Page 54 of Her Reborn Mate

At midnight, we shifted back into our human forms and went back to the bed and breakfast. All the lights were turned off, which made finding our way to our bedroom tricky.

“Why is it so dark?” Alexis whispered, bumping her foot into me.

“House rules, I guess,” I said, lying through my teeth. I’d already given explicit instructions to the matron and the staff. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. It was just a happy coincidence that all the guests had retired to their rooms and were probably either asleep or busy in their bedroom affairs.

“Will. Something doesn’t feel right. What is happening?” Alexis asked.

“It’s all okay. Let’s just sleep it off in our room,” I said. It had been one hell of an impossible task to keep this secret from Alexis. We were bonded together. Whatever I thought, she could intercept, and whatever crossed her mind, I could read. While we had agreed not to snoop about each other’s minds unnecessarily, I had to remain extremely cautious as I pulled off this surprise.

“If you say so,” Alexis said tiredly, then pushed the doors to our room.

As the doors flung open, dozens of warm yellow and orange lights lit up in the room in the form of lamps, the chandelier, and those fairy lights that hung from the curtains. The room came alive with the sight of more than a hundred roses sprawled on the bed, sprouting from vases, covering the floor and just about any other surface.

Alexis gasped as she stepped into the room. I stepped in behind her, feeling overwhelmed by the smell of the roses, the cozy warmth coming from the fireplace, and the gentle wind coming through the window. The curtains lightly blew as Alexis came to a halt at the center of the room.

There were roses, there were chocolates, and there were teddy bears just as she had asked.

But those were just decorations on a set meant for a much larger thing. A lifelong commitment.

As she turned, she found me bent on one knee, holding a ring in my hand.

A second gasp followed the first one as she held her face in her hands. I could see that her legs were shaking. If only she could see the state of my heart right now.

“Alexis Richards,” I began, but she lifted her finger and shook it.

“Stop. Just stop. I have to take it in. Otherwise, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life. Oh my God, I’m feeling so overwhelmed. The tears…the t-” Her eyes were just beginning to get wet. I couldn’t let her cry on this sanctimonious occasion.

I stood up and held her, hugging her, kissing her, and comforting her as she steadied herself.

“Okay, you may resume,” she said, drying the two tears that had leaked from the corners of her eyes. “These are tears of joy,” she said, smiling at me.

I went back to my knee, then took out the ring again, holding it in front of her.

“Alexis Richards, from the moment I met you, you have been making me undergo a journey—a journey filled with growth, delight, joy, understanding, and compassion. I am not the man I once was when I came from Germany. You have performed a miracle by changing this obstinate fool into someone who’s capable of understanding what true love really is. It humbles me how much I love you. It moves me, this great force that exists invisibly between us, drawing us closer to each other every day. I am truly blessed to have found you in this world. I thank the gods, all the gods that ever were or ever will be, that you found me that day in the forest. I am grateful to you for sticking around with me, for not leaving me when I was a pain in the ass, and for saving my life not once but so many times that I’ve lost count. You are truly my mate in every sense of the word. I would love to make you my wife and see that nothing can drive us apart from this point onward. And for that, I promise that I will do everything within my power to ensure that we live together harmoniously, in love and peace. So, Alexis, love of my life, will you marry me?”

It was the longest silence in the history of the universe as I kneeled in front of her and watched the reflection of the fireplace’s fire dance in her eyes. I could try to reach into her mind to see what she was thinking, but I did not. I needed to not know so that the answer would incite a genuine reaction.

This was one of the times when I could not use my bond with her.

Alexis’s lips quivered as she tried to speak. Her fingers shook as she held out her hand.

“You are a difficult man, Will Grimm,” she said, her voice not quite breaking but just about to. “Loving you has been a challenge, and it has not been easy for me at times. You are intense in everything you do. But I know one thing. I love you. And I would trade all the ease in the world for just a moment with you. I choose you. I need you. And just as I have changed you, you have changed me into a better version of myself. A much more mature and stable person. So, yes. I’ll marry you!”

I slid the ring onto her finger, and then, without waiting another moment, I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I needed to feel her body next to mine, not in a sensual or sexual manner but in a familial one. Moving forth, she would be my wife. An extension of me. A part of me just as much as I’d be a part of her.

For the first time ever in my life, I was holding my fiancé in my arms. Not just my mate, not my girlfriend, my fiancé.

“I promise I’m going to make things easier from now on,” I whispered in her ear. “And no more surprises.”

“Some surprises,” Alexis said. “I kinda loved this one.”

“I love you,” I said.

“Well, I love you too, fiancée,” she said, kissing my lips.

“So…do you like the ring?” I asked.

“Never really got a chance to examine it,” she said, then held up her ring in front of her eyes. “My God, Will. That’s about the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen.”

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