83. Chapter 83
Chapter 83
A lmost a year later, I find myself looping my arm through Jaeger’s and starting the walk down the improvised aisle. The reason it took us so long is simply the fact that we didn’t want to throw a wedding while chaos was still reigning — vampires being murdered left and right, shifters breaking out of camps, cities burning in revolt after the Emperor’s death.
But now that things have calmed down a little…
I’m finally getting to marry the love of my life, it’s in the home Jericho built for me that we’re having the ceremony and we have Nymeria acting as the ring-bearer.
It’s all making my heart burst with happiness, especially when I see everyone gathered for the wedding lovingly gazing at me from the two rows of seats I’m walking between.
But nothing beats the moment my eyes get drawn to the floral arch, where Nimueh is waiting to marry us, and I see him staring at me, the intensity of his gaze making my breath catch and my mind flash with the images of my weddings to Jericho and Orpheus.
I keep walking, wondering how it is that I keep landing such a gorgeous, capable, smart, strong, secretly tender man.
My lips tugging into a smile that’s at the same time silly, shy and a little hot and bothered, I come to a stop in front of him. Without tearing my eyes away from him, I let go of Jaeger’s arm and sense her step back.
For one long moment, we just keep getting lost in each other’s eyes. Then I see his gaze dart to Nimueh and I hear him clear his throat.
The impatience with which he does it makes me almost let out a chuckle.
As if snapping from her ruminations, Nimueh starts, “Ah yes.” She clears her throat as well, raising her voice. “Well, we’re gathered here today to celebrate the union of Anna and Alexander, two people who have come to love each other despite all odds.” She pauses for a moment, her voice growing pensive. “I’ve been watching these two for months now and all the while, I’ve been wondering about the nature of love as such. After all, there’s nothing in this world that can bridge as many gaps as this seemingly simple, yet incredibly mysterious and powerful—”
Cain clears his throat again, more impatiently this time. I hear chuckles from the audience.
“Ah yes, apologies,” Nimueh says. Then she turns to me with a tender smile on her face. “Anna…”
Taking a deep, shaky breath, I nod.
“Do you take this man to be your husband, Anna?”
I turn to look at Cain, my heart melting when I see all the love and tenderness in his eyes. “I do.”
He smiles.
“And Alexander, do you take this woman to be your wife?”
His eyes dive deeper into mine. “I do,” he says, softly but with such determination, my heart skips a beat.
This being her cue, I see Nymeria appear with the rings tied to her back. There’s more chuckling from the audience as she lets us take the rings and intently watches us put them on each other’s fingers.
“Thank you, Nymeria,” I whisper, and she contently comes to sit next to Cain.
“Well,” Nimueh starts as soon as she does, “since you’re being so impatient… I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss.”
Smiling, we step closer to each other, Cain takes me by the waist and we kiss, the people all around us starting to cheer.
When we pull away from each other, they’ve already formed a line to congratulate us — Nimueh, Lorcan and Nuala, Raven and Alaric, de Groot…
And Jaeger, crocodile tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy for you, Anna,” she tells me. Then she awkwardly turns to Cain. “And you, Wolfram.”
“Cain,” I rush to say, “call him Cain.”
She nods, and Cain gives a tight-lipped smile, but he almost instantly pulls me away. “I don’t want anyone else to call me that,” he leans to tell me in a low, serious voice.
I chuckle. “I have plenty of nicknames for you, and besides, this will make people grow more at ease with you.”
He presses his lips tight. “I think they’re already a lot more at ease with me than—”
I watch him stiffen, his eyes darting to the table we’ve set up for the meal after the wedding.
“Cain?” I call out, but he’s already briskly walking away.
When I turn around, I see him saying something to the Embers who seem to have been in the middle of taking their seats.
“What’s going on?” I ask when I walk over to them, seeing Dryden and Alaric shoot amused looks at me.
Cain turns to tell me, “You made place names for them and they’re not respecting them.”
Suppressing a chuckle, I reply, “I think I’ll live.”
He pulls me aside. “This is your day,” he leans to say with this cute frown on his face, “I need to make it perfect for you.”
My heart melts. I smile. “It’s not my day, it’s our day, and I just want people to have fun, that’s all. Relax.”
He squints at me, but then he nods and walks back to the table. “Sorry about that, people,” I hear him start, however awkwardly. “I’ve been told I need to relax and that’s what I’ll be focusing on from now on. So why don’t you ignore me and just… sit wherever you want?” This last bit he practically has to squeeze out.
This time, Alaric doesn’t even try to suppress his chuckling. “Are you sure?” he drawls teasingly. “Because we might even want to change seats from time to time.”
Now everyone else is chuckling.
Cain squints at them. “I don’t care what you do, but you need to have fun. Understood?”
“Aye aye general,” Dryden exclaims with a grin on his face.
Cain rolls his eyes and moves to walk away. Then he spots Nymeria starting to circle the table, stops and raises a finger at them all. “And don’t give Nymeria any chicken, no matter how much she begs for it.”
Dryden and Alaric salute, Alaric throwing a wink at me.
When Cain appears next to me, I have a huge grin on my face. “What?” he demands as he wraps his arms around my waist.
“Nothing. I love you. I love it that you’d do stuff like that for me.”
He’s back to using that low, loving voice when he says, “And here I thought I’d already made it clear to you there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“Because… you love me?” I ask with a smile.
“Yes, because I love you, Anyi,” he replies with a laugh.
“Yeah, how much?” I demand, never seeming to get enough of him admitting it.
He hugs me tighter, his lips brushing my ear as he whispers, his voice getting choked up with emotion, “To the ends of the universe, that’s how much. You’re all I’ve ever secretly wanted and all I never even knew I needed. And I’ve never been more sure or excited about anything as I am about spending the rest of my life with you.”
Overwhelmed with happiness myself, I close my eyes for a second, enjoying the way being in his arms makes me feel like I’ve finally come home.