Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

My heart clenches in my chest. I can feel tears in my eye asI put my hand over my mouth. The guests

all gasp and whisper as they admire my mate and bow while she comes down the aisle. As they

should. If I didn’t know it was Kas coming down the aisle, I would have thought the Moon Goddess

herself was making her way to the platform toward me.

“That's our mate?” Saint asks in awe. '

“Yeah, that’s our mate.”

“She’s out of your league, man.” :

“Shut up, Saint. Just enjoy her beauty in silence.”

Kas’s dress is long white and flowy with pleats to make it look more structured. There’s a belt that looks

like a little rope wrapped around her waist. The shoulders of the dress are silver olive leaves that match

the ones on my eyepatch. There is even more flowy material attached at the back of her shoulders that

flows down and trails behind her like a train. She is wearing a wreath on her head that’s made of silver

olive branches that makes her hair look even more sparkly.

I look into her eyes, the vibrant violet of her eyes is glowing now. She looks back at me and smiles. I

realize she is glowing all over. Not her usual faint purple energy. Her aura is the same violet as her

eyes. Marco looks a little surprised but keeps proceeding. I hear some of the guests murmuring and

see them pointing.

When they get to the front, Marco shakes my hand and sits down next to Musu in the front row. Lenora

helps Kas adjust the train of the dress. Kas turns slightly to make sure she isn't going to step on the

dress and I see the back is completely open down to the small of her back, exposing all of her scars.

Now everyone will know. Everyone will see her strength. Not just the members of Blood River. All of the

most influential werewolves in the world are here. The word will spread quickly. °

She turns back around and smiles at me. My heart stops as I look into her eyes. Her makeup is

beautiful and dramatic. Dark and smudgy like a supermodel. Hell, she looks like a damn supermodel.

My supermodel. The dark coloring makes her eyes look even more violet. I take Kas’s hand and her

vibrant purple glow surrounds both of us. The connection feels different than normal. It's more intense,

more pure, barely contained. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. As she does, the glow

softens to what I consider a more reasonable brightness.

Henri clears his throat to call everyone’s attention. He starts the ceremony, but I barely hear a word he

says. AllI can do is stare at my stunning mate. She is a goddess. I mean, I know she’s a goddess, but

looking at her right now at this moment, there is no denying it. Everyone else can see it too. We are all

in the presence of a divine being.

Henri nudges me. I look over to see he is holding the dagger that Kas and I need to cut our hands with.

I hold out my palm as he makes a slice in my hand. He does the same to Kas and we join hands, lacing

our fingers. I feel a blast of energy as our blood mingles. The crowd cheers as drips of blood land in the

bowl] beneath our hands. We stay like that until we feel our wolves heal us. Henri wipes the blood off of

our hands with a cloth, then we exchange rings.

There is a song and Lenora recites a poem. Then Henri announces that we are allowed to mark each

other now. I go first.

“You ready, Baby?” I ask quietly. She nods with a smile and turns her head slightly to the side exposing

her neck to me.I pull her close to me and let Saint take over enough to feel my fangs elongating. I lean

down and sink them into her shoulder. I hear her gasp and let out a little whimper of pain. I embrace

her a little tighter knowing I had caused the pain. I finally pull my fangs out and lick her shoulder until

Lex heals the wound. I untie my bow tie and pull my shirt back so she can do the same. Lenora pulls

out a footstool for Kas to stand on. We hear a smattering of laughs from the guests. The stool puts her

at my shoulder height. She pulls on my shirt so I'm closer to her. She puts one hand behind my neck

and I feel her fangs extend on my skin. The sensation makes me shiver. There is a shooting pang of

pain when her fangs slide below my skin. I feel another pulse of energy before she pulls the fangs out

and starts licking the wound.

“Ladies, gentlemen, non-gendered beings, there are only two things left to do,” Henri announces, “First,

by the power vested in me by the Elder Council of Werewolves, I hereby present you Alpha Regent

Bronx Mason and Goddess Luna Regent Iokaste Mason.” ' “And finally,” Henri announces, “Alpha

Regent Bronx Andreas Mason, you may kiss the bride.” Ilook at Kas with a huge grin and lean

down to kiss her. I put one hand on her lower back and the other behind her neck. She wraps a hand

behind my neck and the other on my arm. Our lips come together as naturally as they always have as I

lean her over in a deep kiss. We can hear our guests cheering and suddenly they stop.

