Page 77 of The Wolf's Surrogate

I hugged my mate while shooting Regina a grateful look. The witch had tears in her eyes. She smiled as she stood up and said, “My work here is done.”

“Wait, let me pay you.”

But Regina shook her head. “Consider it a gift.” She winked. “For the happy couple.”

And I swore her eyes fell to my pocket where Anita’s ring was hidden.

***

An hour after Regina left, Anita stopped crying. She kept hugging me and telling me how grateful she felt that we had discovered her lost memory. She described her parents to me, information that meant more to me than she could have guessed. After checking my phone to see if Fred had accomplished his task and passing along the information, he responded that he had everything handled.

All that was left to do was take Anita to the park.

I helped her lace her boots and held her hand as I walked her out the door. She seemed lighter as she walked with a springin her step, happier about the way things had unfolded. It was nice to know I had a part to play in her contentment, and I couldn’t wait for that to turn into full-blown happiness.

At the park, she headed for the swings, giving me time to scan our surroundings. Fred was on the other side of the equipment. He gave me a thumbs up to signal that everything was in place. Kylie stood nearby with a camera to record the whole thing. As soon as Anita sat down, I walked up to her and took a knee.

She giggled as she reached for my face. “What are you doing?”

“Two things.”

“Oh yeah? At least give me a push.”

I smiled as confidently as possible while pulling the velvet box from my pocket. “I’m really not good at this, Ani. But at least you know I’ve never done it before.”

She stared at the box. “Oh my god.”

“We believe in a goddess around here, actually.”

“Liam, shutup.”

I pinched my lips together, causing her to giggle again as the end of her nose reddened. She choked on a sob and swept her thumbs under her eyes.

Those swirling pools were golden today, light pouring through the amber and igniting it like sunshine. Her light poured over me. Her love and affection too.

I grinned. “Ani, will you be my wife as well as my mate?”

“I thought I told you to shut up,” she joked. She tearfully beamed as she kissed my forehead. “Goddess, yes. I would love that so much. I love you.”

She crushed her lips to my mouth, whimpering as cheers exploded around us. It took her a moment to notice the crowd, a small gathering that Fred and Kylie helped me put together to witness the proposal. She accepted the ring from the box andslid it over her finger, blinking with disbelief as she watched the band shrink to match her finger perfectly.

I stood up and welcomed her into my arms. “That’s the power of dragon gold.”

“I’m sure you’ll explain that to me one day.”

“I’ll certainly do my best.”

I took a step back to look down at her, stricken by her beauty in that moment. I was so distracted that I almost forgot about the group around us.

She sniffled while standing on her toes. “Didn’t you say you had two things?”

I smiled wider as I took both her hands in mine. “There are some people you need to meet.”

“But I’ve met everyone in the pack.”

“Well, technically, you met these two about twenty-six years ago.”

Her hand flew to her mouth when the crowd parted to reveal two figures. One stood particularly tall with short black hair, olive features, and kind amber eyes. He wore a sweater vest over a long-sleeve sweater with khakis and boat shoes. The other was a curvy woman with chipmunk cheeks, clay-tan skin, and long black hair. She wore a brown coat over her pink blouse and jeans with sneakers.

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