Page 50 of Tossed into the Mob
When we sat down, Hunter and Madd opened champagne and poured the adults a glass. Everyone toasted us before we tucked in.
“Do we cut the cake now or after the ceremony?” Grandpa asked
“Why don’t we do them at the same time?” Brock suggested.
Flint was marrying us, and the three of us stood. I wrapped an arm around Brock and inhaled his intoxicating scent. Gods, I adored this human.
“The bond between mates is not just love, though there's plenty of that.” Flint spoke from memory. “It’s commitment and recognition of the moment when you find your other half. The bond says, 'There you are. I've been waiting for you.’”
Brock reached out to his dad who had to be reliving painful memories and drew him close. The three of us stood together, arms around one another
“Treyton and Brock, you’ve already marked one another and that’s the promise that matters most. Today is… well, the icing on the cake.” He eyed the concoction we were about to cut.
Everyone groaned at the terrible joke.
“When the zombies appear, I’ll fight them off with my plastic sword,” Brock promised. “I love you.”
“I love you too. And I’ll always patch up your wounds.”
Niles gave us both a “What the F?” look, but Flint quickly pronounced us married, and we cut the cake. Everyone cheered, but the cheering veered into howling. The humans in the room howled too and even Niles managed a tiny purr. But Brock matched me, decibel for decibel as we fed one another cake.
After everyone had eaten their share of cake and gave it a thumbs-up, we danced to music from someone’s phone, and Arnie made coffee.
“Any regrets?” Brock and I were slow dancing around Flint’s huge living room. Before I could answer, he mentioned we’dforgotten the rings. Damn. I pulled the one out I’d had made for Brock, and my mate did the same with my ring, and we put them on.
“Now that’s done, I have just one regret.” I pulled him closer. “That it took us so long to get here.”
EIGHTEEN
BROCK
I studied the ring on my left hand.
It’d been two days since our wedding. It could have been a disaster, but we’d created the best memories from everything that went wrong and made the day so right.
Being married was different than I'd expected. My emotions were jiggly, and the world smelled different somehow. Even my dreams were more vivid.
Treyton was still the same guy who brought me coffee in bed and held my hand when I needed calming. He made me the center of his universe. But now that we were married and mated, I was part of something. It wasn’t just that I belonged to the Durand family, but Treyton said I was now part of the pack.
My emotions were up and down, and I got teary-eyed thinking of our wedding day and how it’d been so much better than what we’d planned.
I did worry about Dad. He and I were so close, and I didn’t want him to feel excluded or that me mated and married to a shifter was distancing myself from him. But he’d enjoyed the wedding, even though the humans were outnumbered by theshifters. and he’d spent time chatting with Treyton’s cousins’ human mates.
He’d flown home this morning with Treyton’s folks and uncle, and Madd had gone back to whatever job Flint had assigned him to.
We were still in Flint’s guest house for another few days before we returned home, though Treyton and I hadn’t decided where we were going to live permanently. He said he’d bow to my wishes because I had to consider my dad.
“You’ve been standing there a while.” My mate appeared, still in his PJs with a cup of steaming coffee.
“Any chance there’s some wedding cake left?”
“Cake for breakfast? Why not?” He drew back and gave me a look. “Coming right up for the best husband and mate there ever was.”
“Do I have to say it?” I pinched his butt, and he squealed.
“Yes, that’s the rule.”
“Fine.” I huffed. “I’m the only husband and mate there ever will be.” I got the words muddled, but they were heartfelt. Besides, I was focused on leftover cake.
