Page 31 of Dancer's Heart

“Come here, sweetheart,” he said gruffly, stopping in front of the couch.

She went to him, clasping his outstretched hands. They were trembling, and she had just opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong when he dropped to one knee. Her eyes widened as he let go of her left hand and reached into the front pocket of his jeans.

“I wanted to do something amazing so we’d have a sweet story to tell our kids, but I realized, after what happened at the house earlier with my…withhim, that a flashy story doesn’t make it mean more.” He pulled a ring from his pocket and held it in front of her left hand. His eyes never left hers as he very slowly pushed it onto the tip of her finger. She could feel the weight of the ring on her hand, and her heart began to pound as she waited what felt like an eternity before he continued to speak. “I never thought I’d have a mate, let alone find my truemate naked in the snow. You don’t look at me like I’m broken. I feel like I can do anything when you’re by my side. You’re already wearing my marks, but I want you to be mine in every way. Marry me, Dani. Be my mate and my bride.” He swallowed audibly and said, “I love you.”

Her eyes stung with tears at his heartfelt words. “Yes, I’ll marry you!” He pushed the ring the rest of the way onto her finger and stood, catching her in his arms and lifting her off the ground. “I love you, too. I think I’ve loved you since you crawled to me on your belly in the snow so I wouldn’t be afraid.”

He kissed her, and tears slipped down her cheeks as her eyes closed. “You’ve made me the happiest wolf,” he murmured against her lips. “Thank you for trusting me with our future. I swear to be the best mate and husband to you.”

“You’re already off to an excellent start,” she said, giggling. He put her down but didn’t let go, nuzzling the side of her throat and kissing her. She stretched her hand out and admired the ring. A garnet sat in the center of a white-and-yellow-gold band, flanked by tiny diamonds.

“I picked a garnet because the color is such a deep red that it reminded me of how intensely I feel about you.” He clasped her hand gently.

“I love it.” She pressed against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you.”

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and smiled as Honey and Jeremiah came into the room. “Congratulations,” Honey said, hugging her.

“Thank you,” Dani said as Jeremiah and Adam hugged briefly, patting each other on the back the way that men did. Then both males grabbed their mates.

“How about that dessert?” Jeremiah asked.

He and Adam disappeared into the kitchen and Honey said, “I know he just asked you, but I wanted to give you something to think about.”

“Okay.” Dani turned to face her.

“Jer and Adam are best friends. They’re like brothers, really. Neither of them had good family lives; Jer was ostracized by his parents because he wasn’t able to fully shift. I’d like to think of you as my sister, if that’s okay. I know you have Kammie as a real sister-in-law, but she’s not living here anymore. I don’t have any family except Jer, and I think we could all use people on our side, don’t you?”

“I’d really like that,” Dani said. “Is that what you wanted me to think about? Because I don’t have to think about it—I’d love it.”

Honey smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “No. I wanted you to consider us having a joint wedding.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know if you’d like to do that, but Jer and I were talking earlier about it, and I think it would be sweet. Think about it and let me know. It’s okay if you don’t want to, but I hope you do. When I was little, there were twin sisters in our pack who had a joint ceremony and I thought that was the neatest thing. I always wished I had a sister.”

“Me too.”

Jeremiah and Adam returned to the family room with a tray of walnut-studded brownies and coffee, and they all talked late into the evening. After saying goodbye, she and Adam headed home.

She leaned against his shoulder and rubbed her palm along the inside of his leg.

“Honey suggested we have a joint wedding.”

“Jeremiah told me as much. What do you think?”

“I think it would be really neat.”

“Eveny and Luke are getting married in March, and Malachi and Nila are getting married in April. Maybe May would be nice?”

“Sounds perfect. What do wolves do for bachelor parties?”

He wiggled his brows at her. “Hunting.”

“I wonder if reindeer have any special mating customs. I wish there was a way I could just do an internet search and find out anything I wanted to know.”

“Maybe someday that will happen, but as long as your people insist on staying off the radar then I’m afraid you only know what you know.”

“Bears go into a cave on their mating night, and then they mark each other on the bicep with their claws in the shape of a crescent. They do a lot of celebrations during the crescent moon.”

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