Page 109 of Family: Posy 4

"All right, boys," he said, looking at us, "seeing as I'm not needed here and I am elsewhere, I'll say so long for now and see you at the palace in about two hours."

"Two hours?!" Ash shrieked, freaking out. "Oh, my Goddess! I have to get Posy ready! Her hair alone is going to take almost half of that!"

He bent down, stuck his hands in her armpits, and lifted her up, then started to run toward his SUV with her held out in front of him like she was a baby with a stinky diaper.

"We better hurry after him." Mase waited for Quartz to yield control, then helped Jay stand up. "He won't hesitate to leave us here if fashion's on the line."

As we trotted back to the vehicles, we could hear our girl scolding Ash for being more concerned about her hair than his brother's well-being, and we traded smirks.

"At least it's not Wyatt getting into trouble this time," Mase teased. "Small miracle."

If I wasn't in my suit pants and him in his dress shirt, I would have tackled him, but I wasn't trying to get yelled at for having grass stains on us at the coronation.

Plus Ash reallywasgoing to leave us here if we didn't hustle.

That's why I settled for a quick punch on his bicep before I skipped away. I had my hair just how I wanted it and didn't need a noogie to mess it up.

Chuckling, King Julian shook his head.

"Your luna is a truly remarkable woman. Not only can she manage your wolves, she can knock you boys on your asses, keep you on your toes, and bring you to your knees."

"Damn right!" I said with a grin. "And we wouldn't have it any other way."

13: Coronation

Posy

The cathedral was a sea of beautiful dresses, elegant suits, glittering jewels, and heavy gold crowns.

Lotsof crowns.

Jayden told me kings and queens from all over the world were present. The only king who didn't attend was the Australian one, whose flight was grounded because of wildfires. And then there were all the former kings and queens, who wore circlets, and the princes and princesses, who wore tiaras and smaller crowns...

"You stand tall today, sweetness," he murmured, "and don't be intimidated by a metal ring on someone's head."

"Yeah, the ones on your finger are worth more than half of some of their little kingdoms, anyway," Wyatt smirked.

My eyes flew wide. I knew my wedding rings were made from platinum and set with diamonds, but I didn't know they were worth that much! Now I was even more nervous to wear them all the time!

I didn't remember much of the actual ceremony, but it only took half an hour. A guy in big white hat and silver robes - Mason said he was a moon priest - said a lot of words that sounded like they came from some ancient time. I understood only about one word in every ten! Then the queen knelt on a silver velvet pillow, the priest placed the sparkling crown on her head, and King Julian helped her stand and face those of us in the audience.

"Long live the queen!" the priest called in a louder, deeper voice than he had been using.

It surprised me to hear it coming out of such a thin, elderly man, and I bit my lip to keep from giggling.

"Long live the queen!" we all chorused back.

The king took Queen Lilah's hand in his and escorted her down the white-carpeted aisle with Luke and Gisela following them. After a few moments, ushers began to dismiss us row by row. Since my mates and I were in the front on the queen's side, we were second to leave. The king's front row went first and Cole, who seated next to me, explained who was who as they exited their pew.

"That's Magnus. He's King Julian's father." He pointed to a man wearing a silver circlet on his graying black hair. "He wants to talk with you before we leave on Monday, so he may approach us at the reception. Just FYI."

I nodded and looked at the next person, who looked like an older version of Magnus.

"That's the king's grandfather, Alfred. He's Magnus' dad."

"Makes sense. They look a lot alike."

"They do. Plus, there's only eighteen years between them, so a lot of people think they're brothers, not father and son."

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