The crowd in the square was dispersing now, people returning to their shops and homes, the excitement of Jasper's removal giving way to the mundane rhythms of small-town life. Corin caught Twyla's eye across the square, and she gave him a knowing wink before disappearing into the Griddle & Grind.
"Walk with me?" he asked Chloe.
She raised an eyebrow but nodded. They left the square together, wandering down the path that led toward Moonmirror Lake. The February sun was warm on their faces, the snow finally beginning to melt in earnest, and everywhere Corin looked, he saw signs of spring pushing through.
"You're being mysterious," Chloe said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
"Am I?"
"You've got that look. The one you get when you're planning something."
He stopped at the shore of the lake, where a wooden bench sat beneath a bare willow tree. In a month, the branches would be trailing green leaves into the water. Now they hung like silver threads, catching the light.
"Sit with me."
She sat, and he settled beside her, their shoulders touching. The mate bond hummed between them, warm and steady. He could feel her curiosity through it, her anticipation.
"I asked Elias to make something for me," he said. "A few days ago, while you were recovering."
"What kind of something?"
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. Her breath caught. "Corin."
"I know we're already mated. Bonded. But humans have their own traditions, and I thought..." He opened the box.
The ring was silver, delicate but strong, with a green stone at its center that caught the light like a forest in summer. Elias had crafted it from ore pulled from the mountains, the same mountains that sheltered Hollow Oak, and the stone was an emerald Corin had found in the streambed near his orchard years ago.
"I thought you might want this too," he finished.
Chloe stared at the ring, her green eyes bright with tears she refused to let fall. "It's beautiful."
"Is that a yes?"
"That depends." She looked up at him, a smile tugging at her lips. "Are you actually asking?"
He slid off the bench and dropped to one knee in the half-frozen mud. Her laugh was worth every bit of the cold seeping through his jeans.
"Chloe Faelan. You crashed into my life like a storm and turned everything upside down. You made me feel things I'd given up on ever feeling. You fought a dark druid with nothing but stubbornness and druid blood, and you won." He held up the ring. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes." The word came out choked, half-laugh, half-sob. "Yes, of course yes."
He slipped the ring onto her finger, and it fit perfectly. He'd measured her hand while she slept, which was probably creepy, but he didn't care. She was his, and now everyone would know it.
She pulled him up and kissed him, hard and fierce, her hands fisting in his jacket. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.
"I don't want to wait," she said.
"For what?"
"The wedding. The ceremony. Whatever we're calling it." She looked down at the ring, turning her hand to watch it catch the light. "We've already done the hard part. The bond, the mark. I just want the celebration. I want to stand in front of everyone we love and say out loud that I choose you."
"What about planning? Dresses, flowers, all of that?"
"Freya can handle flowers. Twyla's been planning wedding menus since forever from what I’ve heard. And I don't need a fancy dress." She met his eyes, her expression fierce and certain. "I just need you."
His heart clenched. "When?"
"This weekend."
