Taking one final look, I beamed at her. “It is definitely love.”
It was really happening. Full Moon Emporium would have its own beautiful space in the neighborhood that Aspen and I could call home for good.
* * *
When we got backto the house, Hazel waved me to go ahead inside, opening Aspen’s door to get him out of the car. Stepping into the living room, my mouth gaped at the candles floating around the interior, along with a wine-colored velvet dress hanging in the air, its train stretching to the floor. “What’s this?”
“Another exception,” Hazel said, carting Aspen in her arms. “Put this on while I get him changed.
I grabbed the dress and darted into my room, hands shaking as I ran them over the soft material and pulled it over my head. I heard Hazel wrestling with Aspen, meeting them in the living room to find him in a little black playsuit with a burgundy velvet bow tie pinned to the neckline and a matching vest.
“I predict you should head to the backyard,” Hazel teased, and I noticed that she was already in a tailored black suit with a wine-hued corset peeking beneath it.
What the hell was going on?
The candles that floated in the living room parted, trailing out back. Hazel waved her arm for me to follow them, still holding on to Aspen. I stepped out onto the porch in my bare feet. The hexagonal arch had been decorated in black and burgundy roses, their thorny stems wrapping around the wooden shape.
And in front of that stood my three handsome witches.
Lynx wore a wine-colored suit with a matching tie, a white button-up beneath it, and Saros was in a black suit with a maroon shirt, no tie. They both smiled at me before my attention glided to Atlas. He’d retracted his fangs, or illusioned them away. Either way, he looked as I’d remembered him, wearing a black shirt with trousers and a vest that matched his son’s.
“Oh my Goddess,” I rasped. Everything was beautiful, but I was so confused seeing them here all dressed up. “I thought you weren’t getting back until tomorrow?”
“Then our surprise went as planned,” Lynx said proudly, winking over his shoulder at Hazel. When I turned my attention to her, she just shrugged, bouncing along with Aspen.
“Do you like it?” Saros asked, voice gravelly, his nerves like pebbles scraping his usually smooth baritone.
“I do.” I eyed them curiously. “Is there an event happening here tonight?”
“You could say that,” Atlas replied with a charming smirk.
Lynx took a few steps forward, extending his hand. “We’re here to make you ours, Oakley.”
“All of ours,” Saros added, walking toward me to give me his arm as well.
I rested my palms on both of their forearms, and they escorted me toward the arch, my heart beating wildly in my rib cage.
“If you’ll have us, that is,” Atlas said with a bow. For the first time ever, he seemed nervous. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring—the one he’d proposed to me with before, only two more stones had been set into it. “I know this wasn’t the family I envisioned for us and I admit it took me by surprise, but I’ve realized that sometimes the real dream is the one we can’t see for ourselves. I may have traded one curse for another, but at least I can live with this one. With you and our son. And there are no two men more worthy to stand alongside us than these.”
He handed the ring to Saros, who clutched it clumsily in his shaking fingers. “Midnight, the first time we touched, I knew there was something here. It scared me more than anything. I always thought I’d finish this case and just want a life of my own, but through your love, through Lynx’s… This is the family I want to make the rest of my memories with.”
A tear spilled down my cheek, and Atlas brushed it away.
Finally, Lynx took the ring, giving Saros a kiss, seemingly moved just as much as I was by his words. I was speechless. “Wicked, somehow you left your mark on me before we’d even met.” He looked over his shoulder where his oak tree spanned his beautiful body currently hidden from view. “Once we did, I knew this day would come. Of course, I didn’t think we’d become bonded eternally by your formerly hexed vampire ex,” we all chuckled at that, “but there’s no one else I’d rather spend my days with than our family. No one I’d rather spend my nights with in the pines. We’re all better together. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I finally dug up some words. “I would.”
“So what do you say, Wicked?” He flashed me a devilish grin. “Ours until eternity runs out?”
I nodded, eyes flitting over all of them. “Yours.”
Rich purples and crimsons painted the sky as the sun continued to set and we held each other’s hands, preparing to say our vows before the Moon Goddess watching from above.
“Moon Mother, bless our sacred union,” Atlas said, looking up at her. He stared so intently it made me wonder if he could truly see her on her copper throne. She had been the one to curse his family, but when he called to her, it was not in anger but in gratitude. “Bless us with loyalty, always vowing to put our trust in each other.”
“Bless us with love and a vow that we will always lead with it,” Lynx said, looking up at her before his eyes glinted, scanning over the rest of us.
Saros squeezed my hand, evergreens shimmering with the promise of tears. “Bless us with commitment and a vow to carry our family above all else.”
