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By the time Friday rolled around, Crew was head over heels for Zara and just waiting for the perfect time to ask her to marry him and tell her he loved her.

They hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the other herd, thank freaking goodness, and he was hopeful that Colton had simply been screwing with them for the sake of screwing with them when he went after the stuff stored in one of the barns. Or perhaps he saw all the new security features around the farm and decided it wasn’t worth it.

They weren’t going to let their guard down, of course, but he was cautiously optimistic that they wouldn’t be seeing that asshole or his herd again.

After breakfast, Crew caught Tris as she was working in the laundry room, scrubbing at some paint that Grey had gotten on his work jeans.

“Hey, I need a favor,” he said with a low voice. Zara was on the back porch with some drying screens where she was checking on the mint she’d laid out the day before.

“Of course, what can I do for you?”

“I want to ask Zara to marry me tonight, and I was wondering if you could help me put a picnic basket together for dinner. I thought we could eat on the dock overlooking the pond, and it would be a great place to ask her.”

“Oh, that’s so romantic!” Tris said with a dreamy sigh. “I’d love to help you put something together. Were you thinking cold foods or sandwiches? Or…oh! We could do bento boxes so you only have to open the boxes and you’re not dealing with extra containers.”

“Whatever you think would work best.”

“When Zara’s done on the porch, she’s going to help Avi clean out the chicken coop, so you and I can get to work.”

“Perfect.”

He bided his time in the den, checking over the security feed from the night before and making sure nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Hey, she’s outside now,” Tris whispered, sticking her head in the doorway.

“Why are you whispering?” he asked with a laugh.

“It seemed like the thing to do,” she said.

He followed her to the kitchen where she had set out several plastic containers that had sections in them. He recalled her sending them out into the field with lunches packed in the containers that she called bento boxes.

“I thought we could do a snackle-box one with cheese and crackers and stuff, and then the actual meal plus a dessert to share.” She lowered her voice again. “Did you get a ring?”

“I ordered one online and it came yesterday,” he said.

Tris squealed happily. “This is the best thing! I’m so happy for you both. I love Zara; she’s a doll and has fit right in like she was born to be here.”

“That’s the way it is with soulmates,” he said.

“One hundred percent.”

They talked about the menu, finally deciding on turkey and cheese sliders and pasta salad with garden cherry tomatoes and mini cucumbers for the main meal, and the snackle-box filled with several dips along with crackers, veggies, and cubed meat and cheese. For dessert, she helped him whip up a two-person parfait of chocolate pudding, crushed cookies, and whipped cream.

He packed everything away in a cooler and filled it with ice, adding sparkling flavored waters and a few electric candles, along with the thick red-gingham blanket they were going to sit on.

Now he just had to wait for the perfect moment to ask his soulmate to be his wife and tell her that he loved her.

He couldn’t wait.

* * *

The golden glow of the sky as the sun was setting cast the pond in hues of amber and peach and pink. The water rippled along the bank and the croaks of frogs and chirp of crickets were the perfect backdrop to their dinner.

He’d set the thick blanket at the end of the wooden dock that extended over the manmade pond, and then he’d revealed the snackle-box and dinner boxes, and Zara had been tickled by everything he’d helped prepare for their picnic date.

While they ate and enjoyed the view of the sun slowly setting, they talked more about the future, as they had all week—a home filled with children and love and laughter, the herd growing as the others found their mates and had children, and how she couldn’t wait for their first holidays together so they could celebrate the way she’d read about in books and seen in movies.

A Thanksgiving table set with enough food to feed an army.

Presents around the tree and cookies out for Santa.

A champagne toast on New Year’s Eve.

He loved to hear her talk about the future; he could picture everything so clearly when she described it, even as he was heartbroken at how little she’d gotten to enjoy the simple things he’d taken for granted, like celebrating holidays with loved ones. Once she’d been alone after her parents passed away, the life she’d had with her former herd hadn’t been pleasant. He vowed to make sure every holiday was special for them, and that she got to experience all the fun things that family and herd celebrations could be like.

She finished the last bite of the parfait and gazed at the sky.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful sunset.”

Shit, this was definitely the perfect moment.

The ring in his pocket suddenly felt heavier.

“It’s beautiful,” he said, keeping his eyes on her.

She glanced at him and ducked her head. “You’ve been staring at me through our whole date.”

“Well, can you blame me? You’re gorgeous.”

“So are you,” she pointed out.

He liked that she found him attractive, because he definitely thought she was the most beautiful female he’d ever laid eyes on. “I think we’re both really lucky to have found each other. I remember my grandpa telling me once that meeting my grandma, his soulmate, was the strangest thing, that if only one thing hadn’t happened in the events leading up to them meeting, they never would have crossed paths. I feel like that’s how it happened with us, if that asshole hadn’t decided to come here because of his relation to Avi, you and I most likely would never have met. I don’t even like thinking about that.”

“Me either,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I have zero respect or care for that male, but without his scheming to come here, I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be with someone so amazing.”

He took her hand and said, “Zara, I had no idea when I met you how profound it would be to have you in my life, how much you changed me even after just a week. I was lonely, but I didn’t know what to do about it. And then I saw you, and everything inside me that felt like it was off-kilter righted itself.

“I love you, Zara. I love waking up with you, I love eventually going to sleep with you, and I love how you fit so perfectly into my life because you and I were meant to be together. I’ve known my whole life what the word soulmate means, but I never really understood it until I found you.”

“Oh, Crew.” Her eyes glistened and she sniffled. “I love you too.”

He pulled the ring from his pocket and, as the sun slowly sank toward the horizon and the sky turned red and orange with a blue curtain descending on it, he asked her to marry him. “Be my wife and my mate, Zara, my alpha female and my counterpart. Will you marry me, build a life with me here in Little River, and make me the happiest male on the planet?”

Her hand flew to her mouth and he caught the glimmer of tears as they spilled over her cheeks. “Yes,” she whispered the word. And then she chuckled and said it louder. “Yes!”

He slid the ring onto her finger and they put their arms around each other for a tight hug and kiss, and then he held her close as the sun set entirely and the darkness closed in around them.

“That was pretty damn good timing,” she whispered.

He laughed. “It sure was.”

They kissed again, the world dropping away as it had a tendency to do whenever he kissed her, and he was very certain that while meeting her was the best day of his life, her telling him that she loved him too was the best night of his life.