eagle Lake during the trials,” I tell her as I slowly walk up to her. “You were so happy…”
“I'm happy right now,” she smiles as her cheeks color with a warm blush, and she glances at the tree curiously. “This is where we…” Her voice tapers off as she gulps, and I nod in agreement as I pull out her chair. She takes a seat, and I go to mine, and the soft smile on her face has me quickly realizing that this was worth sneaking away from my swearing-in ceremony, even if I forgot to remove my cloak before leaving the hall.
There's a lot of significance to us being out here tonight, and Cecelia seems to recognize it with every stolen glance while we enjoy our quiet, private dinner in the woods. When we're done, I get up and hold a hand out to her, then lead her to the tree as I take out a pocket knife from under my cloak. I find thespot that I'd carved my initials in years ago, when my father was still alive, and smile.
“Let's rewrite the past, shall we?” I offer playfully as I unfold the knife and begin carving Cecelia's initials next to mine. I finish it with a heart carved around to frame both our initials, adding a plus sign underneath. “And…one for our first pup.”
Cecelia grins as she traces the tip of her index finger over each carving. “First? So there will be more?”
As she giggles and stares at the carvings in the tree trunk, I get down on one knee and flip open the box that contains my mother's ring. Cecelia notices the silence and turns with a frown to look for me, when she sees me on one knee holding up a gold ring with a teardrop ruby encased in the center.
She gasps, her eyes widening and glowing like golden pools of celestial beauty that take my breath away.
“Cecelia Morales…will you do me the greatest honor and carry all our baby pups? But most importantly, will you be my wife, so that I can love you forever?”
Cecelia's eyes flit between my face and the ring, her hands flying to her mouth when she bursts into tears and sinks onto her knees in front of me.
“Yes! Of course, I'll marry you!”
My heart swells with love as I take the ring from the box and slip it onto Cecelia's finger, pulling her into my arms and thanking her profusely for making me the happiest alpha alive.
Though marking Cecelia would have sufficed as claiming her as my mate, it's proposing to her and passing down my mother's family heirloom that signifies my love for her. What I feel for Cecelia is beyond the constructs of the fated mate bond, and I’ve realized just how smart, kind, and tough she is.
Now that I have the pack under my command, right where it was always meant to be under the leadership of a Rivera wolf, there's nothing to worry about anymore.
But there is one thing I have to do, and it feels like the perfect time to get it done while we're out in the woods, under the tree where I'd been gifted Cecelia's virginity on her twenty-first birthday.
As she admires the way the ruby gemstone catches the moonlight on her finger, I sweep her voluminous curls off her shoulder to expose her neck. Her scent gland catches my intrigue as the tip of my index finger draws a circle around it, and when Cecelia meets my eyes, there's a glint of distinctive hunger evident in her gaze.
She leans in and crushes her lips to mine, her arms winding around my neck as she moans into the kiss. I can feel her feverish lust in the heightening heat of her body, and it takes every ounce of self-control I can muster not to rip her clothes off in a flash and take her on the ground.
Panting heavily when I break the kiss with a lewd “pop,” I can see how fiercely dark my eyes have become as they reflect off Cecelia's. Gulping hard, I wrap my hand over her neck, tapping her scent gland with my index finger.
“I'm gonna mark you now,” I say, my voice hoarse and heavy with the inner wolf that wants to burst through the seams of my being. “I'm gonna claim you as mine…”
I lean into Cecelia's neck when my canines protrude from my mouth, distending with the rise of my inner wolf's quest to complete the most important aspect of our fated mate bond. Unlike any other mate bond, when a male chooses his mate, my inner wolf had no choice, but fate decided who my mate would be.
Being in love with Cecelia is a bonus, since my wolf finds her irresistible, adding to the heightened sensations that come over me when my sharp canines pierce the flesh around her scent gland. Waves of hot pleasure wash over me as I mark her with my teeth, pride filling my chest now that I know she'll wear the mark for the rest of her life, and it brings her great pleasure to receive it from the way she moans and clutches my clothed shoulders.
“Mine…” I rasp when I'm done marking her, appreciating the way my bite glows with a golden shimmer to seal our mate bond. I lick my lips and swallow the delicious taste of her sweet blood, swiping away the little droplets left behind on her flesh. As I meet Cecelia's hazel eyes, my heart skips a beat of realization that this woman is now mine, my everything, my love, my mate.
Forever.
When our lips meet again, our kisses are feverish and desperate, and I begin ripping off her clothes in haste, still taking care not to hurt her body, which now houses not just the heart I've claimed as mine, but our growing pup. When she's stripped down naked, I quickly remove my clothes and lie down beside her, draping her gorgeous, thick thigh over my waist, my erection perched against her moistened folds.
Taking time to appreciate the majestic beauty of her eyes, I stroke the back of my hand against her plump cheek, my heart swelling with the love I have for this woman. My fingers coast her lips, then move to the mark I made on her neck to claim her.
“I love you, Cecelia…” I whisper as I press my lips to hers in a chaste kiss that allows me to slowly slip between her folds. Her warm walls open up to welcome my cock, spreading likea blooming flower that radiates the scent of jasmine that I've become addicted to.
As I thrust slowly, deeply inside her, it feels as if we're making love for the very first time. When I pull my face back to stare into her eyes, I can see that she feels the same way, like we're righting all the wrongs, rewriting history that was made here more than three years ago.
“I love you, too, Dominic…” she whispers before her breath turns to soft, melodic moans that sound like music to my eardrums. Nothing compares to the fullness I feel now, our bodies fitting like two missing pieces of a puzzle drafted by the Moon Goddess. Not even becoming the Alpha and achieving what I trained for my whole life feels as fulfilling as lying beside the she-wolf I love.
My fated mate.
Cecelia Morales.
It's her name that falls from my lips and turns me ravenous as I thrust deeper, propping my weight on one elbow as I fill her to the brim. Each stroke brings us both closer to the height of our existence together, the strengthening of my mate bond through marking, allowing me to feel everything she's feeling.
