Page 106 of The Royal Marriage Alliance

Wisteria groans. “Grandfather!”

I slip an arm around her. “I will never purposefully hurt her. We may not be soulmates, but what we have is even more rare and special. I love her.”

He nods once, then looks at Wisteria. “I know that you’ll probably need to head back to your island soon, but I do hope you’ll stay one more day.”

Wisteria glances at me and I nod. Her grin widens.

“I would love to stay longer and spend time with you and Venali,” she says.

“I’ll be going back with you guys.” Venali stands from his chair and walks closer to us.

It’s tradition after an alliance is signed, for the leaders to spend time in one another’s kingdoms. Besides, I know my wife wants to spend more time with her cousin whom should’ve known growing up but never got the opportunity.

Wisteria’s eyes turn bright blue as she glances at her cousin. “Perfect! There are so many places on the island I want to show you. I know the dragons keep the estate freezing cold, but you can control the thermostat in yourown suite, so it’s not so bad. And it’s gorgeous there. I can’t wait for summer so I can spend more time at the beach.”

I can feel her excitement through our bond. My own stomach tightens with the emotion, making me feel happy about Venali’s visit too. Not that I’m unhappy about it, the guy seems nice enough.

“Though I’m not sure I will want to stay long if the two of you keep being disgusting.” I turn and see Venali watching me with a wrinkled nose. It’s then that I realize I haven’t taken my eyes off of my wife.

“Leave them alone, Venali,” King Elwin scolds his grandson. “They’re young and in love. Someday, I hope you will know what it feels like—hopefully before I die would be great.”

Wisteria laughs, knowing he’s joking. I imagine King Elwin and Venali have had many conversations—er, arguments—about this very topic. Since Venali was the only heir, I imagine the pressure was on for him to have his own heir.

“Maybe you will meet a nice dragon shifter girl to settle down with,” King Elwin suggests.

“Dragon shifters have soulmates,” Wisteria says, then smiles. “But maybe you have a soulmate out there, waiting for you.” She sighs like it’s the most romantic notion ever. And maybe she does think soulmates are romantic, seeing as she hadn’t spent her entire life dreading the day she would meet her mate. Knowing that I don’t have a soulmate is the best feeling in the world. It gives me the freedom to be happy with my wife.

Venali frowns like the idea of having a soulmate makes him sick as it did for me once upon a time.

“No thanks,” he says. “I’d rather pick somebody myself and not have some magic connection force me to have feelings for a stranger.”

I had never thought about it like that before. He’s not wrong, but he’s alsosowrong. A mate bond doesn’t force feelings—it just makes you aware of the person. A soulmate is the other half of one’s soul. It’s a feeling of completion. Kind of how I feel about Wisteria, even if she’s not my ‘soulmate.’

Maybe Venali is right. Maybe choosing is better. It certainly worked out well for me. I will choose to love my wife every day, and I think it’s a lot better than magic forcing it.

Wisteria leans into my side, hearing my thoughts. She grins up at me, making my heart race. What we have is so much better than anything else.

“Will word get out about Wisteria’s pregnancy?” I ask, finally looking away from her to King Elwin. “Because I’d like it if my family heard the news from us first.”

King Elwin nods. “Don’t worry. Though the supernatural community is aware of the elves, we are still keeping to ourselves. Your secret is safe.”

23

Better than fate

Wisteria

Within a day of signing our new alliance with the elves, my father called King Basilicus to issue an official apology. Apparently, our new friendship with the elves scared them into backing down on their threats of war. They,finally, agreed to back off from trying to get me back. In a show of support, they decided to send a delegate to spend some time at the estate. I was ecstatic to hear that Cypress will be coming to visit over the summer.

Venali also came back with us. He is going to be introduced to the Dragon Council and spend some time hanging out with us. He’s family, so I made sure he knew that he’s welcome as much and as often as he wants. Equally, Grandfather made sure I knew that I’m welcome at his home anytime I want. I plan to take him up on his offer. I want to learn more about my elf side.

The night we get back, Venali joins the family in the dining room for dinner. Surprisingly, Natalia didn’t showup late. Jason is even awake, so she puts him in a highchair right between her and Evander at the table.

Stellan clears his throat. “Before we eat, there is something you should know.” He pauses as if looking for the right words to say. “Something we learned while we were with the elves.”

It takes a moment for me to remember he’s talking about my pregnancy. Of course he wants to tell his family before they find out from somebody else. I sit up straighter, chewing on my bottom lip to stop my grin. I don’t want to give anything away by the look on my face.

“What is it, Stellan?” Natalia’s eyebrows scrunch together as she looks at her younger brother.

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