Page 68 of Pregnant Rejected Mate

As if on cue, Kairo finally comes back after making her rounds on the beach to ensure that everything is in place. She catches the way my bottom lip worries and consoles me with a hug.

When she pulls back, her warm smile sends a wave of relief washing over me. Perhaps it’s the faint ringing in my eardrums that brings on that relief. I haven’t fully mastered sharing the mind link amongst the weredragons. Felix is convinced that once the twins are born, I’ll be able to hear him clearly when the gift of immortality is bestowed on me in childbirth. Still, I know that Kairo is sending me words of affirmation in my mind, and subconsciously, I’m eating those words up and feeling full of courage.

“Felix is waiting for you,” Kairo informs me, and somehow, she knows exactly what to say.

“I’m ready,” I affirm with a smile. Nothing else matters when his name is mentioned—not even how crazy I look, heavily pregnant in a wedding gown.

***

My dad beams from ear to ear when I join him at the back of the aisle. The beach sand whispers through my toes, and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore fills the air and tastes of salty sweetness. I slink my arm through his, taking a deep breath before the curtains on the wooden arch in front of us open up. The parting of the white organza unveils the crowd of weredragons seated on logs in rows leading up to the altar.

I look ahead to meet Felix’s eyes, the azure depths as cool as the ocean, shimmering with awe as he watches me walk down the aisle. Alongside me come hushed whispers, indistinct mutterings of praise and excitement that fills the clan of weredragons.

It’s the first time they’re witnessing a marriage between a weredragon and a human. All I can offer is the sheepish smile my lips form as I keep my eyes trained on Felix’s mesmerization, his gaze a source of strength to deplete the remnants of bashfulness I felt when I put my dress on.

Seeing the love radiate from his eyes makes this all worthwhile, and when my father places my hand in his, the warmth that exudes from his touch sets my heart aflame.

“Dearly beloved…” Felix’s father begins, reciting the words often heard in a church. Not words one would expect to hear on an island full of weredragons. But exceptions were made for the sake of our union.

Or reunion, if we’re being technical.

The thought has me smiling at Felix as he gazes deeply into my eyes, thumbs smoothing over my knuckles as his father continues the wedding script.

“.... For eternity, in absence and in presence, when tides are high and when they are low,” Dedrik goes on. “Do you, Sierra Sanchez Alvarez, take Felix Dracon Vulkan, as your husband and mate?”

“I do,” I say with conviction.

“And do you, Felix Dracon Vulkan, take Sierra Sanchez Alvarez as your wife and mate?”

“I do,” Felix smiles as he steps closer and swoops me into his arms, crushing his lips to mine in a passionate kiss. All around us, the presence of the others fades until it’s just me and Felix on the beach, our lips locked for eternity.

My toes and fingers tingle from the heightened sensation, even when we’re done kissing. The rest of the ceremony becomes a blur as I’m unable to let go of Felix’s hand. We waltz around the beach, Felix introducing me to the other weredragons. They’re rather welcoming, bowing politely at every turn and congratulating us for my pregnancy.

I can’t believe I cared at all about the dress. Right now, it doesn’t even matter. All I want is to find myself alone with my husband despite how comfortable I feel around the weredragons.

My husband…

Thinking it in my head is amusing, a light giggle escaping my lips. Felix is in the midst of speaking to Draco, but he gives my hand a gentle squeeze to acknowledge that he picked up on my amusement.

When we’re alone again—even though it won’t be long until someone comes over to speak to us—Felix turns to me with a smirk, lifting one corner of his lips. He leans in, causing a shiver of awareness to pass through my spine and settle between my thighs.

“You wanna leave, don’t you?” he drawls, prompting me to meet his dark gaze and bat my eyelids seductively in response.

“Can you read my mind?” I whisper.

He chuckles lowly with self-satisfaction. “Not yet… But there’s something we have to try.”

My brows furrow slightly as my curiosity is piqued. “What is it?”

Felix presses a finger to his lips as he leads me through the arch, quietly as we steal away from the wedding celebrations. I stifle the need to giggle as we tiptoe back to the castle, wheezing when he picks me up and cradles me to his chest, taking care not to put pressure on my belly.

“This is a tradition, isn’t it?” he muses as he kicks open the front door and carries me over the threshold.

“You know I couldn’t care for being traditional,” I titter. “Only Mama would have cared.”

“Well, we’re honoring her today,” Felix grins, leaning in to press a chaste kiss on my lips. The lingering sensation he leaves behind is a promise of what’s to come. I’m practically counting the seconds as they pass while we make our way to the tenth floor. Felix doesn’t put me down, bulging arms carrying me into his bedroom that’s decorated with cherry blossoms, forming a path leading to the bed.

“Beautiful…” I whisper, eyes drinking in the sight of pastel pinks and creamy whites.

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