Page 67 of Blades of Ice

“But, Son!”

Beck smiled at their antics. Even as close as he was to his father, they never carried on this way.

“You two can argue about Alexander Dumas later,” Lydia said. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow, so we need to get some sleep.”

“All right, Sweet Girl. Keep us posted, and we’ll see you when we see you. Beck, it was great meeting you.”

“Likewise. We’ll be in Atlanta before you know it.”

Nik and Locke also extended the nice-to-meet-you sentiment, and there were “I love yous” all around before Lydia disconnected.

Lydia snuggled closer. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“They’re all wonderful. It’s fun to see the way they tease each other, and the love…” Beck kissed Lydia’s hair, breathing in her scent. “Until you, no one has ever said they love me.”

Lydia leaned away and turned, placing both hands on his cheeks. “You’ll never doubt you are loved, Sawyer Beckett. By me or my family.” She pecked his lips. “What’s your middle name?”

Beck was grateful for the abrupt subject change because he did not want to cry in front of his mate. “I don’t have one. Nobody in my family does. What’s yours?”

“Nicole, but you already knew that.”

“No, I didn’t. When Chloe kept hounding me about who my mate was, I pulled that name out of my ass.”

“Ew.” Lydia scrunched her nose, grinning. “I think somewhere in your subconscious you did.”

“Lydia Nicole Stone. I like it.”

“Our family’s surname is Di Pietro. It’s Italian. When my Uncle Rafael took the throne here in the States, he changed it to Stone as did most of his brothers and cousins. Jon’s dad chose Hartley, and Uncle Dante still uses Di Pietro. He refused to let go of their heritage.”

“Now that we’re mated, am I considered a Stone or Di Pietro? How does that work?”

Lydia once again snuggled against his side, resting her hand on his chest. “There are no rules in place. If you want to keep your last name, I have no problem with that. If you’d rather be a Stone or want me to become a Beckett, we can have the paperwork drawn up changing our names legally.”

“We don’t have to get married?”

“We don’t have to, but we can if that’s something you’d like. Bas and Dakota had a small ceremony at the justice of the peace. His parents flew in to be there with them. Dakota’s home life wasn’t all that great, so they decided to keep it simple.”

“Do you want a wedding?” Beck had stood up for Dooley when he and Kennedy tied the knot literally because their ceremony had been a handfasting.

“What’s typical for your pack?” Lydia asked instead of saying what she wanted.

“There are no weddings and rarely any true claimings. Easier to cut someone loose that way.”

“That’s depressing. But aren’t Dooley and Kennedy married?”

“Yes. Even though they claimed one another, Kennedy wanted a ceremony. It was a beautiful handfasting.”

“Could we do that too?”

“A handfasting?” Lydia nodded against his shoulder. “I’d like that, but would it go against your beliefs?”

“My beliefs have changed over the years. Luna and Solara worship their goddess. You have your goddess. As a wolf, Dakota has hers. Are they the same one or different? The Gargoyles have worshipped the old gods since the beginning of time, but we’re also drawn to the moon, which represents the goddess in some cultures. In others, both gods and goddesses are worshipped. Then you have the fates who choose our mates. Again, goddesses. The Gryphons are called the Hounds of Zeus. As children, we weren’t indoctrinated the way humans are that there is only one supreme being. It’s been handed down since Gargoyles came to be that we were created by the gods. Maybe we were, but maybe the goddesses aided in our creation. Even in the Bible God mentions other gods.”

Lydia pressed a kiss to his shoulder, then looked up at him. “I said all that to get to this point: I believe that as long as you are good, it doesn’t matter what deity you call on, and I think a handfasting ceremony would be amazing. So what do you say, My Bear? Will you tie your knot to mine?”

“It would be my honor.”

Chapter 26

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