28. Keith #3
“I love you, Keith, and I promise to protect you and never lie to you again. I promise to stay by your side, even as wrinkles set in and gray appears in your beard, as your glasses prescription arrives and grows thicker and thicker. I’m with you until the end of the road, and I absolutely cannot wait to see where our path leads as long as it’s together.
“You are unequivocally my pack now, through and through.”
Fuck, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss her so badly. It was like love was bursting out of all the seams of my body, and if I didn’t express it somehow, I might actually combust.
Luckily, we were almost there.
“Our couple has shared their vows and their promises of eternity. They have exchanged their tokens of these vows, forged in fire and adorned with gems to wear on their persons.”
The officiant’s voice was steady, but I heard my mother sniffle behind me, and Amanda was crying while still somehow looking like she was ready for a magazine photoshoot.
“Now, with both of your souls laid bare before each other and your loved ones, do you, Keith Insrym, take this woman and wolf to be your lawfully wedded bride and your mate? To have and to hold, to cherish her humanity and her inner beast, to meld with her pack and uphold their traditions and your own with an open heart as long as you both shall live?”
It was only then that I realized Olivia and I still hadn’t let go of each other’s hands, allowing me to give her three short squeezes. A simple trio of pressure but I could tell she knew exactly what I was saying with it.
I love you.
“I do.”
“And do you, Olivia Rizoli, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband and your mate? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to accept and protect his kin and uphold their traditions and your own with an open heart as long as you both shall live?”
The emotions that I could see running through her gaze took my breath away. Somehow, she managed to speak, and it was the perfect punctuation to everything.
“I do.”
“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife and mates! Keith, you may kiss the bride!”
He had done it. He had said the words that I had been aching to hear for hours. Or maybe even my whole damn life. I lifted Olivia’s veil, fully revealing that perfect, stunning face that I had grown to love so deeply, and gently draped it over the back of her head.
Whenever I had attended weddings in the past, I had always wondered if it was awkward to have to lip lock with so many people staring at you.
But now that I was in the moment, there wasn’t anyone else in the room.
There was only Olivia, and the future we had promised to each other.
Just her and me, a couple of late bloomers who had proved that it didn’t matter when you got started, just that you did.
“I love you,” I murmured for what had to be the umpteenth time before I bent down and closed the distance between us, sealing my lips over hers.
It was everything I wanted and more.
An exultant cry issued from those gathered, their enthusiasm radiating through the air.
I got a little carried away and dipped Olivia, swallowing the cute noise of surprise she made.
Very faintly, part of me knew that this was being recorded in multiple formats, and I couldn’t wait to hang the portraits up in the house we were going to build together.
When the two of us finally righted, the world was different somehow. I couldn’t explain it, but it genuinely felt like the air had changed. The sun was brighter, the grass greener, and even the birds in the trees were singing along chipperly.
“Members of the Rizoli pack and honored guests, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Insrym-Rizoli!”
More cheers, and suddenly everyone was standing and throwing flower petals from the baskets that had been under their seats.
Olivia and I exchanged a look before heading back down the aisle, hand in hand.
I couldn’t say which one of us laughed first, our undiluted happiness overflowing, but before we were even halfway down, we were absolutely breathless.
I was so grateful that we had multiple photographers taking pictures and recording, because I knew I would want to relive this moment again and again.
The air was a soft, multi-colored haze from the flowers, the sound of our loved ones’ approval all around us, and any tears being shed were ones of jubilation rather than pain.
The world could be a dark place sometimes, but surely, it could never be that bad as long as I had this moment to look back on.
When we reached the back doors that led into the house, I paused. Olivia stopped too, and our eyes met once more.
Neither of us said a word, because again, it wasn’t necessary. Although (as far as I knew) telepaths weren’t a thing, it was like our brains were linked, because I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was.
Which was that when we stepped through those doors we would be walking into our very first room as husband and wife. Our very first entrance as Mr. and Mrs. Insrym-Rizoli, and it belonged only to us.
The weight hung over my frame for a second, beautiful but potent in its intensity. But then came three small squeezes from her hand. A trio of light pressure.
I love you.
I smiled at her like I truly had never smiled before, and the two of us stepped through the doors into our happily ever after.
Together, forever.