Page 104 of Rhett

“Absolutely.”

Rhett raised my fingers to his lips, kissing them softly. “Well, let’s go, mate.”

Our cloaks swished around our ankles as we strode hand in hand across the thick green grass in the front yard of our tree house.

I smiled when I saw my friends and family—Bonnie, Piper, June, Imani, Nyx, Rose, Izzy, and the Bane pack—dressed to the nines as they gathered for our intimate mating ceremony. My girls were all wearing white T-shirts with the sloganGlitter Is Always An Optionpaired with moss-green leather skirts.

Rhett led me to the spot where Freya, dressed in a skintight, floor-length dress, waited.

Freya raised her arms skyward while looking up at the bright, full moon. “Luna. Goddess of the moon,” she began loudly, her voice carrying across the clearing. “We’re here tonight to ask for your blessing in the joining of Rhett and his female, Nova.”

Lowering her arms, she eyed Rhett. “Rhett Ward. Who is this female you ask to mate?”

He squeezed my hand lightly. “Nova King.”

“Will anyone challenge Rhett Ward’s right to mate this female?” Freya asked.

No one did.

“Nova King. Who is this male you ask to mate?” Freya asked.

“Rhett Ward,” I answered.

“Will anyone challenge Nova King’s right to mate this male?”

No one spoke.

Freya nodded. “Rhett Ward, will you take this female you have claimed to be your fated mate forever?”

“Yes. I do.”

She asked the same question of me about Rhett. “Yes. I do,” I responded.

Freya raised her hands to the sky. In amazement, I watched as her fingers slowly began to glow with a mystical bright white light that took on the same color as the moon.

“By the light that shines from my fingers,” Freya said, “Luna approves of this mating of our town Protector to this female. Take your mate, Rhett Ward.” She gave each of us a kiss on the cheek before saying, “Before your family and pack, we declare you officially mated.”

Freya peered at the members of our small intimate gathering. “May our unmated males find their fated mates. And may the coupling between Rhett and Nova be strong, happy, and loving.”

Clapping and howls erupted into the night.

Bonnie had tears streaming down her cheeks when she grabbed me in a tight embrace. “I love you, Nova.”

“And I love you, Grandma,” I said, hugging her for dear life before stepping back.

Quinn, Emmett, Brody, Mack, and Jasper each took turns hugging me, then clapped Rhett on the back.

Piper, June, Freya, Imani, Nyx, Izzy, and Rose each hugged me.

Imani, Nyx, Rose, and Izzy grinned at me.

“We have a tradition,” Nyx said.

Imani nodded. “I hope you love glitter.”

“Congratulations!” Imani, Nyx, Izzy, and Rose screamed in unison while throwing copious amounts of pink and green glitter on me.

I laughed. “Glitter is for winners.”