Raja smiled up at me. I stroked his hand.
Anton continued. “Lorenzo, will you love and protect this omega?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Raja, will you love and nurture this alpha?”
“Yes, I will,” Raja said proudly.
Clearly bursting with happiness, Anton smiled. “Then, I declare you married mates. Lorenzo, you may now kiss the omega.”
This time, it wasmyturn.
I slipped my arms around Raja, dipped him and kissed him passionately. The crowd exploded into cheering and clapping. Raja didn't even seem to notice them anymore - he was too busy kissing me back. When we broke apart, our eyes met, and electricity seemed to dance between our gaze.
“You’re so handsome,” I murmured.
A mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes. “You’re handsomer.” Suddenly, Raja’s stomach growled. His face turned red. “Oh. Please tell me you didn’t hear that.”
“Unfortunately, I did. Hungry?” I asked.
He bit his lip and gazed longingly in the direction of the untouched wedding cake. “I think the baby has a sweet tooth…”
I laughed. “Oh, sure, blame it on the baby.”
The rest of the evening was casual and fun. The first thing we did was get Raja an enormous slice of cake - the very first one to be cut. His embarrassment about the baby craving wedding cake was quickly forgotten as he took the first bite into the sweet icing.
“Ugh, it’s so good,” he said blissfully.
As he ate, our friends joined us around the table, all with their own slice of cake and an extra for Noah. Gabriel, holding his son, took the spot next to me as Dante sat on Raja’s other side.
“Damn, that big slice really does looks amazing,” Dante said, glancing at Raja’s plate.
“Back off, wolf,” Raja growled. “This ismywedding cake.”
Gabriel laughed at his mate. “I wouldn’t get any closer if I were you. Cats have claws, remember?”
“Tell that to Lorenzo, not me. He’s the one who’s gonna be sleeping with this cat,” Dante said, then avoided the strike of Raja mockingly trying to stab him with a cake-coated fork.
“Anyway, I’m really happy for you two,” Gabriel said. “It’s not every day you meet your fated mate, you know?”
Raja and I exchanged glances.
“You know,” Raja began, “it’s funny. When my father mentioned his vision about us being fated mates, I didn’t believe him at all. Not to be rude, but I thought he lost his marbles. Everything you hear about fated mates - it’s all about thisinstantfeeling, right? And I didn’t have that towards Lorenzo. I mean, there was a spark of something, but it wasn’t that intense magnet pull I thought it would be.”
“Actually, I felt the same way,” I admitted. “There was a constant feeling ofsomething, yes, but it wasn’t the pull you’re describing. At least not in the beginning.”
“You know what? I was the same way!” Gabriel exclaimed. “In fact, where I’m originally from, the concept of fated mates was considered taboo. So I never had that insane magnetic feeling towards Dante even when I was deeply in love with him.”
“Huh. Ididactually have that feeling towards you, Gabe,” Dante said. “That’s why I knew I had to save you when you were in trouble. Deep down, I knew we were fated. Weird how it’s different for all of us. How do you guys feel now?”
“Now, I know without a doubt Raja is my fated mate,” I said firmly. “I can’t imagine my life without him, and I don’t want to.”
Raja blushed and slipped his hand into mine. “I feel the same way about you.”
Ryu, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, said, “Interesting… It seems like there are many ways for a couple to experience being fated mates - not just the instant-magic one we were led to believe.”
“I agree,” Gabriel said. “Love isn’t always a one-size-fits-all experience. I know that now. So it makes sense to me that realizing you’re fated mates with someone doesn’t always happen the same way.”
