Page 37 of China

Angel smiled at him. “You ’bout ready, man?”

“Yep, just finishing up. How do I look?”

“Like you’re ready to mate your heart-match.”

“I so fucking am.”

Oz turned off the light and walked into the bedroom. His dress shirt and tie were hanging on the closet door. He pulled the shirt off the hanger and slipped it on.

“You know, Mom told me in the old days that males used to get mated in just dress pants, like there was something very macho about a bare upper chest.”

“That’s weird,” Oz said. “Maybe they just wanted to show off their muscles so their females would know how well they could take care of them.”

“That’s possible,” Angel said. He flexed his arms. “I don’t need to be shirtless to show off these guns.”

Oz rolled his eyes as he finished buttoning up the shirt. He grabbed the tie. “Can you believe how crazy these last two weeks have been?”

Angel nodded. “I still can’t fathom how things worked out the way they did. And with Craig taking over, the pride is happier than I’ve ever seen them. I think no one realized how oppressive our pride was because it’s always been that way. Craig is a lot like Duke, from what I can tell.”

“That’s true. Duke is fair and he doesn’t lead through fear like Benecio and our previous alphas. I’m glad things have turned around for the pride. I was going to ask you to join this pride, but I don’t think you want to leave Elk Hills.”

“Nah, Mom and Craig are hanging out a lot and I’m pretty sure they’re going to get mated.”

“Yeah?” Oz tightened the tie and looked at himself in the mirror over the dresser to make sure it was straight. “Are they heart-matches or do they just like each other?”

“They just care for each other. I asked Mom why they never got together and she said she really didn’t know. It seems like them working together to make the pride a better place has maybe opened up some things for them. I get the feeling that they both didn’t really look at each other as anything other than friends or—gross—fuck buddies. Did you know that Craig and my dad were best friends?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think that’s part of it too. My parents got together to have me, and it was before Craig came to the pride. Mom said she always liked him, but he was pretty closed-off emotionally because his mate had died and left him and their two young boys. So Mom never thought of him in a romantic way. They spend a ton of time together now and they’re so sweet. It’s sickening.”

Oz grinned. “I’m happy for her. What’s on the horizon for you?”

“I don’t know,” Angel said. He leaned around Oz to look at himself in the mirror. “I’d like to get mated. The world needs more Angel so I should have lots of kids.”

“Uh, I don’t know about that. One of you is plenty.”

“Nah, I’m awesome. I like the idea of a heart-match, but maybe I’ll go see the match-maker. I haven’t really decided yet.”

“Well, whatever you decide, I’m there for you.”

“Thanks, man,” he said.

In the kitchen, Oz picked up the box that held China’s ring. The mating ceremony was doubling as a wedding ceremony. Duke was an ordained minister. He said it was something he’d decided was a good idea to do, because many lion couples enjoyed the dual ceremonies. The ring was white gold and laid with sparkling channel set diamonds. The ring she’d picked for him was a simple band of white gold etched with a swirled design.

He and Angel left the house and drove to the alpha’s home. The ceremony was going to be held on the back deck. The day before, they’d all worked on turning the backyard into a floral and ribbon paradise. China had said it was always a dream of hers to get married under an archway covered with white roses, so that’s what they’d done.

A tent had been set up for the meal and reception. Sometimes the lions went out for a hunt after a mating, but he and China had wanted to lean more toward the human tradition of a big party. The pride was going hunting the following weekend anyway, and he was looking forward to seeing his sweetheart in her shift.

He parked in front of the alpha’s house, where Duke and Ree lived. It had belonged to Duke’s parents when they’d been the alpha couple. Oz didn’t think that there were too many alpha lion couples where one of them was a human, but Kedrick was a great pride, so they were obviously doing something right.

China was inside the house waiting for the ceremony to start. He stared up at the windows, wondering which one was hers.

“She’ll kill you if you accidentally see her before the wedding,” Angel chided. “Let’s get to the back and get this show on the road.”

Oz nodded. They walked to the back where the chairs were starting to fill. The wedding was a half hour from starting, but he knew the time would fly.

“Nice to see you,” Titus said, shaking his hand. “How are the nerves?”

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