Ilook up suddenly realizing everyone is frozen in time. Mid-clap, mid howl. Completely stopped in the

middle of what they were doing.

“Kas!?” I ask looking around.

“I can only keep a crowd this size frozen for about three minutes. Are you sure you want to be looking

at them right now? Cause you could still be kissing me," a devilish grin crosses her face.

Who am I to deny the request of a Goddess? I pulled her back into my arms and we kiss passionately

until the audience starts to cheer again. I help her stand upright and I take her hand. The guests go

wild as Kas and I walk hand in hand down the aisle. Carly us hers us into a little room just inside the

double doors of the packhouse.

"You two have fifteen minutes before pictures. Alpha, do not ruin the Luna's makeup," Carly advises

with a wink and closes the door.

I sit down and pull Kas into my lap, gently caressing her cheek, "Happy solstice birthday, Mrs. Mason." '

She smiles at me, "Thank you, Mr. Mason. Happy wedding day.”

I bring her closer and gently kiss her soft lips. She leans in and reciprocates.

I pull back and look her in the eyes. She is beautiful. Everything about this woman is beautiful. Her

eyes, her lips, her hair. I want to kiss her, but I don't want to stop looking at her either. Milo was right

about her scent. It’s more intoxicating than it has ever been before.

"Is everything alright, Bronx? You look... googly-eyed," Kas tilts her head with a little smile.

"I want to kiss you but I don't want to stop admiring you, my little goddess. What if I blink and you

disappear?"

She takes my hands and places them on her midsection. Slowly moving them for me - over her

breasts, down between her legs, "If you're worried I'll disappear, you should memorize every part of me

with your eyes and your hands."

I explore her body with my hands. Using my fingertips to make her shiver on sensitive spots and my

hands spread wide and flat on larger areas. She looks at me through her eyelashes as she softly

moans. '

There was a knock and Carly announces it's time for pictures. We both sigh with a groan at the

interruption. I stand Kas up and make sure she is presentable before I lead her out of the room.

The guests have been moved to the ballroom and it is just the wedding party and family left. The

photographer snaps all the pictures at a blistering pace.

Before I know it, we are being ushered into the reception. Toasts are given, food is eaten, the cake is

cut. Her bridesmaids surprise her witha cupcake and a candle so everyone can sing Happy Birthday to

her. She fights back tears and tells me its another first for her, people singing Happy Birthday in her

honor.

"Make a wish, Mrs. Mason," I whisper in her ear before she blows out the candle and smiles, waving to

the cheering crowd.

Kas let me pick the song for our first dance, she wants to be surprised. I chose Stay With You by John

Legend. She starts to cry a little, but I wipe her tears away before she can ruin her makeup. We dance

for what seems like no time at all before Kas and | are being pulled away to change into our robes for

the Solstice blessing and pack run. We change quickly and head back downstairs. When we get back

to the platform, the entire yard has been transformed. There were no chairs, just open space

surrounding us. People are being given robes to change in the pool house. Omegas are taking clothes

back to tents and guest rooms as people come out. It is like a well-oiled machine.

At eleven forty-five, I motion for everyone to quiet down. I give my speech talking about a year of

prosperity, peace, unity, and health for all werewolf kind as well as our new found allies in the coven.

As the clock ticks to midnight, we all disrobe and shift. There is a collective howl at the moon and we're

off.

Saint is so happy to be running alongside Lex. They haven't been allowed to spend time together since

they fought in the dungeon. We make a giant loop around the territory, then wolves split off into smaller

groups. Saint and Lex go off on their own for some private time together before heading back to the

packhouse.

Letting Saint and Lex out opens the floodgate to our own desires. As soon as we shift back to human

form, I pick her up and carry Kas up the stairs to our apartment, ravishing her and kissing her. I wish I

could say it was a romantic bridal style but it was not. She is completely wrapped around me while I am

grabbing her ass to keep her from falling. Someone drapes a robe over her as we make our way up the

main staircase. We don't care that there are people still lingering in the halls as I push her against the

wall to kiss her deeper. We just need to be with each other. We kiss and grab at each other frantically

until we get to the apartment and slam the door behind us. We don't even wait to get to the bedroom to

get our wedding night started.