It was beautiful. Romantic. Exactly the sort of spectacle humans expected from a night like this. From a show like this.
And I could not touch my mate.
Every instinct demanded I pull her into my arms. Feel her body pressed against mine. Bury my face against her neck and breathe in her unique scent.
Instead, I sat across the table, gripping the armrests of my chair hard enough that the wood creaked beneath my fingers.
"You look like you're being tortured," Tori murmured. Her eyes gleamed with barely contained laughter.
"I am." The answer came without hesitation.
She laughed, the sound warm and bright in the cold night air. "Poor Warlord," she teased softly. "Forced to endure a romantic dinner with his mate. How will you survive?"
"Through sheer force of will."
I leaned forward, lowering my voice so only she could hear. "When this is over… when the cameras leave…"
Her breath caught as I spoke.
"I am going to make you scream my name until you lose your voice."
Color rushed into her cheeks. "Promises, promises."
"Guarantees."
She opened her mouth to answer, mischief sparking in her eyes— Then she froze. Her head tilted back. The teasing expression vanished.
"Egon."
The way she said my name made something inside me tighten. I followed her gaze.
The sky had transformed.
Green ribbons of light stretched across the darkness, moving slowly as if guided by invisible currents. Waves of color pulsed outward—violet, pink, flashes of gold—merging and unraveling in silent, breathtaking patterns.
The Northern Lights.
My female was right to want to see them. They were beautiful.
Tori pushed back from the table. Her chair scraped across the floor as she moved toward the railing.
The glow bathed her in shifting colors, emerald light brushing across her skin, reflecting in her wide eyes.
"Oh," she breathed. Her voice softened with pure wonder. "Oh, it's…" She could not finish the sentence.
I rose and stepped beside her, wrapped a heavy parka around her shoulders.
The cold air bit against my skin, but I barely noticed it. My attention remained fixed on her. The way her lips parted. The way the moving lights danced across her face.
Even my beast was humbled by the beauty before us. I would never forget the way my mate looked in this moment. Ethereal. Too beautiful to be real.
"It's like the universe is putting on a show," she whispered. "Just for us."
"It is showing off."
She glanced at me, amused. “Oh, yeah?”
"Trying to impress you. Just like me."
