Page 67 of Accepted Bonds

“Alpha Owen went to apologize to her, so she’ll come back with him, right?”I asked as I finished my sandwich.

“I don’t know ...He didn’t treat her very well in the first couple of years after she became Luna.Plus, Aiden and several people in the pack treated her like she was unwelcome all the time.I can’t help wondering why she never left earlier.”

I pecked him on the forehead before locking gazes with him.“Probably because she loves Alpha Owen.”

Something charged filled the air between us and Mateo didn’t allow me to pull away as he held the nape of my neck and pulled me closer until our lips connected.

A peck on the forehead escalated into making love.

“I love you so much,” Mateo said in a breathy, hoarse voice before dropping a bite above my collarbone.

I tightened my legs around his hips and shivered as I responded, “I love you, too.”

After we went over the edge, we lay on the blanket sated and I’d forgotten about Mateo proposing until I felt the cold necklace being placed around my neck.

I looked up into Mateo’s eyes, which were filled with light.“This necklace has been in my mother’s family for the past fifty years.After my mom died, my dad gave it back to my grandparents so they could keep it for me.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds while rubbing our noses together.

Then he opened his eyes again, fixed them on mine, and asked, “Aurora, will you be my official mate?I know that I have made several mistakes and I’ve treated you very badly several times in the past.I’m really sorry for those times and I promise to spend the rest of my life loving you, cherishing you, trusting you, and being on your side every time.”

A nervous laugh left his lips.“I wrote a heartfelt speech and rehearsed countless times, but now, in this moment, they’ve all vanished.So all I can do now is to ask you this: will you become my cherished mate, the keeper of my soul, and the one who will forever hold my heart in yours?”

With a wide smile, I agreed.“Yes.”

And then we were kissing again.

While we were cuddling a few moments later, I teased him with a chuckle, “Can I read your speech when we get home?”

As if he knew he couldn’t escape being teased by me nonstop about this matter, he answered me with an indulgent sigh.“Sure.”

39

Aurora

“Today, I want to thank everyone who came to my official mating ceremony with Eleanor.It has taken us sixteen years to get here.Of course, I also have to thank the person I’m most grateful to for making today possible—Eleanor.Thank you for not giving up on me, even when I was being unreasonable and hardheaded.Thank you for staying by my side all these years.Here’s to a lifetime forever!”A wide smile lit up Alpha Owen’s face as he raised his champagne flute, waiting for our response to his toast.

“To a lifetime forever!”We all echoed back with our champagne flutes raised in the air to clink with that of others before taking sips of our champagne.

After a few more toasts, we followed the newly mated Alpha Owen and Luna Eleanor to the designated driveway area, where a car was already waiting to take them to their honeymoon destination.I watched Caden, Mateo, and Aiden hug the recently mated couple with a wide smile because seeing Aiden get along with Eleanor since they reconciled and talked out their issues always gave me joy.

I was going to keep watching from the side, but Eleanor waved me over, so my mom, whose arm was clasped to mine, released me to go over.A wider smile stretched my lips as Eleanor enveloped me in a warm hug before passing me off to Alpha Owen for another warm bear hug.

Even though I wasn’t officially mated to Caden, Aiden, and Mateo yet, the attitude of Alpha Owen and Luna Eleanor toward me in the past few months had been full of warmth, respect, support, and kindness.There was no doubt that they’d already accepted me as a member of their family.I’d also accepted them as a member of mine.When Alpha Owen and Eleanor got back from their honeymoon, I was planning to invite them to our end-of-the-year family dinner, which every member of my extended family usually attended.

Holding onto my mother with one arm and grasping Aiden’s with the other, I returned to the hall where we were going to have dinner with all the guests who had honored the invitation to Alpha Owen and Luna Eleanor’s mating celebration party.After this dinner, they would leave for their far and near homes from which they’d traveled or to their nearby hotel rooms.

I sat at the head table, in the same position I’d been seated before the recently mated couple left, in between Caden and Aiden.Opposite us were Mateo and Levi.Beside Mateo were his maternal grandparents, and beside Aiden were Caden and Aiden’s maternal grandparents since Alpha Owen’s parents were gone.My mom and Daddy Reece, who had also come for the party, were seated beside Caden’s grandparents.

Amid the clinking of cutlery and the hum of subdued conversations, Caden and I shared a quiet, knowing moment fueled by the flame of determination and affection in Caden’s eyes.It seemed like a simple moment, but when I also glanced at my other mates, the atmosphere between us was charged with whatever understanding we had developed at that moment.

It was a moment filled with a silent acknowledgment of the bond between us, which we’d all accepted even after I’d told them I had a true mate bond with Nyra and was interested in pursuing it when she came out of prison.

It was just a moment and once it passed, I smiled and started participating in the conversations between my mates, their grandparents, my parents, and the Beta of the Crawford Pack in low tones.

Dinner flowed with laughter, stories, and clinking glasses.The atmosphere was joyous, filled with the afterglow of the official mating celebration we had just witnessed.As the night deepened and the restaurant started to empty, Caden sprang from his seat, his hand finding mine under the table as he pulled me to my feet as well.

As if he’d informed everyone of what he was planning to do, the room fell into a hushed silence as he looked at me, his eyes soft but unwavering.

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