Nothing can compare to the happiness licking my veins like hot lava.
Nothing can quite put a pin to the stampede that races in my stomach every time my thoughts go back to the man who'll be there, waiting for me at the altar, waiting to tell the entire pack that I'm his Luna, his mate, his wife and his forever.
“You look beautiful and happy. Definitely happier than I've seen you in years,” Julie praises behind me, dabbing at her eyes to wipe her tears.
I'm about to tell her I've never felt happier than I am right now when the thud-thud knocking on the door cuts me off.
Thud.
My heart skips a beat, and the raging organ pounds against my breastbone in excitement.
Thud.
I know who's at the door.
I know because he promised me, he would meet me before I walked down the aisle to be crowned as Luna.
“Goddess, who's knocking so loudly? If it's Luca, I swear to the Goddess, I'll kill him with my bare hands,” Julie grumbles.
When she opens the door, it's not Luca.
It's…
“You are not allowed to see your Luna before the actual ceremony begins, Alpha Deacon. You know the rules.”
My mate is clad in a regal dark suit that is stretched and dominated by his rippling muscles. His chiseled Romanesque jaw is peppered with a neat stubble, one that screams handsome from a mile away.
His usual tousled dark hair is trimmed elegantly to go hand-in-hand with the energy he exudes.
Yet, it isn't the suit or his ethereal looks that take my breath away. It’s the way he looks at me, the raw, unguarded emotion in his gaze, like a silent promise echoing in the depths of his eyes of what's going to happen next.
“I want to speak to my mate.”
My knees nearly buckle from the roughness and the hint behind his voice.
Julie looks back at me. Her eyes do the telling that she wants me to back her up, “I know he listens to you, Winter so why don't you tell him it's bad luck for the Alpha to see his Luna before she is crowned.”
“Five minutes,” my voice comes out wanton, “Give me five minutes with him.”
The tension between me and Deacon is so electric that it’s hot enough to light up a fire between us.
“Winter? I swear to the Goddess if he ruins your makeup after it took two hours to perfect…”
“You'll kill him. I know, Jules. Let me see him for five minutes?”
We'll be in here for more than five minutes.
I know that.
Julie knows that.
And that smirk on Deacon's lips tells me he's aware of it, too.
My best friend steps out of the room, stating clearly, she'll be back in five minutes.
I stand rooted to the ground with bated breath.
My thighs rub each other underneath my dress as I watch Deacon walk inside and lock the door behind him.