Page 91 of Heatwaves

You are the crown of my company.

To this I vow you,

You are blood of my blood, bone of my bone.

I give you my body, that we might be one.

I give you my spirit, until our life is done.

With each line I repeat, magic buzzes along my skin until it feels like we’re surrounded by it. My mate marks warm against my skin, and I can’t stop grinning as I stare at my mate.

A gasp falls from the crowd, the only thing that could’ve pulled my attention away from Lila.

Standing just behind Granny is a familiar goddess. She’s semi-translucent and beautiful, though she doesn’t hold a candle to my mate.

Bria.

She smiles at each of us, her voice sounding out around us even as her mouth remains closed.

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow,

May the soft winds freshen your spirit,

May the sunshine brighten your heart,

May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you.

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And the rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again my friends,

Know that the gods are watching over you,

And that you hold their blessings.

Then she’s gone.

“Was that?” Lila gasps.

“The goddess Bria?” Granny says with a face-splitting grin. “Aye, it was my child, and she has blessed your bonding in a way that hasn’t been done in many, many moons.”

Granny turns back to the crowd. “And with the goddess’s blessing, I present to you the Riley pod.”

Everyone stands up, clapping and yelling as we each lean in to kiss our mate before leading her down the aisle.

While our bonding ceremony hadn’t gone quite the way we planned it, I can’t help thinking that this was so much better.

If Lila was holding onto any doubts that we were lying to her, that’ll be long gone now.

Hours later, I’m lingering near the bar as I watch Ty and Wyatt dancing with our mate as I nurse my beer. She’s danced with each of us at least once, but she can’t do more than one song at a time. Carrying two babies leaves her exhausted at the best of times.

I don’t think we’ll be staying much longer. Especially not since we just moved into our new house.

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