She sniffed hard, too overwhelmed to feel any relief. “You’re not mad that I took the choice from you? That I brought you into the hyphae?”
Taevas let out an incredulous laugh. “Are you mad that I Chose you? I didn’t ask either, Shiya.”
“You…” Her shoulders shook, making it hard to speak. “YouChoseme?
He cupped her cheeks and pressed a quick series of fervent kisses to her trembling lips. “I love you,naine.I’ve loved you for a decade. If I’m angry, it’s only because I wish I could remember the moment when you claimed me, too.”
Alashiya stroked her hands down his naked chest, feeling the heat of his skin and the thundering beat of his heart. Her voice was thick with a different type of tears when she explained, “I cut us with my sewing shears and bound our hands together with the sash from your robe. It wasn’t a very pretty ceremony.”
Taevas jolted with surprise. “The sash? Gods, no wonder it was bloody.”
“Yes,” she answered, miming the way she’d wrapped their hands together. “I said my vows and wrapped our hands together. I had to be sure you got enough of my blood, so I tried to do it as tight as I could.”
He tilted his head back and blinked at the ceiling, apparently struggling to wrap his head around what she told him. “But… but you told me how much a wedding meant to your grove,” he protested.
“I can wear my veil and my jewelry when I’m dead. I don’t need anything other than you.”
“No, Shiya,” he growled. “No, itmatters.You deserve that. You deserve to have the wedding you dreamed of.”
Alashiya stroked the hard line of his jaw, a great, expanding warmth filling her chest. “You ridiculous, bossy dragon. I don’t care about any of that. If you’d died, I never would’ve gotten the chance to wear my veil anyway.”
“You would’ve found someone else,” he whispered. “You’re too perfect to be alone, Shiya. You deserve more than that. More than me.”
She rose up onto her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to his lips. “I made my choice when I turned my ass around and came back for you. Whatever happens next, we do it together, okay?”
Taevas rubbed his lips back and forth against hers, sharing breath and warmth and reassurance with her in a way that made every cell of her body hum.
The hyphae bloomed under the glow of their connection, the energy of it reaching deep into the very root of her soul. The strong purple thread of him wound its way through her, strengthening the parts of the network that had grown weak and withered with disuse.
Alashiya held him close, tears stinging behind her eyelids as she took what felt like her first deep breath since the death of her grove.
Like the slowly decaying warren of her home, the hyphae had gradually begun to shrivel and close off its branches. But life had been breathed back into it —her.That was worth more than any perfect wedding or fairytale romance could ever be.
Taevas rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. They didn’t open their eyes as they breathed together, their hands roaming slowly over each other’s bodies like they needed to memorize every dip, curve, and bone. In a voice that was hardly more than a breath, he said, “I can feel you. I can hear you. Thank the gods that’s not just the pain meds talking.”
A soft laugh tumbled out of her. “You’re part of the hyphae now. We’ll always be with each other, even when we’re not.”
“You Chose me,” he said, delight beginning to shine through. “YouChoseme.”
“I did,” she replied, cheeks cramping with the force of her grin. “With the blessing of my family, by the way.”
Taevas pulled back. Looking like he was putting some pieces together, he shook his head. “Is that who I’ve been hearing?”
Alashiya patted his chest. “They’re chatty.”
Huffing, he muttered, “Well, at least I’m used to dealing with a clan.”
“They seem… interesting.”
“That’s a word for it.” Gently smoothing her damp curls back behind her ears, he visibly gathered himself before telling her, “They’re going to smother you, I’m afraid.”
Not knowing how else to release her suddenly nervous energy, she began to button his shirt for him. It was such a mundane, domestic task — one she’d dreamed of doing a thousand times for her Adon. Her husband.
He Chose me.The thrill of that buzzed from the top of her head to her toes.
“What if I’m not good with them?” she asked, neck bent as she focused on her task.
“You will be.” He pulled his shoulders back and allowed her to do her work. The warmth of his pleasure glowed in the hyphae with every brush of her fingers. “My cousins Hele and Alex are coming to spend time with you today. You can tell them if you’re comfortable with Vael coming by, but Radek is non-negotiable. He’s the head of your Wing now.”
