Page 12 of Finding Closure

One of the other things I liked about fairies—and traditions of Faerie—was we weren’t as pretentious as other species. People stood and brought their chairs over to the tables off to the side meant for the reception. I couldn’t see humans ever doing something so normal in their formal clothes. It was nice.

So that area was now the dance floor, and we all had our seating arrangements for lunch… That would also be dinner. Yeah, fairies just kept having all of the food.

No one was shocked. It had been that it was such a long party, but it was also meant to be a celebration of people who actually liked each other, not a status trip or Instagram photo shoot. Fine, this one was a lot of crazy because they were doingit for me, but normally only people they truly cared about would be invited and welcome.

This way they had the mating ceremonies of their dreams because I covered the cost of it all. Ray and Zack could have paid for something small, but with the way fairies ate, it would have been a bit much or maybe seen as insulting if fast food catered it.

They were happy and in love. That was what mattered, and all of the politics was done well because people were happy to be invited to the mating of my aides and the guards who had kept me alive… And a little less salty they hadn’t been to my marriage to Julian.

Worth the price tag for sure.

“This is really great,” Hudson murmured when we were dancing later. “Too big for us, but I like it—the vibe.” He cleared his throat. “I see us more as an autumn wedding though. Maybe this—”

“The autumn after next,” I corrected. “Yeah, I think that’s perfect.” I smiled up at him when he chuckled. “If I have a wedding a year, I will lose my mind, beastie. Darby and I are really,reallygoing to elope. You and I can have a small autumn wedding with just your family and my commanders who will invite themselves.”

“Deal, shorty,” he agreed and kissed me.

I danced with Darby next before Julian and Neldor. Lucca had talked to Zack and Ray about not attending and sent his best. People knew about his father now, and given who else would be at the event, he didn’t want to deal with the crap or take attention away from them. It was best and we all knew it.

Plus, it was all being recorded, so he could watch the video later. I felt bad for him, but I knew it was really what he wanted.

I sat next to Sasha with yet another piece of cake in between the meals. “How is she doing?” We both knew who I meant, but I didn’t want others to overhear me say the Von Thann name.

“She’s a mess,” she admitted with a sigh. “I think she’s most upset thatno oneis upset she’s running the pack until Lucca is ready. Everyone is relieved. No one objected.”

“It was the eye-opener that she ignored too much and everyone knew he wasn’t doing it all for the sloth like she fooled herself,” I muttered, shrugging when she shot me a surprised look.

“I think I’m shocked how much harsher you’re being on her than you ever were on me,” Sasha hedged. “I did a lot wrong in your eyes—”

“No, you didn’t, Sasha,” I corrected. “We had one issue, and it was a complicated one. You had to eat shit for too many years because royals weredying. Your position was shaky in ways I couldn’t ever understand and I wasn’t there. Your ‘crime’ was not changing gears or letting it go on too long so it shit on me. That’s vastly different than what she allowed.”

“She always held out hope he could really recover, and—she never thought he would really do any of it.”

“But he did,” I reminded her. “Hedidtry to get me outed not caring if it got me killed. And she just took a time-out from him. I get it. It was her mating, and she loved him. But it was me, so no, I can’t be her friend like I am you. Plus, you never cared who I was or about my birth. She started standing up more and fighting against him when I was important.”

“I think it started before that, but you didn’t know until later,” she muttered after a moment but nodded, accepting what I was saying.

And moving on. We talked about how it was going and that the bear elders were mostly behaving. They weren’t in a position to risk pissing me off after all they’d done. Shame because I’d had a lot of hope for them in the beginning, but they’d gone too far and let too much go.

The rest of the reception was great. The couples slipped off before dinner even and the rest of us had fun.

Maybe a bit too much fun. I was a bit drunk, and that wasn’t a good look for the future queen at such a public event, so I let myself be carried off.

Plus, I was happy for what I knew was coming next.

The moment we were home, I started undressing.

“You’re drunk,” Julian reminded me as he went into my closet and gave me a nightgown.

I took it from him and tossed it aside. “And I want sex.” I frowned when he seemed hesitant. “Jerk.”

“No, I had a bit too much to drink as well, and I don’t ever want—married doesn’t just mean your body is mine.”

“I’m practically begging for it, and I’m not slurring drunk,” I reminded him. “Fine, get out. I’ll use toys if my husband’s going to ignore my needs.”

“Never, but now I want to see my wife use her fucking toys,” he said with a growl.

Fine, I could put on a show and turn him on.

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