Page 32 of My Solemn Vow

She turns to Father Michael with a determinate nod. “I do.”

The movement exposes the column of her neck, and it drags my wolf forward.Just one bite.

No.I push him down.

It’s my turn, and Father Michael formally asks me, “Do you, Valor Cavanagh, take Antonella D’Medici to be your wife?”

I clench and unclench my fist before I answer. “I do take Antonella D’Medici to be my wife.”

“You may exchange rings.” The priest smiles, gesturing between us.

Apparently, every detail has been thought through because my father offers an open box to me, and Gregorio D’Medici offers one out to Antonella. I take a beat to look at the ring. It has a classic look with a single stone set in a flat gold band. The diamond is nice, but it’s not nearly nice enough for what I would have picked, even for an arranged bride. It screams Dad’s taste.

Not bright enough.My wolf laments.

Slipping a ring on Antonella’s finger tarnishes the memory of the same experience with Holly, the mother of my child and the woman my heart holds steadfastly to. This ring, a symbol of an unbreakable truce, marks the second time in my life I’ll make a promise until death.With Holly, I believed it would be when we were old and gray. Now I know better.How long will it be before death catches one of us this time?

Untraditionally, we step closer to the altar and a pen ispassed between us. Five people sign legal documents binding us as one before God and for the government.

No one suggests I kiss my new bride. Which is for the best because tonight, after the bodies are buried and the families are consoled, I’ll have to fuck her and provide the sheets as proof of our union. Consummation, the final ‘step’ in a marriage.

Tender kisses aren’t what our world is built on. Our marriage won’t be built on them either.

Unfortunately for Antonella, the truce and its less-than-savory stipulations won’t be the only change in her life. She unknowingly just married a wolf shifter. If death, by some miracle, evades us, our laws demand that I turn Antonella within the next year.

The requirements of the truce are nothing compared to the bloody ordeal of being gifted a wolf and surviving. It’s not for the faint of heart.

After signing the documents, Antonella links her fingers with mine to walk back down the aisle.

Maybe she’ll have what it takes to be the alpha’s wife. But then again, what choice does she have?

15

VALOR

THE FIRST FUNERAL

After our short wedding ‘ceremony,’ we walk back to the church’s entrance, where Sean’s casket is arriving. We escort it, as pallbearers, to the front of the church, and I can’t believe he’s gone. I rest my hand on the center of the casket. Closed because it was too brutal. He fought until his lifeblood ran dry. But that doesn’t answer any of the questions that haunt me.How did this happen? How do I console my daughter through this? How do I find someone else she’ll feel safe with? How do I trust anyone else to take care of her?

I turn back to the vestibule to greet my pack, and Antonella is waiting for me. With her hands clasped in front of her waist, she radiates patience and understanding.

She doesn’t need direction. When I step toward her, she offers me her hand. I help her down the stairs, and as the first few cars arrive, she takes her place by my side. She casts her eyes down, trying, and succeeding, to look as respectful and subservient as possible. Gregorio’s and Eduardo’s wives adopt similar positions, practically shrinking into invisibility beside them.

It irks me that this is the norm for her. It’s evident there’s astark contrast between our families. The way they treat their woman like filth. We should have kept eradicating them.Stupid fucking truce.

I place my hand on her mid-back, and Antonella tilts her head and eyes up to look at me. “We’re a proud people. My wife needs to be strong and show a united front.”

She gives me a single nod and straightens her spine.

I know I should take my hand away, but I like the way it feels to touch her. The possessive bit of my soul clings to her.Antonella is mine, after all.

Ours,the animal inside me corrects.Could be more than just our wife.He practically bites his tongue, but I feel it anyway and stiffen with the thought.

Cars and SUVs full of people unload, and pack members climb the stairs, greeting me and nodding to Antonella until the church is nearly full.

Then my SUV pulls up with Kerrianne and my mother.How the fuck do I explain this to Kerrianne?

I finally drop my hand from Antonella’s back.